diff --git a/cmd/helm/create.go b/cmd/helm/create.go
index e99a05cc9..8f82bc70a 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/create.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/create.go
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-
-	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/chart"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/chartutil"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/chart"
 )
 
 const createDesc = `
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 var createCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "create [PATH]",
-	Short: "Create a new chart at the location specified.",
+	Use:   "create NAME",
+	Short: "Create a new chart with the given name.",
 	Long:  createDesc,
 	RunE:  runCreate,
 }
@@ -50,12 +50,12 @@ func runCreate(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	cmd.Printf("Creating %s\n", cname)
 
 	chartname := filepath.Base(cname)
-	cfile := chart.Chartfile{
+	cfile := &chart.Metadata{
 		Name:        chartname,
 		Description: "A Helm chart for Kubernetes",
 		Version:     "0.1.0",
 	}
 
-	_, err := chart.Create(&cfile, filepath.Dir(cname))
+	_, err := chartutil.Create(cfile, filepath.Dir(cname))
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/chartfile.go b/pkg/chartutil/chartfile.go
index 70bfc7ac8..84d1d670c 100644
--- a/pkg/chartutil/chartfile.go
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/chartfile.go
@@ -26,3 +26,14 @@ func LoadChartfile(filename string) (*chart.Metadata, error) {
 	}
 	return UnmarshalChartfile(b)
 }
+
+// SaveChartfile saves the given metadata as a Chart.yaml file at the given path.
+//
+// 'filename' should be the complete path and filename ('foo/Chart.yaml')
+func SaveChartfile(filename string, cf *chart.Metadata) error {
+	out, err := yaml.Marshal(cf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return ioutil.WriteFile(filename, out, 0755)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/create.go b/pkg/chartutil/create.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa6634852
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/create.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package chartutil
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/chart"
+)
+
+const (
+	// ChartfileName is the default Chart file name.
+	ChartfileName = "Chart.yaml"
+	// ValuesfileName is the default values file name.
+	ValuesfileName = "values.yaml"
+	// TemplatesDir is the relative directory name for templates.
+	TemplatesDir = "templates"
+	// ChartsDir is the relative directory name for charts dependencies.
+	ChartsDir = "charts"
+)
+
+const defaultValues = `# Default values for %s.
+# This is a YAML-formatted file.
+# Declare name/value pairs to be passed into your templates.
+# name: value
+`
+
+// Create creates a new chart in a directory.
+//
+// Inside of dir, this will create a directory based on the name of
+// chartfile.Name. It will then write the Chart.yaml into this directory and
+// create the (empty) appropriate directories.
+//
+// The returned string will point to the newly created directory. It will be
+// an absolute path, even if the provided base directory was relative.
+//
+// If dir does not exist, this will return an error.
+// If Chart.yaml or any directories cannot be created, this will return an
+// error. In such a case, this will attempt to clean up by removing the
+// new chart directory.
+func Create(chartfile *chart.Metadata, dir string) (string, error) {
+	path, err := filepath.Abs(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return path, err
+	}
+
+	if fi, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
+		return path, err
+	} else if !fi.IsDir() {
+		return path, fmt.Errorf("no such directory %s", path)
+	}
+
+	n := chartfile.Name
+	cdir := filepath.Join(path, n)
+	if fi, err := os.Stat(cdir); err == nil && !fi.IsDir() {
+		return cdir, fmt.Errorf("file %s already exists and is not a directory", cdir)
+	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(cdir, 0755); err != nil {
+		return cdir, err
+	}
+
+	if err := SaveChartfile(filepath.Join(cdir, ChartfileName), chartfile); err != nil {
+		return cdir, err
+	}
+
+	val := []byte(fmt.Sprintf(defaultValues, chartfile.Name))
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(cdir, ValuesfileName), val, 0644); err != nil {
+		return cdir, err
+	}
+
+	for _, d := range []string{TemplatesDir, ChartsDir} {
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(cdir, d), 0755); err != nil {
+			return cdir, err
+		}
+	}
+	return cdir, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/chartutil/create_test.go b/pkg/chartutil/create_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19ee11ed6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/chartutil/create_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package chartutil
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/chart"
+)
+
+func TestCreate(t *testing.T) {
+	tdir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "helm-")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tdir)
+
+	cf := &chart.Metadata{Name: "foo"}
+
+	c, err := Create(cf, tdir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	dir := filepath.Join(tdir, "foo")
+
+	mychart, err := LoadDir(c)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to load newly created chart %q: %s", c, err)
+	}
+
+	if mychart.Metadata.Name != "foo" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected name to be 'foo', got %q", mychart.Metadata.Name)
+	}
+
+	for _, d := range []string{TemplatesDir, ChartsDir} {
+		if fi, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, d)); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %s dir: %s", d, err)
+		} else if !fi.IsDir() {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %s to be a directory.", d)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, f := range []string{ChartfileName, ValuesfileName} {
+		if fi, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, f)); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %s file: %s", f, err)
+		} else if fi.IsDir() {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %s to be a fle.", f)
+		}
+	}
+
+}