diff --git a/tools/init_site.sh b/tools/init_site.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8286a5442
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/init_site.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# This interactive script makes a copy of an Airship reference site and turns it
+# into a standalone project.
+
+set -e
+
+# We can override this to "../treasuremap/manifests/site/test-site" till stl3 is merged
+: ${REFERENCE_SITE:="../treasuremap/manifests/site/reference-airship-core"}
+REFERENCE_SITE_SHORT=$(echo ${REFERENCE_SITE} | sed "s|.*/||")
+: ${REFERENCE_TYPE:="airship-core"}
+
+# The branch/tag foo below is only needed till we work some kinks out of `airshipctl document pull`
+# Note: for airshipctl and treasuremap, specify a tag OR a branch, with "" for the other
+: ${AIRSHIPCTL_REF:="v2.0.0"} # We can override this to "v2.0" till v2.0.0 is tagged
+: ${AIRSHIPCTL_REF_TYPE:="tag"} # We can override this to "branch" till v2.0.0 is tagged
+: ${TREASUREMAP_REF:="v2.0.0"} # We can override this to "v2.0" till v2.0.0 is tagged
+: ${TREASUREMAP_REF_TYPE:="tag"} # We can override this to "branch" till v2.0.0 is tagged
+
+# Args expected by `airshipctl config set-manifest`
+TREASUREMAP_CONF_REF="--${TREASUREMAP_REF_TYPE} ${TREASUREMAP_REF}"
+AIRSHIPCTL_CONF_REF="--${AIRSHIPCTL_REF_TYPE} ${AIRSHIPCTL_REF}"
+
+echo "This script will initialize a new Airship site definition, based on the"
+echo "treasuremap reference manifests, in a new project that lives side-by-side"
+echo "with airshipctl and treasuremap.  Please run this script from the airshipctl directory."
+echo
+
+if [[ -z "$SITE" || -z "$PROJECT" ]]; then
+  read -p "Choose a name for your project: " PROJECT
+  read -p "Choose a name for your site: " SITE
+  SITE_LOCATION="../${PROJECT}/manifests/site/${SITE}"
+  read -p "Creating '${SITE_LOCATION}', do you want to continue? (Y/N): " OK
+  if ! [[ $OK == [yY] ]]; then
+      echo "Site initialization cancelled"
+      exit 1
+  fi
+else
+  SITE_LOCATION="../${PROJECT}/manifests/site/${SITE}"
+fi
+
+if [[ -e "${SITE_LOCATION}" ]]; then
+    echo "A site definition ${SITE_LOCATION} already exists, aborting"
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+set -x
+
+# TODO: replace with `airshipctl document pull` once tag/branch based pulls work
+if [[ ! -e ../treasuremap ]]; then
+  git clone https://opendev.org/airship/treasuremap ../treasuremap
+fi
+pushd .; cd ../treasuremap; git checkout ${TREASUREMAP_REF}; popd
+
+# Initialize a new site from the treasuremap reference
+mkdir -p "${SITE_LOCATION}"
+cp -r ${REFERENCE_SITE}/* "${SITE_LOCATION}"
+
+# Update kustomize references
+find "${SITE_LOCATION}" -type f -exec sed -i \
+    "s|type/${REFERENCE_TYPE}|../../treasuremap/manifests/type/${REFERENCE_TYPE}|g" {} +
+find "${SITE_LOCATION}" -type f -exec sed -i \
+    "s|\.\./function|../../../treasuremap/manifests/function|g" {} +
+
+
+# Update metadata.yaml paths with the new site name
+sed -i "s|${REFERENCE_SITE_SHORT}|${SITE}|g" "${SITE_LOCATION}/metadata.yaml"
+
+# Set up airshipctl config file
+# Note: set-context doesn't have an option to set managementConfiguration.  A problem?
+if [[ ! -e ~/.airship/config ]]; then
+  airshipctl config init
+fi
+
+airshipctl config set-manifest "${SITE}" \
+    --repo airshipctl \
+    --url "https://opendev.org/airship/airshipctl" \
+    ${AIRSHIPCTL_CONF_REF}
+airshipctl config set-manifest "${SITE}" \
+    --repo treasuremap \
+    --url "https://opendev.org/airship/treasuremap" \
+    ${TREASUREMAP_CONF_REF}
+airshipctl config set-manifest "${SITE}" \
+    --repo primary \
+    --url "https://github.com/my-organization/${PROJECT}" \
+    --branch master
+airshipctl config set-manifest "${SITE}" \
+    --metadata-path "manifests/site/${SITE}/metadata.yaml" \
+    --target-path "$(realpath ..)"
+
+airshipctl config set-context ephemeral-cluster --manifest "${SITE}"
+airshipctl config set-context target-cluster --manifest "${SITE}"
+airshipctl config use-context ephemeral-cluster