diff --git a/initialize.sh b/initialize.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2198a3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/initialize.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [ ! -f ".vars" ]; then
+  cp vars.example .vars
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "config.yaml" ]; then
+  cp config.yaml.example config.yaml
+fi
diff --git a/update_child_repos.sh b/update_child_repos.sh
index da3966c..6d120b4 100755
--- a/update_child_repos.sh
+++ b/update_child_repos.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ is_file_changed() {
 
 FILES_TO_UPDATE="${FILES_TO_UPDATE:-config.yaml.example
 deploy.sh
+initialize.sh
 dockerfile
 main.go
 makefile