diff --git a/cmd/cmd.js b/cmd/cmd.js
index 8f0bab81..8ae88234 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd.js
@@ -329,20 +329,21 @@ class Cmd {
       .command('scaffold [contract] [environment]')
       .option('--framework <framework>', 'UI framework to use. (default: react)')
       .action(function(contract, env, options){
-        let environment = env || 'development';
-
         if(contract === undefined){
           console.log("contract name is required");
           process.exit(0);
         }
 
-        embark.initConfig(environment, {
-          embarkConfig: 'embark.json', interceptLogs: false
-        });
-        
+        checkDeps();
+        i18n.setOrDetectLocale(options.locale);
+        options.env = env || 'development';
+        options.logFile = options.logfile; // fix casing
+        options.logLevel = options.loglevel; // fix casing
+        options.onlyCompile = options.contracts;
+        options.client = options.client || 'geth';
+        options.webpackConfigName = options.pipeline || 'development';
         options.contract = contract;
         options.framework = options.framework || 'react';
-        options.env = environment;
         embark.scaffold(options);
       });
   }
diff --git a/cmd/cmd_controller.js b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
index ad75149e..7ddc3284 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd_controller.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
@@ -430,6 +430,86 @@ class EmbarkController {
     console.log(`${dappOverrides}`.green);
   }
 
+  scaffold(options) {
+    this.context = options.context || [constants.contexts.build];
+
+    const Scaffolding = require('../lib/cmds/scaffolding.js');
+
+    const Engine = require('../lib/core/engine.js');
+    const engine = new Engine({
+      env: options.env,
+      client: options.client,
+      locale: options.locale,
+      version: this.version,
+      embarkConfig: 'embark.json',
+      interceptLogs: false,
+      logFile: options.logFile,
+      logLevel: options.logLevel,
+      events: options.events,
+      logger: options.logger,
+      config: options.config,
+      plugins: options.plugins,
+      context: this.context,
+      webpackConfigName: options.webpackConfigName
+    });
+
+
+    async.waterfall([
+      function initEngine(callback) {
+        engine.init({}, callback);
+      },
+      function startServices(callback) {
+        let pluginList = engine.plugins.listPlugins();
+        if (pluginList.length > 0) {
+          engine.logger.info(__("loaded plugins") + ": " + pluginList.join(", "));
+        }
+
+        engine.startService("processManager");
+        engine.startService("libraryManager");
+        engine.startService("codeRunner");
+        engine.startService("web3");
+        if (!options.onlyCompile) {
+          engine.startService("pipeline");
+        }
+        engine.startService("deployment", {onlyCompile: options.onlyCompile});
+        if (!options.onlyCompile) {
+          engine.startService("storage");
+          engine.startService("codeGenerator");
+        }
+
+        callback();
+      },
+      function deploy(callback) {
+        engine.events.request('deploy:contracts', function (err) {
+          callback(err);
+        });
+      },
+      function waitForWriteFinish(callback) {
+        if (options.onlyCompile) {
+          engine.logger.info("Finished compiling".underline);
+          return callback(null, true);
+        }
+
+        engine.events.on('outputDone', (err) => {
+
+
+          let scaffold = new Scaffolding(engine, options);
+          scaffold.generate(options.contract);
+
+          engine.logger.info(__("finished generating the UI").underline);
+          callback(err, true);
+        });
+      }
+    ], function (_err, canExit) {
+      // TODO: this should be moved out and determined somewhere else
+      if (canExit || !engine.config.contractsConfig.afterDeploy || !engine.config.contractsConfig.afterDeploy.length) {
+        process.exit();
+      }
+      engine.logger.info(__('Waiting for after deploy to finish...'));
+      engine.logger.info(__('You can exit with CTRL+C when after deploy completes'));
+    });
+  }
+
   upload(options) {
     this.context = options.context || [constants.contexts.upload, constants.contexts.build];
 
@@ -452,7 +532,7 @@ class EmbarkController {
     });
 
     let platform;
-
+    
     async.waterfall([
       function initEngine(callback) {
         engine.init({}, () => {
diff --git a/lib/cmds/scaffolding.js b/lib/cmds/scaffolding.js
index d6f4ebf7..2bfe30c9 100644
--- a/lib/cmds/scaffolding.js
+++ b/lib/cmds/scaffolding.js
@@ -1,21 +1,22 @@
 class Scaffolding {
-    constructor(embark, options){
-        this.embark = embark;
+    constructor(engine, options){
+        this.engine = engine;
         this.options = options;
         this.framework = options.framework;
         this.frameworkPlugin = null;
     }
 
     isContract(contractName){
-        return this.embark.config.contractsConfig.contracts[contractName] !== undefined;
+        return this.engine.config.contractsConfig.contracts[contractName] !== undefined;
     }
 
-    generate(contractName, contractConfiguration){
+    generate(contractName){
         if(this.framework === 'react'){
-            this.embark.plugins.loadInternalPlugin('scaffolding-react', this.options);
+            this.engine.plugins.loadInternalPlugin('scaffolding-react', this.options);
         }
 
-        let dappGenerators = this.embark.plugins.getPluginsFor('dappGenerator');
+        let dappGenerators = this.engine.plugins.getPluginsFor('dappGenerator');
+
         let build = null;
         dappGenerators.forEach((plugin) => {
             plugin.dappGenerators.forEach((d) => {
@@ -30,11 +31,15 @@ class Scaffolding {
         }
 
         if(!this.isContract(contractName)){
-            return new Error("contract '" + contractName + "' does not exist");
+            throw new Error("contract '" + contractName + "' does not exist");
         }
 
-        const contract = contractConfiguration.contracts[contractName];
-        build(contract);
+        this.engine.events.request("contracts:list", (_err, contractsList) => {
+            if(_err) throw new Error(_err);
+
+            const contract = contractsList.find(x => x.className === contractName);
+            build(contract);
+        });
     }
 }