diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6db2fdac..1c16220d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ To build and test this repository, you need:
   - [protoc](https://grpc.io/docs/protoc-installation/) 
   - [Protocol Buffers for Go with Gadgets](https://github.com/gogo/protobuf)
 
+To enable the git hooks:
+
+```bash
+git config core.hooksPath hooks
+```
 
 ## License
 Licensed and distributed under either of
diff --git a/hooks/pre-commit b/hooks/pre-commit
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c031f505
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hooks/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "Running pre commit hook"
+
+## this will retrieve all of the .go files that have been 
+## changed since the last commit
+STAGED_GO_FILES=$(git diff --cached --name-only -- '*.go')
+
+## we can check to see if this is empty
+if [[ $STAGED_GO_FILES == "" ]]; then
+    echo "No Go Files to Update"
+else
+    for file in $STAGED_GO_FILES; do
+        ## format our file
+        go fmt $file
+        ## add any potential changes from our formatting to the 
+        ## commit
+        git add $file
+    done
+fi
+
+if go mod tidy -v 2>&1 | grep -q 'updates to go.mod needed'; then
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+git diff --exit-code go.* &> /dev/null
+
+if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
+    echo "go.mod or go.sum differs, please re-add it to your commit"
+
+    exit 1
+fi
\ No newline at end of file