diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorer.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorer.ts
index 037163de..4dd8c01f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorer.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorer.ts
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ export const explorerCommand: CommandModule = {
   describe: "Explorer commands",
   builder: async (yargs) => {
     const { explorerStartCommand } = await import("./explorerStart");
+    const { explorerStopCommand } = await import("./explorerStop");
 
     return yargs
       .command(explorerStartCommand)
+      .command(explorerStopCommand)
       .demandCommand(
         1,
         "You must specify a subcommand. Use --help to see available options."
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorerStop.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorerStop.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3655e0cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/explorer/explorerStop.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { CommandModule } from "yargs";
+
+export const explorerStopCommand: CommandModule = {
+  command: "stop",
+  describe: "Stop the explorer UI",
+  handler: async () => {
+    try {
+      const { default: explorerStop } =
+        await import("../../scripts/explorer/stop");
+      await explorerStop();
+      process.exit(0);
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error("Failed to stop explorer:", error);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0fcfba12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { CommandModule } from "yargs";
+
+import type { InitArgs } from "../scripts/init";
+
+export const initCommand: CommandModule<{}, InitArgs> = {
+  command: "init [name]",
+  describe: "Create a new Protokit project from the starter-kit template",
+  builder: (yarg) =>
+    yarg.positional("name", {
+      type: "string",
+      default: "starter-kit",
+      describe: "Directory name for the new project",
+    }),
+  handler: async (args) => {
+    try {
+      const { default: init } = await import("../scripts/init");
+      await init({ name: args.name });
+      process.exit(0);
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error("Failed to initialize project:", error);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
index 7f60b14b..89793e55 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { wizardCommand } from "./commands/wizard";
 import { settlementCommand } from "./commands/settlement/settlement";
 import { lightnetCommand } from "./commands/lightnet/lightnet";
 import { bridgeCommand } from "./commands/bridge/bridge";
+import { initCommand } from "./commands/init";
 
 process.removeAllListeners("warning");
 process.env.NODE_NO_WARNINGS = "1";
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ await yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
   .command(settlementCommand)
   .command(lightnetCommand)
   .command(bridgeCommand)
+  .command(initCommand)
   .demandCommand(
     1,
     "You must specify a command. Use --help to see available commands."
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/start.ts b/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/start.ts
index b84105c9..a9e129ef 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/start.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/start.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,15 @@ async function runDockerContainer(args: {
   const { port = 5003, explorerImage } = args;
   console.log(`\nExplorer is running at http://localhost:${port}\n`);
 
-  const dockerArgs = ["run", "--rm", "-p", `${port}:3000`];
+  const dockerArgs = [
+    "run",
+    "-d",
+    "--rm",
+    "--name",
+    "protokit-explorer",
+    "-p",
+    `${port}:3000`,
+  ];
 
   if (args.indexerUrl !== undefined) {
     dockerArgs.push("-e", `NEXT_PUBLIC_INDEXER_URL=${args.indexerUrl}`);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/stop.ts b/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/stop.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db229407
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/scripts/explorer/stop.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { spawn } from "child_process";
+
+const CONTAINER_NAME = "protokit-explorer";
+
+async function stopDockerContainer(): Promise<void> {
+  return await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+    console.log("Stopping explorer container...");
+    const child = spawn("docker", ["stop", CONTAINER_NAME], {
+      stdio: "inherit",
+    });
+
+    child.on("error", (error) => {
+      console.error("Failed to stop explorer container:", error);
+      reject(error);
+    });
+
+    child.on("exit", (code) => {
+      if (code !== null && code !== 0) {
+        reject(
+          new Error(`Failed to stop explorer container (exit code ${code})`)
+        );
+      } else {
+        console.log("Explorer container stopped successfully");
+        resolve();
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+export default async function (): Promise<void> {
+  try {
+    await stopDockerContainer();
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Failed to stop explorer:", error);
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/scripts/init.ts b/packages/cli/src/scripts/init.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf5caeb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/scripts/init.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { spawn } from "child_process";
+
+const STARTER_KIT_REPO = "https://github.com/proto-kit/starter-kit.git";
+
+export interface InitArgs {
+  name?: string;
+}
+
+export default async function (args: InitArgs): Promise<void> {
+  const targetDir = args.name ?? "starter-kit";
+
+  console.log(`\nCloning starter-kit into ./${targetDir}...\n`);
+
+  return await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+    const child = spawn("git", ["clone", STARTER_KIT_REPO, targetDir], {
+      stdio: "inherit",
+    });
+
+    child.on("error", (error) => {
+      console.error("Failed to clone starter-kit:", error);
+      reject(error);
+    });
+
+    child.on("exit", (code) => {
+      if (code !== null && code !== 0) {
+        reject(new Error(`git clone failed with exit code ${code}`));
+      } else {
+        console.log(`\nProject created at ./${targetDir}`);
+        console.log("\nNext steps:");
+        console.log(`  cd ${targetDir}`);
+        console.log("  pnpm install");
+        console.log("  pnpm env:development prisma:generate");
+        console.log("  pnpm env:inmemory dev");
+        console.log("  ✨ You're all set. Enjoy coding! ✨");
+        console.log(
+          "\nFor more details, see the README.md in the project directory.\n"
+        );
+        resolve();
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}