diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index d1191cabec..929526c549 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ New Features
 
 - The ``specviz.load_spectrum`` method is deprecated; use ``specviz.load_data`` instead. [#2273]
 
+- Add first-pass launcher to select config and auto-identify data. [#2257]
+
 Cubeviz
 ^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 4719445abb..3a6ccd47ed 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ from a terminal, type:
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     jdaviz --help
-    jdaviz specviz /path/to/data/spectral_file
+    jdaviz --layout=specviz /path/to/data/spectral_file
 
 For more information on the command line interfaces for each tool, see the
 `Jdaviz docs <https://jdaviz.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html>`_.
diff --git a/docs/cubeviz/import_data.rst b/docs/cubeviz/import_data.rst
index b421dd3199..555ae61e84 100644
--- a/docs/cubeviz/import_data.rst
+++ b/docs/cubeviz/import_data.rst
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ a data product is optional:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz cubeviz /my/directory/cube.fits
+    jdaviz --layout=cubeviz /my/directory/cube.fits
 
 .. _cubeviz-import-gui:
 
diff --git a/docs/imviz/import_data.rst b/docs/imviz/import_data.rst
index 6d23609109..0ad3995623 100644
--- a/docs/imviz/import_data.rst
+++ b/docs/imviz/import_data.rst
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Multiple data files may be provided:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz imviz /my/image/data1.fits /my/image/data2.fits
+    jdaviz --layout=imviz /my/image/data1.fits /my/image/data2.fits
 
 .. _imviz-import-gui:
 
diff --git a/docs/mosviz/import_data.rst b/docs/mosviz/import_data.rst
index ed0f513af2..fd0b7ab026 100644
--- a/docs/mosviz/import_data.rst
+++ b/docs/mosviz/import_data.rst
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ Similarly, an instrument keyword can be specified by the command line. For NIRSp
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz mosviz /path/to/my/data --instrument=nirspec
+    jdaviz --layout=mosviz /path/to/my/data --instrument=nirspec
 
 and for NIRISS:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz mosviz /path/to/my/data --instrument=niriss
+    jdaviz --layout=mosviz /path/to/my/data --instrument=niriss
 
 Specifying a data directory and an instrument are required to start Mosviz from the command line.
 If a directory is entered without specifying an instrument, Mosviz will
diff --git a/docs/mosviz/index.rst b/docs/mosviz/index.rst
index 64adb21405..58d747f8bb 100644
--- a/docs/mosviz/index.rst
+++ b/docs/mosviz/index.rst
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ To load a sample `NIRISS Nirspec Data Set <https://stsci.box.com/shared/static/o
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz mosviz /path/to/mosviz_nirspec_data_0.3/level3
+    jdaviz --layout=mosviz /path/to/mosviz_nirspec_data_0.3/level3
 
 Or to load in a Jupyter notebook, see the :gh-notebook:`MosvizExample` or :gh-notebook:`MosvizNIRISSExample`.
 
diff --git a/docs/specviz/import_data.rst b/docs/specviz/import_data.rst
index e1e10303b2..7ffc810edf 100644
--- a/docs/specviz/import_data.rst
+++ b/docs/specviz/import_data.rst
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ a data file is optional, and multiple data files may be provided:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz specviz /my/directory/spectrum1.fits /my/directory/spectrum2.fits
+    jdaviz --layout=specviz /my/directory/spectrum1.fits /my/directory/spectrum2.fits
 
 .. _specviz-import-gui:
 
diff --git a/docs/specviz2d/import_data.rst b/docs/specviz2d/import_data.rst
index e3501e70a3..8590d719f0 100644
--- a/docs/specviz2d/import_data.rst
+++ b/docs/specviz2d/import_data.rst
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ spectrum object and will automatically extract the 1D spectrum):
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    jdaviz specviz2d /my/directory/spectrum1.fits /my/directory/spectrum2.fits
+    jdaviz --layout=specviz2d /my/directory/spectrum1.fits /my/directory/spectrum2.fits
 
 
 .. _specviz2d-import-gui:
diff --git a/jdaviz/cli.py b/jdaviz/cli.py
index 4f569e7f00..b088cf3522 100644
--- a/jdaviz/cli.py
+++ b/jdaviz/cli.py
@@ -60,7 +60,12 @@ def main(filepaths=None, layout='default', instrument=None, browser='default',
     else:
         file_list = []
 
-    with open(JDAVIZ_DIR / "jdaviz_cli.ipynb") as f:
+    if len(file_list) == 0 and layout == '':
+        notebook = "jdaviz_cli_launcher.ipynb"
+    else:
+        notebook = "jdaviz_cli.ipynb"
+
+    with open(JDAVIZ_DIR / notebook) as f:
         notebook_template = f.read()
 
     start_dir = os.path.abspath('.')
@@ -111,8 +116,8 @@ def _main(config=None):
                                      'loaded from FILENAME.')
     filepaths_nargs = '*'
     if config is None:
-        parser.add_argument('layout', choices=['cubeviz', 'specviz', 'specviz2d',
-                                               'mosviz', 'imviz'],
+        parser.add_argument('--layout', default='', choices=['cubeviz', 'specviz', 'specviz2d',
+                                                             'mosviz', 'imviz'],
                             help='Configuration to use.')
     if (config == "mosviz") or ("mosviz" in sys.argv):
         filepaths_nargs = 1
diff --git a/jdaviz/core/launcher.py b/jdaviz/core/launcher.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f079b72582
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jdaviz/core/launcher.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import ipyvuetify as v
+from ipywidgets import jslink
+
+from jdaviz import configs as jdaviz_configs
+from jdaviz.core.data_formats import open as jdaviz_open
+
+
+def show_launcher(configs=['imviz', 'specviz', 'mosviz', 'cubeviz', 'specviz2d']):
+    main = v.Sheet(class_="mx-4", _metadata={'mount_id': 'content'})
+    main.children = []
+
+    # Create Intro Row
+    intro_row = v.Row()
+    welcome_text = v.Html(tag='h1', attributes={'title': 'a title'},
+                          children=['Welcome to Jdaviz'])
+    intro_row.children = [welcome_text]
+
+    # Filepath row
+    filepath_row = v.Row()
+    text_field = v.TextField(label="File Path", v_model=None)
+
+    def load_file(filepath):
+        if filepath:
+            helper = jdaviz_open(filepath, show=False)
+            main.children = [helper.app]
+
+    open_data_btn = v.Btn(class_="ma-2", outlined=True, color="primary",
+                          children=[v.Icon(children=["mdi-upload"])])
+    open_data_btn.on_event('click', lambda btn, event, data: load_file(btn.value))
+    jslink((text_field, 'v_model'), (open_data_btn, 'value'))
+
+    filepath_row.children = [text_field, open_data_btn]
+
+    # Config buttons
+    def create_config(config):
+        viz_class = getattr(jdaviz_configs, config.capitalize())
+        main.children = [viz_class().app]
+
+    btns = []
+    for config in configs:
+        config_btn = v.Btn(class_="ma-2", outlined=True, color="primary",
+                           children=[config.capitalize()])
+        config_btn.on_event('click', lambda btn, event, data: create_config(btn.children[0]))
+        btns.append(config_btn)
+
+    # Create button row
+    btn_row = v.Row()
+    btn_row.children = btns
+    main.children = [intro_row, filepath_row, btn_row]
+
+    return main
diff --git a/jdaviz/jdaviz_cli_launcher.ipynb b/jdaviz/jdaviz_cli_launcher.ipynb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a13d733066
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jdaviz/jdaviz_cli_launcher.ipynb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+{
+ "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "from jdaviz.core.launcher import show_launcher\n",
+    "\n",
+    "show_launcher()"
+   ]
+  }
+ ],
+ "metadata": {
+  "kernelspec": {
+   "display_name": "Python 3.10.10 ('envmain': venv)",
+   "language": "python",
+   "name": "python3"
+  },
+  "language_info": {
+   "codemirror_mode": {
+    "name": "ipython",
+    "version": 3
+   },
+   "file_extension": ".py",
+   "mimetype": "text/x-python",
+   "name": "python",
+   "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
+   "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
+   "version": "3.10.10"
+  },
+  "vscode": {
+   "interpreter": {
+    "hash": "f917e879dca01012f092e44ceeb72fc316d3b188a12a493299dc2bd49905dadb"
+   }
+  }
+ },
+ "nbformat": 4,
+ "nbformat_minor": 2
+}
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 246618afa1..585361e9c1 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ jdaviz = [
     "configs/*/*/*/*.vue",
     "configs/*/*.yaml",
     "jdaviz_cli.ipynb",
+    "jdaviz_cli_launcher.ipynb",
 ]
 "jdaviz.configs.imviz.tests" = [
     "data/*",