diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 283bbfb..d54b32f 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1309,7 +1309,6 @@
       "version": "1.0.10",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/argparse/-/argparse-1.0.10.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-o5Roy6tNG4SL/FOkCAN6RzjiakZS25RLYFrcMttJqbdd8BWrnA+fGz57iN5Pb06pvBGvl5gQ0B48dJlslXvoTg==",
-      "dev": true,
       "requires": {
         "sprintf-js": "~1.0.2"
       }
@@ -3716,6 +3715,11 @@
         "map-cache": "^0.2.2"
       }
     },
+    "fs-exists-sync": {
+      "version": "0.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-exists-sync/-/fs-exists-sync-0.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-mC1ok6+RjnLQjeyehnP/K1qNat0="
+    },
     "fs.realpath": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs.realpath/-/fs.realpath-1.0.0.tgz",
@@ -5226,8 +5230,7 @@
     "is-extendable": {
       "version": "0.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/is-extendable/-/is-extendable-0.1.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-YrEQ4omkcUGOPsNqYX1HLjAd/Ik=",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha1-YrEQ4omkcUGOPsNqYX1HLjAd/Ik="
     },
     "is-extglob": {
       "version": "2.1.1",
@@ -6094,8 +6097,7 @@
     "minimist": {
       "version": "0.0.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/minimist/-/minimist-0.0.8.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-hX/Kv8M5fSYluCKCYuhqp6ARsF0=",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha1-hX/Kv8M5fSYluCKCYuhqp6ARsF0="
     },
     "minimist-options": {
       "version": "3.0.2",
@@ -6132,7 +6134,6 @@
       "version": "0.5.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mkdirp/-/mkdirp-0.5.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-MAV0OOrGz3+MR2fzhkjWaX11yQM=",
-      "dev": true,
       "requires": {
         "minimist": "0.0.8"
       }
@@ -9278,8 +9279,7 @@
     "sprintf-js": {
       "version": "1.0.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/sprintf-js/-/sprintf-js-1.0.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-BOaSb2YolTVPPdAVIDYzuFcpfiw=",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha1-BOaSb2YolTVPPdAVIDYzuFcpfiw="
     },
     "sshpk": {
       "version": "1.16.1",
@@ -10362,6 +10362,49 @@
         "signal-exit": "^3.0.2"
       }
     },
+    "write-yaml": {
+      "version": "1.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/write-yaml/-/write-yaml-1.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-MUWWEZ0NuRJHy8g1vOADO24LoJ4=",
+      "requires": {
+        "extend-shallow": "^2.0.1",
+        "js-yaml": "^3.8.3",
+        "write": "^0.3.3"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "esprima": {
+          "version": "4.0.1",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/esprima/-/esprima-4.0.1.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-eGuFFw7Upda+g4p+QHvnW0RyTX/SVeJBDM/gCtMARO0cLuT2HcEKnTPvhjV6aGeqrCB/sbNop0Kszm0jsaWU4A=="
+        },
+        "extend-shallow": {
+          "version": "2.0.1",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/extend-shallow/-/extend-shallow-2.0.1.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-Ua99YUrZqfYQ6huvu5idaxxWiQ8=",
+          "requires": {
+            "is-extendable": "^0.1.0"
+          }
+        },
+        "js-yaml": {
+          "version": "3.13.0",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/js-yaml/-/js-yaml-3.13.0.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-pZZoSxcCYco+DIKBTimr67J6Hy+EYGZDY/HCWC+iAEA9h1ByhMXAIVUXMcMFpOCxQ/xjXmPI2MkDL5HRm5eFrQ==",
+          "requires": {
+            "argparse": "^1.0.7",
+            "esprima": "^4.0.0"
+          }
+        },
+        "write": {
+          "version": "0.3.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/write/-/write-0.3.3.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-Cc3FohVWB+4nn0XjjZGuKftqUXg=",
+          "requires": {
+            "fs-exists-sync": "^0.1.0",
+            "mkdirp": "^0.5.1"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "x-is-string": {
       "version": "0.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/x-is-string/-/x-is-string-0.1.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1d28824..aa6eeac 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -52,5 +52,8 @@
     "rollup-plugin-auto-external": "^2.0.0",
     "sinon": "^7.3.0",
     "travis-lint": "^1.0.0"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "write-yaml": "^1.0.0"
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1ab572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import writeYaml from '../third-party-wrappers/write-yaml';
+
+export default function ({projectRoot}) {
+  return writeYaml(
+    `${projectRoot}/.travis.yml`,
+    {language: 'generic', notifications: {email: false}, install: 'bpkg getdeps', script: 'make test'}
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/scaffolder.js b/src/scaffolder.js
index 57151d9..fc12573 100644
--- a/src/scaffolder.js
+++ b/src/scaffolder.js
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
-export default function () {
+import scaffoldConfig from './config';
+
+export default async function ({projectRoot}) {
+  await scaffoldConfig({projectRoot});
+
   return {};
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/config-test.js b/test/unit/config-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11fca43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/config-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import sinon from 'sinon';
+import {assert} from 'chai';
+import any from '@travi/any';
+import * as yamlWriter from '../../third-party-wrappers/write-yaml';
+import scaffoldConfig from '../../src/config';
+
+suite('config file generation', () => {
+  let sandbox;
+  const projectRoot = any.string();
+
+  setup(() => {
+    sandbox = sinon.createSandbox();
+
+    sandbox.stub(yamlWriter, 'default');
+
+    yamlWriter.default.resolves();
+  });
+
+  teardown(() => sandbox.restore());
+
+  test('that a base config is created for a shell project', async () => {
+    await scaffoldConfig({projectRoot});
+
+    assert.calledWith(
+      yamlWriter.default,
+      `${projectRoot}/.travis.yml`,
+      {
+        language: 'generic',
+        notifications: {email: false},
+        install: 'bpkg getdeps',
+        script: 'make test'
+      }
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/unit/scaffolder-test.js b/test/unit/scaffolder-test.js
index 3e7c5b0..e450a90 100644
--- a/test/unit/scaffolder-test.js
+++ b/test/unit/scaffolder-test.js
@@ -1,8 +1,24 @@
 import {assert} from 'chai';
+import any from '@travi/any';
+import sinon from 'sinon';
+import * as configScaffolder from '../../src/config';
 import {scaffold} from '../../src';
 
 suite('scaffolder', () => {
-  test('that the config is scaffolded', () => {
-    assert.deepEqual(scaffold(), {});
+  let sandbox;
+
+  setup(() => {
+    sandbox = sinon.createSandbox();
+
+    sandbox.stub(configScaffolder, 'default');
+  });
+
+  teardown(() => sandbox.restore());
+
+  test('that the config is scaffolded', async () => {
+    const projectRoot = any.string();
+
+    assert.deepEqual(await scaffold({projectRoot}), {});
+    assert.calledWith(configScaffolder.default, {projectRoot});
   });
 });
diff --git a/third-party-wrappers/write-yaml.js b/third-party-wrappers/write-yaml.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..300f04a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party-wrappers/write-yaml.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import {promisify} from 'util';
+import yaml from 'write-yaml';
+
+export default promisify(yaml);