diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index afd62d5..e472dce 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ Comfortable, seamless, and fast 3-finger (and 4-finger) touchpad swipe gestures
     ```
     comfortable-swipe restart
     ```
+6. You can check the status of your application by running
+    ```
+    comfortable-swipe status
+    ```
 
 ## Configurations
 Comfortable swipe makes use of keyboard shortcuts for configurations. The configuration file is located at `/usr/local/share/comfortable-swipe/comfortable-swipe.conf`. Make sure to run `comfortable-swipe restart` after making changes.
@@ -80,7 +84,13 @@ Refer to https://www.linux.org/threads/xdotool-keyboard.10528/ for a complete li
 
 ## Debugging
 
-You can check your touchpad driver by running `comfortable-swipe debug`. This is an alias of `libinput debug-events`. This logs all gestures you make on your touchpad, along with other input-based events that can be captured by libinput.
+You can check your touchpad driver by running
+
+```bash
+comfortable-swipe debug
+```
+
+This is an alias of `libinput debug-events`. This logs all gestures you make on your touchpad, along with other input-based events that can be captured by libinput.
 
 A working swipe gesture will show the following:
 
diff --git a/lib/gesture/swipe_gesture.cpp b/lib/gesture/swipe_gesture.cpp
index 7e4e20b..137d02a 100644
--- a/lib/gesture/swipe_gesture.cpp
+++ b/lib/gesture/swipe_gesture.cpp
@@ -198,14 +198,14 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::gesture
     const int swipe_gesture::MSK_VERTICAL = 4;
     const int swipe_gesture::FRESH = -1;
     const char * const swipe_gesture::command_map[8] = {
-        "left 3",
-        "left 4",
-        "right 3",
-        "right 4",
-        "up 3",
-        "up 4",
-        "down 3",
-        "down 4"
+        "left3",
+        "left4",
+        "right3",
+        "right4",
+        "up3",
+        "up4",
+        "down3",
+        "down4"
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/service/help.cpp b/lib/service/help.cpp
index 6514f24..73096aa 100644
--- a/lib/service/help.cpp
+++ b/lib/service/help.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::service
     void help()
     {
         using comfortable_swipe::util::conf_filename;
-        std::puts("comfortable-swipe [start|stop|restart|autostart|buffer|help|debug]");
+        std::puts("comfortable-swipe [start|stop|restart|autostart|buffer|help|debug|status]");
         std::puts("");
         std::puts("start      - starts 3/4-finger gesture service");
         std::puts("stop       - stops 3/4-finger gesture service");
diff --git a/lib/service/status.cpp b/lib/service/status.cpp
index 7894e76..8bbc82f 100644
--- a/lib/service/status.cpp
+++ b/lib/service/status.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <array> // std::array
 #include <cstdlib> // std::atoi
 #include <cstdio> // FILE, std::feof, std::fgets, std::printf
+#include <regex> // std::cmatch, std::regex, std::regex_match
 
 namespace comfortable_swipe::service
 {
@@ -52,6 +53,44 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::service
         // print status
         std::printf("program is %s\n", running ? "ON" : "OFF");
         std::printf("autostart is %s\n", autostart_on ? "ON" : "OFF");
+        std::printf("config file at %s\n", comfortable_swipe::util::conf_filename());
+
+        // check status of configuration file
+        try
+        {
+            auto config = comfortable_swipe::util::read_config_file(comfortable_swipe::util::conf_filename());
+
+            // print keys and values of config file
+            std::printf("\nConfigurations:\n");
+
+            // print threshold
+            if (config.count("threshold") > 0)
+            {
+                auto & threshold = config["threshold"];
+
+                // check if regex pattern matches threshold
+                std::cmatch matches;
+                bool ok = (std::regex_match(threshold.data(), matches, std::regex("^\\d+(?:\\.\\d+)??$")) != 0);
+
+                // print status of threshold
+                std::printf("    %9s is %s  (%s)\n", "threshold", ok ? "OK" : "INVALID", threshold.data());
+            }
+            else
+                std::printf("    %9s is OFF\n", "threshold");
+
+            // print swipe commands
+            for (auto &command : comfortable_swipe::gesture::swipe_gesture::command_map)
+            {
+                if (config.count(command) > 0)
+                    std::printf("    %9s is OK  (%s)\n", command, config[command].data());
+                else
+                    std::printf("    %9s is OFF\n", command);
+            }
+        }
+        catch (const std::runtime_error& e)
+        {
+            std::printf("config error: %s\n", e.what());
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/util/read_config_file.cpp b/lib/util/read_config_file.cpp
index d3eafb7..9fd5f0b 100644
--- a/lib/util/read_config_file.cpp
+++ b/lib/util/read_config_file.cpp
@@ -22,32 +22,33 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include <map> // std::map
 #include <string> // std::string
 #include <fstream> // std::ifstream
-#include <iostream> // std::cerr, std::endl, std::getline
+#include <sstream> // std::ostringstream
+#include <iostream> // std::endl, std::getline
 #include <cstdlib> // exit
 #include <cctype> // std::isspace
+#include <stdexcept> // std::runtime_error
 
 namespace comfortable_swipe::util
 {
     /**
      * A utility method for reading the config file.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param filename (const char*) the path of the config file.
      */
     std::map<std::string, std::string> read_config_file(const char* filename)
     {
-        
+
         std::map<std::string, std::string> conf;
         std::ifstream fin(filename);
 
         if (!fin.is_open())
         {
-            std::cerr << "file \"" << filename << "\" does not exist!" << std::endl;
-            exit(1);
+            throw std::runtime_error("config file does not exist");
         }
 
         static std::string line, token[2];
         int line_number = 0;
-        
+
         while (std::getline(fin, line))
         {
             ++line_number;
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::util
             token[1].clear();
             int length = line.length();
             int equal_flag = 0;
-            
+
             // tokenize comfig config
             for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i)
             {
@@ -65,9 +66,10 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::util
                 {
                     if (++equal_flag > 1)
                     {
-                        std::cerr << "error in conf file " << filename << std::endl;
-                        std::cerr << "multiple equal signs in line " << line_number << std::endl;
-                        exit(1);
+                        std::ostringstream stream;
+                        stream << "error in conf file " << filename << std::endl;
+                        stream << "multiple equal signs in line " << line_number << std::endl;
+                        throw std::runtime_error(stream.str());
                     }
                 }
                 else if (!std::isspace(line[i]))
@@ -84,16 +86,17 @@ namespace comfortable_swipe::util
             // no equal sign found in non-empty line
             if (equal_flag == 0)
             {
-                std::cerr << "error in conf file: " << filename << std::endl;
-                std::cerr << "equal sign expected in line " << line_number << std::endl;
-                exit(1);
+                std::ostringstream stream;
+                stream << "error in conf file: " << filename << std::endl;
+                stream << "equal sign expected in line " << line_number << std::endl;
+                throw std::runtime_error(stream.str());
             }
 
             // equal sign found, add to tokens
             if (token[1].length() > 0)
                 conf[token[0]] = token[1];
         }
-        
+
         return conf;
     }
 }