diff --git a/.Rbuildignore b/.Rbuildignore
index c784cbd..3a65ed9 100644
--- a/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/.Rbuildignore
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@
 ^src/\.cargo$
 ^README\.Rmd$
 ^LICENSE\.md$
+^src/rust/vendor$
+^\.github$
diff --git a/.github/.gitignore b/.github/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d19fc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.html
diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3ac618
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Workflow derived from https://github.com/r-lib/actions/tree/v2/examples
+# Need help debugging build failures? Start at https://github.com/r-lib/actions#where-to-find-help
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main, master]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main, master]
+
+name: R-CMD-check
+
+jobs:
+  R-CMD-check:
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.config.os }}
+
+    name: ${{ matrix.config.os }} (${{ matrix.config.r }})
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        config:
+          - {os: macos-latest,   r: 'release'}
+          - {os: windows-latest, r: 'release'}
+          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'devel', http-user-agent: 'release'}
+          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'release'}
+          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'oldrel-1'}
+
+    env:
+      GITHUB_PAT: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      R_KEEP_PKG_SOURCE: yes
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-pandoc@v2
+
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
+        with:
+          r-version: ${{ matrix.config.r }}
+          http-user-agent: ${{ matrix.config.http-user-agent }}
+          use-public-rspm: true
+
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
+        with:
+          extra-packages: any::rcmdcheck
+          needs: check
+
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/check-r-package@v2
+        with:
+          upload-snapshots: true
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cd67eac..dd01e11 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 .Rproj.user
+src/rust/vendor
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 79fcb03..60ccb03 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export(decode_file)
 export(encode)
 export(encode_file)
 export(engine)
+export(new_alphabet)
 export(new_config)
 export(new_engine)
 importFrom(blob,blob)
diff --git a/R/alphabet.R b/R/alphabet.R
index 34a624e..c46ff1a 100644
--- a/R/alphabet.R
+++ b/R/alphabet.R
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ alphabet <- function(which = "standard") {
   structure(alphabet_(which), class = "alphabet")
 }
 
+#' @export
 #' @rdname alphabet
 new_alphabet <- function(chars) {
   n <- nchar(chars)
diff --git a/R/config.R b/R/config.R
index a2725ee..a3bcfaf 100644
--- a/R/config.R
+++ b/R/config.R
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 #' @param decode_padding_mode default `"canonical"`. Other values are `"indifferent"` and `"none"`. See details for more.
 #' @export
 #' @return an object of class `engine_config`
+#' @examples
+#' # create a new nonsensicle config
+#' new_config(FALSE, TRUE, "none")
 new_config <- function(
     encode_padding = TRUE,
     decode_padding_trailing_bits = FALSE,
@@ -38,14 +41,10 @@ new_config <- function(
   structure(res, class = "engine_config")
 }
 
-# shoddy print method for the time being
-
 #' @export
 print.engine_config <- function(x, ...) {
   y <- print_config_(x)
-  # z <- trimws(strsplit(y, "\n")[[1]][2:4])
   cat("<engine_config>\n")
-  # cat(gsub(",", "", z), sep = "\n")
   invisible(x)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/encode.R b/R/encode.R
index 8a49bae..1fb3aac 100644
--- a/R/encode.R
+++ b/R/encode.R
@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@
 #' and blob vector the same length as `what`, respectively.
 #' @export
 #' @name encode
+#' @examples
+#' # encode hello world
+#' encoded <- encode("Hello world")
+#' encoded
+#'
+#' # decode to a blob
+#' decoded <- decode(encoded)
+#' decoded
+#'
+#' # convert back to a character
+#' rawToChar(decoded[[1]])
 encode <- function(what, eng = engine()) {
   n <- length(what)
   if (inherits(what, "raw") || (n == 1 & inherits(what, "character"))) {
diff --git a/R/engine.R b/R/engine.R
index 383b35a..4da4ba1 100644
--- a/R/engine.R
+++ b/R/engine.R
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 #'
 #' @param which default `"standard"`. The base64 encoding engine to be used.
 #'  See details for more.
-#' @param .alphabet an object of class `alphabet` as created with [`alphabet()`] or [`new_alphabet()`]
+#' @param .alphabet an object of class `alphabet` as created with
+#'  [`alphabet()`] or [`new_alphabet()`]
+#' @param .config an object of class `engine_config` as created with
+#'  [new_config()]
 #' @details
 #'
 #' ## Engines
diff --git a/README.Rmd b/README.Rmd
index 359bec1..9eb343d 100644
--- a/README.Rmd
+++ b/README.Rmd
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ knitr::opts_chunk$set(
 # b64
 
 <!-- badges: start -->
+[![R-CMD-check](https://github.com/extendr/b64/actions/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/extendr/b64/actions/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml)
 <!-- badges: end -->
 
 The goal of b64 is to provide a very fast, lightweight, and vectorized base64 encoder and decoder. 
diff --git a/configure b/configure
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d656e00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configure
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# https://github.com/eitsupi/prqlr/blob/main/configure
+export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin"
+
+if [ ! "$(command -v cargo)" ]; then
+    echo "----------------------- [RUST NOT FOUND]---------------------------"
+    echo "The 'cargo' command was not found on the PATH. Please install rustc"
+    echo "from: https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install"
+    echo ""
+    echo "Alternatively, you may install cargo from your OS package manager:"
+    echo " - Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get install cargo"
+    echo " - Fedora/CentOS: dnf install cargo"
+    echo " - macOS: brew install rustc"
+    echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------"
+    echo ""
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/configure.win b/configure.win
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9b66ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configure.win
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# https://github.com/eitsupi/prqlr/blob/main/configure.win
+export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin"
+
+if [ ! "$(command -v cargo)" ]; then
+    echo "----------------------- [RUST NOT FOUND]---------------------------"
+    echo "The 'cargo' command was not found on the PATH. Please install rustc"
+    echo "from: https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install"
+    echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------"
+    echo ""
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/man/encode.Rd b/man/encode.Rd
index efcfb6c..17a435e 100644
--- a/man/encode.Rd
+++ b/man/encode.Rd
@@ -29,3 +29,15 @@ and blob vector the same length as \code{what}, respectively.
 \description{
 Encode and decode using base64
 }
+\examples{
+# encode hello world
+encoded <- encode("Hello world")
+encoded
+
+# decode to a blob
+decoded <- decode(encoded)
+decoded
+
+# convert back to a character
+rawToChar(decoded[[1]])
+}
diff --git a/man/engine.Rd b/man/engine.Rd
index 552749b..8f556d6 100644
--- a/man/engine.Rd
+++ b/man/engine.Rd
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@ new_engine(.alphabet = alphabet(), .config = new_config())
 \item{which}{default \code{"standard"}. The base64 encoding engine to be used.
 See details for more.}
 
-\item{.alphabet}{an object of class \code{alphabet} as created with \code{\link[=alphabet]{alphabet()}} or \code{\link[=new_alphabet]{new_alphabet()}}}
+\item{.alphabet}{an object of class \code{alphabet} as created with
+\code{\link[=alphabet]{alphabet()}} or \code{\link[=new_alphabet]{new_alphabet()}}}
+
+\item{.config}{an object of class \code{engine_config} as created with
+\code{\link[=new_config]{new_config()}}}
 }
 \description{
 Create an encoding engine
diff --git a/man/new_config.Rd b/man/new_config.Rd
index a1b980a..561c8c0 100644
--- a/man/new_config.Rd
+++ b/man/new_config.Rd
@@ -36,3 +36,7 @@ characters are also permitted
 }
 }
 }
+\examples{
+# create a new nonsensicle config
+new_config(FALSE, TRUE, "none")
+}
diff --git a/src/Makevars b/src/Makevars
index ab33d0c..34bac1b 100644
--- a/src/Makevars
+++ b/src/Makevars
@@ -7,9 +7,17 @@ all: C_clean
 
 $(SHLIB): $(STATLIB)
 
+CRAN_FLAGS=-j 2 --offline
 CARGOTMP = $(CURDIR)/.cargo
+VENDOR_DIR = $(CURDIR)/vendor
 
 $(STATLIB):
+	if [ -f ./rust/vendor.tar.xz ]; then \
+		tar xf rust/vendor.tar.xz && \
+		mkdir -p $(CARGOTMP) && \
+		cp rust/vendor-config.toml $(CARGOTMP)/config.toml; \
+	fi
+
 	# In some environments, ~/.cargo/bin might not be included in PATH, so we need
 	# to set it here to ensure cargo can be invoked. It is appended to PATH and
 	# therefore is only used if cargo is absent from the user's PATH.
@@ -17,14 +25,12 @@ $(STATLIB):
 		export CARGO_HOME=$(CARGOTMP); \
 	fi && \
 		export PATH="$(PATH):$(HOME)/.cargo/bin" && \
-		cargo build --lib --release --manifest-path=./rust/Cargo.toml --target-dir $(TARGET_DIR)
-	if [ "$(NOT_CRAN)" != "true" ]; then \
-		rm -Rf $(CARGOTMP) && \
-		rm -Rf $(LIBDIR)/build; \
-	fi
+			cargo build $(CRAN_FLAGS) --lib --release --manifest-path=./rust/Cargo.toml --target-dir $(TARGET_DIR) && \
+			echo `cargo --version` && echo `rustc --version`;
+		rm -Rf $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR) $(LIBDIR)/build; \
 
 C_clean:
-	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS)
+	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR)
 
 clean:
-	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) rust/target
+	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR) $(TARGET_DIR)
diff --git a/src/Makevars.win b/src/Makevars.win
index d55cab5..3f07c56 100644
--- a/src/Makevars.win
+++ b/src/Makevars.win
@@ -9,14 +9,29 @@ all: C_clean
 
 $(SHLIB): $(STATLIB)
 
+CRAN_FLAGS=-j 2 --offline
+CARGOTMP = $(CURDIR)/.cargo
+VENDOR_DIR = $(CURDIR)/vendor
+
+all: C_clean
+
+$(SHLIB): $(STATLIB)
+
+CRAN_FLAGS=-j 2 --offline
 CARGOTMP = $(CURDIR)/.cargo
 
 $(STATLIB):
+	# uncompress vendored deps
+	if [ -f ./rust/vendor.tar.xz ]; then \
+		tar xf rust/vendor.tar.xz && \
+		mkdir -p $(CARGOTMP) && \
+		cp rust/vendor-config.toml $(CARGOTMP)/config.toml; \
+	fi
+
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/libgcc_mock
 	# `rustc` adds `-lgcc_eh` flags to the compiler, but Rtools' GCC doesn't have
 	# `libgcc_eh` due to the compilation settings. So, in order to please the
 	# compiler, we need to add empty `libgcc_eh` to the library search paths.
-	#
 	# For more details, please refer to
 	# https://github.com/r-windows/rtools-packages/blob/2407b23f1e0925bbb20a4162c963600105236318/mingw-w64-gcc/PKGBUILD#L313-L316
 	touch $(TARGET_DIR)/libgcc_mock/libgcc_eh.a
@@ -26,15 +41,15 @@ $(STATLIB):
 		export CARGO_HOME=$(CARGOTMP); \
 	fi && \
 		export CARGO_TARGET_X86_64_PC_WINDOWS_GNU_LINKER="$(CARGO_LINKER)" && \
-		export LIBRARY_PATH="$${LIBRARY_PATH};$(CURDIR)/$(TARGET_DIR)/libgcc_mock" && \
-		cargo build --target=$(TARGET) --lib --release --manifest-path=./rust/Cargo.toml --target-dir $(TARGET_DIR)
+		export LIBRARY_PATH="$${LIBRARY_PATH};$(CURDIR)/$(TARGET_DIR)/libgcc_mock"; \
+		cargo build $(CRAN_FLAGS) --target=$(TARGET) --lib --release --manifest-path=./rust/Cargo.toml --target-dir $(TARGET_DIR) && \
+		echo `cargo --version` && echo `rustc --version`;
 	if [ "$(NOT_CRAN)" != "true" ]; then \
-		rm -Rf $(CARGOTMP) && \
-		rm -Rf $(LIBDIR)/build; \
+		rm -Rf $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR) $(LIBDIR)/build; \
 	fi
 
 C_clean:
-	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS)
+	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR)
 
 clean:
-	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) $(TARGET_DIR)
+	rm -Rf $(SHLIB) $(STATLIB) $(OBJECTS) $(CARGOTMP) $(VENDOR_DIR) $(TARGET_DIR)
diff --git a/src/rust/vendor-config.toml b/src/rust/vendor-config.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0236928
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/rust/vendor-config.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[source.crates-io]
+replace-with = "vendored-sources"
+
+[source.vendored-sources]
+directory = "vendor"
diff --git a/src/rust/vendor.tar.xz b/src/rust/vendor.tar.xz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac628b4
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/rust/vendor.tar.xz differ