diff --git a/tools/format.sh b/tools/format.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..adffb8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/format.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+cd $(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")
+
+autopep8 --exit-code --max-line-length=79 --experimental --in-place -r ../tempest ../setup.py && echo Formatting was not needed. >&2
+