diff --git a/src/bin/ent/main.rs b/src/bin/ent/main.rs
index d26dc3c..187d067 100644
--- a/src/bin/ent/main.rs
+++ b/src/bin/ent/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use clap::Parser;
 
+use entomologist::issue::State;
 #[cfg(feature = "log")]
 use simple_logger;
 
@@ -32,6 +33,9 @@ enum Commands {
 
     /// Show the full description of an issue.
     Show { issue_id: String },
+
+    /// Modify the state of an issue
+    State { issue_id: String, new_state: Option<State> },
 }
 
 fn handle_command(args: &Args, issues_dir: &std::path::Path) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
@@ -82,6 +86,31 @@ fn handle_command(args: &Args, issues_dir: &std::path::Path) -> anyhow::Result<(
                 }
             }
         }
+        Commands::State { issue_id, new_state } => {
+            let mut issues =
+                entomologist::issues::Issues::new_from_dir(std::path::Path::new(issues_dir))?;
+            match issues.issues.get_mut(issue_id) {
+                Some(issue) => {
+                   let current_state = issue.state.clone();
+
+                    match new_state {
+                        Some(s) => {
+                            issue.set_state(s.clone())?;
+                            println!("issue: {}", issue_id);
+                            println!("state: {} -> {}", current_state, s);
+                        }
+                        None => {
+                            println!("issue: {}", issue_id);
+                            println!("state: {}", current_state);
+                        }
+                    }
+                   
+                }
+                None => {
+                    println!("issue {} not found", issue_id);
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     Ok(())
diff --git a/src/issue.rs b/src/issue.rs
index 8031300..61f7072 100644
--- a/src/issue.rs
+++ b/src/issue.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
+use core::fmt;
 use std::io::Write;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "log")]
 use log::debug;
 
-#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, serde::Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, serde::Deserialize)]
 /// These are the states an issue can be in.
 pub enum State {
     New,
@@ -62,6 +63,21 @@ impl FromStr for State {
     }
 }
 
+impl fmt::Display for State {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        let fmt_str = match self {
+            State::New => "new",
+            State::Backlog => "backlog",
+            State::Blocked => "blocked",
+            State::InProgress => "inprogress",
+            State::Done => "done",
+            State::WontDo => "wontdo",
+            
+        };
+        write!(f, "{fmt_str}")
+    }
+}
+
 impl Issue {
     pub fn new_from_dir(dir: &std::path::Path) -> Result<Self, IssueError> {
         let mut description: Option<String> = None;
@@ -157,6 +173,23 @@ impl Issue {
             None => self.description.as_str(),
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn set_state(&mut self, new_state: State) -> Result<(), IssueError> {
+        let mut state_filename = std::path::PathBuf::from(&self.dir);
+        state_filename.push("state");
+        let mut state_file = std::fs::File::create(&state_filename)?;
+        write!(state_file, "{}", new_state)?;
+        crate::git::git_commit_file(&state_filename)?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    pub fn read_state(&mut self) -> Result<(), IssueError> {
+        let mut state_filename = std::path::PathBuf::from(&self.dir);
+        state_filename.push("state");
+        let state_string = std::fs::read_to_string(state_filename)?;
+        self.state = State::from_str(state_string.trim())?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]