diff --git a/doc2man/config.py b/doc2man/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..124d499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc2man/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+"""Configuration file handling for Doc2Man."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
+
+import yaml
+
+
+def find_config_file(start_path: Path = Path.cwd()) -> Optional[Path]:
+    """Find configuration file starting from the given path."""
+    search_paths = [
+        ".doc2man.yaml",
+        ".doc2man.yml",
+        "doc2man.yaml",
+        "doc2man.yml",
+        "pyproject.toml",
+    ]
+
+    current = start_path
+    while current != current.parent:
+        for config_name in search_paths:
+            config_path = current / config_name
+            if config_path.exists():
+                return config_path
+        current = current.parent
+
+    return None
+
+
+def load_config(config_path: Optional[str] = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Load configuration from file."""
+    if config_path is None:
+        config_path = find_config_file()
+        if config_path is None:
+            return {}
+    else:
+        config_path = Path(config_path)
+
+    config_path = config_path.resolve()
+
+    if not config_path.exists():
+        return {}
+
+    if config_path.name == "pyproject.toml":
+        return load_pyproject_config(config_path)
+    else:
+        return load_yaml_config(config_path)
+
+
+def load_yaml_config(config_path: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Load configuration from YAML file."""
+    try:
+        with open(config_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            config = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+        return config.get("doc2man", config)
+    except yaml.YAMLError as e:
+        raise ValueError(f"Error parsing configuration file {config_path}: {e}")
+    except IOError as e:
+        raise ValueError(f"Error reading configuration file {config_path}: {e}")
+
+
+def load_pyproject_config(config_path: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Load configuration from pyproject.toml."""
+    try:
+        import tomli
+
+        with open(config_path, "rb") as f:
+            pyproject = tomli.load(f)
+
+        tool_section = pyproject.get("tool", {})
+        doc2man_section = tool_section.get("doc2man", {})
+
+        return doc2man_section
+
+    except ImportError:
+        import configparser
+
+        config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+        config.read(config_path)
+
+        if "doc2man" in config:
+            return dict(config["doc2man"])
+
+        return {}
+
+
+def save_config(config: Dict[str, Any], config_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Save configuration to file."""
+    with open(config_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        yaml.dump({"doc2man": config}, f, default_flow_style=False, indent=2)
+
+
+def merge_configs(base_config: Dict[str, Any], override_config: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Merge two configurations, with override taking precedence."""
+    merged = base_config.copy()
+    for key, value in override_config.items():
+        if isinstance(value, dict) and key in merged and isinstance(merged[key], dict):
+            merged[key] = merge_configs(merged[key], value)
+        else:
+            merged[key] = value
+    return merged
+
+
+def validate_config(config: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[str]:
+    """Validate configuration and return list of warnings."""
+    warnings = []
+
+    valid_formats = ["man", "markdown", "html"]
+    if "format" in config and config["format"] not in valid_formats:
+        warnings.append(f"Invalid format '{config['format']}', must be one of {valid_formats}")
+
+    if "input" in config and not isinstance(config["input"], list):
+        warnings.append("'input' must be a list of paths")
+
+    if "output" in config and not isinstance(config["output"], str):
+        warnings.append("'output' must be a string path")
+
+    if "exclusions" in config and not isinstance(config["exclusions"], list):
+        warnings.append("'exclusions' must be a list of patterns")
+
+    return warnings