diff --git a/apps/persist.lua b/apps/persist.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13eb2f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/persist.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+-- saves a virtual file to disk
+
+_G.requireInjector(_ENV)
+
+local Util = require('util')
+
+local shell = _ENV.shell
+
+local args = { ... }
+local fileName = args[1] or error('Syntax: persist <file name>')
+
+local c = Util.readFile(shell.resolve(fileName)) or error('Unable to open file')
+Util.writeFile(shell.resolve(fileName), c)
+
+print('Saved')