diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cfd7255..0a7231b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ if (NOT DEFINED PARSI_MAIN_PROJECT)
 endif()
 
 project(parsi
-    DESCRIPTION "lightweight simple parser combinator"
+    DESCRIPTION "lightweight parser combinator"
     LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 option(PARSI_TESTS "build tests" ${PARSI_MAIN_PROJECT})
+option(PARSI_ENABLE_COVERAGE "enable code coverage" ${PARSI_MAIN_PROJECT})
 option(PARSI_DOCS "build docs" ${PARSI_MAIN_PROJECT})
 option(PARSI_EXAMPLES "build examples" ${PARSI_MAIN_PROJECT})
 option(PARSI_BENCHMARK "build benchmarks" OFF)
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ set(CMAKE_VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN ON)
 set(CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH ON)
 
 if (NOT DEFINED CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE AND NOT CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES)
-    set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release)
+    set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
 endif()
 
 if (NOT DEFINED CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY)
@@ -45,9 +46,22 @@ target_compile_features(${PROJECT_NAME}-options INTERFACE cxx_std_20)
 target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME}-options
     INTERFACE
         $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
-        $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>)
+        $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
+)
+
+if (PARSI_ENABLE_COVERAGE)
+    if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug")
+        message(WARNING "code-coverage with non-Debug build is inaccurate")
+    endif()
+    if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU" OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang")
+        target_compile_options(${PROJECT_NAME}-options INTERFACE --coverage -O0 -g)
+        target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}-options INTERFACE --coverage)
+        message(STATUS "added compiler flags to generate coverage report")
+    else()
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "no known rule to add coverage to compiler: ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}")
+    endif()
+endif()
 
-# TODO decide whether to go header-only or not.
 add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE)
 add_library(${PROJECT_NAME}::${PROJECT_NAME} ALIAS ${PROJECT_NAME})
 target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE ${PROJECT_NAME}-options)
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index 2b9bf3a..e0aa04c 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -162,6 +162,16 @@
             "displayName": "Linux x64 Release",
             "configurePreset": "linux-x64-release"
         },
+        {
+            "name": "linux-x64-debug",
+            "displayName": "Linux x64 Debug",
+            "configurePreset": "linux-x64-debug"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Linux-x64-release",
+            "displayName": "Linux x64 Release",
+            "configurePreset": "linux-x64-release"
+        },
         {
             "name": "android-arm-debug",
             "displayName": "Android ARM32 Debug",
diff --git a/include/parsi/parsi.hpp b/include/parsi/parsi.hpp
index 82d5bc2..b792054 100644
--- a/include/parsi/parsi.hpp
+++ b/include/parsi/parsi.hpp
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 
 namespace parsi {
 
+inline bool sample() {
+    return true;
+}
+
 }  // namespace parsi
 
 #endif  // PARSI_PARSI_HPP
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 9e4a386..86be8e2 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}-tests
         ${PROJECT_NAME}
         ${PROJECT_NAME}-options
         Catch2::Catch2
-        Catch2::Catch2WithMain)
+        Catch2::Catch2WithMain
+)
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${catch2_SOURCE_DIR}/extras)
 
@@ -19,3 +20,27 @@ include(Catch)
 if (NOT ANDROID)
     catch_discover_tests(${PROJECT_NAME}-tests)
 endif()
+
+if (PARSI_ENABLE_COVERAGE)
+    find_program(GCOVR_PROGRAM gcovr REQUIRED)
+
+    set(COVERAGE_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/coverage)
+
+    add_custom_target(coverage
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory ${COVERAGE_DIR}
+        COMMAND ctest --output-on-failure
+	    COMMAND ${GCOVR_PROGRAM}
+                -r "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include"
+                --print-summary
+                --fail-under-line 70
+                --fail-under-branch 70
+                --html "${COVERAGE_DIR}/index.html" --html-details
+                --xml "${COVERAGE_DIR}/coverage.xml"
+                --json "${COVERAGE_DIR}/coverage.json"
+                --object-directory=${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}
+        DEPENDS ${PROJECT_NAME}-tests
+        BYPRODUCTS ${COVERAGE_DIR}/coverage.xml
+        VERBATIM
+    )
+endif()
diff --git a/tests/sample.cpp b/tests/sample.cpp
index a914a7d..566ee58 100644
--- a/tests/sample.cpp
+++ b/tests/sample.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <catch2/catch_all.hpp>
 
+#include "parsi/parsi.hpp"
+
 TEST_CASE("sample") {
-    CHECK(true);
+    CHECK(parsi::sample());
 }
-