diff --git a/src/image.rs b/src/image.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8d29c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/image.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+use std::fs;
+
+use crate::registry::{registry_base_dir, validate_image_name};
+use anyhow::Context;
+use clap::Subcommand;
+
+#[derive(Subcommand, Debug)]
+pub enum ImageCmd {
+    Ls,
+    Rm { image: String },
+}
+
+pub fn run(cmd: ImageCmd) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    match cmd {
+        ImageCmd::Ls => ls(),
+        ImageCmd::Rm { image } => rm(&image),
+    }
+}
+
+fn rm(image: &str) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
+    validate_image_name(image)?;
+    let image_dir = registry_base_dir()?.join(image);
+    fs::remove_dir_all(image_dir).context("Failed to remove image dir")?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn ls() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let dir = fs::read_dir(registry_base_dir()?)?;
+    for entry in dir {
+        let entry = entry?.file_name();
+        println!("  {}", entry.to_string_lossy());
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 6ea0d18..8cfaa91 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 mod build;
+mod image;
 mod qemu;
 mod registry;
 
 use anyhow::Result;
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 
+use crate::image::ImageCmd;
+
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
 #[command(about = "Build bootable initrd VMs from container images")]
 struct Cli {
@@ -27,6 +30,9 @@ enum Commands {
         /// Image tag / registry subdir name
         name: String,
     },
+    /// List slim images in the registry
+    #[command(subcommand)]
+    Image(ImageCmd),
 }
 
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
@@ -38,6 +44,9 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
         Commands::Run { name } => {
             qemu::run(&name)?;
         }
+        Commands::Image(cmd) => {
+            image::run(cmd)?;
+        }
     }
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/src/registry.rs b/src/registry.rs
index 6af2ed1..5a8e6bf 100644
--- a/src/registry.rs
+++ b/src/registry.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 //! Registry: local storage of built VM artifacts under
 //! `$XDG_DATA_HOME/slim-rs/registry/<image>/`.
 
-use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
-use std::path::PathBuf;
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow, bail};
+use std::{fs, io, path::PathBuf};
 
 /// Validate a user-supplied image name before it is used in a registry path.
 ///
@@ -26,30 +26,25 @@ pub(crate) fn validate_image_name(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+pub(crate) fn registry_base_dir() -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let base = xdg::BaseDirectories::with_prefix("slim-rs");
+    base.create_data_directory("registry")
+        .context("Failed to create XDG_DATA_HOME subdirectory")
+}
+
 pub(crate) fn registry_dir(image: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
     validate_image_name(image)?;
-    let base = xdg::BaseDirectories::with_prefix("slim-rs");
-    let initrd_path = base
-        .place_data_file(format!("registry/{image}/initrd"))
-        .context("Failed to write to XDG_DATA_HOME")?;
-    let reg_dir = initrd_path
-        .parent()
-        .expect("data file has a parent")
-        .to_owned();
+    let base = registry_base_dir()?;
+
+    let reg_dir = base.join(image);
+    fs::create_dir(&reg_dir)
+        .or_else(|e| {
+            (e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::AlreadyExists)
+                .then_some(())
+                .ok_or(e)
+        })
+        .with_context(|| anyhow!("Failed to create {reg_dir:?}"))?;
 
-    // Defense in depth: the constructed path must stay inside the registry.
-    let registry_root = base
-        .place_data_file("registry/.root-check")
-        .context("Failed to write to XDG_DATA_HOME")?
-        .parent()
-        .expect("data file has a parent")
-        .to_owned();
-    if !reg_dir.starts_with(&registry_root) {
-        bail!(
-            "invalid image name '{image}': registry path escapes {}",
-            registry_root.display()
-        );
-    }
     Ok(reg_dir)
 }