diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 343370f..62045fb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -437,6 +437,11 @@ if build_tools
                c_args: ['-DENABLE_PRIVATE_APIS'],
                include_directories: [include_directories('src', 'include')],
                install: false)
+    executable('compose',
+               'tools/compose.c',
+               dependencies: tools_dep,
+               include_directories: [include_directories('src', 'include')],
+               install: false)
     configh_data.set10('HAVE_XKBCLI_COMPILE_KEYMAP', true)
     executable('xkbcli-how-to-type',
                'tools/how-to-type.c',
diff --git a/tools/compose.c b/tools/compose.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b3ba64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/compose.c
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2021 Ran Benita <ran@unusedvar.com>
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+ * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
+ * to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
+ * the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
+ * and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
+ * Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice (including the next
+ * paragraph) shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the
+ * Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
+ * THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+ * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
+ * DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <getopt.h>
+#include <locale.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include "xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h"
+#include "xkbcommon/xkbcommon-compose.h"
+
+static void
+usage(FILE *fp, char *progname)
+{
+    fprintf(fp,
+            "Usage: %s [--locale LOCALE | --locale-from-env | --locale-from-setlocale]\n",
+            progname);
+    fprintf(fp,
+            "   --locale - specify the locale directly\n"
+            "   --locale-from-env - get the locale from the LC_ALL/LC_CTYPE/LANG environment variables (falling back to C)\n"
+            "   --locale-from-setlocale - get the locale using setlocale(3)\n"
+    );
+}
+
+int
+main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    int ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
+    struct xkb_context *ctx = NULL;
+    struct xkb_compose_table *compose_table = NULL;
+    const char *locale = NULL;
+    enum options {
+        OPT_LOCALE,
+        OPT_LOCALE_FROM_ENV,
+        OPT_LOCALE_FROM_SETLOCALE,
+    };
+    static struct option opts[] = {
+        {"locale",                required_argument,      0, OPT_LOCALE},
+        {"locale-from-env",       no_argument,            0, OPT_LOCALE_FROM_ENV},
+        {"locale-from-setlocale", no_argument,            0, OPT_LOCALE_FROM_SETLOCALE},
+        {0, 0, 0, 0},
+    };
+
+    setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+
+    while (1) {
+        int opt;
+        int option_index = 0;
+
+        opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, "h", opts, &option_index);
+        if (opt == -1)
+            break;
+
+        switch (opt) {
+        case OPT_LOCALE:
+            locale = optarg;
+            break;
+        case OPT_LOCALE_FROM_ENV:
+            locale = getenv("LC_ALL");
+            if (!locale)
+                locale = getenv("LC_CTYPE");
+            if (!locale)
+                locale = getenv("LANG");
+            if (!locale)
+                locale = "C";
+            break;
+        case OPT_LOCALE_FROM_SETLOCALE:
+            locale = setlocale(LC_CTYPE, NULL);
+            break;
+        case 'h':
+            usage(stdout, argv[0]);
+            return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+        case '?':
+            usage(stderr, argv[0]);
+            return EXIT_INVALID_USAGE;
+        }
+    }
+    if (locale == NULL) {
+        usage(stderr, argv[0]);
+        return EXIT_INVALID_USAGE;
+    }
+
+    ctx = xkb_context_new(XKB_CONTEXT_NO_FLAGS);
+    if (!ctx) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't create xkb context\n");
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    compose_table =
+        xkb_compose_table_new_from_locale(ctx, locale,
+                                          XKB_COMPOSE_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+    if (!compose_table) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't create compose from locale\n");
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    printf("Compiled successfully from locale %s\n", locale);
+
+out:
+    xkb_compose_table_unref(compose_table);
+    xkb_context_unref(ctx);
+
+    return ret;
+}