diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/StatusCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/StatusCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..879ae7578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/StatusCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *     Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Command;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputArgument;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputOption;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+use Composer\Downloader\VcsDownloader;
+
+/**
+ * @author Tiago Ribeiro <tiago.ribeiro@seegno.com>
+ * @author Rui Marinho <rui.marinho@seegno.com>
+ */
+class StatusCommand extends Command
+{
+    protected function configure()
+    {
+        $this
+            ->setName('status')
+            ->setDescription('Show a list of locally modified packages')
+            ->setHelp(<<<EOT
+The status command displays a list of packages that have
+been modified locally.
+
+EOT
+            )
+        ;
+    }
+
+    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        // init repos
+        $composer = $this->getComposer();
+        $installedRepo = $composer->getRepositoryManager()->getLocalRepository();
+
+        $dm = $composer->getDownloadManager();
+        $im = $composer->getInstallationManager();
+
+        $errors = array();
+
+        // list packages
+        foreach ($installedRepo->getPackages() as $package) {
+            $downloader = $dm->getDownloaderForInstalledPackage($package);
+
+            if ($downloader instanceof VcsDownloader) {
+                $targetDir = $im->getInstallPath($package);
+
+                if ($downloader->hasLocalChanges($targetDir)) {
+                    $errors[] = $targetDir;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // output errors/warnings
+        if (!$errors) {
+            $output->writeln('<info>No local changes</info>');
+        } else {
+            $output->writeln('<error>You have changes in the following packages:</error>');
+        }
+
+        foreach ($errors as $error) {
+            $output->writeln($error);
+        }
+
+        return $errors ? 1 : 0;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
index b58a7ab58..82bfa96b0 100755
--- a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ class Application extends BaseApplication
         $commands[] = new Command\ShowCommand();
         $commands[] = new Command\RequireCommand();
         $commands[] = new Command\DumpAutoloadCommand();
+        $commands[] = new Command\StatusCommand();
 
         if ('phar:' === substr(__FILE__, 0, 5)) {
             $commands[] = new Command\SelfUpdateCommand();
diff --git a/src/Composer/Downloader/GitDownloader.php b/src/Composer/Downloader/GitDownloader.php
index 06cf6fcd1..a5a101186 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Downloader/GitDownloader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Downloader/GitDownloader.php
@@ -63,6 +63,19 @@ class GitDownloader extends VcsDownloader
         $this->updateToCommit($path, $ref, $target->getPrettyVersion(), $target->getReleaseDate());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     */
+    public function hasLocalChanges($path)
+    {
+        $command = sprintf('cd %s && git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no', escapeshellarg($path));
+        if (0 !== $this->process->execute($command, $output)) {
+            throw new \RuntimeException('Failed to execute ' . $command . "\n\n" . $this->process->getErrorOutput());
+        }
+
+        return (bool) trim($output);
+    }
+
     protected function updateToCommit($path, $reference, $branch, $date)
     {
         $template = 'git checkout %s && git reset --hard %1$s';
@@ -124,21 +137,6 @@ class GitDownloader extends VcsDownloader
         throw new \RuntimeException('Failed to execute ' . $command . "\n\n" . $this->process->getErrorOutput());
     }
 
-    /**
-     * {@inheritDoc}
-     */
-    protected function enforceCleanDirectory($path)
-    {
-        $command = sprintf('cd %s && git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no', escapeshellarg($path));
-        if (0 !== $this->process->execute($command, $output)) {
-            throw new \RuntimeException('Failed to execute ' . $command . "\n\n" . $this->process->getErrorOutput());
-        }
-
-        if (trim($output)) {
-            throw new \RuntimeException('Source directory ' . $path . ' has uncommitted changes');
-        }
-    }
-
     /**
      * Runs a command doing attempts for each protocol supported by github.
      *
diff --git a/src/Composer/Downloader/HgDownloader.php b/src/Composer/Downloader/HgDownloader.php
index 7dc845a98..a2b4fe9df 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Downloader/HgDownloader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Downloader/HgDownloader.php
@@ -52,11 +52,10 @@ class HgDownloader extends VcsDownloader
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
-    protected function enforceCleanDirectory($path)
+    public function hasLocalChanges($path)
     {
         $this->process->execute(sprintf('cd %s && hg st', escapeshellarg($path)), $output);
-        if (trim($output)) {
-            throw new \RuntimeException('Source directory ' . $path . ' has uncommitted changes');
-        }
+
+        return (bool) trim($output);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Composer/Downloader/SvnDownloader.php b/src/Composer/Downloader/SvnDownloader.php
index 63f654221..2b4d77fee 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Downloader/SvnDownloader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Downloader/SvnDownloader.php
@@ -48,12 +48,11 @@ class SvnDownloader extends VcsDownloader
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
-    protected function enforceCleanDirectory($path)
+    public function hasLocalChanges($path)
     {
         $this->process->execute('svn status --ignore-externals', $output, $path);
-        if (preg_match('{^ *[^X ] +}m', $output)) {
-            throw new \RuntimeException('Source directory ' . $path . ' has uncommitted changes:'."\n\n".rtrim($output));
-        }
+
+        return preg_match('{^ *[^X ] +}m', $output);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Composer/Downloader/VcsDownloader.php b/src/Composer/Downloader/VcsDownloader.php
index d7c9f20c5..45ee17768 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Downloader/VcsDownloader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Downloader/VcsDownloader.php
@@ -83,6 +83,18 @@ abstract class VcsDownloader implements DownloaderInterface
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Guarantee that no changes have been made to the local copy
+     *
+     * @throws \RuntimeException if the directory is not clean
+     */
+    protected function enforceCleanDirectory($path)
+    {
+        if ($this->hasLocalChanges($path)) {
+            throw new \RuntimeException('Source directory ' . $path . ' has uncommitted changes.');
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Downloads specific package into specific folder.
      *
@@ -101,9 +113,10 @@ abstract class VcsDownloader implements DownloaderInterface
     abstract protected function doUpdate(PackageInterface $initial, PackageInterface $target, $path);
 
     /**
-     * Checks that no changes have been made to the local copy
+     * Checks for changes to the local copy
      *
-     * @throws \RuntimeException if the directory is not clean
+     * @param  string  $path package directory
+     * @return boolean       whether package has local changes
      */
-    abstract protected function enforceCleanDirectory($path);
+    abstract public function hasLocalChanges($path);
 }