diff --git a/crates/treehouse/src/cli.rs b/crates/treehouse/src/cli.rs
index 31bfe0e..9cf0937 100644
--- a/crates/treehouse/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/treehouse/src/cli.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ pub mod fix;
 pub mod generate;
 mod parse;
 pub mod serve;
+pub mod wc;
 
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ pub enum Command {
         serve: ServeArgs,
     },
 
+    /// Count words in the treehouse's branches.
+    Wc(#[clap(flatten)] WcArgs),
+
     /// Generates a new ulid and prints it to stdout.
     Ulid,
 }
@@ -75,6 +79,13 @@ pub struct ServeArgs {
     pub port: u16,
 }
 
+#[derive(Args)]
+pub struct WcArgs {
+    /// A list of paths to report the word counts of.
+    /// If no paths are provided, the entire tree is word-counted.
+    pub paths: Vec<PathBuf>,
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
 pub struct Paths<'a> {
     pub target_dir: &'a Path,
diff --git a/crates/treehouse/src/cli/wc.rs b/crates/treehouse/src/cli/wc.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd9e2cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/treehouse/src/cli/wc.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+use std::{ffi::OsStr, path::Path};
+
+use anyhow::Context;
+use treehouse_format::ast::{Branch, Roots};
+use walkdir::WalkDir;
+
+use crate::{
+    cli::parse::parse_tree_with_diagnostics,
+    state::{Source, Treehouse},
+};
+
+use super::WcArgs;
+
+fn wc_branch(source: &str, branch: &Branch) -> usize {
+    let word_count = source[branch.content.clone()].split_whitespace().count();
+    word_count
+        + branch
+            .children
+            .iter()
+            .map(|branch| wc_branch(source, branch))
+            .sum::<usize>()
+}
+
+fn wc_roots(source: &str, roots: &Roots) -> usize {
+    roots
+        .branches
+        .iter()
+        .map(|branch| wc_branch(source, branch))
+        .sum()
+}
+
+pub fn wc_cli(content_dir: &Path, mut wc_args: WcArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    if wc_args.paths.is_empty() {
+        for entry in WalkDir::new(content_dir) {
+            let entry = entry?;
+            if entry.file_type().is_file() && entry.path().extension() == Some(OsStr::new("tree")) {
+                wc_args.paths.push(entry.into_path());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut treehouse = Treehouse::new();
+
+    let mut total = 0;
+
+    for path in &wc_args.paths {
+        let file = std::fs::read_to_string(path)
+            .with_context(|| format!("cannot read file to word count: {path:?}"))?;
+        let path_without_ext = path.with_extension("");
+        let utf8_filename = path_without_ext
+            .strip_prefix(content_dir)
+            .expect("paths should be rooted within the content directory")
+            .to_string_lossy();
+
+        let file_id = treehouse.add_file(utf8_filename.into_owned(), Source::Other(file));
+        if let Ok(parsed) = parse_tree_with_diagnostics(&mut treehouse, file_id) {
+            let source = treehouse.source(file_id);
+            let word_count = wc_roots(source.input(), &parsed);
+            println!("{word_count:>8} {}", treehouse.filename(file_id));
+            total += word_count;
+        }
+    }
+
+    println!("{total:>8} total");
+
+    treehouse.report_diagnostics()?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/crates/treehouse/src/main.rs b/crates/treehouse/src/main.rs
index 7cd81b8..0e380d3 100644
--- a/crates/treehouse/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/treehouse/src/main.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use cli::{
     fix::{fix_all_cli, fix_file_cli},
     generate::regenerate_or_report_error,
     serve::serve,
+    wc::wc_cli,
     Command, Paths, ProgramArgs,
 };
 use log::{error, info, warn};
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ async fn fallible_main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         Command::Fix(fix_args) => fix_file_cli(fix_args)?,
         Command::FixAll(fix_args) => fix_all_cli(fix_args, &paths)?,
 
+        Command::Wc(wc_args) => wc_cli(paths.content_dir, wc_args)?,
+
         Command::Ulid => {
             let mut rng = rand::thread_rng();
             let ulid = ulid::Generator::new()
diff --git a/crates/treehouse/src/tree.rs b/crates/treehouse/src/tree.rs
index fc6fac5..ee11f9a 100644
--- a/crates/treehouse/src/tree.rs
+++ b/crates/treehouse/src/tree.rs
@@ -144,7 +144,6 @@ pub struct SemaBranch {
     pub file_id: FileId,
 
     pub indent_level: usize,
-    pub raw_attributes: Option<treehouse_format::pull::Attributes>,
     pub kind: BranchKind,
     pub kind_span: Range<usize>,
     pub content: Range<usize>,
@@ -170,7 +169,6 @@ impl SemaBranch {
         let branch = Self {
             file_id,
             indent_level: branch.indent_level,
-            raw_attributes: branch.attributes,
             kind: branch.kind,
             kind_span: branch.kind_span,
             content: branch.content,