diff --git a/utils/defaultConfig/defaults.yaml b/utils/defaultConfig/defaults.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6065fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/defaultConfig/defaults.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+opac:
+    lowTemp:
+        numeric:
+            maxIter: 10
+Probe:
+    GLVis:
+        Visualization: true
+        Host: localhost
+        Port: '19916'
+    LogManager:
+        DefaultLogName: 4DSSE.log
diff --git a/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.py b/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f7bb33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import os
+import re
+import yaml
+
+# Regular expression to match .get<T>("a:b:c", x)
+pattern = re.compile(r'\.get<([^>]+)>\("([^"]+)",\s*([^);]+)\)')
+
+def parse_value(value, type_hint):
+    """Converts values to appropriate types."""
+    value = value.strip()
+    
+    # Handle common types
+    if type_hint in {"int", "long"}:
+        return int(value)
+    elif type_hint in {"float", "double"}:
+        return float(value)
+    elif type_hint == "bool":
+        return value.lower() in {"true", "1"}
+    elif value.startswith('"') and value.endswith('"'):
+        return value.strip('"')  # Remove quotes for string literals
+    elif value.startswith("'") and value.endswith("'"):
+        return value.strip("'")  # Remove single quotes
+    
+    return value  # Return as-is if unsure
+
+def insert_into_dict(hierarchy_dict, keys, value, type_hint):
+    """Recursively inserts values into a nested dictionary."""
+    key = keys.pop(0)
+    if not keys:  # If last key, store value
+        hierarchy_dict[key] = parse_value(value, type_hint)
+    else:
+        if key not in hierarchy_dict:
+            hierarchy_dict[key] = {}
+        insert_into_dict(hierarchy_dict[key], keys, value, type_hint)
+
+def scan_files(directory):
+    """Scans all .cpp, .h, .c, and .hpp files in a directory recursively."""
+    hierarchy_dict = {}
+
+    for root, _, files in os.walk(directory):
+        for file in files:
+            if file.endswith(('.cpp', '.h', '.c', '.hpp')):
+                file_path = os.path.join(root, file)
+                with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8', errors='ignore') as f:
+                    for line in f:
+                        match = pattern.search(line)
+                        if match:
+                            type_hint, hierarchy, value = match.groups()
+                            keys = hierarchy.split(":")
+                            insert_into_dict(hierarchy_dict, keys, value, type_hint)
+
+    return hierarchy_dict
+
+def save_yaml(data, output_file):
+    """Saves the nested dictionary to a YAML file."""
+    with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        yaml.dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, indent=4)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import argparse
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Generate a YAML file with default configuration values.")
+    parser.add_argument("directory", help="Directory to scan for .cpp, .h, .c, and .hpp files.")
+    parser.add_argument("-o", "--output", help="Output file name.", default="defaults.yaml")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    extracted_data = scan_files(args.directory)
+    save_yaml(extracted_data, args.output)
+
+    print(f"✅ YAML file generated: {args.output}")
+
diff --git a/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.sh b/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..16d9887
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/defaultConfig/generateDefaultConfig.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Check if python is installed
+if ! [ -x "$(command -v python)" ]; then
+  echo 'Error: python is not installed.' >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+python ./generateDefaultConfig.py ../../src
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/utils/defaultConfig/readme.md b/utils/defaultConfig/readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c25b38a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/defaultConfig/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Default Configuration Generator
+Small tool to quickly generate a YAML config file which encodes all the default options used in 4DSSE. All c, c++, h, and hpp in the src directory are scanned and the config variables and their default values pulled out.
+
+## Usage
+- You must have python installed
+
+```bash
+./generateDefaultConfig.sh
+```
+
+There should now be a file called defaults.yaml which stores all the default values.
+
+## Notes
+This file could be used as a config file; however, it is more realistically intended for debugging and for checking what the default values set for config options in the code are. 
\ No newline at end of file