diff --git a/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/cli_plugin.rb b/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/cli_plugin.rb
index e07a013bc..59433cbdd 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/cli_plugin.rb
+++ b/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/cli_plugin.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ module InspecPlugins
       desc 'PLUGIN_NAME [options]', 'Generates an InSpec plugin, which can extend the functionality of InSpec itself.'
       # General options
       option :prompt, type: :boolean, default: true, desc: 'Interactively prompt for information to put in your generated plugin.'
+      option :detail, type: :string, default: 'full', desc: "How detailed of a plugin to generate. 'full' is a normal full gem with tests; 'core' has tests but no gemspec; 'test-fixture' is stripped down for a test fixture."
 
       # Templating vars
       option :author_email, type: :string, default: 'you@example.com', desc: 'Author Email for gemspec'
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ module InspecPlugins
           templates_path: TEMPLATES_PATH,
           overwrite: options[:overwrite],
           file_rename_map: rename_map,
+          skip_files: make_skip_list,
         }
         renderer = InspecPlugins::Init::Renderer.new(ui, render_opts)
 
@@ -196,6 +198,40 @@ module InspecPlugins
           '"Other" license selected at plugin generation time - please insert your license here.'
         end
       end
+
+      def make_skip_list
+        case options[:detail]
+        when 'full'
+          []
+        when 'core'
+          [
+            'Gemfile',
+            'inspec-plugin-template.gemspec',
+            'LICENSE',
+            'Rakefile',
+          ]
+        when 'test-fixture'
+          [
+            'Gemfile',
+            'inspec-plugin-template.gemspec',
+            'LICENSE',
+            'Rakefile',
+            File.join('test','fixtures','README.md'),
+            File.join('test','fixtures'),
+            File.join('test','functional','inspec_plugin_template_test.rb'),
+            File.join('test','functional','README.md'),
+            File.join('test','unit','cli_args_test.rb'),
+            File.join('test','unit','plugin_def_test.rb'),
+            File.join('test','unit','README.md'),
+            File.join('test','unit'),
+            File.join('test','helper.rb'),
+            File.join('test'),
+          ]
+        else
+          ui.error "Unrecognized value for 'detail': #{options[:detail]} - expected one of full, core, test-fixture"
+          ui.exit(:usage_error)
+        end
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/renderer.rb b/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/renderer.rb
index 2fe88d492..73e1065f7 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/renderer.rb
+++ b/lib/plugins/inspec-init/lib/inspec-init/renderer.rb
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@ module InspecPlugins
       # 2. read content in erb
       # 3. write to destination path
 
-      attr_reader :file_rename_map, :overwrite_mode, :templates_path, :ui
+      attr_reader :file_rename_map, :overwrite_mode, :skip_files, :templates_path, :ui
       def initialize(cli_ui, options = {})
         @ui = cli_ui
         @overwrite_mode = options[:overwrite]
         @templates_path ||= options[:templates_path]
         @file_rename_map = options[:file_rename_map] || {}
+        @skip_files = options[:skip_files] || []
       end
 
       # rubocop: disable Metrics/AbcSize
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ module InspecPlugins
         # iterate over files and write to full_destination_path
         Dir.glob(template_glob) do |source_file|
           relative_destination_item_path = Pathname.new(source_file).relative_path_from(Pathname.new(source_dir)).to_s
+          next if skip_files.include? relative_destination_item_path
           relative_destination_item_path = file_rename_map[relative_destination_item_path] || relative_destination_item_path
           full_destination_item_path = Pathname.new(full_destination_path).join(relative_destination_item_path)
           if File.directory?(source_file)