diff --git a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
index e72a5ebca8..7b10b8479a 100644
--- a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
+++ b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
@@ -2,10 +2,14 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/operator-sdk/pkg/generator"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	yaml "gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
 func NewBuildCmd() *cobra.Command {
@@ -31,6 +35,7 @@ For example:
 const (
 	build       = "./tmp/build/build.sh"
 	dockerBuild = "./tmp/build/docker_build.sh"
+	configYaml  = "./config/config.yaml"
 )
 
 func buildFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -53,5 +58,16 @@ func buildFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		ExitWithError(ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to output build image %v: (%v)", image, err))
 	}
 	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stdout, string(o))
-	// TODO: generates Kubernetes manifests
+
+	c := &generator.Config{}
+	fp, err := ioutil.ReadFile(configYaml)
+	if err != nil {
+		ExitWithError(ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to read config file %v: (%v)", configYaml, err))
+	}
+	if err = yaml.Unmarshal(fp, c); err != nil {
+		ExitWithError(ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal config file %v: (%v)", configYaml, err))
+	}
+	if err = generator.RenderDeployFiles(c, image); err != nil {
+		ExitWithError(ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to generate deploy/operator.yaml: (%v)", err))
+	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/generator/deploy_tmpl.go b/pkg/generator/deploy_tmpl.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..deae1490c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/generator/deploy_tmpl.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package generator
+
+const operatorYamlTmpl = `apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: {{.KindPlural}}.{{.GroupName}}
+spec:
+  group: {{.GroupName}}
+  names:
+    kind: {{.Kind}}
+    listKind: {{.Kind}}List
+    plural: {{.KindPlural}}
+    singular: {{.KindSingular}}
+  scope: Namespaced
+  version: {{.Version}}
+---
+apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: {{.ProjectName}}
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        name: {{.ProjectName}}
+    spec:
+      containers:
+        - name: {{.ProjectName}}
+          image: {{.Image}}
+          command:
+          - {{.ProjectName}}
+`
diff --git a/pkg/generator/gen_deploy.go b/pkg/generator/gen_deploy.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b0a5363b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/generator/gen_deploy.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package generator
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+	"text/template"
+)
+
+const (
+	operatorTmplName = "deploy/operator.yaml"
+)
+
+// OperatorYaml contains all the customized data needed to generate deploy/operator.yaml for a new operator
+// when pairing with operatorYamlTmpl template.
+type OperatorYaml struct {
+	Kind         string
+	KindSingular string
+	KindPlural   string
+	GroupName    string
+	Version      string
+	ProjectName  string
+	Image        string
+}
+
+// renderOperatorYaml generates deploy/operator.yaml.
+func renderOperatorYaml(w io.Writer, kind, apiVersion, projectName, image string) error {
+	t := template.New(operatorTmplName)
+	t, err := t.Parse(operatorYamlTmpl)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse operator yaml template: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	ks := strings.ToLower(kind)
+	o := OperatorYaml{
+		Kind:         kind,
+		KindSingular: ks,
+		// suffix KindSingular with "s" to create KindPlural.
+		// TODO: make this more grammatically correct for special nouns.
+		KindPlural:  ks + "s",
+		GroupName:   groupName(apiVersion),
+		Version:     version(apiVersion),
+		ProjectName: projectName,
+		Image:       image,
+	}
+	return t.Execute(w, o)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/generator/generator.go b/pkg/generator/generator.go
index c95d6cb7da..a52da0e421 100644
--- a/pkg/generator/generator.go
+++ b/pkg/generator/generator.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ const (
 	gopkgtoml       = "Gopkg.toml"
 	gopkglock       = "Gopkg.lock"
 	config          = "config.yaml"
+	operatorYaml    = deployDir + "/operator.yaml"
 )
 
 type Generator struct {
@@ -149,6 +150,15 @@ func (g *Generator) renderDeploy() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// RenderDeployFiles generates "deploy/operator.yaml".
+func RenderDeployFiles(c *Config, image string) error {
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	if err := renderOperatorYaml(buf, c.Kind, c.APIVersion, c.ProjectName, image); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return ioutil.WriteFile(operatorYaml, buf.Bytes(), defaultFileMode)
+}
+
 func (g *Generator) renderTmp() error {
 	bDir := filepath.Join(g.projectName, buildDir)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(bDir, defaultDirFileMode); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/generator/generator_test.go b/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
index 3fd29516d4..5a78178d1e 100644
--- a/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
+++ b/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
@@ -289,3 +289,45 @@ func TestGenConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("want %v, got %v", configExp, buf.String())
 	}
 }
+
+const operatorYamlExp = `apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: appservices.app.example.com
+spec:
+  group: app.example.com
+  names:
+    kind: AppService
+    listKind: AppServiceList
+    plural: appservices
+    singular: appservice
+  scope: Namespaced
+  version: v1alpha1
+---
+apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: app-operator
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        name: app-operator
+    spec:
+      containers:
+        - name: app-operator
+          image: quay.io/coreos/operator-sdk-dev:app-operator
+          command:
+          - app-operator
+`
+
+func TestGenDeploy(t *testing.T) {
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	if err := renderOperatorYaml(buf, "AppService", "app.example.com/v1alpha1", "app-operator", "quay.io/coreos/operator-sdk-dev:app-operator"); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	if operatorYamlExp != buf.String() {
+		t.Errorf("want %v, got %v", operatorYamlExp, buf.String())
+	}
+}