diff --git a/cmd/molecule/molecule_test.go b/cmd/molecule/molecule_test.go
index da9811b..8930aba 100644
--- a/cmd/molecule/molecule_test.go
+++ b/cmd/molecule/molecule_test.go
@@ -796,6 +796,47 @@ func TestCLI_Init_AlreadyExists(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCLI_Init_Force(t *testing.T) {
+	exe := mol(t)
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	// pre-create molecule.yaml
+	existing := "# old config"
+	os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "molecule.yaml"), []byte(existing), 0o644)
+	cmd := exec.Command(exe, "init", "--force")
+	cmd.Dir = dir
+	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
+	err := cmd.Run()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("molecule init --force: %v\nstderr: %s", err, stderr.String())
+	}
+	out := stdout.String()
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "Replaced") {
+		t.Errorf("expected 'Replaced' in output, got: %s", out)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCLI_Init_Force_Overwrites(t *testing.T) {
+	exe := mol(t)
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	// pre-create molecule.yaml
+	os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "molecule.yaml"), []byte("old content"), 0o644)
+	cmd := exec.Command(exe, "init", "--force")
+	cmd.Dir = dir
+	err := cmd.Run()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("molecule init --force: %v", err)
+	}
+	data, _ := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "molecule.yaml"))
+	if strings.Contains(string(data), "old content") {
+		t.Errorf("molecule.yaml was not overwritten")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(string(data), "molecule CLI") {
+		t.Errorf("molecule.yaml should have new scaffold content")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCLI_Completion_Help(t *testing.T) {
 	exe := mol(t)
 	root := repoRoot()
diff --git a/internal/cmd/init.go b/internal/cmd/init.go
index 758d4c2..629f9c4 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/init.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/init.go
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ import (
 // molecule init — bootstrap workspace setup
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+var (
+	initForce bool
+)
+
 var initCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "init",
 	Short: "Bootstrap workspace and scaffold a molecule.yaml config file",
@@ -27,10 +31,41 @@ After init, run 'molecule --config molecule.yaml workspace list' to verify your
 	RunE: runInit,
 }
 
+func init() {
+	initCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&initForce, "force", false, "Replace existing molecule.yaml")
+}
+
 func runInit(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 	cfgPath := "molecule.yaml"
 
 	if _, err := os.Stat(cfgPath); err == nil {
+		if initForce {
+			content := `# molecule CLI configuration — https://github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-cli
+#
+# All values can be overridden by environment variables:
+#   MOLECULE_API_URL, MOLECULE_RUNTIME_URL, MOL_OUTPUT, MOL_VERBOSE, etc.
+#
+# Environment variables always take precedence over this file.
+
+# Platform API base URL (env: MOLECULE_API_URL)
+# api_url: https://api.molecule.ai
+
+# Workspace runtime URL for dev/proxy mode (env: MOLECULE_RUNTIME_URL)
+# runtime_url: https://runtime.molecule.ai
+
+# Output format: table | json | yaml  (env: MOL_OUTPUT)
+# output: table
+
+# Verbose logging: true | false  (env: MOL_VERBOSE)
+# verbose: false
+`
+			if err := os.WriteFile(cfgPath, []byte(content), 0o644); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("init: write %s: %w", cfgPath, err)
+			}
+			absPath, _ := filepath.Abs(cfgPath)
+			fmt.Printf("Replaced %s\n", absPath)
+			return nil
+		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("init: %s already exists — not overwriting (use --force to replace)", cfgPath)
 	}