diff --git a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
index c2651a33331..611bc3c1a69 100644
--- a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/Setup.hs
@@ -3020,12 +3020,12 @@ initCommand =
         wrapText $
           "Create a .cabal, CHANGELOG.md, minimal initial Haskell code and optionally a LICENSE file.\n"
             ++ "\n"
-            ++ "Calling init with no arguments runs interactive mode, "
+            ++ "Calling init with no arguments runs interactive mode by default, "
             ++ "which will try to guess as much as possible and prompt you for the rest.\n"
             ++ "Non-interactive mode can be invoked by the -n/--non-interactive flag, "
-            ++ "which will let you specify the options via flags and will use the defaults for the rest.\n"
-            ++ "It is also possible to call init with a single argument, which denotes the project's desired "
-            ++ "root directory.\n"
+            ++ "which will let you specify the options via flags and will either use the defaults for the rest, "
+            ++ "or attempt to infer sensible defaults from your local development environment (e.g. $PATH).\n"
+            ++ "For a basic simple project with minimal prompting and sensible defaults, issue the --simple flag.\n"
     , commandNotes = Nothing
     , commandUsage = \pname ->
         "Usage: " ++ pname ++ " init [PROJECT ROOT] [FLAGS]\n"
@@ -3038,7 +3038,9 @@ initOptions _ =
   [ option
       ['i']
       ["interactive"]
-      "interactive mode."
+      ("Interactive mode. Creates a prompt tree for project creation. \n"
+      ++ "If -n/--non-interactive is issued, a simple project with inferred defaults \n"
+      ++ "is created. If --simple is issued, then sensible defaults will be chosen as well.")
       IT.interactive
       (\v flags -> flags{IT.interactive = v})
       (boolOpt' (['i'], ["interactive"]) (['n'], ["non-interactive"]))
diff --git a/doc/cabal-commands.rst b/doc/cabal-commands.rst
index 06a1e082373..fd3b44a3ba2 100644
--- a/doc/cabal-commands.rst
+++ b/doc/cabal-commands.rst
@@ -354,12 +354,21 @@ Initialization and download
 cabal init
 ^^^^^^^^^^
 
-``cabal init [FLAGS]`` initialises a Cabal package, picking
-reasonable defaults. Run it in your project folder.
+``cabal init [FLAGS]`` initialises a Cabal package, by default prompting the user for inputs, or choosing 
+  sensible defaults to create a minimal project if specified. Run it in your project folder.
 
 .. option:: -i, --interactive
 
-    Enable interactive mode.
+    Enable interactive mode. This will prompt the user for inputs to help create the a minimal project. 
+
+.. option:: -n, --non-interactive 
+
+    Enable non-interactive mode. This will attempt to infer project details from a user configuration 
+    or from basic environment variables, such as $PATH.
+
+.. option:: --simple 
+
+    Create a simple, minimal project of a user-defined project type with sensible defaults.   
 
 .. option:: -m, --minimal