diff --git a/lib/generators/vrt.rb b/lib/generators/vrt.rb
index d5bcc1b..b1bab17 100644
--- a/lib/generators/vrt.rb
+++ b/lib/generators/vrt.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+VRT.configure do |config|
+  # Example to return an array from `get_lineage`
+  # config.lineage_string_separator = nil
+end
+
 # Pre-warm the in-memory store of these class instance vars when we launch the
 # server. Prevents unnecessary file I/O per-request.
 VRT.reload!
diff --git a/lib/vrt.rb b/lib/vrt.rb
index e97a80f..66ea286 100644
--- a/lib/vrt.rb
+++ b/lib/vrt.rb
@@ -142,4 +142,16 @@ def unload!
     @maps = {}
     @mappings = nil
   end
+
+  def self.configure
+    @configuration = VRT::Configuration.new
+
+    yield configuration if block_given?
+
+    configuration
+  end
+
+  def self.configuration
+    @configuration || configure
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/vrt/configuration.rb b/lib/vrt/configuration.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fc25f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vrt/configuration.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module VRT
+  class Configuration
+    DEFAULT_LINEAGE_SEPARATOR = ' > '
+
+    attr_accessor :lineage_string_separator
+
+    private
+
+    def initialize
+      @lineage_string_separator = DEFAULT_LINEAGE_SEPARATOR
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+# Example usage:
+
+# ```ruby
+# def get_lineage(string, max_depth: 'variant')
+#   @_lineages[string + max_depth] ||= construct_lineage(string, max_depth, VRT.configuration.lineage_string_separator)
+# end
+# # ...
+# private
+# # ...
+# def construct_lineage(string, max_depth, string_separator: nil)
+#   return unless valid_identifier?(string)
+#   lineage = []
+#   walk_node_tree(string, max_depth: max_depth) do |node|
+#     return unless node
+#     lineage << node.name
+#   end
+#   string_separator.nil? ? lineage : lineage.join(string_separator)
+# end
+# ```