diff --git a/tribes-cli/utils/command.ts b/tribes-cli/utils/command.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ea1ec63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tribes-cli/utils/command.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { Option, ParsedArgs } from './mod.ts';
+
+export class Command {
+  name: string;
+  description: string;
+  action: (args: ParsedArgs) => void | Promise<void> = (_) => {};
+  options: Record<string, Option> = {};
+  commands: Record<string, Command> = {};
+
+  constructor(name: string, description: string) {
+    this.name = name;
+    this.description = description;
+  }
+
+  get subcommandCount() {
+    return Object.keys(this.commands).length;
+  }
+
+  isValidSubcommand(key: string): boolean {
+    return Object.keys(this.commands).includes(key.toString());
+  }
+
+  getSubcommand(subcommand: string | number) {
+    if (!subcommand) {
+      throw new Error('tribes-cli: error: invalid subcommand');
+    }
+    if (typeof subcommand === 'number') {
+      throw new Error('tribes-cli: error: subcommand cannot be a number');
+    }
+
+    if (this.isValidSubcommand(subcommand)) {
+      return this.commands[subcommand];
+    } else {
+      throw new Error(`tribes-cli: error: ${subcommand} is not a valid subcommand`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  setAction(action: Command['action']) {
+    this.action = action;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  subcommand(name: string, command: Command) {
+    if (this.isValidSubcommand(name)) {
+      throw new Error(`tribes-cli: error: ${name} is already a subcommand.`);
+    }
+    this.commands[name] = command;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  option(fmt: string, option: Option) {
+    this.options[fmt] = option;
+    return this;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tribes-cli/utils/mod.ts b/tribes-cli/utils/mod.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9efdb3fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tribes-cli/utils/mod.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { join } from '@std/path';
+import { ParsedArgs, setupCli } from './parsing.ts';
+import { Command } from './command.ts';
+
+export const defaultIdentityFile = async () => {
+  const home = Deno.env.get('HOME');
+  if (!home) throw new Error('tribes-cli: unable to find default identity file');
+  const path = join(home, '.ssh', 'id_rsa');
+  try {
+    await Deno.stat(path);
+    return path;
+  } catch {}
+
+  throw new Error('tribes-cli: unable to find default identity file.');
+};
+
+export type Option =
+  & { description: string }
+  & ({
+    default?: string;
+  } | {
+    bool: true;
+    default?: boolean;
+  });
+
+export const cleanArg = (arg: string) => {
+  return arg.replace(/^--?/g, '');
+};
+
+export { Command, setupCli };
+export type { ParsedArgs };
diff --git a/tribes-cli/utils.ts b/tribes-cli/utils/parsing.ts
similarity index 60%
rename from tribes-cli/utils.ts
rename to tribes-cli/utils/parsing.ts
index 3975ab7f..87dc6b96 100644
--- a/tribes-cli/utils.ts
+++ b/tribes-cli/utils/parsing.ts
@@ -1,33 +1,21 @@
-import { join } from '@std/path';
+import { parseArgs as stdParseArgs } from '@std/cli';
+import { cleanArg, Command } from './mod.ts';
 
-let identity = '';
-export const defaultIdentityFile = async () => {
-  if (!identity) {
-    const home = Deno.env.get('HOME');
-    if (home) return identity = await Deno.readTextFile(join(home, '.ssh', 'id_rsa'));
+export const setupCli = (commands: Command, parserArgs: Partial<ParsedSubcommand> = {}) => {
+  for (const [_name, body] of Object.entries(commands)) {
+    for (const subcommand in body) {
+      const s = body[subcommand];
+      parserArgs = parseSubcommand(s, parserArgs);
+    }
   }
-  return '';
+
+  const parsed = stdParseArgs(Deno.args, parserArgs);
+  return {
+    parsed,
+  };
 };
 
-export interface Subcommand {
-  action: Function;
-  description: string;
-  options?: Record<
-    string,
-    & { description: string }
-    & ({
-      default?: string;
-    } | {
-      bool: true;
-      default?: boolean;
-    })
-  >;
-  commands?: Record<string, Subcommand>;
-}
-
-export const cleanArg = (arg: string) => {
-  return arg.replace(/^--?/g, '');
-};
+export type ParsedArgs = ReturnType<typeof setupCli>['parsed'];
 
 export interface ParsedSubcommand {
   string: string[];
@@ -45,7 +33,7 @@ export const defaultParsedSubcommand = (): ParsedSubcommand => {
   };
 };
 
-export const parseSubcommand = (command: Subcommand, existing?: Partial<ParsedSubcommand>): ParsedSubcommand => {
+export const parseSubcommand = (command: Command, existing?: Partial<ParsedSubcommand>): ParsedSubcommand => {
   const res = Object.assign(defaultParsedSubcommand(), existing);
 
   if (command.options) {