diff --git a/kobo/argcli.py b/kobo/argcli.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9a6c1744
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kobo/argcli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+import argparse
+import sys
+
+from kobo.plugins import Plugin
+
+
+class ArgparseCommand(Plugin):
+    """
+    Base class for argparse-based commands.
+
+    Commands must:
+      - inherit from ArgparseCommand
+      - implement add_arguments(self)
+      - implement run(self, *args, **kwargs)
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, parser):
+        Plugin.__init__(self)
+        self.parser = parser
+
+    def add_arguments(self):
+        """Register argparse arguments."""
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def run(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Execute command."""
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+
+class CommandArgumentParser(object):
+    """
+    Argparse-based command dispatcher.
+
+    This intentionally does NOT inherit from argparse.ArgumentParser.
+    It is a coordinator that:
+      - parses the global command name
+      - dispatches to an argparse-capable command
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        command_container,
+        prog=None,
+        default_command=None,
+        default_profile=None,
+    ):
+        self.container = command_container
+        self.default_command = default_command
+        self.default_profile = default_profile
+
+        self.parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+            prog=prog,
+            usage="%(prog)s <command> [args] [--help]",
+            formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter,
+        )
+
+        self.parser.add_argument(
+            "command",
+            nargs="?",
+            help="command to execute",
+        )
+
+        # everything after the command name
+        self.parser.add_argument(
+            "args",
+            nargs=argparse.REMAINDER,
+            help=argparse.SUPPRESS,
+        )
+
+    def _load_profile(self, profile):
+        """
+        Hook for loading a profile.
+        Implemented here only as a placeholder.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    def run(self, argv=None):
+        cmd, cmd_ns, cmd_args = self.parse_args(argv)
+
+        cmd_kwargs = vars(cmd_ns)
+
+        # load profile if requested
+        if self.default_profile and "profile" in cmd_kwargs:
+            self._load_profile(cmd_kwargs["profile"])
+
+        return cmd.run(*cmd_args, **cmd_kwargs)
+
+    def parse_args(self, argv=None):
+        argv = argv if argv is not None else sys.argv[1:]
+        ns = self.parser.parse_args(argv)
+
+        command_name = ns.command or self.default_command
+
+        if not command_name:
+            self.parser.error("no command specified")
+
+        if command_name not in self.container.plugins:
+            self.parser.error("unknown command: %s" % command_name)
+
+        CommandClass = self.container[command_name]
+
+        if not issubclass(CommandClass, ArgparseCommand):
+            self.parser.error("command '%s' does not support argparse" % command_name)
+
+        cmd_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+            prog="%s %s" % (self.parser.prog, command_name),
+            formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter,
+        )
+
+        cmd_parser.container = self.container
+
+        cmd = CommandClass(cmd_parser)
+        cmd.add_arguments()
+
+        # allow extra args (optparse compatibility)
+        cmd_ns, remainder = cmd_parser.parse_known_args(ns.args)
+
+        return cmd, cmd_ns, remainder
diff --git a/tests/plugins/commands/__init__.py b/tests/plugins/commands/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/tests/plugins/commands/cmd_fake_echo.py b/tests/plugins/commands/cmd_fake_echo.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..755a26dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/plugins/commands/cmd_fake_echo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from kobo.argcli import ArgparseCommand
+
+__all__ = ("Cmd_Fake_Echo",)
+
+
+class Cmd_Fake_Echo(ArgparseCommand):
+    enabled = True
+    name = "fake-echo"
+
+    def add_arguments(self):
+        self.parser.add_argument("words", nargs="+")
+
+    def run(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        # store result on container
+        self.parser.container.result = kwargs["words"]
diff --git a/tests/test_argcli.py b/tests/test_argcli.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18663ce5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_argcli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import kobo.client
+from kobo.argcli import CommandArgumentParser
+from tests.plugins import commands
+
+
+class FakeCommandContainer(kobo.client.ClientCommandContainer):
+    pass
+
+
+FakeCommandContainer.register_module(commands, prefix="cmd_")
+
+
+class FakeCommandArgumentParser(CommandArgumentParser):
+    def load_pub_profile(self, profile=None):
+        pass
+
+
+def test_argparse_command_registered_via_module():
+    conf = kobo.conf.PyConfigParser()
+    container = FakeCommandContainer(conf)
+
+    parser = FakeCommandArgumentParser(
+        command_container=container,
+        default_profile="default-profile",
+    )
+
+    parser.run(["cmd-fake-echo", "hello", "world"])
+
+    assert container.result == ["hello", "world"]