diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# 'cli' is the main entry point for 'kallithea-cli', specified in setup.py as entry_points console_scripts
+from kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_base import cli
diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_base.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_base.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import click
+import functools
+import os
+
+import kallithea
+import logging.config
+import paste.deploy
+
+
+# This placeholder is the main entry point for the kallithea-cli command
+@click.group()
+def cli():
+    """Various commands to manage a Kallithea instance."""
+
+def register_command(config_file=False, config_file_initialize_app=False):
+    """Register a kallithea-cli subcommand.
+
+    If one of the config_file flags are true, a config file must be specified
+    with -c and it is read and logging is configured. The configuration is
+    available in the kallithea.CONFIG dict.
+
+    If config_file_initialize_app is true, Kallithea, TurboGears global state
+    (including tg.config), and database access will also be fully initialized.
+    """
+    cli_command = cli.command()
+    if config_file or config_file_initialize_app:
+        def annotator(annotated):
+            @click.option('--config_file', '-c', help="Path to .ini file with app configuration.",
+                type=click.Path(dir_okay=False, exists=True, readable=True), required=True)
+            @functools.wraps(annotated) # reuse meta data from the wrapped function so click can see other options
+            def runtime_wrapper(config_file, *args, **kwargs):
+                path_to_ini_file = os.path.realpath(config_file)
+                kallithea.CONFIG = paste.deploy.appconfig('config:' + path_to_ini_file)
+                logging.config.fileConfig(path_to_ini_file)
+                if config_file_initialize_app:
+                    kallithea.config.middleware.make_app_without_logging(kallithea.CONFIG.global_conf, **kallithea.CONFIG.local_conf)
+                    kallithea.lib.utils.setup_cache_regions(kallithea.CONFIG)
+                return annotated(*args, **kwargs)
+            return cli_command(runtime_wrapper)
+        return annotator
+    return cli_command
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ requirements = [
     "decorator >= 3.3.2, < 4.4",
     "Paste >= 2.0.3, < 3",
     "bleach >= 3.0, < 3.1",
+    "Click >= 7.0, < 8",
 ]
 
 if sys.version_info < (2, 7):
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ setuptools.setup(
     kallithea-api =    kallithea.bin.kallithea_api:main
     kallithea-gist =   kallithea.bin.kallithea_gist:main
     kallithea-config = kallithea.bin.kallithea_config:main
+    kallithea-cli =    kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli:cli
 
     [paste.app_factory]
     main = kallithea.config.middleware:make_app