diff --git a/include/cli.h b/include/cli.h
index 4347f9c..06cd517 100644
--- a/include/cli.h
+++ b/include/cli.h
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@
 int close_logfile(void);
 void start_logging(void);
 
+/* generic helper, like getopt_long() but without `--' prefix, re-uses `optind` */
+struct opt_command {
+	const char *name;
+	int val;
+};
+int getopt_command(int argc, char *const argv[], const struct opt_command *);
+
 void print_generic_options(void);
 
 #endif