diff --git a/tools/src/subcmd/subcmd.go b/tools/src/subcmd/subcmd.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88f115839b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/src/subcmd/subcmd.go
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+// Copyright 2022 The Dawn Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+// Package subcmd provides a multi-command interface for command line tools.
+package subcmd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/pprof"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"text/tabwriter"
+)
+
+// ErrInvalidCLA is the error returned when an invalid command line argument was
+// provided, and the usage was already printed.
+var ErrInvalidCLA = errors.New("invalid command line args")
+
+// InvalidCLA shows the flag usage, and returns ErrInvalidCLA
+func InvalidCLA() error {
+	flag.Usage()
+	return ErrInvalidCLA
+}
+
+// Command is the interface for a command
+// Data is a generic data type passed down to the sub-command when run.
+type Command[Data any] interface {
+	// Name returns the name of the command.
+	Name() string
+	// Desc returns a description of the command.
+	Desc() string
+	// RegisterFlags registers all the command-specific flags
+	// Returns a list of mandatory arguments that must immediately follow the
+	// command name
+	RegisterFlags(context.Context, Data) ([]string, error)
+	// Run invokes the command
+	Run(context.Context, Data) error
+}
+
+// Run handles the parses the command line arguments, possibly invoking one of
+// the provided commands.
+// If the command line arguments are invalid, then an error message is printed
+// and Run returns ErrInvalidCLA.
+func Run[Data any](ctx context.Context, data Data, cmds ...Command[Data]) error {
+	_, exe := filepath.Split(os.Args[0])
+
+	flag.Usage = func() {
+		out := flag.CommandLine.Output()
+		tw := tabwriter.NewWriter(out, 0, 1, 0, ' ', 0)
+		fmt.Fprintln(tw, exe, "[command]")
+		fmt.Fprintln(tw)
+		fmt.Fprintln(tw, "Commands:")
+		for _, cmd := range cmds {
+			fmt.Fprintln(tw, "  ", cmd.Name(), "\t-", cmd.Desc())
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(tw)
+		fmt.Fprintln(tw, "Common flags:")
+		tw.Flush()
+		flag.PrintDefaults()
+	}
+
+	profile := false
+	flag.BoolVar(&profile, "profile", false, "enable a webserver at localhost:8080/profile that exposes a CPU profiler")
+	mux := http.NewServeMux()
+	mux.HandleFunc("/profile", pprof.Profile)
+
+	if len(os.Args) < 2 {
+		return InvalidCLA()
+	}
+	help := os.Args[1] == "help"
+	if help {
+		copy(os.Args[1:], os.Args[2:])
+		os.Args = os.Args[:len(os.Args)-1]
+	}
+
+	for _, cmd := range cmds {
+		if cmd.Name() == os.Args[1] {
+			out := flag.CommandLine.Output()
+			mandatory, err := cmd.RegisterFlags(ctx, data)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			flag.Usage = func() {
+				flagsAndArgs := append([]string{"<flags>"}, mandatory...)
+				fmt.Fprintln(out, exe, cmd.Name(), strings.Join(flagsAndArgs, " "))
+				fmt.Fprintln(out)
+				fmt.Fprintln(out, cmd.Desc())
+				fmt.Fprintln(out)
+				fmt.Fprintln(out, "flags:")
+				flag.PrintDefaults()
+			}
+			if help {
+				flag.Usage()
+				return nil
+			}
+			args := os.Args[2:] // all arguments after the exe and command
+			if err := flag.CommandLine.Parse(args); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if nonFlagArgs := flag.Args(); len(nonFlagArgs) < len(mandatory) {
+				fmt.Fprintln(out, "missing argument", mandatory[len(nonFlagArgs)])
+				fmt.Fprintln(out)
+				return InvalidCLA()
+			}
+			if profile {
+				fmt.Println("download profile at: localhost:8080/profile")
+				fmt.Println("then run: 'go tool pprof <file>")
+				go http.ListenAndServe(":8080", mux)
+			}
+			return cmd.Run(ctx, data)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return InvalidCLA()
+}