diff --git a/config.nims b/config.nims
index 45e26af..050dd4e 100644
--- a/config.nims
+++ b/config.nims
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ task docs, "Deploy doc html + search index to public/ directory":
   when defined(clean):
     echo fmt"clearing {deployDir}"
     rmDir deployDir
-  for module in ["cligen", "chooser", "logging"]:
+  for module in ["cligen", "chooser", "logging", "cli"]:
     selfExec fmt"doc --docRoot:{getCurrentDir()}/src/ --index:on --outdir:{deployDir} src/hwylterm/{module}"
   selfExec fmt"doc --project --index:on {gitFlags} --outdir:{deployDir} --project src/{pkgName}.nim"
   docFixup(deployDir,pkgName)
diff --git a/src/hwylterm.nim b/src/hwylterm.nim
index 8bfa1fe..336ff7b 100644
--- a/src/hwylterm.nim
+++ b/src/hwylterm.nim
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 
   see also these utility modules with extra dependencies:
 
+  - [cli](./hwylterm/cli.html)
   - [cligen adapter](./hwylterm/cligen.html), requires [cligen](https://github.com/c-blake/cligen)
   - [chooser](./hwylterm/chooser.html)
   - [logging](./hwylterm/logging.html)
+
 ]##
 
 import hwylterm/[spin, bbansi]
diff --git a/src/hwylterm/bbansi.nim b/src/hwylterm/bbansi.nim
index 3fc1928..869631e 100644
--- a/src/hwylterm/bbansi.nim
+++ b/src/hwylterm/bbansi.nim
@@ -224,33 +224,28 @@ proc bbEcho*(args: varargs[string, `$`]) {.sideEffect.} =
 
 # NOTE: could move to standlone modules in the tools/ directory
 when isMainModule:
-  import std/[parseopt, sugar]
+  import std/[parseopt]
+  import ./cli
+
   const version = staticExec "git describe --tags --always --dirty=-dev"
-  const longOptPad = 8
-  const flags = collect(
-    for (s, l, d) in [
-      ("h", "help", "show this help"),
-      ("v", "version", "show version"),
-      ("s", "style", "set style for string"),
-    ]:
-      fmt"  [yellow]-{s}[/]  [green]--{l.alignLeft(longOptPad)}[/] {d}"
-    ).join("\n")
+
   proc writeHelp() =
-    let help =
-      bbfmt"""
-[bold]bbansi[/] \[[green]args...[/]] [[[faint]-h|-v[/]]
-
-[italic]usage[/]:
-  bbansi "[[yellow] yellow text!"
-    |-> [yellow] yellow text![/]
-  bbansi "[[bold red] bold red text[[/] plain text..."
-    |-> [bold red] bold red text[/] plain text...
-  bbansi "[[red]some red[[/red] but all italic" --style:italic
-    |-> [italic][red]some red[/red] but all italic[/italic]
-
-flags:
-{flags}
-"""
+    let help = $newHwylCli(
+      "[bold]bbansi[/] [[[green]args...[/]] [[[faint]-h|-v[/]]",
+      """
+bbansi "[[yellow] yellow text!"
+  -> [yellow] yellow text![/]
+bbansi "[[bold red] bold red text[[/] plain text..."
+  -> [bold red] bold red text[/] plain text...
+bbansi "[[red]some red[[/red] but all italic" --style:italic
+  -> [italic][red]some red[/red] but all italic[/italic]
+""",
+      [
+        ("h", "help", "show this help"),
+        ("v", "version", "show version"),
+        ("s", "style", "set style for string"),
+      ]
+    )
     echo help; quit 0
 
   proc testCard() =
diff --git a/src/hwylterm/chooser.nim b/src/hwylterm/chooser.nim
index cce53fd..e421436 100644
--- a/src/hwylterm/chooser.nim
+++ b/src/hwylterm/chooser.nim
@@ -128,24 +128,22 @@ proc choose*[T](things: openArray[T], height: Natural = 6): seq[T] =
 
 when isMainModule:
   import std/[parseopt, strformat]
-  func styleFlag(s, l, d: string): string =
-      fmt"  [yellow]-{s}[/]  [green]--{l.alignLeft(10)}[/] {d}"
+  import ./cli
+
   proc writeHelp() =
-    const flags = [
-      styleFlag("h", "help", "show this help"),
-      styleFlag("s", "seperator", "seperator to split items"),
-    ].join("\n")
-    echo bbfmt"""
-[bold]hwylchoose[/] \[[green]args...[/]] \[[faint]-h[/]]
-
-[italic]usage[/]:
-  hwylchoose a b c d
-  hwylchoose a,b,c,d -s,
-  hwylchoose a,b,c,d --seperator ","
-
-flags:
-{flags}
-"""
+    let cli = newHwylCli(
+      "[bold]hwylchoose[/] [[[green]args...[/]] [[[faint]-h[/]]",
+      """
+hwylchoose a b c d
+hwylchoose a,b,c,d -s,
+hwylchoose a,b,c,d --seperator ","
+""",
+      [
+        ("h", "help", "show this help"),
+        ("s", "seperator", "seperator to split items"),
+      ]
+    )
+    echo cli
 
   var
     posArgs: seq[string]
diff --git a/src/hwylterm/cli.nim b/src/hwylterm/cli.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b217510
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/hwylterm/cli.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+##[
+  # Cli
+]##
+
+import std/[strutils]
+import ./bbansi
+
+type
+  HwylFlag = tuple
+    short, long, description = ""
+  HwylCliStyles* = object
+    hdr = "b cyan"
+    shortFlag = "yellow"
+    longFlag = "magenta"
+    descFlag = ""
+  HwylCli* = object
+    cmd*: string
+    usage*: string
+    flags*: seq[HwylFlag]
+    styles*: HwylCliStyles
+    shortArgLen, longArgLen, descArgLen: int
+
+
+func newHwylCli*(
+  cmd = "",
+  usage = "",
+  flags: openArray[HwylFlag] = @[],
+  styles = HwylCliStyles()
+): HwylCli =
+  result.cmd = cmd
+  result.usage = usage
+  result.flags = @flags
+  result.styles = styles
+  for f in flags:
+    result.shortArgLen = max(result.shortArgLen, f.short.len)
+    result.longArgLen  = max(result.longArgLen, f.long.len)
+    result.descArgLen  = max(result.descArgLen, f.description.len)
+
+
+func flagHelp(cli: HwylCli, f: HwylFlag): string =
+  result.add "  "
+  if f.short != "":
+    result.add "[" & cli.styles.shortFlag & "]"
+    result.add "-" & f.short.alignLeft(cli.shortArgLen)
+    result.add "[/]"
+  else:
+    result.add " ".repeat(1 + cli.shortArgLen)
+
+  result.add " "
+  if f.long != "":
+    result.add "[" & cli.styles.longFlag & "]"
+    result.add "--" & f.long.alignLeft(cli.longArgLen)
+    result.add "[/]"
+  else:
+    result.add " ".repeat(2 + cli.longArgLen)
+
+  result.add " "
+  if f.description != "":
+    result.add "[" & cli.styles.descFlag & "]"
+    result.add f.description
+    result.add "[/]"
+  result.add "\n"
+
+proc bbImpl(cli: HwylCli): string =
+  if cli.cmd != "":
+    result.add cli.cmd
+    result.add "\n"
+  if cli.usage != "":
+    result.add "\n"
+    result.add "[" & cli.styles.hdr & "]"
+    result.add "usage[/]:\n"
+    result.add indent(cli.usage, 2 )
+    result.add "\n"
+  if cli.flags.len > 0:
+    result.add "[" & cli.styles.hdr & "]"
+    result.add "flags[/]:\n"
+    for f in cli.flags:
+      result.add flagHelp(cli,f)
+
+proc bb*(cli: HwylCli): BbString = 
+  result = bb(bbImpl(cli))
+
+proc `$`*(cli: HwylCli): string =
+  result = $bb(cli)