diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -51,9 +51,13 @@
     extras_require={'testing': parse_requirements('test')},
     vcversioner={},
     include_package_data=True,
-    entry_points={
-        'console_scripts': ['swh-db-init=swh.core.cli:db_init'],
-        },
+    entry_points='''
+        [console_scripts]
+        swh=swh.core.cli:main
+        swh-db-init=swh.core.cli.db:db_init_cmd
+        [swh.cli]
+        swh-core-db=swh.core.cli.db
+    ''',
     classifiers=[
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
         "Intended Audience :: Developers",
diff --git a/swh/core/cli/__init__.py b/swh/core/cli/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/core/cli/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2019  The Software Heritage developers
+# See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
+# License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
+# See top-level LICENSE file for more information
+
+import click
+import logging
+import pkg_resources
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+CONTEXT_SETTINGS = dict(help_option_names=['-h', '--help'])
+
+
+@click.group(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
+@click.option('--log-level', '-l', default='INFO',
+              type=click.Choice(logging._nameToLevel.keys()),
+              help="Log level (default to INFO)")
+@click.pass_context
+def swh(ctx, log_level):
+    """Software Heritage Tool
+    """
+    logger.setLevel(log_level)
+    ctx.ensure_object(dict)
+
+
+def main():
+    logging.basicConfig()
+    # load plugins that define cli sub commands
+    cli_plugins = {  # noqa
+        entry_point.name: entry_point.load()
+        for entry_point
+        in pkg_resources.iter_entry_points('swh.cli')
+    }
+
+    return swh(auto_envvar_prefix='SWH')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/swh/core/cli.py b/swh/core/cli/db.py
rename from swh/core/cli.py
rename to swh/core/cli/db.py
--- a/swh/core/cli.py
+++ b/swh/core/cli/db.py
@@ -7,20 +7,11 @@
 import warnings
 warnings.filterwarnings("ignore")  # noqa prevent psycopg from telling us sh*t
 
-from os import path
-import glob
-
 import click
-from importlib import import_module
 
-from swh.core.utils import numfile_sortkey as sortkey
-from swh.core.tests.db_testing import (
-    pg_createdb, pg_restore, DB_DUMP_TYPES,
-    swh_db_version
-)
+from swh.core.cli import swh
 
 
-@click.command()
 @click.argument('module', nargs=-1, required=True)
 @click.option('--db-name', '-d', help='Database name.',
               default='softwareheritage-dev', show_default=True)
@@ -30,7 +21,7 @@
 
     Example:
 
-      swh-db-init storage -d swh-test
+      swh db-init storage -d swh-test
 
     If you want to specify non-default postgresql connection parameters,
     please provide them using standard environment variables.
@@ -41,6 +32,16 @@
       PGPORT=5434 swh-db-init indexer -d swh-indexer
 
     """
+    # put import statements here so we can keep startup time of the main swh
+    # command as short as possible
+    from os import path
+    import glob
+    from importlib import import_module
+    from swh.core.utils import numfile_sortkey as sortkey
+    from swh.core.tests.db_testing import (
+        pg_createdb, pg_restore, DB_DUMP_TYPES,
+        swh_db_version
+    )
     dump_files = []
 
     for modname in module:
@@ -78,3 +79,7 @@
 
     click.secho('DONE database is {} version {}'.format(db_name, db_version),
                 fg='green', bold=True)
+
+
+db_init_cmd = click.command()(db_init)  # for bw compat
+db_init_cli = swh.command()(db_init)