diff --git a/swh/scheduler/cli/__init__.py b/swh/scheduler/cli/__init__.py
--- a/swh/scheduler/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/swh/scheduler/cli/__init__.py
@@ -3,13 +3,15 @@
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
-import click
 import logging
 
-from swh.core.cli import CONTEXT_SETTINGS
+import click
+
+from swh.core.cli import CONTEXT_SETTINGS, AliasedGroup
 
 
-@click.group(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
+@click.group(name='scheduler', context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS,
+             cls=AliasedGroup)
 @click.option('--config-file', '-C', default=None,
               type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False,),
               help="Configuration file.")
@@ -21,11 +23,10 @@
               help="Do NOT output logs on the console")
 @click.pass_context
 def cli(ctx, config_file, database, url, no_stdout):
-    """Scheduler CLI interface.
+    """Software Heritage Scheduler tools.
 
-    Default to use the the local scheduler instance (plugged to the
+    Use a local scheduler instance by default (plugged to the
     main scheduler db).
-
     """
     from swh.core import config
     from swh.scheduler.celery_backend.config import setup_log_handler
@@ -64,11 +65,15 @@
     ctx.obj['scheduler'] = scheduler
     ctx.obj['config'] = conf
 
-
 from . import admin, task, task_type  # noqa
 
 
 def main():
+    import click.core
+    click.core.DEPRECATED_HELP_NOTICE = '''
+
+DEPRECATED! Please use the command 'swh scheduler'.'''
+    cli.deprecated = True
     return cli(auto_envvar_prefix='SWH_SCHEDULER')
 
 
diff --git a/swh/scheduler/cli/admin.py b/swh/scheduler/cli/admin.py
--- a/swh/scheduler/cli/admin.py
+++ b/swh/scheduler/cli/admin.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from . import cli
 
 
-@cli.command('runner')
+@cli.command('start-runner')
 @click.option('--period', '-p', default=0,
               help=('Period (in s) at witch pending tasks are checked and '
                     'executed. Set to 0 (default) for a one shot.'))
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
         ctx.exit(0)
 
 
-@cli.command('listener')
+@cli.command('start-listener')
 @click.pass_context
 def listener(ctx):
     """Starts a swh-scheduler listener service.
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
     event_monitor(app, backend=scheduler)
 
 
-@cli.command('api-server')
+@cli.command('rpc-serve')
 @click.option('--host', default='0.0.0.0',
               help="Host to run the scheduler server api")
 @click.option('--port', default=5008, type=click.INT,
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
                     "Defaults to True if log-level is DEBUG, False otherwise.")
               )
 @click.pass_context
-def api_server(ctx, host, port, debug):
+def rpc_server(ctx, host, port, debug):
     """Starts a swh-scheduler API HTTP server.
     """
     if ctx.obj['config']['scheduler']['cls'] == 'remote':
@@ -90,24 +90,29 @@
     server.app.run(host, port=port, debug=bool(debug))
 
 
-@cli.command('updater')
+@cli.command('start-updater')
 @click.option('--verbose/--no-verbose', '-v', default=False,
               help='Verbose mode')
 @click.pass_context
 def updater(ctx, verbose):
-    """Insert tasks in the scheduler from the scheduler-updater's events
+    """Starts a scheduler-updater service.
+
+    Insert tasks in the scheduler from the scheduler-updater's events read from
+    the db cache (filled e.g. by the ghtorrent consumer service) .
 
     """
     from swh.scheduler.updater.writer import UpdaterWriter
     UpdaterWriter(**ctx.obj['config']).run()
 
 
-@cli.command('ghtorrent')
+@cli.command('start-ghtorrent')
 @click.option('--verbose/--no-verbose', '-v', default=False,
               help='Verbose mode')
 @click.pass_context
 def ghtorrent(ctx, verbose):
-    """Consume events from ghtorrent and write them to cache.
+    """Starts a ghtorrent consumer service.
+
+    Consumes events from ghtorrent and write them to a cache.
 
     """
     from swh.scheduler.updater.ghtorrent import GHTorrentConsumer
@@ -117,3 +122,12 @@
     back_config = ctx.obj['config'].get('scheduler_updater', {})
     backend = SchedulerUpdaterBackend(**back_config)
     GHTorrentConsumer(backend, **ght_config).run()
+
+
+# for bw compat
+cli.add_alias(ghtorrent, 'ghtorrent')
+cli.add_alias(listener, 'listerner')
+cli.add_alias(runner, 'runner')
+cli.add_alias(updater, 'updater')
+cli.add_alias(rpc_server, 'serve')
+cli.add_alias(rpc_server, 'api-server')