diff --git a/docs/README.rst b/docs/README.rst
--- a/docs/README.rst
+++ b/docs/README.rst
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@
    present in the archive
 
    Options:
-     -u, --api-url API_URL     url for the api request  [default:
-			       https://archive.softwareheritage.org/api/1]
-     -f, --format [text|json]  select the output format
-     -h, --help                Show this message and exit.
+	 -u, --api-url API_URL           URL for the api request  [default:
+									https://archive.softwareheritage.org/api/1]
+	 -x, --exclude PATTERN           Exclude a specific pattern
+	 -f, --format [text|json|ndjson|sunburst]
+									 The output format  [default: text]
+	 -i, --interactive               Show the result in a dashboard
+	 -h, --help                      Show this message and exit.
diff --git a/swh/scanner/cli.py b/swh/scanner/cli.py
--- a/swh/scanner/cli.py
+++ b/swh/scanner/cli.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
     default="https://archive.softwareheritage.org/api/1",
     metavar="API_URL",
     show_default=True,
-    help="url for the api request",
+    help="URL for the api request",
 )
 @click.option(
     "--exclude",
@@ -73,17 +73,18 @@
     "patterns",
     metavar="PATTERN",
     multiple=True,
-    help="recursively exclude a specific pattern",
+    help="Exclude a specific pattern",
 )
 @click.option(
     "-f",
     "--format",
-    type=click.Choice(["text", "json", "ndjson", "sunburst"], case_sensitive=False),
     default="text",
-    help="select the output format",
+    show_default=True,
+    type=click.Choice(["text", "json", "ndjson", "sunburst"], case_sensitive=False),
+    help="The output format",
 )
 @click.option(
-    "-i", "--interactive", is_flag=True, help="show the result in a dashboard"
+    "-i", "--interactive", is_flag=True, help="Show the result in a dashboard"
 )
 @click.pass_context
 def scan(ctx, root_path, api_url, patterns, format, interactive):