Index: Makefile
==================================================================
--- Makefile
+++ Makefile
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
 NAME    := streamtuner2
 VERSION := $(shell version get:plugin st2.py || echo 2.1dev)
 DEST    := /usr/share/streamtuner2
 INST    := install -m 644
 PACK    := xpm
-DEPS    := -n $(NAME) -d python-pyquery -d python-gtk2 -d python-requests -d python-keybinder
+DEPS    := -n $(NAME) -d python -d python-pyquery -d python-gtk2 -d python-requests -d python-keybinder
 OPTS    := -s src -u man,fixperms -f --prefix=$(DEST) --deb-compression xz --rpm-compression xz --exe-autoextract
 .PHONY:  bin
 all:  gtk3 #(most used)
 pack: all ver docs xpm src
 gtk3: gtk3.xml.gz

Index: cli.py
==================================================================
--- cli.py
+++ cli.py
@@ -39,26 +39,30 @@
     current_channel = "cli"
     plugins = {} # only populated sparsely by .stream()
     
     
     # start
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, actions):
 
         # fake init    
         action.action.main = empty_parent()
         action.action.main.current_channel = self.current_channel
 
         # check if enough arguments, else  help
-        if len(sys.argv)<3:
+        if not actions:
             a = self.help
         # first cmdline arg == action
         else:
-            command = sys.argv[1]
-            a = self.__getattribute__(command)
+            command = actions[0]
+            if command in self.__dict__:
+                cmd = self.__getattribute__(command)
+            else:
+                print "No such command:", command
+                return
 
         # run
-        result = a(*sys.argv[2:])
+        result = cmd(*actions[1:])
         if result:
             self.json(result)
         
         
     # show help

Index: config.py
==================================================================
--- config.py
+++ config.py
@@ -2,11 +2,16 @@
 # encoding: UTF-8
 # api: streamtuner2
 # type: class
 # title: global config object
 # description: reads ~/.config/streamtuner/*.json files
-# config: {type:var, name:z, description:v}
+# config:
+#    { arg: -d,     type: str,      name: plugin[],  description: omit plugin from initialization  }
+#    { arg: --gtk3, type: boolean,  name: gtk3,      description: use gtk3 interface }
+#    { arg: -D,     type: boolean,  name: debug,     description: enable debug messages on console }
+#    { arg: action, type: str*,     name: action[],  description: commandline actions }
+#    { arg: -x,     type: boolean,  name: exit,      description: terminate right away }
 #
 # In the main application or module files which need access
 # to a global conf.* object, just import this module as follows:
 #
 #   from config import *
@@ -29,10 +34,11 @@
 from compat2and3 import gzip_decode, find_executable
 import zlib
 import zipfile
 import inspect
 import pkgutil
+import argparse
 
 # export symbols
 __all__ = ["conf", "__print__", "dbg", "plugin_meta", "module_list", "get_data", "find_executable"]
 
 
@@ -50,10 +56,11 @@
 # Autointializes itself on startup, makes conf.vars available.
 # Also provides .load() and .save() for JSON data/cache files.
 #
 class ConfigDict(dict):
 
+    args = {}
 
     # start
     def __init__(self):
     
         # object==dict means conf.var is conf["var"]
@@ -75,10 +82,13 @@
             self.migrate()
         # store defaults in file
         else:
             self.save("settings")
             self.firstrun = 1
+        
+        # add argv
+        self.args = self.init_args(argparse.ArgumentParser())
 
 
     # some defaults
     def defaults(self):
         self.play = {
@@ -247,11 +257,50 @@
             except:
                 pass
         for server in varhosts:
             if server in netrc:
                 return netrc[server]
-        
+
+    # Use config: definitions for argv extraction
+    def init_args(self, ap):
+        for opt in plugin_meta(frame=0).get("config"):
+            kwargs = self.argparse_map(opt)
+            #print kwargs
+            if kwargs:
+                args = kwargs["args"]
+                del kwargs["args"]
+                ap.add_argument(*args, **kwargs)
+        return ap.parse_args()
+
+    # Transform config: description into quirky ArgumentParser list
+    def argparse_map(self, opt):
+        if not ("arg" in opt and opt["name"] and opt["type"]):
+            return {}
+
+        # Extract --flag names
+        args = opt["arg"].split() + re.findall("-+\w+", opt["name"])
+
+        # Prepare mapping options
+        typing = re.findall("bool|str|\[\]|store|append|const", opt["type"])
+        naming = re.findall("\[\]", opt["name"])
+        name   = re.findall("(?<!-)\\b\\w+", opt["name"])
+        nargs  = re.findall("\\b\d+\\b|\?|\*", opt["type"]) or [None]
+
+        # Populate partially - ArgumentParser is highly fragile with combinations of named params
+        kwargs = {
+            "args": args,
+            "dest": name[0] if not name[0] in args else None,
+            "action": "append" if "[]" in (naming+typing) else ("store_true" if "bool" in typing else "store"),
+            "nargs": nargs[0],
+            "default": opt["value"],
+           # "type":  int if "int" in typing else bool if "bool" in typing else str,
+            "choices": opt["select"].split("|") if "select" in opt else None,
+           # "required": "required" in opt,
+            "help": opt["description"] or "",
+        }
+        return dict((k,w) for k,w in kwargs.items() if w is not None)
+
 
 
 # Retrieve content from install path or pyzip archive (alias for pkgutil.get_data)
 #
 def get_data(fn, decode=False, gz=False, file_base="config"):

Index: st2.py
==================================================================
--- st2.py
+++ st2.py
@@ -489,23 +489,21 @@
 
 
 # startup procedure
 def main():
 
-    # process a few command line flags (needs a rewrite)
-    argv = sys.argv[1:]
-    while len(argv) and argv[0] in ("-d", "-D"):
-        opt = argv.pop(0)
-        if opt == "-D":
-            conf.debug = 1
-        elif opt == "-d":
-            conf.plugins[argv.pop(0)] = 0
-            sys.argv.pop(1)
-        sys.argv.pop(1)
+    # process a few command line flags
+    if conf.args.plugin:
+        for p_id in conf.args.plugin:
+            conf.plugins[p_id] = 0
+    if conf.args.debug
+        conf.debug = conf.args.debug
+    if conf.args.exit:
+        return
 
     # graphical
-    if len(sys.argv) < 2 or "--gtk3" in sys.argv:
+    if not len(conf.args.action[0]):
 
         # prepare for threading in Gtk+ callbacks
         gobject.threads_init()
 
         # prepare main window
@@ -521,11 +519,11 @@
         __print__(dbg.PROC, r" gtk_main_quit ")
         
     # invoke command-line interface
     else:
         import cli
-        cli.StreamTunerCLI()
+        cli.StreamTunerCLI(conf.args.action[0])
 
 # run
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()
 

Index: uikit.py
==================================================================
--- uikit.py
+++ uikit.py
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@
 
 
 # gtk version (2=gtk2, 3=gtk3, 7=tk;)
 ver = 2
 # if running on Python3 or with commandline flag
-if PY3 or "--gtk3" in sys.argv:
+if PY3 or conf.args.gtk3:
     ver = 3
 # load gtk modules
 if ver==3:
     from gi import pygtkcompat as pygtk
     pygtk.enable()