diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d5facd291f..2ba570ef39 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2663,6 +2663,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reqwest 0.12.5",
  "rustyline",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "serde_with",
  "shell-words",
  "shellexpand",
@@ -5081,11 +5082,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_json"
-version = "1.0.120"
+version = "1.0.122"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4e0d21c9a8cae1235ad58a00c11cb40d4b1e5c784f1ef2c537876ed6ffd8b7c5"
+checksum = "784b6203951c57ff748476b126ccb5e8e2959a5c19e5c617ab1956be3dbc68da"
 dependencies = [
  "itoa",
+ "memchr",
  "ryu",
  "serde",
 ]
diff --git a/iroh-cli/Cargo.toml b/iroh-cli/Cargo.toml
index 3525bc4595..844c6cf814 100644
--- a/iroh-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/iroh-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ ratatui = "0.26.2"
 reqwest = { version = "0.12.4", default-features = false, features = ["json", "rustls-tls"] }
 rustyline = "12.0.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0.197", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0.122"
 serde_with = "3.7.0"
 shell-words = "1.1.0"
 shellexpand = "3.1.0"
diff --git a/iroh-cli/src/commands.rs b/iroh-cli/src/commands.rs
index 43cf2f5e82..e2f8edc125 100644
--- a/iroh-cli/src/commands.rs
+++ b/iroh-cli/src/commands.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ pub(crate) mod blobs;
 pub(crate) mod console;
 pub(crate) mod docs;
 pub(crate) mod doctor;
+pub(crate) mod gen_api;
 pub(crate) mod gossip;
 pub(crate) mod net;
 pub(crate) mod rpc;
@@ -94,6 +95,9 @@ pub(crate) enum Commands {
         #[clap(subcommand)]
         command: self::doctor::Commands,
     },
+    /// Generate JSON definitions for the CLI.
+    #[clap(hide = true)]
+    GenApi { cmd: String },
 }
 
 impl Cli {
@@ -195,6 +199,7 @@ impl Cli {
                 let config = Self::load_config(self.config, self.metrics_addr).await?;
                 self::doctor::run(command, &config).await
             }
+            Commands::GenApi { cmd } => gen_api::gen_json_api(&cmd),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/iroh-cli/src/commands/gen_api.rs b/iroh-cli/src/commands/gen_api.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..166fafe604
--- /dev/null
+++ b/iroh-cli/src/commands/gen_api.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
+use clap::CommandFactory;
+
+#[derive(serde::Serialize)]
+struct ApiDef {
+    name: String,
+    description: String,
+    // I have no idea what's this
+    slug: String,
+    arguments: Vec<ApiArg>,
+    examples: Example,
+}
+
+#[derive(serde::Serialize)]
+struct Example {
+    console: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(serde::Serialize)]
+struct ApiArg {
+    name: String,
+    necessity: &'static str,
+    // required: bool,
+    description: String,
+}
+
+const fn necessity(is_required: bool) -> &'static str {
+    if is_required {
+        "required"
+    } else {
+        ""
+    }
+}
+
+// subcmd ex `blobs`, `tags`, etc
+pub(crate) fn gen_json_api(subcmd: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let cli = super::Cli::command();
+    let cmd = cli
+        .get_subcommands()
+        .find(|cmd| cmd.get_name() == subcmd)
+        .context("subcommand not found")?;
+    let definitions = describe_cmd(cmd)?;
+    let repr = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&definitions)
+        .context("failed to write api descriptions")?
+        .replace('\'', "\\'") // escape single quotes
+        .replace("\"name\"", "name") // remove quotes around keys
+        .replace("\"description\"", "description")
+        .replace("\"slug\"", "slug")
+        .replace("\"arguments\"", "arguments")
+        .replace("\"necessity\"", "necessity")
+        .replace("\"examples\"", "examples")
+        .replace("\"console\"", "console")
+        .replace('"', "'");
+    println!("{repr}");
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Iterate the cmd subcommands and build an [`ApiDef`] for each.
+///
+/// The list is generated using recursive flattening. For instance, calling this function with the
+/// blobs command will indlude an item with name `blobs list incomplete-blobs`
+fn describe_cmd(cmd: &clap::Command) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<ApiDef>> {
+    let mut cmds = Vec::with_capacity(cmd.get_subcommands().count());
+    get_api_def(cmd, "", &mut cmds)?;
+    Ok(cmds)
+}
+
+fn get_api_def(cmd: &clap::Command, parent: &str, acc: &mut Vec<ApiDef>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let me = format!("{parent} {}", cmd.get_name()).trim().to_owned();
+    if cmd.get_subcommands().next().is_some() {
+        for subcmd in cmd.get_subcommands() {
+            get_api_def(subcmd, &me, acc)?;
+        }
+    } else {
+        let description = cmd
+            .get_about()
+            .map(|help_txt| help_txt.to_string())
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+        let mut arguments = Vec::default();
+        for positional in cmd.get_positionals().filter_map(get_arg_def) {
+            arguments.push(positional?);
+        }
+        for flag_def in cmd.get_opts().filter_map(get_arg_def) {
+            arguments.push(flag_def?);
+        }
+        let console = format!("> {me}");
+        acc.push(ApiDef {
+            name: me.clone(),
+            description,
+            slug: me.replace(' ', "-"),
+            arguments,
+            examples: Example { console },
+        })
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Gets the [`ApiArg`] for this [`clap::Arg`].
+///
+/// Returns None if the arg is hidden.
+fn get_arg_def(arg: &clap::Arg) -> Option<anyhow::Result<ApiArg>> {
+    (!arg.is_hide_set()).then(|| get_arg_def_inner(arg))
+}
+
+/// Unconditionall gets the [`ApiArg`] for this [`clap::Arg`].
+fn get_arg_def_inner(arg: &clap::Arg) -> anyhow::Result<ApiArg> {
+    let name = if let Some(long) = arg.get_long() {
+        long.to_owned()
+    } else if let Some(value_names) = arg.get_value_names() {
+        value_names
+            .first()
+            .expect("clap returned Some with an empty array")
+            .as_str()
+            .to_ascii_lowercase()
+    } else if let Some(short) = arg.get_short() {
+        short.to_string()
+    } else {
+        anyhow::bail!("arg without a name")
+    };
+    let description = arg
+        .get_help()
+        .map(|help_txt| help_txt.to_string())
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+    let required = arg.is_required_set() || arg.is_positional();
+    Ok(ApiArg {
+        name,
+        necessity: necessity(required),
+        description,
+    })
+}