diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index 1f781651..bf41bbb1 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ libui_testparent = executable('testparent', libui_test_sources + libui_test_sour
 pymod = import('python')
 python = pymod.find_installation()
 # Using files() is the cleanest way to ensure the python script gets the right filenames regardless of how meson sandboxes the command it's running.
-runresult = run_command(python, files(['testlist.py'] + libui_test_sources))
+libui_testlist_py = files(['testlist.py'])
+libui_test_sources_files = files(libui_test_sources)
+runresult = run_command(python, libui_testlist_py + ['list'] + libui_test_sources_files)
 if runresult.returncode() != 0
 	error('testlist.py failed; cannot compute list of test cases. Exit code @0@; stderr:\n@1@'.format(runresult.returncode(), runresult.stderr()))
 endif
diff --git a/test/testlist.py b/test/testlist.py
index 29b1fa0e..dd37695b 100644
--- a/test/testlist.py
+++ b/test/testlist.py
@@ -1,11 +1,115 @@
 # 20 january 2020
 # note: python 3
 
+import abc
 import fileinput
 import re
+import sys
 
-r = re.compile('^(?:Test|TestNoInit)\(([A-Za-z0-9_]+)\)$')
-for line in fileinput.input():
-	match = r.match(line)
-	if match is not None:
-		print('Test' + match.group(1))
+def errf(fmt, *args):
+	print(fmt.format(*args), file = sys.stderr)
+
+class command(metaclass = abc.ABCMeta):
+	@classmethod
+	@abc.abstractmethod
+	def name(cls):
+		raise NotImplementedError
+
+	@classmethod
+	@abc.abstractmethod
+	def usageString(cls):
+		raise NotImplementedError
+
+	# returns the list of filenames to iterate through
+	# returns None if there was an error parsing arguments
+	@abc.abstractmethod
+	def processArgs(self, args):
+		raise NotImplementedError
+
+	@abc.abstractmethod
+	def run(self, casenames):
+		raise NotImplementedError
+
+class listCommand:
+	@classmethod
+	def name(cls):
+		return 'list'
+
+	@classmethod
+	def usageString(cls):
+		return 'list [source-files...]'
+
+	def processArgs(self, args):
+		return args
+
+	def run(self, casenames):
+		for x in casenames:
+			print('Test' + x)
+command.register(listCommand)
+
+class headerCommand:
+	filename = None
+
+	@classmethod
+	def name(cls):
+		return 'header'
+
+	@classmethod
+	def usageString(cls):
+		return 'header header-file [source-files...]'
+
+	def processArgs(self, args):
+		if len(args) < 1:
+			errf('error: output filename missing')
+			return None
+		self.filename = args[0]
+		return args[1:]
+
+	def run(self, casenames):
+		# TODO
+		raise NotImplementedError
+command.register(headerCommand)
+
+commands = [
+	listCommand,
+	headerCommand,
+]
+
+def usage():
+	errf('usage:')
+	errf('{} help', sys.argv[0])
+	for cmd in commands:
+		errf('{} {}', sys.argv[0], cmd.usageString())
+	sys.exit(1)
+
+def main():
+	r = re.compile('^(?:Test|TestNoInit)\(([A-Za-z0-9_]+)\)$')
+
+	if len(sys.argv) < 2:
+		usage()
+	cmdname = sys.argv[1]
+	if cmdname == 'help':
+		usage()
+	cmdtype = None
+	for cmd in commands:
+		if cmd.name() == cmdname:
+			cmdtype = cmd
+			break
+	if cmdtype is None:
+		errf('error: unknown command {}', cmdname)
+		usage()
+
+	cmd = cmdtype()
+	files = cmd.processArgs(sys.argv[2:])
+	if files is None:
+		usage()
+
+	casenames = []
+	for line in fileinput.input(files = files):
+		match = r.match(line)
+		if match is not None:
+			casenames.append(match.group(1))
+	print('*', casenames)
+	cmd.run(casenames)
+
+main()