diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiannotate/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiannotate/main.go
index bd1638d..b83dfc2 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiannotate/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiannotate/main.go
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiannotate.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiannotate",
+		"edits the sequence annotations",
+		obiannotate.OptionSet,
+	)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiclean/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiclean/main.go
index 88b1daf..14d09e3 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiclean/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiclean/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiclean.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiclean",
+		"",
+		obiclean.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obicleandb/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obicleandb/main.go
index c817fef..d3e78aa 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obicleandb/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obicleandb/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ import (
 func main() {
 	obidefault.SetBatchSize(10)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obicleandb.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obicleandb",
+		"clean-up reference databases",
+		obicleandb.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obicomplement/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obicomplement/main.go
index 5c4e76d..bced10c 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obicomplement/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obicomplement/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiconvert.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obicomplement",
+		"reverse complement of sequences",
+		obiconvert.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiconsensus/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiconsensus/main.go
index bb99855..f755dab 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiconsensus/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiconsensus/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiconsensus.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiconsensus",
+		"ONT reads denoising",
+		obiconsensus.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiconvert/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiconvert/main.go
index 93cc9ff..6a40ecc 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiconvert/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiconvert/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ func main() {
 	obidefault.SetStrictReadWorker(2)
 	obidefault.SetStrictWriteWorker(2)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiconvert.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiconvert",
+		"convertion of sequence files to various formats",
+		obiconvert.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obicount/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obicount/main.go
index 1e1e1e7..6161f83 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obicount/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obicount/main.go
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ func main() {
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
 	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obicount",
+		"counts the sequences present in a file of sequences",
 		obiconvert.InputOptionSet,
 		obicount.OptionSet,
 	)
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obicsv/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obicsv/main.go
index 4277126..37fe7c1 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obicsv/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obicsv/main.go
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obicsv.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obicsv",
+		"converts sequence files to CSV format",
+		obicsv.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obidemerge/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obidemerge/main.go
index 699887a..844d529 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obidemerge/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obidemerge/main.go
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ func main() {
 	obidefault.SetStrictReadWorker(2)
 	obidefault.SetStrictWriteWorker(2)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obidemerge.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obidemerge",
+		"",
+		obidemerge.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obidistribute/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obidistribute/main.go
index c9aeaaf..c22e5b7 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obidistribute/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obidistribute/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obidistribute.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obidistribute",
+		"divided an input set of sequences into subsets",
+		obidistribute.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obigrep/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obigrep/main.go
index e07782c..ce07ed2 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obigrep/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obigrep/main.go
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obigrep.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obigrep",
+		"select a subset of sequences on various criteria",
+		obigrep.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obijoin/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obijoin/main.go
index cfe99c3..fb28458 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obijoin/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obijoin/main.go
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ func main() {
 	obidefault.SetStrictReadWorker(2)
 	obidefault.SetStrictWriteWorker(2)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obijoin.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obijoin",
+		"merge annotations contained in a file to another file",
+		obijoin.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obikmermatch/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obikmermatch/main.go
index 4c8bf90..4752b7c 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obikmermatch/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obikmermatch/main.go
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obikmersim.MatchOptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obikmermatch",
+		"",
+		obikmersim.MatchOptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obikmersimcount/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obikmersimcount/main.go
index a9df4f5..8d669c5 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obikmersimcount/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obikmersimcount/main.go
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obikmersim.CountOptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obikmersimcount",
+		"",
+		obikmersim.CountOptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obilandmark/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obilandmark/main.go
index a1f2c26..1fed501 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obilandmark/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obilandmark/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obilandmark.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obilandmark",
+		"",
+		obilandmark.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obimatrix/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obimatrix/main.go
index 1c7d135..d9a7778 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obimatrix/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obimatrix/main.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ func main() {
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
 	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obimatrix",
+		"",
 		obimatrix.OptionSet,
 	)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obimicrosat/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obimicrosat/main.go
index e8c4a95..8c0a585 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obimicrosat/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obimicrosat/main.go
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obimicrosat.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obimicrosat",
+		"looks for microsatellites sequences in a sequence file",
+		obimicrosat.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obimultiplex/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obimultiplex/main.go
index 9c00c4e..569f109 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obimultiplex/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obimultiplex/main.go
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obimultiplex.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obimultiplex",
+		"demultiplex amplicons",
+		obimultiplex.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obipairing/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obipairing/main.go
index 7370f8b..8f9efd5 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obipairing/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obipairing/main.go
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obipairing.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obipairing",
+		"align forward with reverse reads with paired reads",
+		obipairing.OptionSet)
 
 	optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obipcr/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obipcr/main.go
index 15d863b..d517960 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obipcr/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obipcr/main.go
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ func main() {
 	obidefault.SetParallelFilesRead(obidefault.ParallelWorkers() / 4)
 	obidefault.SetBatchSize(10)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obipcr.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obipcr",
+		"simulates a PCR on a sequence files",
+		obipcr.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obireffamidx/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obireffamidx/main.go
index 96e85fa..c04e5e8 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obireffamidx/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obireffamidx/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obirefidx.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obireffamidx",
+		"",
+		obirefidx.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obirefidx/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obirefidx/main.go
index 9899b7f..9c20417 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obirefidx/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obirefidx/main.go
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obirefidx.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obirefidx",
+		"",
+		obirefidx.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiscript/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiscript/main.go
index 861a2ad..2219d67 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiscript/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiscript/main.go
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiscript.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiscript",
+		"executes a lua script on the input sequences",
+		obiscript.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obisplit/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obisplit/main.go
index 9c6ed94..d925900 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obisplit/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obisplit/main.go
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obisplit.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obisplit",
+		"",
+		obisplit.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obisummary/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obisummary/main.go
index 73ecde9..6baff84 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obisummary/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obisummary/main.go
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ func main() {
 	// trace.Start(ftrace)
 	// defer trace.Stop()
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obisummary.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obisummary",
+		"resume main information from a sequence file",
+		obisummary.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obitag/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obitag/main.go
index 39b02a0..ecf5d96 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obitag/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obitag/main.go
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@ func main() {
 	obidefault.SetStrictWriteWorker(1)
 	obidefault.SetBatchSize(10)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obitag.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obitag",
+		"realizes taxonomic assignment",
+		obitag.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obitagpcr/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obitagpcr/main.go
index 64a88e2..d63d557 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obitagpcr/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obitagpcr/main.go
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ func main() {
 
 	obidefault.SetWorkerPerCore(1)
 
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obitagpcr.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obitagpcr",
+		"split a paired raw read data set per sample",
+		obitagpcr.OptionSet)
 
 	optionParser(os.Args)
 	pairs, err := obipairing.CLIPairedSequence()
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obitaxonomy/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obitaxonomy/main.go
index c067a47..284a778 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obitaxonomy/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obitaxonomy/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obitaxonomy.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obitaxonomy",
+		"manipulates and queries taxonomy",
+		obitaxonomy.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/cmd/obitools/obiuniq/main.go b/cmd/obitools/obiuniq/main.go
index 8e9926d..ee0fcfe 100644
--- a/cmd/obitools/obiuniq/main.go
+++ b/cmd/obitools/obiuniq/main.go
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ func main() {
 
 	obidefault.SetBatchSize(10)
 	obidefault.SetReadQualities(false)
-	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(obiuniq.OptionSet)
+	optionParser := obioptions.GenerateOptionParser(
+		"obiuniq",
+		"dereplicate sequence data sets",
+		obiuniq.OptionSet)
 
 	_, args := optionParser(os.Args)
 
diff --git a/pkg/obioptions/options.go b/pkg/obioptions/options.go
index 6aa7453..1e5d56b 100644
--- a/pkg/obioptions/options.go
+++ b/pkg/obioptions/options.go
@@ -22,9 +22,12 @@ var _PprofGoroutine = 6060
 
 type ArgumentParser func([]string) (*getoptions.GetOpt, []string)
 
-func GenerateOptionParser(optionset ...func(*getoptions.GetOpt)) ArgumentParser {
+func GenerateOptionParser(program string,
+	documentation string,
+	optionset ...func(*getoptions.GetOpt)) ArgumentParser {
 
 	options := getoptions.New()
+	options.Self(program, documentation)
 	options.SetMode(getoptions.Bundling)
 	options.SetUnknownMode(getoptions.Fail)
 	options.Bool("help", false, options.Alias("h", "?"))
diff --git a/pkg/obioptions/version.go b/pkg/obioptions/version.go
index 6107b75..fe4d685 100644
--- a/pkg/obioptions/version.go
+++ b/pkg/obioptions/version.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 // corresponds to the last commit, and not the one when the file will be
 // commited
 
-var _Commit = "3a1cf4f"
+var _Commit = "7a9dc1a"
 var _Version = "Release 4.4.0"
 
 // Version returns the version of the obitools package.