diff --git a/core/commands/commands.go b/core/commands/commands.go
index 3333794f9..d338a2e3d 100644
--- a/core/commands/commands.go
+++ b/core/commands/commands.go
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@ type Command struct {
 	Name        string
 	Subcommands []Command
 	Options     []cmds.Option
+	ShowOptions bool
 }
 
+const (
+	flagsOptionName    = "flags"
+)
+
 // CommandsCmd takes in a root command,
 // and returns a command that lists the subcommands in that root
 func CommandsCmd(root *cmds.Command) *cmds.Command {
@@ -29,10 +34,13 @@ func CommandsCmd(root *cmds.Command) *cmds.Command {
 			Tagline:          "List all available commands.",
 			ShortDescription: `Lists all available commands (and subcommands) and exits.`,
 		},
-
+		Options: []cmds.Option{
+			cmds.BoolOption(flagsOptionName, "f", "Show command flags"),
+		},
 		Run: func(req cmds.Request, res cmds.Response) {
-			root := cmd2outputCmd("ipfs", root)
-			res.SetOutput(&root)
+			showOptions, _, _ := req.Option(flagsOptionName).Bool();
+			rootCmd := cmd2outputCmd("ipfs", root, showOptions)
+			res.SetOutput(&rootCmd)
 		},
 		Marshalers: cmds.MarshalerMap{
 			cmds.Text: func(res cmds.Response) (io.Reader, error) {
@@ -48,16 +56,17 @@ func CommandsCmd(root *cmds.Command) *cmds.Command {
 	}
 }
 
-func cmd2outputCmd(name string, cmd *cmds.Command) Command {
+func cmd2outputCmd(name string, cmd *cmds.Command, showOptions bool) Command {
 	output := Command{
 		Name:        name,
 		Subcommands: make([]Command, len(cmd.Subcommands)),
 		Options:     cmd.Options,
+		ShowOptions: showOptions,
 	}
 
 	i := 0
 	for name, sub := range cmd.Subcommands {
-		output.Subcommands[i] = cmd2outputCmd(name, sub)
+		output.Subcommands[i] = cmd2outputCmd(name, sub, showOptions)
 		i++
 	}
 
@@ -71,7 +80,7 @@ func cmdPathStrings(cmd *Command) []string {
 	recurse = func(prefix string, cmd *Command) {
 		newPrefix := prefix + cmd.Name
 		cmds = append(cmds, newPrefix)
-		if prefix != "" {
+		if prefix != "" && cmd.ShowOptions {
 			for _, option := range cmd.Options {
 				optName := option.Names()[0]
 				if len(optName) == 1 {