diff --git a/include/help.hpp b/include/help.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ba6a3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/help.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#ifndef __HELP_HPP
+#define __HELP_HPP
+#pragma once
+
+#include <string>
+
+using namespace std;
+
+namespace cellar {
+    namespace help {
+        extern void set_description(string,string);
+    }
+}
+
+#endif // __HELP_HPP
diff --git a/src/bottles/commands.cpp.cog b/src/bottles/commands.cpp.cog
index c2d2671..5630eab 100644
--- a/src/bottles/commands.cpp.cog
+++ b/src/bottles/commands.cpp.cog
@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ DLL_PUBLIC map<string, CommandFunction> cellar::commands::bottles_commands() {
                 func = linesplit[1]
 
                 cog.outl("result.insert(pair<string,CommandFunction>(\"{0}\", &{1}));".format(name, func))
+
+                if (len(linesplit) > 2):
+                    desc = " ".join(linesplit[2:]) # Rest of line assumed to be description
+                    cog.outl("cellar::help::set_description(\"{0}\", \"{1}\");"
+                             .format(name, desc
+                             .replace("\"", "\\\"")
+                             .replace("\\", "\\\\")))
+                             # the replace methods escape " and \ characters
       ]]]*/
     //[[[end]]]
     return result;
diff --git a/src/commands.cpp.cog b/src/commands.cpp.cog
index 7b3ac3d..5899ea0 100644
--- a/src/commands.cpp.cog
+++ b/src/commands.cpp.cog
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "commands.hpp"
 #include "internal/core.hpp"
 #include "cellar.hpp"
+#include "help.hpp"
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace cellar::commands;
@@ -32,6 +33,14 @@ map<string, CommandFunction> cellar::commands::core_commands() {
                 func = linesplit[1]
 
                 cog.outl("result.insert(pair<string,CommandFunction>(\"{0}\", &{1}));".format(name, func))
+
+                if (len(linesplit) > 2):
+                    desc = " ".join(linesplit[2:]) # Rest of line assumed to be description
+                    cog.outl("cellar::help::set_description(\"{0}\", \"{1}\");"
+                             .format(name, desc
+                             .replace("\"", "\\\"")
+                             .replace("\\", "\\\\")))
+                             # the replace methods escape " and \ characters
       ]]]*/
     //[[[end]]]
     return result;
diff --git a/src/commands.txt b/src/commands.txt
index da23819..f5ba7ad 100644
--- a/src/commands.txt
+++ b/src/commands.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-version print_version
+version print_version Prints version information.
 help help_command
diff --git a/src/help/help.cpp b/src/help/help.cpp
index 4cec2a8..6a2d1c1 100644
--- a/src/help/help.cpp
+++ b/src/help/help.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "cellar.hpp"
 #include "internal/core.hpp"
+#include "help.cpp"
 
 using namespace std;
 
diff --git a/src/launch/commands.cpp.cog b/src/launch/commands.cpp.cog
index 24f0fc2..402213c 100644
--- a/src/launch/commands.cpp.cog
+++ b/src/launch/commands.cpp.cog
@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ DLL_PUBLIC map<string, CommandFunction> cellar::commands::launch_commands() {
                 func = linesplit[1]
 
                 cog.outl("result.insert(pair<string,CommandFunction>(\"{0}\", &{1}));".format(name, func))
+
+                if (len(linesplit) > 2):
+                    desc = " ".join(linesplit[2:]) # Rest of line assumed to be description
+                    cog.outl("cellar::help::set_description(\"{0}\", \"{1}\");"
+                             .format(name, desc
+                             .replace("\"", "\\\"")
+                             .replace("\\", "\\\\")))
+                             # the replace methods escape " and \ characters
       ]]]*/
     //[[[end]]]
     return result;