diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a1ff18b5e..54fed82da 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@ lto = "thin"
 
 [workspace]
 resolver = "2"
-members = ["hugr", "hugr-core", "hugr-passes"]
+members = ["hugr", "hugr-core", "hugr-passes", "hugr-cli"]
 default-members = ["hugr", "hugr-core", "hugr-passes"]
-default-run = "hugr"
 
 [workspace.package]
 rust-version = "1.75"
@@ -26,12 +25,8 @@ debug_assert_with_mut_call = "warn"
 [workspace.dependencies]
 portgraph = { version = "0.12.0" }
 insta = { version = "1.34.0" }
-assert_cmd = "2.0.14"
-assert_fs = "1.1.1"
 bitvec = "1.0.1"
 cgmath = "0.18.0"
-clap = "4.5.4"
-clap-stdin = "0.4.0"
 context-iterators = "0.2.0"
 cool_asserts = "2.0.3"
 criterion = "0.5.1"
@@ -46,7 +41,6 @@ lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 num-rational = "0.4.1"
 paste = "1.0"
 petgraph = { version = "0.6.3", default-features = false }
-predicates = "3.1.0"
 proptest = "1.4.0"
 proptest-derive = "0.4.0"
 regex = "1.9.5"
@@ -62,6 +56,11 @@ thiserror = "1.0.28"
 typetag = "0.2.7"
 urlencoding = "2.1.2"
 webbrowser = "1.0.0"
+clap = { version = "4.5.4"}
+assert_cmd = "2.0.14"
+assert_fs = "1.1.1"
+clap-stdin = "0.4.0"
+predicates = "3.1.0"
 
 [profile.dev.package]
 insta.opt-level = 3
diff --git a/hugr-cli/CHANGELOG.md b/hugr-cli/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38ec96fd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hugr-cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## 0.1.0 (2024-05-24)
+
+Initial release, ported from `hugr::cli` module.
diff --git a/hugr-cli/Cargo.toml b/hugr-cli/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..067a08a67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hugr-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+[package]
+name = "hugr-cli"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = { workspace = true }
+rust-version = { workspace = true }
+license = { workspace = true }
+readme = "README.md"
+documentation = "https://docs.rs/hugr-passes/"
+homepage = { workspace = true }
+repository = { workspace = true }
+description = "Compiler passes for Quantinuum's HUGR"
+keywords = ["Quantum", "Quantinuum"]
+categories = ["compilers"]
+
+
+[dependencies]
+clap = {workspace = true, features = ["derive"]}
+clap-stdin = { workspace = true }
+hugr-core = { path = "../hugr-core", version = "0.0.0" }
+serde_json.workspace = true
+thiserror.workspace = true
+
+[lints]
+workspace = true
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+assert_cmd = { workspace = true }
+assert_fs = { workspace = true }
+predicates = { workspace = true }
+rstest.workspace = true
diff --git a/hugr-cli/README.md b/hugr-cli/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c08dcac8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hugr-cli/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+![](/hugr/assets/hugr_logo.svg)
+
+hugr-cli
+===============
+
+[![build_status][]](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/actions)
+[![crates][]](https://crates.io/crates/hugr-cli)
+[![msrv][]](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr)
+[![codecov][]](https://codecov.io/gh/CQCL/hugr)
+
+This crate provides tooling used by the `hugr` CLI tool.
+Refer to the [main crate](http://crates.io/crates/hugr) for more information.
+
+## Usage
+
+Add the dependency to your project:
+
+```bash
+cargo add hugr-cli
+```
+
+Please read the [API documentation here][].
+
+## Recent Changes
+
+See [CHANGELOG][] for a list of changes. The minimum supported rust
+version will only change on major releases.
+
+## Development
+
+See [DEVELOPMENT.md](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/DEVELOPMENT.md) for instructions on setting up the development environment.
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0 ([LICENSE][] or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
+
+  [API documentation here]: https://docs.rs/hugr-cli/
+  [build_status]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/actions/workflows/ci-rs.yml/badge.svg?branch=main
+  [msrv]: https://img.shields.io/badge/rust-1.75.0%2B-blue.svg
+  [crates]: https://img.shields.io/crates/v/hugr-cli
+  [codecov]: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/gh/CQCL/hugr?logo=codecov
+  [LICENSE]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/LICENCE
+  [CHANGELOG]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/hugr-cli/CHANGELOG.md
diff --git a/hugr-core/src/cli.rs b/hugr-cli/src/lib.rs
similarity index 91%
rename from hugr-core/src/cli.rs
rename to hugr-cli/src/lib.rs
index a58278188..421a900fa 100644
--- a/hugr-core/src/cli.rs
+++ b/hugr-cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 //! Standard command line tools, used by the hugr binary.
 
-use crate::{extension::ExtensionRegistry, Hugr, HugrView};
-use clap::Parser;
+pub use clap::Parser;
 use clap_stdin::FileOrStdin;
+use hugr_core::{extension::ExtensionRegistry, Hugr, HugrView};
 use thiserror::Error;
 /// Validate and visualise a HUGR file.
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ pub enum CliError {
     Parse(#[from] serde_json::Error),
     /// Error validating HUGR.
     #[error("Error validating HUGR: {0}")]
-    Validate(#[from] crate::hugr::ValidationError),
+    Validate(#[from] hugr_core::hugr::ValidationError),
 }
 
 /// String to print when validation is successful.
diff --git a/hugr-core/Cargo.toml b/hugr-core/Cargo.toml
index 5894ef984..41e411dcb 100644
--- a/hugr-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hugr-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ workspace = true
 
 [features]
 extension_inference = []
-cli = ["dep:clap", "dep:clap-stdin"]
 
 [dependencies]
 portgraph = { workspace = true, features = ["serde", "petgraph"] }
@@ -45,8 +44,6 @@ delegate = { workspace = true }
 paste = { workspace = true }
 strum = { workspace = true }
 strum_macros = { workspace = true }
-clap = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"], optional = true }
-clap-stdin = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 rstest = { workspace = true }
@@ -58,9 +55,7 @@ jsonschema = { workspace = true }
 proptest = { workspace = true }
 proptest-derive = { workspace = true }
 regex-syntax = { workspace = true }
-assert_cmd = { workspace = true }
-predicates = { workspace = true }
-assert_fs = { workspace = true }
+
 
 # Required for documentation examples
 hugr = { path = "../hugr" }
diff --git a/hugr-core/src/lib.rs b/hugr-core/src/lib.rs
index a0c7b95ba..6bd2a262d 100644
--- a/hugr-core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/hugr-core/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,8 +24,5 @@ pub use crate::core::{
 pub use crate::extension::Extension;
 pub use crate::hugr::{Hugr, HugrView, SimpleReplacement};
 
-#[cfg(feature = "cli")]
-pub mod cli;
-
 #[cfg(test)]
 pub mod proptest;
diff --git a/hugr-passes/Cargo.toml b/hugr-passes/Cargo.toml
index 4a1bdc680..09cc231a4 100644
--- a/hugr-passes/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hugr-passes/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ thiserror = { workspace = true }
 extension_inference = ["hugr-core/extension_inference"]
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-rstest = "0.19.0"
+rstest = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/hugr/Cargo.toml b/hugr/Cargo.toml
index 59d468014..aa5e33b3e 100644
--- a/hugr/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hugr/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,22 +25,21 @@ path = "src/lib.rs"
 extension_inference = []
 
 # Definitions used by the `hugr` binary
-_cli = ["hugr-core/cli", "dep:clap"]
+_cli = ["dep:hugr-cli"]
 
 [dependencies]
 hugr-core = { path = "../hugr-core", version = "0.0.0" }
 hugr-passes = { path = "../hugr-passes", version = "0.1.0" }
-
-clap = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"], optional = true }
+hugr-cli = { path = "../hugr-cli", version = "0.1.0", optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 rstest = { workspace = true }
-assert_cmd = { workspace = true }
-predicates = { workspace = true }
-assert_fs = { workspace = true }
 lazy_static = { workspace = true }
 criterion = { workspace = true, features = ["html_reports"] }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
+assert_cmd = { workspace = true }
+assert_fs = { workspace = true }
+predicates = { workspace = true }
 
 [[bench]]
 name = "bench_main"
diff --git a/hugr/src/main.rs b/hugr/src/main.rs
index 4c2e163ac..a1bf109f4 100644
--- a/hugr/src/main.rs
+++ b/hugr/src/main.rs
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ use hugr::std_extensions::logic::EXTENSION as LOGICS_EXTENSION;
 
 use hugr::extension::{ExtensionRegistry, PRELUDE};
 
-use clap::Parser;
-use hugr_core::cli::CmdLineArgs;
+use hugr_cli::{CmdLineArgs, Parser};
 
 fn main() {
     let opts = CmdLineArgs::parse();
diff --git a/hugr/tests/cli.rs b/hugr/tests/cli.rs
index 2da86bc32..99ced61a4 100644
--- a/hugr/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/hugr/tests/cli.rs
@@ -1,21 +1,21 @@
 #![cfg(feature = "_cli")]
 use assert_cmd::Command;
 use assert_fs::{fixture::FileWriteStr, NamedTempFile};
-use hugr::builder::DFGBuilder;
-use hugr::{
+use hugr_cli::VALID_PRINT;
+use hugr_core::builder::DFGBuilder;
+use hugr_core::{
     builder::{Container, Dataflow, DataflowHugr},
     extension::prelude::{BOOL_T, QB_T},
     type_row,
     types::FunctionType,
     Hugr,
 };
-use hugr_core::cli::VALID_PRINT;
 use predicates::{prelude::*, str::contains};
 use rstest::{fixture, rstest};
 
 #[fixture]
 fn cmd() -> Command {
-    Command::cargo_bin("hugr").unwrap()
+    Command::cargo_bin(env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME")).unwrap()
 }
 
 #[fixture]
diff --git a/release-plz.toml b/release-plz.toml
index 9683d768b..5b3c4ee9f 100644
--- a/release-plz.toml
+++ b/release-plz.toml
@@ -34,3 +34,11 @@ release = true
 # Disabled until the first version is manually published
 publish = false
 git_release_enable = false
+
+
+[[package]]
+name = "hugr-cli"
+
+# Disabled until the first version is manually published
+publish = false
+git_release_enable = false