diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0de6256..af79cec 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ Local deployment
 3. create configuration file ~/.config/swh/lister-github.com.yml
 4. Bootstrap the db instance schema
 
-``` sh
-$ createdb lister-github.com
-$ python3 -m swh.lister.cli --db-url postgres:///lister-github.com github --createdb
-```
+    $ createdb lister-github
+    $ python3 -m swh.lister.cli --db-url postgres:///lister-github \
+        --lister github \
+        --create-tables
+
 
 Configuration file samples
 -------------------------
diff --git a/swh/lister/cli.py b/swh/lister/cli.py
index 82f8934..c6644dc 100644
--- a/swh/lister/cli.py
+++ b/swh/lister/cli.py
@@ -6,92 +6,53 @@
 import click
 
 
-CONTEXT_SETTINGS = dict(help_option_names=['-h', '--help'])
-
-
-@click.group(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
+@click.command()
 @click.option(
     '--db-url', '-d', default='postgres:///lister-gitlab.com',
     help='SQLAlchemy DB URL; see '
          '<http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/latest/core/engines.html#database-urls>')  # noqa
-@click.pass_context
-def cli(ctx, db_url):
+@click.option('--lister', required=1,
+              type=click.Choice(['github', 'gitlab', 'bitbucket']),
+              help='Lister to act upon')
+@click.option('--create-tables', is_flag=True, default=False,
+              help='create tables')
+@click.option('--drop-tables', is_flag=True, default=False,
+              help='Drop db')
+def cli(db_url, lister, create_tables, drop_tables):
     """Initialize db model according to lister.
 
     """
-    config = {}
-    if db_url:
-        config['db_url'] = db_url
-    ctx.obj = config
+    supported_listers = ['github', 'gitlab', 'bitbucket']
+    override_conf = {'lister_db_url': db_url}
 
+    if lister == 'github':
+        from .github import models
+        from .github.lister import GitHubLister
 
-@cli.command('github')
-@click.option('--createdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='create db')
-@click.option('--dropdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='Drop db')
-@click.pass_context
-def github(ctx, createdb, dropdb):
-    from .github import models
-    from .github.lister import GitHubLister
+        _lister = GitHubLister(lister_name='github.com',
+                               api_baseurl='https://api.github.com',
+                               override_config=override_conf)
+    elif lister == 'bitbucket':
+        from .bitbucket import models
+        from .bitbucket.lister import BitBucketLister
+        _lister = BitBucketLister(lister_name='bitbucket.com',
+                                  api_baseurl='https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0',
+                                  override_config=override_conf)
 
-    override_conf = {'lister_db_url': ctx.obj['db_url']}
+    elif lister == 'gitlab':
+        from .gitlab import models
+        from .gitlab.lister import GitLabLister
+        _lister = GitLabLister(lister_name='gitlab.com',
+                               api_baseurl='https://gitlab.com/api/v4/',
+                               override_config=override_conf)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError('Only supported listers are %s' % supported_listers)
 
-    lister = GitHubLister(lister_name='github.com',
-                          api_baseurl='https://api.github.com',
-                          override_config=override_conf)
+    if drop_tables:
+        models.ModelBase.metadata.drop_all(_lister.db_engine)
 
-    if dropdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.drop_all(lister.db_engine)
-
-    if createdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.create_all(lister.db_engine)
-
-
-@cli.command('gitlab')
-@click.option('--createdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='create db')
-@click.option('--dropdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='Drop db')
-@click.pass_context
-def gitlab(ctx, createdb, dropdb):
-    from .gitlab import models
-    from .gitlab.lister import GitlabLister
-
-    override_conf = {'lister_db_url': ctx.obj['db_url']}
-
-    lister = GitlabLister(lister_name='gitlab.com',
-                          api_baseurl='https://gitlab.com/api/v4/',
-                          override_config=override_conf)
-
-    if dropdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.drop_all(lister.db_engine)
-
-    if createdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.create_all(lister.db_engine)
-
-
-@cli.command('bitbucket')
-@click.option('--createdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='create db')
-@click.option('--dropdb', is_flag=True, default=False,
-              help='Drop db')
-@click.pass_context
-def bitbucket(ctx, createdb, dropdb):
-    from .bitbucket import models
-    from .bitbucket.lister import BitBucketLister
-
-    override_conf = {'lister_db_url': ctx.obj['db_url']}
-
-    lister = BitBucketLister(lister_name='bitbucket.com',
-                             api_baseurl='https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0',
-                             override_config=override_conf)
-
-    if dropdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.drop_all(lister.db_engine)
-
-    if createdb:
-        models.ModelBase.metadata.create_all(lister.db_engine)
+    if create_tables:
+        models.ModelBase.metadata.create_all(_lister.db_engine)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':