diff --git a/cli/README.md b/cli/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08624e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# eventstore command-line tool
+
+```
+go install github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/cli@latest
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+This should be pretty straightforward. You pipe events or filters, as JSON, to the `eventstore` command, and they yield something. You can use [nak](https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak) to generate these events or filters easily.
+
+### Querying the last 100 events of kind 1
+
+```fish
+~> nak req -k 1 -l 100 --bare | eventstore -d /path/to/store query
+~> # or
+~> echo '{"kinds":[1],"limit":100}' | eventstore -d /path/to/store query
+```
+
+This will automatically determine the storage type being used at `/path/to/store`, but you can also specify it manually using the `-t` option (`-t lmdb`, `-t sqlite` etc).
+
+### Saving an event to the store
+
+```fish
+~> nak event -k 1 -c hello | eventstore -d /path/to/store put
+~> # or
+~> echo '{"id":"35369e6bae5f77c4e1745c2eb5db84c4493e87f6e449aee62a261bbc1fea2788","pubkey":"79be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798","created_at":1701193836,"kind":1,"tags":[],"content":"hello","sig":"ef08d559e042d9af4cdc3328a064f737603d86ec4f929f193d5a3ce9ea22a3fb8afc1923ee3c3742fd01856065352c5632e91f633528c80e9c5711fa1266824c"}' | eventstore -d /path/to/store put
+```
+
+You can also create a database from scratch if it's a disk database, but then you have to specify `-t` to `sqlite`, `badger` or `lmdb`.
+
+### Connecting to Postgres, MySQL and other remote databases
+
+You should be able to connect by just passing the database connection URI to `-d`:
+
+```bash
+~> eventstore -d 'postgres://myrelay:38yg4o83yf48a3s7g@localhost:5432/myrelay?sslmode=disable' <query|put|del>
+```
+
+That should be prefixed with `postgres://` for Postgres, `mysql://` for MySQL and `https://` for ElasticSearch.
diff --git a/cli/del.go b/cli/del.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0af823b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/del.go
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+var del = &cli.Command{
+	Name:        "del",
+	Usage:       "deletes an event",
+	Description: ``,
+	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
+		for line := range getStdinLinesOrBlank() {
+			fmt.Println(line)
+		}
+
+		exitIfLineProcessingError(c)
+		return nil
+	},
+}
diff --git a/cli/helpers.go b/cli/helpers.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9576fdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/helpers.go
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+const (
+	LINE_PROCESSING_ERROR = iota
+)
+
+func detect(dir string) (string, error) {
+	f, err := os.Stat(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if !f.IsDir() {
+		f, err := os.Open(dir)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		buf := make([]byte, 15)
+		f.Read(buf)
+		if string(buf) == "SQLite format 3" {
+			return "sqlite", nil
+		}
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown format")
+	}
+
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(entry.Name(), ".mdb") {
+			return "lmdb", nil
+		}
+		if strings.HasSuffix(entry.Name(), ".vlog") {
+			return "badger", nil
+		}
+	}
+
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("undetected")
+}
+
+func getStdin() string {
+	stat, _ := os.Stdin.Stat()
+	if (stat.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) == 0 {
+		read := bytes.NewBuffer(make([]byte, 0, 1000))
+		_, err := io.Copy(read, os.Stdin)
+		if err == nil {
+			return read.String()
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func isPiped() bool {
+	stat, _ := os.Stdin.Stat()
+	return stat.Mode()&os.ModeCharDevice == 0
+}
+
+func getStdinLinesOrBlank() chan string {
+	multi := make(chan string)
+	if hasStdinLines := writeStdinLinesOrNothing(multi); !hasStdinLines {
+		single := make(chan string, 1)
+		single <- ""
+		close(single)
+		return single
+	} else {
+		return multi
+	}
+}
+
+func writeStdinLinesOrNothing(ch chan string) (hasStdinLines bool) {
+	if isPiped() {
+		// piped
+		go func() {
+			scanner := bufio.NewScanner(os.Stdin)
+			for scanner.Scan() {
+				ch <- strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
+			}
+			close(ch)
+		}()
+		return true
+	} else {
+		// not piped
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+func lineProcessingError(c *cli.Context, msg string, args ...any) {
+	c.Context = context.WithValue(c.Context, LINE_PROCESSING_ERROR, true)
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, msg, args...)
+}
+
+func exitIfLineProcessingError(c *cli.Context) {
+	if val := c.Context.Value(LINE_PROCESSING_ERROR); val != nil && val.(bool) {
+		os.Exit(123)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cli/main.go b/cli/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5342494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/badger"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/elasticsearch"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/lmdb"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/mysql"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/postgresql"
+	"github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore/sqlite3"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+var db eventstore.Store
+
+var app = &cli.App{
+	Name:      "eventstore",
+	Usage:     "a CLI for all the eventstore backends",
+	UsageText: "eventstore -d ./data/sqlite <query|put|del> ...",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		&cli.PathFlag{
+			Name:    "store",
+			Aliases: []string{"d"},
+			Usage:   "path to the database file or directory or database connection uri",
+		},
+		&cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:    "type",
+			Aliases: []string{"t"},
+			Usage:   "store type ('sqlite', 'lmdb', 'badger', 'postgres', 'mysql', 'elasticsearch')",
+		},
+	},
+	Before: func(c *cli.Context) error {
+		path := c.Path("store")
+		typ := c.String("type")
+		if typ != "" {
+			// bypass automatic detection
+			// this also works for creating disk databases from scratch
+		} else {
+			// try to detect based on url scheme
+			switch {
+			case strings.HasPrefix(path, "postgres://"), strings.HasPrefix(path, "postgresql://"):
+				typ = "postgres"
+			case strings.HasPrefix(path, "mysql://"):
+				typ = "mysql"
+			case strings.HasPrefix(path, "https://"):
+				// if we ever add something else that uses URLs we'll have to modify this
+				typ = "elasticsearch"
+			default:
+				// try to detect based on the form and names of disk files
+				dbname, err := detect(path)
+				if err != nil {
+					if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+						return fmt.Errorf(
+							"'%s' does not exist, to create a store there specify the --type argument", path)
+					}
+					return fmt.Errorf("failed to detect store type: %w", err)
+				}
+				typ = dbname
+			}
+		}
+
+		switch typ {
+		case "sqlite":
+			db = &sqlite3.SQLite3Backend{DatabaseURL: path}
+		case "lmdb":
+			db = &lmdb.LMDBBackend{Path: path, MaxLimit: 5000}
+		case "badger":
+			db = &badger.BadgerBackend{Path: path, MaxLimit: 5000}
+		case "postgres", "postgresql":
+			db = &postgresql.PostgresBackend{DatabaseURL: path}
+		case "mysql":
+			db = &mysql.MySQLBackend{DatabaseURL: path}
+		case "elasticsearch":
+			db = &elasticsearch.ElasticsearchStorage{URL: path}
+		case "":
+			return fmt.Errorf("couldn't determine store type, you can use --type to specify it manually")
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("'%s' store type is not supported by this CLI", typ)
+		}
+
+		return db.Init()
+	},
+	Commands: []*cli.Command{
+		query,
+		put,
+		del,
+	},
+}
+
+func main() {
+	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cli/put.go b/cli/put.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db78566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/put.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mailru/easyjson"
+	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+var put = &cli.Command{
+	Name:        "put",
+	Usage:       "saves an event to an eventstore",
+	Description: ``,
+	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
+		for line := range getStdinLinesOrBlank() {
+			var event nostr.Event
+			if err := easyjson.Unmarshal([]byte(line), &event); err != nil {
+				lineProcessingError(c, "invalid event '%s' received from stdin: %s", line, err)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			if err := db.SaveEvent(c.Context, &event); err != nil {
+				lineProcessingError(c, "failed to save event '%s': %s", line, err)
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+
+		exitIfLineProcessingError(c)
+		return nil
+	},
+}
diff --git a/cli/query.go b/cli/query.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..deadcca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/query.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/mailru/easyjson"
+	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+var query = &cli.Command{
+	Name:        "query",
+	Usage:       "queries an eventstore for events",
+	Description: ``,
+	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
+		for line := range getStdinLinesOrBlank() {
+			filter := nostr.Filter{}
+			if err := easyjson.Unmarshal([]byte(line), &filter); err != nil {
+				lineProcessingError(c, "invalid filter '%s' received from stdin: %s", line, err)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			ch, err := db.QueryEvents(c.Context, filter)
+			if err != nil {
+				lineProcessingError(c, "error querying: %w", err)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			for evt := range ch {
+				fmt.Println(evt)
+			}
+		}
+
+		exitIfLineProcessingError(c)
+		return nil
+	},
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8c7ddd1..4e0bcc5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.18
 	github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.25.3
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
+	github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/btcsuite/btcd/btcec/v2 v2.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/btcsuite/btcd/chaincfg/chainhash v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.2.0 // indirect
+	github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/decred/dcrd/crypto/blake256 v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/decred/dcrd/dcrec/secp256k1/v4 v4.2.0 // indirect
@@ -43,9 +45,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v2 v2.5.1 // indirect
+	github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.17.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.1 // indirect
+	github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673 // indirect
 	go.opencensus.io v0.24.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20231006140011-7918f672742d // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.17.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 57292fc..3bde1e5 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.2.0 h1:DC2CZ1Ep5Y4k3ZQ899DldepgrayRUGE6BBZ/cd9Cj
 github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.2.0/go.mod h1:VGX0DQ3Q6kWi7AoAeZDth3/j3BFtOZR5XLFGgcrjCOs=
 github.com/client9/misspell v0.3.4/go.mod h1:qj6jICC3Q7zFZvVWo7KLAzC3yx5G7kyvSDkc90ppPyw=
 github.com/cncf/udpa/go v0.0.0-20191209042840-269d4d468f6f/go.mod h1:M8M6+tZqaGXZJjfX53e64911xZQV5JYwmTeXPW+k8Sc=
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2 h1:p1EgwI/C7NhT0JmVkwCD2ZBK8j4aeHQX2pMHHBfMQ6w=
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/creack/pty v1.1.9/go.mod h1:oKZEueFk5CKHvIhNR5MUki03XCEU+Q6VDXinZuGJ33E=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
@@ -123,6 +125,8 @@ github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZN
 github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.0.0-20190812154241-14fe0d1b01d4/go.mod h1:xMI15A0UPsDsEKsMN9yxemIoYk6Tm2C1GtYGdfGttqA=
 github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v2 v2.5.1 h1:mVGYAvzDSu52+zaGyNjC+24Xw2bQi3kTr4QJ6N9pIIU=
 github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v2 v2.5.1/go.mod h1:gD2H2krq/w52MfPLE+Uy64TzJDVY7lP2znR9qmR35kU=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 h1:JIOH55/0cWyOuilr9/qlrm0BSXldqnqwMsf35Ld67mk=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.4.0/go.mod h1:YvHI0jy2hoMjB+UWwv71VJQ9isScKT/TqJzVSSt89Yw=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.0/go.mod h1:Yh+to48EsGEfYuaHDzXPcE3xhTkx73EhmCGUpEOglKo=
@@ -139,6 +143,10 @@ github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1/go.mod h1:eRSPERbgtNPcGhD8UCthc6PmLEQXEWd3PRB5JT
 github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.0/go.mod h1:ITEVvHYasfjBbM0u2Pg8T2nJnzm8xPwvNhhsoaGGjNU=
 github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.1 h1:qjsOFOWWQl+N3RsoF5/ssm1pHmJJwhjlSbZ51I6wMl4=
 github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.1/go.mod h1:ITEVvHYasfjBbM0u2Pg8T2nJnzm8xPwvNhhsoaGGjNU=
+github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7 h1:VAzn5oq403l5pHjc4OhD54+XGO9cdKVL/7lDjF+iKUs=
+github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.25.7/go.mod h1:8qnjx1vcq5s2/wpsqoZFndg2CE5tNFyrTvS6SinrnYQ=
+github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673 h1:bAn7/zixMGCfxrRTfdpNzjtPYqr8smhKouy9mxVdGPU=
+github.com/xrash/smetrics v0.0.0-20201216005158-039620a65673/go.mod h1:N3UwUGtsrSj3ccvlPHLoLsHnpR27oXr4ZE984MbSER8=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.27/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.2.1/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 go.opencensus.io v0.24.0 h1:y73uSU6J157QMP2kn2r30vwW1A2W2WFwSCGnAVxeaD0=