diff --git a/lib/galaxy/util/script.py b/lib/galaxy/util/script.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4e72a0cf67e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/galaxy/util/script.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+"""Utilities for Galaxy scripts
+"""
+import argparse
+import os
+import sys
+
+from galaxy.util.properties import find_config_file, load_app_properties
+
+DESCRIPTION = None
+ACTIONS = None
+ARGUMENTS = None
+DEFAULT_ACTION = None
+
+
+def main_factory(description=None, actions=None, arguments=None, default_action=None):
+    global DESCRIPTION, ACTIONS, ARGUMENTS, DEFAULT_ACTION
+    DESCRIPTION = description
+    ACTIONS = actions or {}
+    ARGUMENTS = arguments or []
+    DEFAULT_ACTION = default_action
+    return main
+
+
+def main(argv=None):
+    """Entry point for conversion process."""
+    if argv is None:
+        argv = sys.argv[1:]
+    args = _arg_parser().parse_args(argv)
+    kwargs = _app_properties(args)
+    action = args.action
+    action_func = ACTIONS[action]
+    action_func(args, kwargs)
+
+
+def _app_properties(args):
+    # FIXME: you can use galaxy.util.path.extensions for this
+    config_file = args.config_file or find_config_file(args.app)
+    app_properties = load_app_properties(config_file=config_file, config_section=args.config_section)
+    return app_properties
+
+
+def _arg_parser():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=DESCRIPTION)
+    parser.add_argument('action', metavar='ACTION', type=str,
+                        choices=ACTIONS.keys(),
+                        default=DEFAULT_ACTION,
+                        nargs='?' if DEFAULT_ACTION is not None else None,
+                        help='action to perform')
+    parser.add_argument("-c", "--config-file",
+                        default=os.environ.get('GALAXY_CONFIG_FILE', None))
+    parser.add_argument("--config-section",
+                        default=os.environ.get('GALAXY_CONFIG_SECTION', None))
+    parser.add_argument("--app",
+                        default=os.environ.get('GALAXY_APP', 'galaxy'))
+    for argument in ARGUMENTS:
+        parser.add_argument(*argument[0], **argument[1])
+    return parser
diff --git a/scripts/manage_tool_dependencies.py b/scripts/manage_tool_dependencies.py
index 40e09217d48..0ff3a6b6a5c 100644
--- a/scripts/manage_tool_dependencies.py
+++ b/scripts/manage_tool_dependencies.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import argparse
 import os.path
 import sys
 
@@ -11,43 +10,16 @@ from galaxy.config import (
     parse_dependency_options,
 )
 from galaxy.tools.deps import CachedDependencyManager, DependencyManager, NullDependencyManager
-from galaxy.util.properties import find_config_file, load_app_properties
+from galaxy.util.script import main_factory
 
 DESCRIPTION = "Script to manage tool dependencies (with focus on a Conda environments)."
 
 
-def main(argv=None):
-    """Entry point for conversion process."""
-    if argv is None:
-        argv = sys.argv[1:]
-    args = _arg_parser().parse_args(argv)
-    action = args.action
-    action_func = ACTIONS[action]
-    action_func(args)
-
-
-def _init_if_needed(args):
-    kwargs = _app_properties(args)
-
+def _init_if_needed(args, kwargs):
     # If conda_auto_init is set, simply building the Conda resolver will call handle installation.
     _build_dependency_manager_no_config(kwargs)
 
 
-def _app_properties(args):
-    config_file = find_config_file("config/galaxy.ini", "universe_wsgi.ini", args.config_file)
-    app_properties = load_app_properties(ini_file=config_file)
-    return app_properties
-
-
-def _arg_parser():
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=DESCRIPTION)
-    parser.add_argument('action', metavar='ACTION', type=str,
-                        choices=ACTIONS.keys(),
-                        help='action to perform')
-    parser.add_argument("-c", "--config-file", default=None)
-    return parser
-
-
 def _build_dependency_manager_no_config(kwargs):
     """Simplified variant of build_dependency_manager from galaxy.tools.deps.
 
@@ -84,4 +56,5 @@ ACTIONS = {
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main = main_factory(description=DESCRIPTION, actions=ACTIONS)
     main()