diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/devices/supported.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/devices/supported.ts
index 07857dcb..767745a9 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/devices/supported.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/devices/supported.ts
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import * as SDK from 'balena-sdk';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
+import Command from '../../command';
 
 import * as cf from '../../utils/common-flags';
 import { getBalenaSdk, getVisuals } from '../../utils/lazy';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/env/add.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/env/add.ts
index c9a40593..1e19c827 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/env/add.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/env/add.ts
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import * as BalenaSdk from 'balena-sdk';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
+import Command from '../../command';
 
 import { ExpectedError } from '../../errors';
 import * as cf from '../../utils/common-flags';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/env/rename.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/env/rename.ts
index e94d6ba1..13078c18 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/env/rename.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/env/rename.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
+import Command from '../../command';
 
 import * as cf from '../../utils/common-flags';
 import * as ec from '../../utils/env-common';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/env/rm.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/env/rm.ts
index 2bcc6c94..6a142e7d 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/env/rm.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/env/rm.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
+import Command from '../../command';
 
 import * as ec from '../../utils/env-common';
 import { getBalenaSdk } from '../../utils/lazy';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/envs.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/envs.ts
index 29121314..44d60586 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/envs.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/envs.ts
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import * as SDK from 'balena-sdk';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
+import Command from '../command';
 
 import { ExpectedError } from '../errors';
 import * as cf from '../utils/common-flags';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/os/configure.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/os/configure.ts
index 03e674aa..4339f82c 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/os/configure.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/os/configure.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,13 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import BalenaSdk = require('balena-sdk');
 import Bluebird = require('bluebird');
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
 import * as path from 'path';
+import Command from '../../command';
 
 import { ExpectedError } from '../../errors';
 import * as cf from '../../utils/common-flags';
diff --git a/lib/actions-oclif/version.ts b/lib/actions-oclif/version.ts
index 603665bc..3e5b9b1f 100644
--- a/lib/actions-oclif/version.ts
+++ b/lib/actions-oclif/version.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Command, flags } from '@oclif/command';
+import { flags } from '@oclif/command';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
+import Command from '../command';
 
 interface FlagsDef {
 	all?: boolean;
diff --git a/lib/actions/help.coffee b/lib/actions/help.coffee
index 8d6c3a1f..16d16d1e 100644
--- a/lib/actions/help.coffee
+++ b/lib/actions/help.coffee
@@ -77,31 +77,35 @@ general = (params, options, done) ->
 	commands = _.reject capitano.state.commands, (command) ->
 		return command.hidden or command.isWildcard()
 
-	groupedCommands = _.groupBy commands, (command) ->
+	capitanoCommands = _.groupBy commands, (command) ->
 		if command.primary
 			return 'primary'
 		return 'secondary'
 
-	print parse(groupedCommands.primary).sort(getManualSortCompareFunction(
-		manuallySortedPrimaryCommands,
-		([signature, description], manualItem) ->
-			signature == manualItem or signature.startsWith("#{manualItem} ")
-	))
+	getOclifHelpLinePairs()
+	.then (oclifHelpLinePairs) ->
 
-	if options.verbose
-		console.log('\nAdditional commands:\n')
-		secondaryCommandPromise = getOclifHelpLinePairs()
-		.then (oclifHelpLinePairs) ->
-			print parse(groupedCommands.secondary).concat(oclifHelpLinePairs).sort()
-	else
-		console.log('\nRun `balena help --verbose` to list additional commands')
-		secondaryCommandPromise = Promise.resolve()
+		primaryHelpLinePairs =
+		parse(capitanoCommands.primary).concat(oclifHelpLinePairs.primary).sort(getManualSortCompareFunction(
+			manuallySortedPrimaryCommands,
+			([signature, description], manualItem) ->
+				signature == manualItem or signature.startsWith("#{manualItem} ")
+		))
+
+		secondaryHelpLinePairs = parse(capitanoCommands.secondary).concat(oclifHelpLinePairs.secondary).sort()
+
+		print primaryHelpLinePairs
+
+		if options.verbose
+			console.log('\nAdditional commands:\n')
+			print secondaryHelpLinePairs
+		else
+			console.log('\nRun `balena help --verbose` to list additional commands')
 
-	secondaryCommandPromise
-	.then ->
 		if not _.isEmpty(capitano.state.globalOptions)
 			console.log('\nGlobal Options:\n')
 			print parse(capitano.state.globalOptions).sort()
+
 		done()
 	.catch(done)
 
diff --git a/lib/actions/help_ts.ts b/lib/actions/help_ts.ts
index b9423bd0..c8c94677 100644
--- a/lib/actions/help_ts.ts
+++ b/lib/actions/help_ts.ts
@@ -15,32 +15,38 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Command } from '@oclif/command';
-import * as Bluebird from 'bluebird';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
 import * as path from 'path';
+import Command from '../command';
 
 import { capitanoizeOclifUsage } from '../utils/oclif-utils';
 
-export async function getOclifHelpLinePairs(): Promise<
-	Array<[string, string]>
-> {
+export async function getOclifHelpLinePairs() {
 	const { convertedCommands } = await import('../preparser');
-	const cmdClasses: Array<Promise<typeof Command>> = [];
+	const primary: Array<[string, string]> = [];
+	const secondary: Array<[string, string]> = [];
+
 	for (const convertedCmd of convertedCommands) {
 		const [topic, cmd] = convertedCmd.split(':');
 		const pathComponents = ['..', 'actions-oclif', topic];
 		if (cmd) {
 			pathComponents.push(cmd);
 		}
-		// note that `import(path)` returns a promise
-		cmdClasses.push(import(path.join(...pathComponents)));
+
+		const cmdModule = await import(path.join(...pathComponents));
+		const command: typeof Command = cmdModule.default;
+
+		if (command.primary) {
+			primary.push(getCmdUsageDescriptionLinePair(command));
+		} else {
+			secondary.push(getCmdUsageDescriptionLinePair(command));
+		}
 	}
-	return Bluebird.map(cmdClasses, getCmdUsageDescriptionLinePair);
+
+	return { primary, secondary };
 }
 
-function getCmdUsageDescriptionLinePair(cmdModule: any): [string, string] {
-	const cmd: typeof Command = cmdModule.default;
+function getCmdUsageDescriptionLinePair(cmd: typeof Command): [string, string] {
 	const usage = capitanoizeOclifUsage(cmd.usage);
 	let description = '';
 	// note: [^] matches any characters (including line breaks), achieving the
diff --git a/lib/command.ts b/lib/command.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8ef08f4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/command.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2020 Balena Ltd.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import Command from '@oclif/command';
+
+export default abstract class extends Command {
+	/**
+	 * When set to true, command will be listed in `help`,
+	 * otherwise listed in `help --verbose` with secondary commands.
+	 */
+	public static primary = false;
+}