diff --git a/bin/core/imag-ref/Cargo.toml b/bin/core/imag-ref/Cargo.toml
index 5333054a..a0223e0c 100644
--- a/bin/core/imag-ref/Cargo.toml
+++ b/bin/core/imag-ref/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,3 +35,10 @@ version = "2.33.0"
 default-features = false
 features = ["color", "suggestions", "wrap_help"]
 
+[lib]
+name = "libimagrefcmd"
+path = "src/lib.rs"
+
+[[bin]]
+name = "imag-ref"
+path = "src/bin.rs"
diff --git a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/bin.rs b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/bin.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..721f3477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/bin.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+//
+// imag - the personal information management suite for the commandline
+// Copyright (C) 2015-2019 Matthias Beyer <mail@beyermatthias.de> and contributors
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version
+// 2.1 of the License.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+//
+
+#![forbid(unsafe_code)]
+
+#![deny(
+    non_camel_case_types,
+    non_snake_case,
+    path_statements,
+    trivial_numeric_casts,
+    unstable_features,
+    unused_allocation,
+    unused_import_braces,
+    unused_imports,
+    unused_must_use,
+    unused_mut,
+    unused_qualifications,
+    while_true,
+)]
+
+#[macro_use] extern crate libimagrt;
+
+simple_imag_application_binary!(libimagrefcmd, ImagRef);
diff --git a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/lib.rs
similarity index 83%
rename from bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs
rename to bin/core/imag-ref/src/lib.rs
index 585c69f4..7cbcb251 100644
--- a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs
+++ b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/lib.rs
@@ -39,23 +39,24 @@ extern crate clap;
 #[macro_use] extern crate failure;
 
 extern crate libimagstore;
-#[macro_use] extern crate libimagrt;
+extern crate libimagrt;
 extern crate libimagentryref;
 extern crate libimagerror;
 extern crate libimaginteraction;
 extern crate libimagutil;
 
 mod ui;
-use crate::ui::build_ui;
 
 use std::process::exit;
 use std::io::Write;
 
 use failure::Error;
+use failure::Fallible as Result;
+use clap::App;
 
 use libimagerror::trace::MapErrTrace;
 use libimagerror::exit::ExitUnwrap;
-use libimagrt::setup::generate_runtime_setup;
+use libimagrt::application::ImagApplication;
 use libimagrt::runtime::Runtime;
 use libimagentryref::reference::Ref;
 use libimagentryref::reference::MutRef;
@@ -63,27 +64,47 @@ use libimagentryref::reference::RefFassade;
 use libimagentryref::hasher::default::DefaultHasher;
 use libimagentryref::util::get_ref_config;
 
-fn main() {
-    let version = make_imag_version!();
-    let rt = generate_runtime_setup("imag-ref",
-                                    &version,
-                                    "Reference files outside of the store",
-                                    build_ui);
-    if let Some(name) = rt.cli().subcommand_name() {
-        debug!("Call: {}", name);
-        match name {
-            "deref"     => deref(&rt),
-            "create"    => create(&rt),
-            "remove"    => remove(&rt),
-            "list-dead" => list_dead(&rt),
-            other => {
-                debug!("Unknown command");
-                let _ = rt.handle_unknown_subcommand("imag-ref", other, rt.cli())
-                    .map_err_trace_exit_unwrap()
-                    .code()
-                    .map(::std::process::exit);
-            },
+/// Marker enum for implementing ImagApplication on
+///
+/// This is used by binaries crates to execute business logic
+/// or to build a CLI completion.
+pub enum ImagRef {}
+impl ImagApplication for ImagRef {
+    fn run(rt: Runtime) -> Result<()> {
+        if let Some(name) = rt.cli().subcommand_name() {
+            debug!("Call: {}", name);
+            match name {
+                "deref"     => deref(&rt),
+                "create"    => create(&rt),
+                "remove"    => remove(&rt),
+                "list-dead" => list_dead(&rt),
+                other => {
+                    debug!("Unknown command");
+                    let _ = rt.handle_unknown_subcommand("imag-ref", other, rt.cli())
+                        .map_err_trace_exit_unwrap()
+                        .code()
+                        .map(::std::process::exit);
+                },
+            }
         };
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    fn build_cli<'a>(app: App<'a, 'a>) -> App<'a, 'a> {
+        ui::build_ui(app)
+    }
+
+    fn name() -> &'static str {
+        env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME")
+    }
+
+    fn description() -> &'static str {
+        "Reference files outside of the store"
+    }
+
+    fn version() -> &'static str {
+        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")
     }
 }