diff --git a/src/lib/list-command.ts b/src/lib/list-command.ts
index c7be5f7fbee..8117fbe11fd 100644
--- a/src/lib/list-command.ts
+++ b/src/lib/list-command.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,11 @@
 
 /* v8 ignore start -- thin oclif adapter covered through CLI integration tests. */
 
-import { Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
-
 import { getSandboxInventory, renderSandboxInventoryText } from "./inventory-commands";
+import { NemoClawCommand } from "./nemoclaw-oclif-command";
 import { buildListCommandDeps } from "./list-command-deps";
 
-export default class ListCommand extends Command {
+export default class ListCommand extends NemoClawCommand {
   static id = "list";
   static strict = true;
   static enableJsonFlag = true;
@@ -17,13 +16,7 @@ export default class ListCommand extends Command {
     "List all registered sandboxes with their model, provider, and policy presets.";
   static usage = ["list [--json]"];
   static examples = ["<%= config.bin %> list", "<%= config.bin %> list --json"];
-  static flags = {
-    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
-  };
-
-  protected logJson(json: unknown): void {
-    console.log(JSON.stringify(json, null, 2));
-  }
+  static flags = {};
 
   public async run(): Promise<unknown> {
     await this.parse(ListCommand);
diff --git a/src/lib/maintenance-cli-commands.ts b/src/lib/maintenance-cli-commands.ts
index 62b22601071..d1d5d75224f 100644
--- a/src/lib/maintenance-cli-commands.ts
+++ b/src/lib/maintenance-cli-commands.ts
@@ -3,24 +3,23 @@
 
 /* v8 ignore start -- thin oclif adapters covered through CLI integration tests. */
 
-import { Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
+import { Flags } from "@oclif/core";
 
 import {
   runBackupAllAction,
   runGarbageCollectImagesAction,
   runUpgradeSandboxesAction,
 } from "./global-cli-actions";
+import { NemoClawCommand } from "./nemoclaw-oclif-command";
 
-export class BackupAllCommand extends Command {
+export class BackupAllCommand extends NemoClawCommand {
   static id = "backup-all";
   static strict = true;
   static summary = "Back up all sandbox state before upgrade";
   static description = "Back up registered, running sandbox state before upgrading.";
   static usage = ["backup-all"];
   static examples = ["<%= config.bin %> backup-all"];
-  static flags = {
-    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
-  };
+  static flags = {};
 
   public async run(): Promise<void> {
     await this.parse(BackupAllCommand);
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ export class BackupAllCommand extends Command {
   }
 }
 
-export class UpgradeSandboxesCommand extends Command {
+export class UpgradeSandboxesCommand extends NemoClawCommand {
   static id = "upgrade-sandboxes";
   static strict = true;
   static summary = "Detect and rebuild stale sandboxes";
@@ -39,7 +38,6 @@ export class UpgradeSandboxesCommand extends Command {
     "<%= config.bin %> upgrade-sandboxes --auto --yes",
   ];
   static flags = {
-    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
     check: Flags.boolean({ description: "Only check whether sandboxes need upgrading" }),
     auto: Flags.boolean({ description: "Automatically rebuild running stale sandboxes" }),
     yes: Flags.boolean({ char: "y", description: "Skip confirmation prompts" }),
@@ -55,7 +53,7 @@ export class UpgradeSandboxesCommand extends Command {
   }
 }
 
-export class GarbageCollectImagesCommand extends Command {
+export class GarbageCollectImagesCommand extends NemoClawCommand {
   static id = "gc";
   static strict = true;
   static summary = "Remove orphaned sandbox Docker images";
@@ -63,7 +61,6 @@ export class GarbageCollectImagesCommand extends Command {
   static usage = ["gc [--dry-run] [--yes|-y|--force]"];
   static examples = ["<%= config.bin %> gc --dry-run", "<%= config.bin %> gc --yes"];
   static flags = {
-    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
     "dry-run": Flags.boolean({ description: "Show images that would be removed without deleting" }),
     yes: Flags.boolean({ char: "y", description: "Skip the confirmation prompt" }),
     force: Flags.boolean({ description: "Skip the confirmation prompt" }),
diff --git a/src/lib/nemoclaw-oclif-command.ts b/src/lib/nemoclaw-oclif-command.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fd7dda76f30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/nemoclaw-oclif-command.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
+
+/**
+ * Shared oclif base for NemoClaw commands.
+ *
+ * Keep CLI-wide parser conventions here so individual command classes only
+ * describe their own grammar.
+ */
+export abstract class NemoClawCommand extends Command {
+  static baseFlags = {
+    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
+  };
+
+  protected logJson(json: unknown): void {
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(json, null, 2));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/status-command.ts b/src/lib/status-command.ts
index 956c4647a85..cc2dc3e822f 100644
--- a/src/lib/status-command.ts
+++ b/src/lib/status-command.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,11 @@
 
 /* v8 ignore start -- thin oclif adapter covered through CLI integration tests. */
 
-import { Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
-
 import { getStatusReport, showStatusCommand } from "./inventory-commands";
+import { NemoClawCommand } from "./nemoclaw-oclif-command";
 import { buildStatusCommandDeps } from "./status-command-deps";
 
-export default class StatusCommand extends Command {
+export default class StatusCommand extends NemoClawCommand {
   static id = "status";
   static strict = true;
   static enableJsonFlag = true;
@@ -16,13 +15,7 @@ export default class StatusCommand extends Command {
   static description = "Show registered sandboxes, live inference, services, and messaging health.";
   static usage = ["status [--json]"];
   static examples = ["<%= config.bin %> status", "<%= config.bin %> status --json"];
-  static flags = {
-    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
-  };
-
-  protected logJson(json: unknown): void {
-    console.log(JSON.stringify(json, null, 2));
-  }
+  static flags = {};
 
   public async run(): Promise<unknown> {
     await this.parse(StatusCommand);