diff --git a/aeromancer/cli/grep.py b/aeromancer/cli/grep.py
index 6c79b26..3ad58b2 100644
--- a/aeromancer/cli/grep.py
+++ b/aeromancer/cli/grep.py
@@ -6,26 +6,21 @@ import os
 from aeromancer import project
 from aeromancer import project_filter
 
-from cliff.command import Command
+from aeromancer.cli.run import ProjectShellCommandBase
 
 
-class Grep(Command):
+class Grep(ProjectShellCommandBase):
     """Search the contents of files"""
 
     log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def get_parser(self, prog_name):
         parser = super(Grep, self).get_parser(prog_name)
-        project_filter.ProjectFilter.add_arguments(parser)
         parser.add_argument('pattern',
                             action='store',
                             help='regular expression',
                             )
         return parser
 
-    def take_action(self, parsed_args):
-        session = self.app.get_db_session()
-        pm = project.ProjectManager(session)
-        prj_filt = project_filter.ProjectFilter.from_parsed_args(parsed_args)
-        for l in pm.grep(parsed_args.pattern, prj_filt):
-            print(l)
+    def _get_command(self, parsed_args):
+        return ['git', 'grep', parsed_args.pattern]
diff --git a/aeromancer/cli/run.py b/aeromancer/cli/run.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4363c0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aeromancer/cli/run.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import logging
+import os
+import shlex
+
+from aeromancer import project
+from aeromancer import project_filter
+
+from cliff.command import Command
+
+
+class ProjectShellCommandBase(Command):
+    """Run a command for each project"""
+
+    log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+    DEFAULT_SEP = ''
+
+    def get_parser(self, prog_name):
+        parser = super(ProjectShellCommandBase, self).get_parser(prog_name)
+        project_filter.ProjectFilter.add_arguments(parser)
+        parser.add_argument(
+            '--sep',
+            action='store',
+            default=self.DEFAULT_SEP,
+            help=('separator between project name and command output, '
+                  'defaults to %(default)r'),
+        )
+        return parser
+
+    def _show_text_output(self, parsed_args, project, out):
+        for line in out.decode('utf-8').splitlines():
+            print(project.name + parsed_args.sep + line)
+
+    def _get_command(self, parsed_args):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    def _show_output(self, parsed_args, proj_obj, out, err):
+        self._show_text_output(parsed_args, proj_obj, err or out)
+
+    def take_action(self, parsed_args):
+        session = self.app.get_db_session()
+        pm = project.ProjectManager(session)
+        prj_filt = project_filter.ProjectFilter.from_parsed_args(parsed_args)
+        command = self._get_command(parsed_args)
+        results = pm.run(command, prj_filt)
+        for proj_obj, out, err in results:
+            self._show_output(parsed_args, proj_obj, out, err)
+
+
+class Run(ProjectShellCommandBase):
+    """Run a command for each project"""
+
+    log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+    DEFAULT_SEP = ':'
+
+    def get_parser(self, prog_name):
+        parser = super(Run, self).get_parser(prog_name)
+        parser.add_argument('command',
+                            action='store',
+                            help='the command to run, probably quoted',
+                            )
+        return parser
+
+    def _get_command(self, parsed_args):
+        return shlex.shlex(parsed_args.command)
diff --git a/aeromancer/project.py b/aeromancer/project.py
index e1bf9a7..a13d273 100644
--- a/aeromancer/project.py
+++ b/aeromancer/project.py
@@ -194,11 +194,11 @@ class ProjectManager(object):
                 self._remove_file_data(obj, reason='file no longer exists')
                 self.session.flush()
 
-    def grep(self, pattern, prj_filter):
-        """Given a pattern, search for lines in files in all projects that match it.
+    def run(self, command, prj_filter):
+        """Given a command, run it for all projects.
 
-        Returns results of the query, including the four columns line
-        number, line content, filename, and project name.
+        Returns sequence of tuples containing project objects, the
+        output, and the errors from the command.
 
         """
         # TODO: Would it be more efficient to register the regexp
@@ -212,13 +212,11 @@ class ProjectManager(object):
         #return query.yield_per(20).all()
         for project in query.all():
             cmd = subprocess.Popen(
-                ['git', 'grep', pattern],
+                command,
                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
                 cwd=project.path,
-                env={'PAGER': ''},
+                env={'PAGER': ''},  # override pager for git commands
             )
             out, err = cmd.communicate()
-            if not out:
-                continue
-            for line in out.decode('utf-8').splitlines():
-                yield project.name + line
+            yield (project, out, err)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 01efc62..781580b 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ aeromancer.cli =
 	oslo list = aeromancer.oslo.cli:List
 	oslo uses = aeromancer.oslo.cli:Uses
 	grep = aeromancer.cli.grep:Grep
+	run = aeromancer.cli.run:Run
 
 aeromancer.filehandler =
     requirements = aeromancer.requirements.handler:RequirementsHandler