diff --git a/tools/patman/command.py b/tools/patman/command.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b00250
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/patman/command.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2011 The Chromium OS Authors.
+#
+# See file CREDITS for list of people who contributed to this
+# project.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+# the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
+# MA 02111-1307 USA
+#
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+
+"""Shell command ease-ups for Python."""
+
+def RunPipe(pipeline, infile=None, outfile=None,
+            capture=False, oneline=False, hide_stderr=False):
+    """
+    Perform a command pipeline, with optional input/output filenames.
+
+    hide_stderr     Don't allow output of stderr (default False)
+    """
+    last_pipe = None
+    while pipeline:
+        cmd = pipeline.pop(0)
+        kwargs = {}
+        if last_pipe is not None:
+            kwargs['stdin'] = last_pipe.stdout
+        elif infile:
+            kwargs['stdin'] = open(infile, 'rb')
+        if pipeline or capture:
+            kwargs['stdout'] = subprocess.PIPE
+        elif outfile:
+            kwargs['stdout'] = open(outfile, 'wb')
+        if hide_stderr:
+            kwargs['stderr'] = open('/dev/null', 'wb')
+
+        last_pipe = subprocess.Popen(cmd, **kwargs)
+
+    if capture:
+        ret = last_pipe.communicate()[0]
+        if not ret:
+            return None
+        elif oneline:
+            return ret.rstrip('\r\n')
+        else:
+            return ret
+    else:
+        return os.waitpid(last_pipe.pid, 0)[1] == 0
+
+def Output(*cmd):
+    return RunPipe([cmd], capture=True)
+
+def OutputOneLine(*cmd):
+    return RunPipe([cmd], capture=True, oneline=True)
+
+def Run(*cmd, **kwargs):
+    return RunPipe([cmd], **kwargs)
+
+def RunList(cmd):
+    return RunPipe([cmd], capture=True)