diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/export_test.go b/cmd/image-builder/export_test.go
index c361adba..3c2cb540 100644
--- a/cmd/image-builder/export_test.go
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/export_test.go
@@ -5,13 +5,19 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distro"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/reporegistry"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/rpmmd"
 )
 
 var (
 	GetOneImage = getOneImage
+	Run         = run
 )
 
+type ManifestGenerator = manifestGenerator
+
 func MockOsArgs(new []string) (restore func()) {
 	saved := os.Args
 	os.Args = append([]string{"argv0"}, new...)
@@ -49,6 +55,32 @@ func MockNewRepoRegistry(f func() (*reporegistry.RepoRegistry, error)) (restore
 	}
 }
 
-var (
-	Run = run
-)
+func MockDistrofactoryNew(f func() *distrofactory.Factory) (restore func()) {
+	saved := distrofactoryNew
+	distrofactoryNew = f
+	return func() {
+		distrofactoryNew = saved
+	}
+}
+
+func MockDepsolve() (restore func()) {
+	saved := depsolve
+	// XXX: move to images
+	depsolve = func(cacheDir string, packageSets map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSet, d distro.Distro, arch string) (map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSpec, map[string][]rpmmd.RepoConfig, error) {
+		depsolvedSets := make(map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSpec)
+		repoSets := make(map[string][]rpmmd.RepoConfig)
+		for name, pkgSet := range packageSets {
+			depsolvedSets[name] = []rpmmd.PackageSpec{
+				{
+					Name:     pkgSet[0].Include[0],
+					Checksum: "sha256:01ba4719c80b6fe911b091a7c05124b64eeece964e09c058ef8f9805daca546b",
+				},
+			}
+			//repoSets[name] = res.Repos
+		}
+		return depsolvedSets, repoSets, nil
+	}
+	return func() {
+		depsolve = saved
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/filters.go b/cmd/image-builder/filters.go
index 58a89aaf..ff96253b 100644
--- a/cmd/image-builder/filters.go
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/filters.go
@@ -10,12 +10,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/imagefilter"
 )
 
+var distrofactoryNew = distrofactory.NewDefault
+
 func newImageFilterDefault(dataDir string) (*imagefilter.ImageFilter, error) {
-	fac := distrofactory.NewDefault()
+	fac := distrofactoryNew()
 	repos, err := newRepoRegistry(dataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
 	return imagefilter.New(fac, repos)
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/list.go b/cmd/image-builder/list.go
index 81e357ee..9bf06d94 100644
--- a/cmd/image-builder/list.go
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/list.go
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/imagefilter"
 )
 
-func listImages(output string, filterExprs []string, opts *cmdlineOpts) error {
-	imageFilter, err := newImageFilterDefault(opts.dataDir)
+func listImages(dataDir, output string, filterExprs []string) error {
+	imageFilter, err := newImageFilterDefault(dataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func listImages(output string, filterExprs []string, opts *cmdlineOpts) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := fmter.Output(opts.out, filteredResult); err != nil {
+	if err := fmter.Output(osStdout, filteredResult); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/main.go b/cmd/image-builder/main.go
index 96fe0f98..86f545e8 100644
--- a/cmd/image-builder/main.go
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/main.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/arch"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -14,11 +16,6 @@ var (
 	osStderr io.Writer = os.Stderr
 )
 
-type cmdlineOpts struct {
-	dataDir string
-	out     io.Writer
-}
-
 func cmdListImages(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	filter, err := cmd.Flags().GetStringArray("filter")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -33,11 +30,25 @@ func cmdListImages(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	opts := &cmdlineOpts{
-		out:     osStdout,
-		dataDir: dataDir,
+	return listImages(dataDir, output, filter)
+}
+
+func cmdManifest(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	dataDir, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("datadir")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	mg := &manifestGenerator{dataDir, osStdout}
+	distro := args[0]
+	imgType := args[1]
+	var archStr string
+	if len(args) > 2 {
+		archStr = args[2]
+	} else {
+		archStr = arch.Current().String()
 	}
-	return listImages(output, filter, opts)
+	return mg.Generate(distro, imgType, archStr)
 }
 
 func run() error {
@@ -69,6 +80,17 @@ operating sytsems like centos and RHEL with easy customizations support.`,
 	listImagesCmd.Flags().String("output", "", "Output in a specific format (text, json)")
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(listImagesCmd)
 
+	manifestCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:          "manifest <distro> <image-type> [<arch>]",
+		Short:        "Build manifest for the given distro/image-type, e.g. centos-9 qcow2",
+		RunE:         cmdManifest,
+		SilenceUsage: true,
+		Args:         cobra.MinimumNArgs(2),
+		Hidden:       true,
+	}
+	// XXX: add blueprint switch
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(manifestCmd)
+
 	return rootCmd.Execute()
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/main_test.go b/cmd/image-builder/main_test.go
index 2d949e4d..a16e01a0 100644
--- a/cmd/image-builder/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/main_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main_test
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -108,3 +109,35 @@ func TestListImagesOverrideDatadir(t *testing.T) {
 	err := main.Run()
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, `no repositories found in the given paths: [/this/path/does/not/exist]`)
 }
+
+func hasDepsolveDnf() bool {
+	// XXX: expose images/pkg/depsolve:findDepsolveDnf()
+	_, err := os.Stat("/usr/libexec/osbuild-depsolve-dnf")
+	return err == nil
+}
+
+// XXX: move to pytest like bib maybe?
+func TestManifestIntegrationSmoke(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("manifest generation takes a while")
+	}
+	if !hasDepsolveDnf() {
+		t.Skip("no osbuild-depsolve-dnf binary found")
+	}
+
+	restore := main.MockNewRepoRegistry(testrepos.New)
+	defer restore()
+
+	restore = main.MockOsArgs([]string{"manifest", "centos-9", "qcow2"})
+	defer restore()
+
+	var fakeStdout bytes.Buffer
+	restore = main.MockOsStdout(&fakeStdout)
+	defer restore()
+
+	err := main.Run()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	pipelineNames := pipelineNamesFrom(t, fakeStdout.Bytes())
+	assert.Contains(t, pipelineNames, "qcow2")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/manifest.go b/cmd/image-builder/manifest.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a0b701f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/manifest.go
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/blueprint"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distro"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/dnfjson"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/rpmmd"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/sbom"
+)
+
+// XXX: duplicated from cmd/build/main.go:depsolve (and probably more places)
+// should go into a common helper in "images" or images should do this on
+// its own
+var depsolve = func(cacheDir string, packageSets map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSet, d distro.Distro, arch string) (map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSpec, map[string][]rpmmd.RepoConfig, error) {
+	solver := dnfjson.NewSolver(d.ModulePlatformID(), d.Releasever(), arch, d.Name(), cacheDir)
+	depsolvedSets := make(map[string][]rpmmd.PackageSpec)
+	repoSets := make(map[string][]rpmmd.RepoConfig)
+	for name, pkgSet := range packageSets {
+		res, err := solver.Depsolve(pkgSet, sbom.StandardTypeNone)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+		depsolvedSets[name] = res.Packages
+		repoSets[name] = res.Repos
+	}
+	return depsolvedSets, repoSets, nil
+}
+
+type manifestGenerator struct {
+	DataDir string
+	Out     io.Writer
+}
+
+func (mg *manifestGenerator) Generate(distroStr, imgTypeStr, archStr string) error {
+	// Note that distroStr/imgTypeStr/archStr may contain prefixes like
+	// "distro:" so only the getOneImage() result should be used in the
+	// rest of the function.
+	res, err := getOneImage(mg.DataDir, distroStr, imgTypeStr, archStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var bp blueprint.Blueprint
+	var options distro.ImageOptions
+	reporeg, err := newRepoRegistry(mg.DataDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	repos, err := reporeg.ReposByImageTypeName(res.Distro.Name(), res.Arch.Name(), res.ImgType.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	preManifest, warnings, err := res.ImgType.Manifest(&bp, options, repos, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(warnings) > 0 {
+		// XXX: what can we do here? for things like json output?
+		// what are these warnings?
+		return fmt.Errorf("warnings during manifest creation: %v", strings.Join(warnings, "\n"))
+	}
+	// XXX: add something like "--rpmmd" (like bib)
+	cacheDir := ""
+	packageSpecs, _, err := depsolve(cacheDir, preManifest.GetPackageSetChains(), res.Distro, res.Arch.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if packageSpecs == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("depsolve did not return any packages")
+	}
+	// XXX: support commit/container specs
+	mf, err := preManifest.Serialize(packageSpecs, nil, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(mg.Out, "%s\n", mf)
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/image-builder/manifest_test.go b/cmd/image-builder/manifest_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0ca300f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/image-builder/manifest_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package main_test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
+	testrepos "github.com/osbuild/images/test/data/repositories"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/image-builder-cli/cmd/image-builder"
+)
+
+func TestManifestGeneratorSad(t *testing.T) {
+	restore := main.MockNewRepoRegistry(testrepos.New)
+	defer restore()
+
+	mg := &main.ManifestGenerator{}
+	assert.NotNil(t, mg)
+	err := mg.Generate("bad-distro", "bad-type", "bad-arch")
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, `cannot find image for: distro:"bad-distro" type:"bad-type" arch:"bad-arch"`)
+}
+
+// XXX: move to images:testutil.go or something
+func pipelineNamesFrom(t *testing.T, osbuildManifest []byte) []string {
+	var manifest map[string]interface{}
+
+	err := json.Unmarshal(osbuildManifest, &manifest)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, manifest["pipelines"])
+	pipelines := manifest["pipelines"].([]interface{})
+	pipelineNames := make([]string, len(pipelines))
+	for idx, pi := range pipelines {
+		pipelineNames[idx] = pi.(map[string]interface{})["name"].(string)
+	}
+	return pipelineNames
+}
+
+func TestManifestGenerator(t *testing.T) {
+	var osbuildManifest bytes.Buffer
+
+	restore := main.MockDistrofactoryNew(distrofactory.NewTestDefault)
+	defer restore()
+	restore = main.MockDepsolve()
+	defer restore()
+
+	mg := &main.ManifestGenerator{DataDir: "../../test/data/", Out: &osbuildManifest}
+	assert.NotNil(t, mg)
+	err := mg.Generate("test-distro-1", "test_type", "test_arch")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	pipelineNames := pipelineNamesFrom(t, osbuildManifest.Bytes())
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"build", "os"}, pipelineNames)
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 044652c7..ad5e2b85 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ module github.com/osbuild/image-builder-cli
 go 1.21.0
 
 require (
+	github.com/gobwas/glob v0.2.3
 	github.com/osbuild/images v0.98.0
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.3
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
@@ -50,7 +51,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-openapi/strfmt v0.23.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.23.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/validate v0.24.0 // indirect
-	github.com/gobwas/glob v0.2.3 // indirect
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/golang/groupcache v0.0.0-20210331224755-41bb18bfe9da // indirect
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4 // indirect
diff --git a/test/data/repositories/test-distro-1.json b/test/data/repositories/test-distro-1.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f91f04f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/repositories/test-distro-1.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "test_arch": [
+    {
+    }
+  ]
+}