diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 22be86e..e5327ad 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ BINARIES=$(addprefix bin/mtr-exporter-$(VERSION)., $(BUILDS))
 
 LDFLAGS=-ldflags "-X main.Version=$(VERSION) -X main.BuildDate=$(BUILD_DATE) -X main.GitHash=$(GIT_HASH)"
 
-mtr-exporter: cmd/mtr-exporter
-	go build -v -o $@ ./$^
+mtr-exporter: bin/mtr-exporter
+bin/mtr-exporter: cmd/mtr-exporter bin
+	go build -v -o $@ ./$<
 
 ######################################################
 ## release related
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 45d7c38..06c6393 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,34 +43,40 @@ When [prometheus] scrapes the data, you can visualise the observed values:
 
 ## Usage
 
-    $> mtr-exporter [OPTS] -- [MTR-OPTS]
-
-    mtr-exporter [FLAGS] -- [MTR-FLAGS]
+    $> mtr-exporter [FLAGS] -- [MTR-FLAGS]
 
     FLAGS:
-    -bind <bind-address>
-              bind address (default ":8080")
-    -h        show help
-    -mtr <path-to-binary>
-              path to mtr binary (default "mtr")
-    -schedule <schedule>
-              schedule at which often mtr is launched (default "@every 60s")
-              examples:
-                @every <dur>  - example "@every 60s"
-                @hourly       - run once per hour
-                10 * * * *    - execute 10 minutes after the full hour
-              see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron
-    -tslogs
-              use timestamps in logs
+    -bind       <bind-address>
+                bind address (default ":8080")
+    -h          
+                show help
+    -jobs       <path-to-jobsfile>
+                file describing multiple mtr-jobs. syntax is given below.
+    -label      <job-label>
+                use <job-label> in prometheus-metrics (default: "mtr-exporter-cli")
+    -mtr        <path-to-binary>
+                path to mtr binary (default: "mtr")
+    -schedule   <schedule>
+                schedule at which often mtr is launched (default: "@every 60s")
+                examples:
+                   @every <dur>  - example "@every 60s"
+                   @hourly       - run once per hour
+                   10 * * * *    - execute 10 minutes after the full hour
+                see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron
+    -tslogs     
+                use timestamps in logs
+    -watch-jobs <schedule>
+                periodically watch the file defined via -jobs (default: "")
+                if it has changed stop previously running mtr-jobs and apply
+                all jobs defined in -jobs.
     -version
-              show version
-
+                show version
     MTR-FLAGS:
             see "man mtr" for valid flags to mtr.
 
 At `/metrics` the measured values of the last run are exposed.
 
-Examples:
+### Examples
 
     $> mtr-exporter -- example.com
     # probe every minute "example.com"
@@ -82,6 +88,18 @@ Examples:
     # probe every 30s "example.com", wait 1s for response, try a max of 3 hops,
     # use interface "ven3", do not resolve DNS.
 
+### Jobs-File Syntax
+
+    # comment lines start with '#' are ignored
+    # empty lines are ignored as well
+    label -- <schedule> -- mtr-flags
+
+Example:
+
+    quad9       -- @every 120s -- -I ven1 -n 9.9.9.9
+    example.com -- @every 45s  -- -I ven2 -n example.com
+
+
 ## Requirements
 
 Runtime:
@@ -100,7 +118,7 @@ Build:
 
 One-off building and "installation":
 
-    $> go get github.com/mgumz/mtr-exporter/cmd/mtr-exporter
+    $> go install github.com/mgumz/mtr-exporter/cmd/mtr-exporter@latest
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/main.go b/cmd/mtr-exporter/main.go
index 979628a..811cdcb 100644
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/main.go
+++ b/cmd/mtr-exporter/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/mgumz/mtr-exporter/pkg/job"
+
 	"github.com/robfig/cron/v3"
 )
 
@@ -17,8 +19,11 @@ func main() {
 	log.SetFlags(0)
 
 	mtrBin := flag.String("mtr", "mtr", "path to `mtr` binary")
+	jobLabel := flag.String("label", "mtr-exporter-cli", "job label")
 	bind := flag.String("bind", ":8080", "bind address")
-	schedule := flag.String("schedule", "@every 60s", "Schedule at which often `mtr` is launched")
+	jobFile := flag.String("jobs", "", "file containing job definitions")
+	schedule := flag.String("schedule", "@every 60s", "schedule at which often `mtr` is launched")
+	doWatchJobsFile := flag.String("watch-jobs", "", "re-parse -jobs file to schedule")
 	doPrintVersion := flag.Bool("version", false, "show version")
 	doPrintUsage := flag.Bool("h", false, "show help")
 	doTimeStampLogs := flag.Bool("tslogs", false, "use timestamps in logs")
@@ -30,44 +35,61 @@ func main() {
 		printVersion()
 		return
 	}
-
 	if *doPrintUsage {
 		flag.Usage()
 		return
 	}
-
 	if *doTimeStampLogs {
 		log.SetFlags(log.LstdFlags | log.LUTC)
 	}
 
-	if len(flag.Args()) == 0 {
-		log.Println("error: no mtr arguments given - at least the target host must be defined.")
-		os.Exit(1)
+	collector := job.NewCollector()
+	scheduler := cron.New()
 
-		return
+	if len(flag.Args()) > 0 {
+		j := job.NewJob(*mtrBin, flag.Args(), *schedule)
+		j.Label = *jobLabel
+		if _, err := scheduler.AddJob(j.Schedule, j); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("error: unable to add %q to scheduler: %v", j.Label, err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		if !collector.AddJob(j.JobMeta) {
+			log.Printf("error: unable to add %q to collector", j.Label)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		j.UpdateFn = func(meta job.JobMeta) bool { return collector.UpdateJob(meta) }
 	}
 
-	job := newMtrJob(*mtrBin, flag.Args())
-
-	c := cron.New()
-
-	_, err := c.AddFunc(*schedule, func() {
-		log.Println("launching", job.cmdLine)
-		if err := job.Launch(); err != nil {
-			log.Println("failed:", err)
-			return
+	if *jobFile != "" {
+		if *doWatchJobsFile != "" {
+			log.Printf("info: watching %q at %q", *jobFile, *doWatchJobsFile)
+			job.WatchJobsFile(*jobFile, *mtrBin, *doWatchJobsFile, collector)
+		} else {
+			jobs, _, err := job.ParseJobFile(*jobFile, *mtrBin)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("error: parsing jobs file %q: %s", *jobFile, err)
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+			if jobs.Empty() {
+				log.Println("error: no mtr jobs defined - provide at least one via -file or via arguments")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+			for _, j := range jobs {
+				if collector.AddJob(j.JobMeta) {
+					if _, err := scheduler.AddJob(j.Schedule, j); err != nil {
+						log.Printf("error: unable to add %q to collector: %v", j.Label, err)
+						os.Exit(1)
+					}
+					j.UpdateFn = func(meta job.JobMeta) bool { return collector.UpdateJob(meta) }
+				} // FIXME: log failed addition to collector, most likely
+				// due to duplicate label
+			}
 		}
-		log.Println("done: ",
-			len(job.Report.Hubs), "hops in", job.Duration, ".")
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf(err.Error())
-		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	c.Start()
+	scheduler.Start()
 
-	http.Handle("/metrics", job)
+	http.Handle("/metrics", collector)
 	http.HandleFunc("/health", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		fmt.Fprintf(w, "OK")
 	})
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/prometheus.go b/cmd/mtr-exporter/prometheus.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 6ecc7ca..0000000
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/prometheus.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,77 +0,0 @@
-package main
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"net/http"
-	"sort"
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-)
-
-// ServeHTTP writes promtheues styled metrics about the last executed `mtr`
-// run, see https://prometheus.io/docs/instrumenting/exposition_formats/#line-format
-//
-// NOTE: at the moment, no use of github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus
-// because overhead in size and complexity. once mtr-exporter requires features
-// like push-gateway-export or graphite export or the like, we switch.
-func (job *mtrJob) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	if job.Report == nil {
-		fmt.Fprintln(w, "# no current mtr runs performed (yet).")
-		return
-	}
-
-	// the original job.Report might be changed in the
-	// background by a successful run of mtr. copy (pointer to) the report
-	// to have something safe to work on
-	job.Lock()
-	report := job.Report
-	ts := job.Launched.UTC()
-	d := job.Duration
-	job.Unlock()
-
-	labels := report.Mtr.Labels()
-	tsMs := ts.UnixNano() / int64(time.Millisecond)
-
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "# mtr run: %s\n", ts.Format(time.RFC3339Nano))
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "# cmdline: %s\n", job.cmdLine)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_duration_ms_gauge{%s} %d %d\n",
-		labels2Prom(labels), d/time.Millisecond, tsMs)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_count_hubs_gauge{%s} %d %d\n",
-		labels2Prom(labels), len(report.Hubs), tsMs)
-
-	for i, hub := range report.Hubs {
-		labels["host"] = hub.Host
-		labels["count"] = strconv.FormatInt(hub.Count, integerBase)
-		// mark last hub to have it easily identified
-		if i < (len(report.Hubs) - 1) {
-			hub.writeMetrics(w, labels2Prom(labels), tsMs)
-		} else {
-			labels["last"] = "true"
-			hub.writeMetrics(w, labels2Prom(labels), tsMs)
-			delete(labels, "last")
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func (hub *mtrHub) writeMetrics(w io.Writer, labels string, ts int64) {
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_loss_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Loss, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_snt_gauge{%s} %d %d\n", labels, hub.Snt, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_last_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Last, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_avg_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Avg, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_best_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Best, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_wrst_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Wrst, ts)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_stdev_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.StDev, ts)
-}
-
-func labels2Prom(labels map[string]string) string {
-	sl := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(labels))
-	for k, v := range labels {
-		sl = append(sl, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%q", k, v))
-	}
-
-	sl.Sort()
-
-	return strings.Join(sl, ",")
-}
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/usage.go b/cmd/mtr-exporter/usage.go
index e8a0607..287232b 100644
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/usage.go
+++ b/cmd/mtr-exporter/usage.go
@@ -3,25 +3,35 @@ package main
 import "fmt"
 
 func usage() {
-	usage := `Usage: mtr-exporter [FLAGS] -- [MTR-FLAGS]
+
+	const usage string = `Usage: mtr-exporter [FLAGS] -- [MTR-FLAGS]
 
 FLAGS:
--bind <bind-address>
-	  bind address (default ":8080")
--h	  show help
--mtr <path-to-binary>
-	  path to mtr binary (default "mtr")
--schedule <schedule>
-	  schedule at which often mtr is launched (default "@every 60s")
-	  examples:
-	    @every <dur>  - example "@every 60s"
-	    @hourly       - run once per hour
-	    10 * * * *    - execute 10 minutes after the full hour
-	  see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron
--tslogs
-	  use timestamps in logs
+-bind       <bind-address>
+            bind address (default ":8080")
+-h          
+            show help
+-jobs       <path-to-jobsfile>
+            file describing multiple mtr-jobs. syntax is given below.
+-label      <job-label>
+            use <job-label> in prometheus-metrics (default: "mtr-exporter-cli")
+-mtr        <path-to-binary>
+            path to mtr binary (default: "mtr")
+-schedule   <schedule>
+            schedule at which often mtr is launched (default: "@every 60s")
+            examples:
+               @every <dur>  - example "@every 60s"
+               @hourly       - run once per hour
+               10 * * * *    - execute 10 minutes after the full hour
+            see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron
+-tslogs     
+            use timestamps in logs
+-watch-jobs <schedule>
+            periodically watch the file defined via -jobs (default: "")
+            if it has changed stop previously running mtr-jobs and apply
+            all jobs defined in -jobs.
 -version
-	  show version
+            show version
 
 MTR-FLAGS:
 see "man mtr" for valid flags to mtr.
@@ -36,7 +46,13 @@ $> mtr-exporter -- -n example.com
 
 $> mtr-exporter -schedule "@every 30s" -- -G 1 -m 3 -I ven3 -n example.com
 # probe every 30s "example.com", wait 1s for response, try a max of 3 hops,
-# use interface "ven3", do not resolve DNS.`
+# use interface "ven3", do not resolve DNS.
+
+Example Job File:
+
+    # comments are ignored
+    job1 -- @every 30s -- -I ven1 -n example.com
+    job2 -- @every 30s -- -I ven2 -n example.com`
 
 	fmt.Println(usage)
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index cbba384..07f4ed7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@ module github.com/mgumz/mtr-exporter
 go 1.14
 
 require (
+	github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510
 	github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0667807..7780d65 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
+github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510 h1:El6M4kTTCOh6aBiKaUGG7oYTSPP8MxqL4YI3kZKwcP4=
+github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510/go.mod h1:pupxD2MaaD3pAXIBCelhxNneeOaAeabZDe5s4K6zSpQ=
 github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1 h1:WdRxkvbJztn8LMz/QEvLN5sBU+xKpSqwwUO1Pjr4qDs=
 github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:eQICP3HwyT7UooqI/z+Ov+PtYAWygg1TEWWzGIFLtro=
diff --git a/pkg/job/collector.go b/pkg/job/collector.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f9dc33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/collector.go
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+)
+
+type Collector struct {
+	jobs []JobMeta
+
+	mu sync.Mutex
+}
+
+func NewCollector() *Collector {
+	return new(Collector)
+}
+
+func (c *Collector) RemoveJob(label string) bool {
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	jobs := []JobMeta{}
+
+	for i := range c.jobs {
+		if c.jobs[i].Label != label {
+			jobs = append(jobs, c.jobs[i])
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(jobs) < len(c.jobs) {
+		c.jobs = jobs
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func (c *Collector) AddJob(job JobMeta) bool {
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	for i := range c.jobs {
+		if job.Label == c.jobs[i].Label {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+    c.jobs = append(c.jobs, job)
+
+	return true
+}
+
+func (c *Collector) UpdateJob(job JobMeta) bool {
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	for i := range c.jobs {
+		if c.jobs[i].Label == job.Label {
+			c.jobs[i] = job
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/cron.go b/pkg/job/cron.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cbec1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/cron.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"log"
+)
+
+// cron.v3 interface
+func (job *Job) Run() {
+
+	log.Printf("info: %q launching via %q", job.Label, job.cmdLine)
+	if err := job.Launch(); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("info: %q failed: %s", job.Label, err)
+		return
+	}
+	log.Printf("info: %q done: %d hops in %s.", job.Label,
+		len(job.Report.Hubs), job.Duration)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/file.go b/pkg/job/file.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fd47ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/file.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+)
+
+// mtrJobFile definition
+//
+// # comments, ignore everything after #
+// ^space*$ - empty lines
+// <label> -- <schedule> -- <mtr-flags>
+
+func ParseJobFile(filename, mtr string) (jobs Jobs, cksum []byte, err error) {
+	f, err := os.Open(filename)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []*Job{}, []byte{}, err
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+
+	h := sha256.New()
+	r := io.TeeReader(f, h)
+
+	jobs, err = ParseJobs(r, mtr)
+
+	return jobs, h.Sum(nil), err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/file_test.go b/pkg/job/file_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99557f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/file_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func Test_JobFileParsing(t *testing.T) {
+	fixtures := []struct {
+		File     string
+		Expected []*Job
+	}{}
+
+	for i := range fixtures {
+		r := strings.NewReader(fixtures[i].File)
+		jobs, err := ParseJobs(r, "mtr")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error parsing: %s\n%s", err, fixtures[i].File)
+		}
+		t.Logf("jobs: %d", len(jobs))
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_ParseMtrArgs(t *testing.T) {
+
+	fixtures := []struct {
+		Args     string
+		Expected []string
+	}{
+		{"a", []string{"a"}},
+		{"a b", []string{"a", "b"}},
+		{" a  b", []string{"a", "b"}},
+	}
+
+	for i := range fixtures {
+		args, _ := parseMtrArgs(fixtures[i].Args)
+		if len(args) != len(fixtures[i].Expected) {
+			t.Fatalf("error parsing mtr args: expected %q, got %q",
+				fixtures[i].Expected, args)
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/job.go b/pkg/job/job.go
similarity index 66%
rename from cmd/mtr-exporter/job.go
rename to pkg/job/job.go
index 60c5ea6..f33a425 100644
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/job.go
+++ b/pkg/job/job.go
@@ -1,66 +1,76 @@
-package main
+package job
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
-	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mgumz/mtr-exporter/pkg/mtr"
 )
 
-type mtrJob struct {
-	Report   *mtrReport
+type JobMeta struct {
+	Report   mtr.Report
 	Launched time.Time
 	Duration time.Duration
+	Schedule string
+	Label    string
+}
+
+type Job struct {
+	JobMeta
 
 	mtrBinary string
 	args      []string
 	cmdLine   string
 
-	sync.Mutex
+	UpdateFn func(JobMeta) bool
 }
 
-func newMtrJob(mtr string, args []string) *mtrJob {
+func NewJob(mtr string, args []string, schedule string) *Job {
 	extra := []string{
 		"-j", // json output
 	}
 	args = append(extra, args...)
 	cmd := exec.Command(mtr, args...)
-
-	return &mtrJob{
+	job := Job{
 		args:      args,
 		mtrBinary: mtr,
 		cmdLine:   strings.Join(cmd.Args, " "),
 	}
+	job.JobMeta.Schedule = schedule
+	return &job
 }
 
-func (job *mtrJob) Launch() error {
+func (job *Job) Launch() error {
+
 	// TODO: maybe use CommandContext to have an upper limit in the execution
+
 	cmd := exec.Command(job.mtrBinary, job.args...)
 
 	// launch mtr
 	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
 	cmd.Stdout = &buf
 	launched := time.Now()
-
 	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
 	duration := time.Since(launched)
 
 	// decode the report
-	report := &mtrReport{}
+	report := mtr.Report{}
 	if err := report.Decode(&buf); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	// copy the report into the job
-	job.Lock()
 	job.Report = report
 	job.Launched = launched
 	job.Duration = duration
-	job.Unlock()
+
+	if job.UpdateFn != nil {
+		job.UpdateFn(job.JobMeta)
+	}
 
 	// done.
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/job/jobs.go b/pkg/job/jobs.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7ecca1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/jobs.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package job
+
+type Jobs []*Job
+
+func (jobs Jobs) Count() int { return len(jobs) }
+
+func (jobs Jobs) Empty() bool { return len(jobs) == 0 }
+
+func (jobs Jobs) CollectedReports() int {
+	n := 0
+	for _, job := range jobs {
+		if !job.Report.Empty() {
+			n++
+		}
+	}
+	return n
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/parse.go b/pkg/job/parse.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee3107b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/parse.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/google/shlex"
+)
+
+// JobFile definition
+//
+// # comments, ignore everything after #
+// ^space*$ - empty lines
+// <label> -- <schedule> -- <mtr-flags>
+
+func ParseJobs(r io.Reader, mtr string) (Jobs, error) {
+
+	var err error
+	var jobs = Jobs{}
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
+	scanner.Split(bufio.ScanLines)
+	n := 0
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		n++
+		job, err2 := parseJobLine(line, n, mtr)
+		if err2 != nil {
+			err = err2
+			break
+		}
+		if job != nil {
+			jobs = append(jobs, job)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err == nil {
+		err = scanner.Err()
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return Jobs{}, err
+	}
+
+	return jobs, nil
+}
+
+func parseJobLine(line string, lnr int, mtr string) (*Job, error) {
+
+	line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+	if len(line) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	parts := strings.SplitN(line, " -- ", 3)
+	if len(parts) != 3 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid jobLine %d: expect '<label> -- <schedule> -- <mtr-flags>'", lnr)
+	}
+
+	label, _ := parseLabel(strings.TrimSpace(parts[0]))
+	schedule, _ := parseSchedule(strings.TrimSpace(parts[1]))
+	mtrArgs, _ := parseMtrArgs(strings.TrimSpace(parts[2]))
+
+	job := NewJob(mtr, mtrArgs, schedule)
+	job.Label = label
+
+	return job, nil
+}
+
+func parseLabel(l string) (string, error) {
+	return l, nil
+}
+
+func parseSchedule(s string) (string, error) {
+	return s, nil
+}
+
+func parseMtrArgs(s string) ([]string, error) {
+	args, err := shlex.Split(s)
+	return args, err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/prometheus.go b/pkg/job/prometheus.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e17bfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/prometheus.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+const (
+	integerBase int = 10
+)
+
+// ServeHTTP writes promtheues styled metrics about the last executed `mtr`
+// run, see https://prometheus.io/docs/instrumenting/exposition_formats/#line-format
+//
+// NOTE: at the moment, no use of github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus
+// because overhead in size and complexity. once mtr-exporter requires features
+// like push-gateway-export or graphite export or the like, we switch.
+func (c *Collector) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if len(c.jobs) == 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "# no mtr jobs defined (yet).")
+		return
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "# %d mtr jobs defined\n", len(c.jobs))
+
+	for _, job := range c.jobs {
+
+		if len(job.Report.Hubs) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// the original job.Report might be changed in the
+		// background by a successful run of mtr. copy (pointer to) the report
+		// to have something safe to work on
+		report := job.Report
+		ts := job.Launched.UTC()
+		d := job.Duration
+
+		labels := report.Mtr.Labels()
+		labels["mtr_exporter_job"] = job.Label
+		tsMs := ts.UnixNano() / int64(time.Millisecond)
+
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "# mtr run: %s\n", ts.Format(time.RFC3339Nano))
+		// FIXME: remove or rewrite: fmt.Fprintf(w, "# cmdline: %s\n", job.cmdLine)
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_duration_ms_gauge{%s} %d %d\n",
+			labels2Prom(labels), d/time.Millisecond, tsMs)
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_count_hubs_gauge{%s} %d %d\n",
+			labels2Prom(labels), len(report.Hubs), tsMs)
+
+		for i, hub := range report.Hubs {
+			labels["host"] = hub.Host
+			labels["count"] = strconv.FormatInt(hub.Count, integerBase)
+			// mark last hub to have it easily identified
+			if i < (len(report.Hubs) - 1) {
+				hub.WriteMetrics(w, labels2Prom(labels), tsMs)
+			} else {
+				labels["last"] = "true"
+				hub.WriteMetrics(w, labels2Prom(labels), tsMs)
+				delete(labels, "last")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+}
+
+func labels2Prom(labels map[string]string) string {
+	sl := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(labels))
+	for k, v := range labels {
+		sl = append(sl, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%q", k, v))
+	}
+	sl.Sort()
+	return strings.Join(sl, ",")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/job/watch_file.go b/pkg/job/watch_file.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd620a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/job/watch_file.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package job
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/robfig/cron/v3"
+)
+
+func WatchJobsFile(name, mtrBin, watchSchedule string, collector *Collector) {
+
+	watcher := &jobFileWatch{name: name,
+		mtrBin:    mtrBin,
+		scheduler: cron.New(),
+		collector: collector,
+	}
+
+	watcher.Run()
+
+	// check `name` according to `watchSchedule`
+	scheduler := cron.New()
+	if _, err := scheduler.AddJob(watchSchedule, watcher); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("error: unable to launch watch-jobs scheduler: %v", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	scheduler.Start()
+}
+
+type jobFileWatch struct {
+	name      string
+	mtrBin    string
+	scheduler *cron.Cron
+	chksum    []byte
+	jobs      Jobs
+	collector *Collector
+}
+
+func (jw *jobFileWatch) Run() {
+
+	log.Printf("info: starting to parse %q", jw.name)
+	jobs, chksum, err := ParseJobFile(jw.name, jw.mtrBin)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("warning: parsing %q: %v", jw.name, err)
+		return
+	}
+	log.Printf("info: done parsing %q: %d jobs (previous-sha256:%x|current-sha256:%x) ", jw.name, len(jobs), jw.chksum, chksum)
+
+	if bytes.Equal(jw.chksum, chksum) {
+		log.Printf("info: watched file is unchanged")
+		return
+	}
+
+	log.Printf("info: watched file changed: replacing %d jobs", len(jobs))
+
+	jw.scheduler.Stop()
+
+	// step 1: clean out currently scheduled jobs
+	entries := []cron.EntryID{}
+	for _, entry := range jw.scheduler.Entries() {
+		entries = append(entries, entry.ID)
+	}
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		jw.scheduler.Remove(entry)
+	}
+
+	// step 2: unregister previous jobs
+	for i := range jw.jobs {
+		jw.collector.RemoveJob(jw.jobs[i].Label)
+	}
+
+	// step 3: launch current set of jobs and register them
+	// at the collector
+	n := 0
+	for _, j := range jobs {
+		if jw.collector.AddJob(j.JobMeta) {
+			log.Printf("info: schedule %q to %q", j.Label, j.Schedule)
+			j.UpdateFn = func(meta JobMeta) bool { return jw.collector.UpdateJob(meta) }
+			if _, err := jw.scheduler.AddJob(j.Schedule, j); err != nil {
+				log.Printf("error: unable to add %q to scheduler: %v", j.Label, err)
+			}
+			n++
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("error: unable to add job %q to collector", j.Label)
+		}
+	}
+	if n > 0 {
+		log.Printf("info: restart scheduler (%d)", n)
+		jw.scheduler.Start()
+	}
+
+	jw.jobs = jobs
+	jw.chksum = chksum
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr.go b/pkg/mtr/mtr.go
similarity index 71%
rename from cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr.go
rename to pkg/mtr/mtr.go
index b7bea37..a00a8a2 100644
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr.go
+++ b/pkg/mtr/mtr.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package main
+package mtr
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -6,20 +6,20 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 )
 
-var (
+const (
 	integerBase int = 10
 )
 
-type mtrResult struct {
-	Report mtrReport `json:"report"`
+type Result struct {
+	Report Report `json:"report"`
 }
 
-type mtrReport struct {
-	Mtr  mtrMtr   `json:"mtr"`
-	Hubs []mtrHub `json:"hubs"`
+type Report struct {
+	Mtr  Mtr   `json:"mtr"`
+	Hubs []Hub `json:"hubs"`
 }
 
-type mtrMtr struct {
+type Mtr struct {
 	Src        string `json:"src"`
 	Dst        string `json:"dst"`
 	Tos        int64  `json:"tos"`
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ type mtrMtr struct {
 	Tests      int64  `json:"tests"`
 }
 
-type mtrHub struct {
+type Hub struct {
 	Count int64   `json:"count"`
 	Host  string  `json:"host"`
 	Loss  float64 `json:"Loss%"`
@@ -40,20 +40,21 @@ type mtrHub struct {
 	StDev float64 `json:"StDev"`
 }
 
-func (report *mtrReport) Decode(r io.Reader) error {
+func (report *Report) Decode(r io.Reader) error {
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(r)
-
-	result := mtrResult{}
+	result := Result{}
 	if err := dec.Decode(&result); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
 	*report = result.Report
-
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (mtr *mtrMtr) Labels() map[string]string {
+func (report *Report) Empty() bool {
+	return len(report.Hubs) == 0
+}
+
+func (mtr *Mtr) Labels() map[string]string {
 	return map[string]string{
 		"src":        mtr.Src,
 		"dst":        mtr.Dst,
diff --git a/cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr_test.go b/pkg/mtr/mtr_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr_test.go
rename to pkg/mtr/mtr_test.go
index a2d772e..2ee9a97 100644
--- a/cmd/mtr-exporter/mtr_test.go
+++ b/pkg/mtr/mtr_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package main
+package mtr
 
 import (
 	"strings"
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func Test_MtrReportDecoding(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}`
 
-	report := &mtrReport{}
+	report := &Report{}
 	if err := report.Decode(strings.NewReader(body)); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error decoding: %s\n%s", err, body)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/mtr/prometheus.go b/pkg/mtr/prometheus.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0541ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/mtr/prometheus.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package mtr
+
+import (
+    "io"
+    "fmt"
+)
+
+func (hub Hub) WriteMetrics(w io.Writer, labels string, ts int64) {
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_loss_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Loss, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_snt_gauge{%s} %d %d\n", labels, hub.Snt, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_last_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Last, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_avg_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Avg, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_best_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Best, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_wrst_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.Wrst, ts)
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "mtr_report_stdev_gauge{%s} %f %d\n", labels, hub.StDev, ts)
+}
+
diff --git a/sample-jobs.txt b/sample-jobs.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e717df6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sample-jobs.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# a sample mtr-jobs file
+
+job1 -- @every 30s -- -n example.com
+job2 -- @every 30s -- -n 9.9.9.9
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/COPYING b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/COPYING
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d645695
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/COPYING
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+
+                                 Apache License
+                           Version 2.0, January 2004
+                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/
+
+   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
+
+   1. Definitions.
+
+      "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
+      and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
+
+      "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
+      the copyright owner that is granting the License.
+
+      "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
+      other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
+      control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
+      "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
+      direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
+      otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
+      outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
+
+      "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
+      exercising permissions granted by this License.
+
+      "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
+      including but not limited to software source code, documentation
+      source, and configuration files.
+
+      "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
+      transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
+      not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
+      and conversions to other media types.
+
+      "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
+      Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
+      copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
+      (an example is provided in the Appendix below).
+
+      "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
+      form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
+      editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
+      represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
+      of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
+      separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
+      the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
+
+      "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
+      the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
+      to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
+      submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
+      or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
+      the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
+      means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
+      to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
+      communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
+      and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
+      Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
+      excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
+      designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
+
+      "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
+      on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
+      subsequently incorporated within the Work.
+
+   2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
+      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
+      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
+      copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
+      publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
+      Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
+
+   3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
+      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
+      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
+      (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
+      use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
+      where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
+      by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
+      Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
+      with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
+      institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
+      cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
+      or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
+      or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
+      granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
+      as of the date such litigation is filed.
+
+   4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
+      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
+      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
+      meet the following conditions:
+
+      (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
+          Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
+
+      (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
+          stating that You changed the files; and
+
+      (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
+          that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
+          attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
+          excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
+          the Derivative Works; and
+
+      (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
+          distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
+          include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
+          within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
+          pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
+          of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
+          as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
+          documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
+          within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
+          wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
+          of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
+          do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
+          notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
+          or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
+          that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
+          as modifying the License.
+
+      You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
+      may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
+      for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
+      for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
+      reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
+      the conditions stated in this License.
+
+   5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
+      any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
+      by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
+      this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
+      Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
+      the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
+      with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
+
+   6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
+      names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
+      except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
+      origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
+
+   7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
+      agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
+      Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+      implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
+      of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
+      PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
+      appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
+      risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
+
+   8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
+      whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
+      unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
+      negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
+      liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
+      incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
+      result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
+      Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
+      work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
+      other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
+      has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
+
+   9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
+      the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
+      and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
+      or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
+      License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
+      on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
+      of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
+      defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
+      incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
+      of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
+
+   END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+   APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
+
+      To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
+      boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
+      replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
+      the brackets!)  The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
+      comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
+      file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
+      same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
+      identification within third-party archives.
+
+   Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/README b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c86bcc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/README
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+go-shlex is a simple lexer for go that supports shell-style quoting,
+commenting, and escaping.
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/go.mod b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ab3bce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module github.com/google/shlex
+
+go 1.13
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/shlex.go b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/shlex.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d98308b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/github.com/google/shlex/shlex.go
@@ -0,0 +1,416 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2012 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+/*
+Package shlex implements a simple lexer which splits input in to tokens using
+shell-style rules for quoting and commenting.
+
+The basic use case uses the default ASCII lexer to split a string into sub-strings:
+
+  shlex.Split("one \"two three\" four") -> []string{"one", "two three", "four"}
+
+To process a stream of strings:
+
+  l := NewLexer(os.Stdin)
+  for ; token, err := l.Next(); err != nil {
+  	// process token
+  }
+
+To access the raw token stream (which includes tokens for comments):
+
+  t := NewTokenizer(os.Stdin)
+  for ; token, err := t.Next(); err != nil {
+	// process token
+  }
+
+*/
+package shlex
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// TokenType is a top-level token classification: A word, space, comment, unknown.
+type TokenType int
+
+// runeTokenClass is the type of a UTF-8 character classification: A quote, space, escape.
+type runeTokenClass int
+
+// the internal state used by the lexer state machine
+type lexerState int
+
+// Token is a (type, value) pair representing a lexographical token.
+type Token struct {
+	tokenType TokenType
+	value     string
+}
+
+// Equal reports whether tokens a, and b, are equal.
+// Two tokens are equal if both their types and values are equal. A nil token can
+// never be equal to another token.
+func (a *Token) Equal(b *Token) bool {
+	if a == nil || b == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if a.tokenType != b.tokenType {
+		return false
+	}
+	return a.value == b.value
+}
+
+// Named classes of UTF-8 runes
+const (
+	spaceRunes            = " \t\r\n"
+	escapingQuoteRunes    = `"`
+	nonEscapingQuoteRunes = "'"
+	escapeRunes           = `\`
+	commentRunes          = "#"
+)
+
+// Classes of rune token
+const (
+	unknownRuneClass runeTokenClass = iota
+	spaceRuneClass
+	escapingQuoteRuneClass
+	nonEscapingQuoteRuneClass
+	escapeRuneClass
+	commentRuneClass
+	eofRuneClass
+)
+
+// Classes of lexographic token
+const (
+	UnknownToken TokenType = iota
+	WordToken
+	SpaceToken
+	CommentToken
+)
+
+// Lexer state machine states
+const (
+	startState           lexerState = iota // no runes have been seen
+	inWordState                            // processing regular runes in a word
+	escapingState                          // we have just consumed an escape rune; the next rune is literal
+	escapingQuotedState                    // we have just consumed an escape rune within a quoted string
+	quotingEscapingState                   // we are within a quoted string that supports escaping ("...")
+	quotingState                           // we are within a string that does not support escaping ('...')
+	commentState                           // we are within a comment (everything following an unquoted or unescaped #
+)
+
+// tokenClassifier is used for classifying rune characters.
+type tokenClassifier map[rune]runeTokenClass
+
+func (typeMap tokenClassifier) addRuneClass(runes string, tokenType runeTokenClass) {
+	for _, runeChar := range runes {
+		typeMap[runeChar] = tokenType
+	}
+}
+
+// newDefaultClassifier creates a new classifier for ASCII characters.
+func newDefaultClassifier() tokenClassifier {
+	t := tokenClassifier{}
+	t.addRuneClass(spaceRunes, spaceRuneClass)
+	t.addRuneClass(escapingQuoteRunes, escapingQuoteRuneClass)
+	t.addRuneClass(nonEscapingQuoteRunes, nonEscapingQuoteRuneClass)
+	t.addRuneClass(escapeRunes, escapeRuneClass)
+	t.addRuneClass(commentRunes, commentRuneClass)
+	return t
+}
+
+// ClassifyRune classifiees a rune
+func (t tokenClassifier) ClassifyRune(runeVal rune) runeTokenClass {
+	return t[runeVal]
+}
+
+// Lexer turns an input stream into a sequence of tokens. Whitespace and comments are skipped.
+type Lexer Tokenizer
+
+// NewLexer creates a new lexer from an input stream.
+func NewLexer(r io.Reader) *Lexer {
+
+	return (*Lexer)(NewTokenizer(r))
+}
+
+// Next returns the next word, or an error. If there are no more words,
+// the error will be io.EOF.
+func (l *Lexer) Next() (string, error) {
+	for {
+		token, err := (*Tokenizer)(l).Next()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		switch token.tokenType {
+		case WordToken:
+			return token.value, nil
+		case CommentToken:
+			// skip comments
+		default:
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("Unknown token type: %v", token.tokenType)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Tokenizer turns an input stream into a sequence of typed tokens
+type Tokenizer struct {
+	input      bufio.Reader
+	classifier tokenClassifier
+}
+
+// NewTokenizer creates a new tokenizer from an input stream.
+func NewTokenizer(r io.Reader) *Tokenizer {
+	input := bufio.NewReader(r)
+	classifier := newDefaultClassifier()
+	return &Tokenizer{
+		input:      *input,
+		classifier: classifier}
+}
+
+// scanStream scans the stream for the next token using the internal state machine.
+// It will panic if it encounters a rune which it does not know how to handle.
+func (t *Tokenizer) scanStream() (*Token, error) {
+	state := startState
+	var tokenType TokenType
+	var value []rune
+	var nextRune rune
+	var nextRuneType runeTokenClass
+	var err error
+
+	for {
+		nextRune, _, err = t.input.ReadRune()
+		nextRuneType = t.classifier.ClassifyRune(nextRune)
+
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			nextRuneType = eofRuneClass
+			err = nil
+		} else if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		switch state {
+		case startState: // no runes read yet
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						return nil, io.EOF
+					}
+				case spaceRuneClass:
+					{
+					}
+				case escapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						tokenType = WordToken
+						state = quotingEscapingState
+					}
+				case nonEscapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						tokenType = WordToken
+						state = quotingState
+					}
+				case escapeRuneClass:
+					{
+						tokenType = WordToken
+						state = escapingState
+					}
+				case commentRuneClass:
+					{
+						tokenType = CommentToken
+						state = commentState
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						tokenType = WordToken
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+						state = inWordState
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case inWordState: // in a regular word
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				case spaceRuneClass:
+					{
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				case escapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = quotingEscapingState
+					}
+				case nonEscapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = quotingState
+					}
+				case escapeRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = escapingState
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case escapingState: // the rune after an escape character
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						err = fmt.Errorf("EOF found after escape character")
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						state = inWordState
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case escapingQuotedState: // the next rune after an escape character, in double quotes
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						err = fmt.Errorf("EOF found after escape character")
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						state = quotingEscapingState
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case quotingEscapingState: // in escaping double quotes
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						err = fmt.Errorf("EOF found when expecting closing quote")
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				case escapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = inWordState
+					}
+				case escapeRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = escapingQuotedState
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case quotingState: // in non-escaping single quotes
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						err = fmt.Errorf("EOF found when expecting closing quote")
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				case nonEscapingQuoteRuneClass:
+					{
+						state = inWordState
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		case commentState: // in a comment
+			{
+				switch nextRuneType {
+				case eofRuneClass:
+					{
+						token := &Token{
+							tokenType: tokenType,
+							value:     string(value)}
+						return token, err
+					}
+				case spaceRuneClass:
+					{
+						if nextRune == '\n' {
+							state = startState
+							token := &Token{
+								tokenType: tokenType,
+								value:     string(value)}
+							return token, err
+						} else {
+							value = append(value, nextRune)
+						}
+					}
+				default:
+					{
+						value = append(value, nextRune)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		default:
+			{
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unexpected state: %v", state)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Next returns the next token in the stream.
+func (t *Tokenizer) Next() (*Token, error) {
+	return t.scanStream()
+}
+
+// Split partitions a string into a slice of strings.
+func Split(s string) ([]string, error) {
+	l := NewLexer(strings.NewReader(s))
+	subStrings := make([]string, 0)
+	for {
+		word, err := l.Next()
+		if err != nil {
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				return subStrings, nil
+			}
+			return subStrings, err
+		}
+		subStrings = append(subStrings, word)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 87243f1..f975a91 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510
+## explicit
+github.com/google/shlex
 # github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1
 ## explicit
 github.com/robfig/cron/v3