diff --git a/cmd/dbinfo.go b/cmd/dbinfo.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efabe31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/dbinfo.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2024 Genome Research Ltd.
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *	- Sendu Bala <sb10@sanger.ac.uk>
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+ * a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+ * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+ * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+ * distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+ * permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+ * the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+ * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+ * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+ * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
+ * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
+ * CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
+ * TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
+ * SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ ******************************************************************************/
+
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"log/slog"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/wtsi-hgi/wrstat-ui/v4/server"
+	"github.com/wtsi-ssg/wrstat/v4/basedirs"
+	"github.com/wtsi-ssg/wrstat/v4/dgut"
+)
+
+// dbinfoCmd represents the server command.
+var dbinfoCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "dbinfo",
+	Short: "Get summary information on the databases",
+	Long: `Get summary information on the databases.
+
+This sub-command reports some summary information about the databases used by
+the server. Provide the path to your 'wrstat multi -f' output directory.
+
+NB: for large databases, this can take hours to run.
+`,
+	Run: func(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		if len(args) != 1 {
+			die("you must supply the path to your 'wrstat multi -f' output directory")
+		}
+
+		dbPaths, err := server.FindLatestDgutDirs(args[0], dgutDBsSuffix)
+		if err != nil {
+			die("failed to find database paths: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		basedirsDBPath, err := server.FindLatestBasedirsDB(args[0], basedirBasename)
+		if err != nil {
+			die("failed to find basedirs database path: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		slog.SetLogLoggerLevel(slog.LevelDebug)
+
+		info("opening dgut databases...")
+		dgutDB := dgut.NewDB(dbPaths...)
+		dbInfo, err := dgutDB.Info()
+		if err != nil {
+			die("failed to get dgut db info: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		cliPrint("\nDirs: %d\nDGUTs: %d\nParents: %d\nChildren: %d\n\n",
+			dbInfo.NumDirs, dbInfo.NumDGUTs, dbInfo.NumParents, dbInfo.NumChildren)
+
+		info("opening basedir database...\n")
+
+		basedirsInfo, err := basedirs.Info(basedirsDBPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			die("failed to get basedirs db info: %s", err)
+		}
+
+		cliPrint("Group usage group-dir combinations: %d\n", basedirsInfo.GroupDirCombos)
+		cliPrint("Group history group-mount combinations: %d\n", basedirsInfo.GroupMountCombos)
+		cliPrint("Group histories: %d\n", basedirsInfo.GroupHistories)
+		cliPrint("Group subdir group-dir combinations: %d\n", basedirsInfo.GroupSubDirCombos)
+		cliPrint("Group subdirs: %d\n", basedirsInfo.GroupSubDirs)
+		cliPrint("User usage user-dir combinations: %d\n", basedirsInfo.UserDirCombos)
+		cliPrint("User subdir user-dir combinations: %d\n", basedirsInfo.UserSubDirCombos)
+		cliPrint("User subdirs: %d\n", basedirsInfo.UserSubDirs)
+	},
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RootCmd.AddCommand(dbinfoCmd)
+}
diff --git a/cmd/server.go b/cmd/server.go
index 938565f..43d51f6 100644
--- a/cmd/server.go
+++ b/cmd/server.go
@@ -223,10 +223,6 @@ func init() {
 	serverCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&ownersPath, "owners", "o", "", "gid,owner csv file")
 	serverCmd.Flags().StringVar(&serverLogPath, "logfile", "",
 		"log to this file instead of syslog")
-
-	serverCmd.SetHelpFunc(func(command *cobra.Command, strings []string) {
-		hideGlobalFlags(serverCmd, command, strings)
-	})
 }
 
 // checkOAuthArgs ensures we have the necessary args/ env vars for Okta auth.
diff --git a/cmd/where.go b/cmd/where.go
index 788cfaf..af0df1a 100644
--- a/cmd/where.go
+++ b/cmd/where.go
@@ -219,10 +219,6 @@ func init() { //nolint:funlen
 		"output USERS and GROUPS columns")
 	whereCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&whereJSON, "json", "j", false,
 		"output JSON (ignores --minimum and --order)")
-
-	whereCmd.SetHelpFunc(func(command *cobra.Command, strings []string) {
-		hideGlobalFlags(whereCmd, command, strings)
-	})
 }
 
 // getServerURL gets the wrstat server URL from the commandline arg or