diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit.hs
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@
     flagHelpSimple, flagHelpFormat, flagVersion, flagsVerbosity,
     -- * Displaying help
     module System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Help,
-    -- * Utilities for working with command line
+    -- * Utilities for working with command lines
+    module System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.ExpandArgsAt,
     module System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.SplitJoin,
     Complete(..), complete
     ) where
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Type
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Process
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Help
+import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.ExpandArgsAt
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.SplitJoin
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Complete
 import System.Console.CmdArgs.Default
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@
 import System.IO
 
 
--- | Process the flags obtained by @'getArgs'@ with a mode. Displays
+-- | Process the flags obtained by @'getArgs'@ and @'expandArgsAt'@ with a mode. Displays
 --   an error and exits with failure if the command line fails to parse, or returns
 --   the associated value. Implemented in terms of 'process'. This function makes
 --   use of the following environment variables:
@@ -110,7 +112,7 @@
             let var = mplus (lookup ("CMDARGS_HELPER_" ++ show (map toUpper $ head $ modeNames m ++ [nam])) env)
                             (lookup "CMDARGS_HELPER" env)
             case var of
-                Nothing -> run =<< getArgs
+                Nothing -> run =<< expandArgsAt =<< getArgs
                 Just cmd -> do
                     res <- execute cmd m []
                     case res of
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@
                 _ -> Nothing
 
 
--- | Process a list of flags (usually obtained from @getArgs@) with a mode. Displays
+-- | Process a list of flags (usually obtained from @'getArgs'@ and @'expandArgsAt'@) with a mode. Displays
 --   an error and exits with failure if the command line fails to parse, or returns
 --   the associated value. Implemeneted in terms of 'process'. This function
 --   does not take account of any environment variables that may be set
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/ExpandArgsAt.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
+module System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.ExpandArgsAt(expandArgsAt) where
+
+import System.FilePath
+
+
+-- | Expand @\@@ directives in a list of arguments, usually obtained from 'getArgs'.
+--   As an example, given the file @test.txt@ with the lines @hello@ and @world@:
+--
+-- > expandArgsAt ["@test.txt","!"] == ["hello","world","!"]
+--
+--   Any @\@@ directives in the files will be recursively expanded (raising an error
+--   if there is infinite recursion).
+expandArgsAt :: [String] -> IO [String]
+expandArgsAt = fmap concat . mapM (f [] ".")
+    where
+        f seen dir ('@':x)
+            | x `elem` seen = error $ unlines $
+                "System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.expandArgsAt, recursion in @ directives:" :
+                map ("  "++) (reverse $ x:seen)
+            | length seen > 15 = error $ unlines $
+                "System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.expandArgsAt, over 15 @ directives deep:" :
+                map ("  "++) (reverse seen)
+            | otherwise = do
+                src <- readFile $ dir </> x
+                fmap concat $ mapM (f (x:seen) (takeDirectory x)) $ lines src
+        f _ _ x = return [x]
diff --git a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Process.hs b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Process.hs
--- a/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Process.hs
+++ b/System/Console/CmdArgs/Explicit/Process.hs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import Data.Maybe
 
 
--- | Process a list of flags (usually obtained from @getArgs@) with a mode. Returns
+-- | Process a list of flags (usually obtained from @getArgs@/@expandArgsAt@) with a mode. Returns
 --   @Left@ and an error message if the command line fails to parse, or @Right@ and
 --   the associated value.
 process :: Mode a -> [String] -> Either String a
diff --git a/cmdargs.cabal b/cmdargs.cabal
--- a/cmdargs.cabal
+++ b/cmdargs.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cabal-version:      >= 1.6
 build-type:         Simple
 name:               cmdargs
-version:            0.9.2
+version:            0.9.3
 license:            BSD3
 license-file:       LICENSE
 category:           Console
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 library
     build-depends:
         base == 4.*,
+        filepath,
         transformers == 0.2.*,
         process >= 1.0 && < 1.2
 
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@
         Data.Generics.Any
         Data.Generics.Any.Prelude
         System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Complete
+        System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.ExpandArgsAt
         System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Help
         System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.Process
         System.Console.CmdArgs.Explicit.SplitJoin