diff --git a/bin/vagrant b/bin/vagrant
index 9e9ea3a62..605ab7bf7 100755
--- a/bin/vagrant
+++ b/bin/vagrant
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
-# Get library
-libdir = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib')
-require File.expand_path('vagrant', libdir)
+require 'vagrant'
 
 # Call the command
-Vagrant::Command.execute(*ARGV)
\ No newline at end of file
+Vagrant::Command.execute(*ARGV)
diff --git a/bin/vagrant-thor b/bin/vagrant-thor
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..dd013c69e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/vagrant-thor
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+# NOTE: This file is TEMPORARY. Eventually the plan is for this binary
+# to become the new `vagrant` binary. The only reason for the separation
+# now is so that both can be tested in parallel.
+
+require 'vagrant'
+require 'vagrant/cli'
+
+begin
+  Vagrant::CLI.start(ARGV, :env => Vagrant::Environment.load!)
+rescue Vagrant::VagrantError => e
+  Vagrant.ui.error e.message
+  Vagrant.ui.error e.backtrace.join("\n")
+  exit e.status_code
+end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant.rb b/lib/vagrant.rb
index a5b13e11c..a1948ce4e 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant.rb
@@ -4,12 +4,28 @@ require "vagrant/util/glob_loader"
 
 module Vagrant
   class << self
+    attr_writer :ui
+
     # The source root is the path to the root directory of
     # the Vagrant gem.
     def source_root
       @source_root ||= File.expand_path('../../', __FILE__)
     end
+
+    # Returns the {UI} class to use for talking with the
+    # outside world.
+    def ui
+      @ui ||= UI.new
+    end
   end
+
+  class VagrantError < StandardError
+    def self.status_code(code = nil)
+      define_method(:status_code) { code }
+    end
+  end
+
+  class CLIMissingEnvironment < VagrantError; status_code(1); end
 end
 
 # Load them up. One day we'll convert this to autoloads. Today
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/cli.rb b/lib/vagrant/cli.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d83c9f0af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/cli.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+require 'thor'
+
+module Vagrant
+  class CLI < Thor
+    attr_reader :env
+
+    def initialize(args, options, config)
+      super
+
+      # Set the UI to a shell based UI using the shell object which
+      # Thor sets up.
+      Vagrant.ui = UI::Shell.new(shell)
+
+      # The last argument must _always_ be a Vagrant Environment class.
+      raise CLIMissingEnvironment.new("This command requires that a Vagrant environment be properly passed in as the last parameter.") if !config[:env]
+      @env = config[:env]
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/environment.rb b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
index 96be3f008..bfd8ab76b 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
@@ -129,6 +129,12 @@ module Vagrant
       end
     end
 
+    # Makes a call to the CLI with the given arguments as if they
+    # came from the real command line (sometimes they do!)
+    def cli(*args)
+      Vagrant::CLI.start(args.flatten, :env => self)
+    end
+
     #---------------------------------------------------------------
     # Load Methods
     #---------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib/vagrant/ui.rb b/lib/vagrant/ui.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8dea23d69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/ui.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+module Vagrant
+  # Vagrant UIs handle communication with the outside world (typically
+  # through a shell). They must respond to the typically logger methods
+  # of `warn`, `error`, `info`, and `confirm`.
+  class UI
+    [:warn, :error, :info, :confirm].each do |method|
+      # By default these methods don't do anything. A silent UI.
+      define_method(method) { |message| }
+    end
+
+    # A shell UI, which uses a `Thor::Shell` object to talk with
+    # a terminal.
+    class Shell < UI
+      def initialize(shell)
+        @shell = shell
+      end
+
+      def warn(message)
+        @shell.say(message, :yellow)
+      end
+
+      def error(message)
+        @shell.say(message, :red)
+      end
+
+      def info(message)
+        @shell.say(message)
+      end
+
+      def confirm(message)
+        @shell.say(message, :green)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end