diff --git a/shell-completion/Makefile b/shell-completion/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..92c4e53a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+
+.PHONY: commands clean
+
+all: generic-options.txt commands hledger-completion.bash
+
+generic-options.txt:
+	hledger -h | ./output-options.sh > $@
+
+commands.txt:
+	hledger | ./output-commands.sh > $@
+
+commands-list.txt: commands.txt
+	paste -sd, $^ | tr -d '\n' > $@
+
+commands: commands.txt
+	#parallel 'touch {}.command' < commands.txt
+	parallel 'hledger {} -h | ./output-options.sh > options-{}.txt' < commands.txt
+
+# It's possible to call this rule explicitly but it's not invoked automatically.
+# Better generate *-options.txt with the 'commands' phony rule.
+%-options.txt: %.command
+	hledger $* -h | ./output-options.sh > $@
+
+hledger-completion.bash: hledger-completion.bash.m4 commands-list.txt
+	m4 hledger-completion.bash.m4 > $@
+
+clean:
+	rm -f *.commands *.txt hledger-completion.bash
diff --git a/shell-completion/foreach2.m4 b/shell-completion/foreach2.m4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..74d00fb6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/foreach2.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+include(`quote.m4')dnl
+divert(`-1')
+# foreach(x, (item_1, item_2, ..., item_n), stmt)
+#   parenthesized list, improved version
+define(`foreach', `pushdef(`$1')_$0(`$1',
+  (dquote(dquote_elt$2)), `$3')popdef(`$1')')
+define(`_arg1', `$1')
+define(`_foreach', `ifelse(`$2', `(`')', `',
+  `define(`$1', _arg1$2)$3`'$0(`$1', (dquote(shift$2)), `$3')')')
+divert`'dnl
diff --git a/shell-completion/hledger-completion.bash.m4 b/shell-completion/hledger-completion.bash.m4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f343f16d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/hledger-completion.bash.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Completion script for hledger.
+# Created using a Makefile and real hledger.
+
+# No set -e because this file is sourced and is not supposed to quit the current shell.
+set -o pipefail
+
+# TODO grep "^$wordToComplete" is not safe to use if the word contains regex
+# special chars. But it might be no problem because of COMP_WORDBREAKS.
+
+# TODO Try to get file from -f --file arguments from COMP_WORDS and pass it to
+# the 'hledger accounts' call.
+
+# Working with bash arrays is nasty compared to editing a text file. Consider
+# for example grepping an array or map a substitution on it.
+# Therefore, we create temp files in RAM for completion suggestions (see below).
+
+declare -g HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR
+HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+
+hledgerCompletionFunction() {
+    declare cmd=$1
+    declare wordToComplete=$2
+    declare precedingWord=$3
+
+    declare subcommand
+    for subcommand in "${COMP_WORDS[@]}"; do
+	if grep -Fxqe "$subcommand" "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/commands.txt"; then
+	    #declare -a options
+	    #readarray -t options <(grep "^$wordToComplete" "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/options-$subcommand.txt")
+	    #COMPREPLY+=( "${options[@]}" )
+	    COMPREPLY+=( $(grep -h "^$wordToComplete" -- "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/options-$subcommand.txt") )
+	    break
+	fi
+	subcommand=
+    done
+
+    if [[ -z $subcommand ]]; then
+
+	declare completeFiles filenameSoFar
+	case $wordToComplete in
+	    --file=*|--rules-file=*)
+		completeFiles=1
+		filenameSoFar=${wordToComplete#*=}
+		;;
+	esac
+	case $precedingWord in
+	    -f|--file|--rules-file)
+		completeFiles=1
+		filenameSoFar=$wordToComplete
+		;;
+	esac
+
+	if [[ -n $completeFiles ]]; then
+	    :
+	    #COMP_WORDBREAKS='= '
+	    COMPREPLY+=( $(compgen -df | grep "^$filenameSoFar") )
+
+	else
+	    COMPREPLY+=( $(grep -h "^$wordToComplete" -- "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/commands.txt" "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/generic-options.txt") )
+	fi
+
+    else
+
+	# Almost all subcommands accpt [QUERY] -> always add accounts to completion list
+
+	COMP_WORDBREAKS=' '
+	COMPREPLY+=( $(hledger accounts --flat | grep "^$wordToComplete") )
+
+    fi
+
+}
+
+complete -F hledgerCompletionFunction hledger
+
+# Include lists of commands and options generated by the Makefile using m4
+# macro processor.
+# Included files must have exactly one newline at EOF to prevent weired errors.
+
+cat <<TEXT > "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/commands.txt"
+include(`commands.txt')dnl
+TEXT
+
+cat <<TEXT > "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/generic-options.txt"
+include(`generic-options.txt')dnl
+TEXT
+
+include(`foreach2.m4')
+
+foreach(`cmd', (include(`commands-list.txt')), `
+cat <<TEXT > "$HLEDGER_COMPLETION_TEMPDIR/options-cmd.txt"
+include(options-cmd.txt)dnl
+TEXT
+')
diff --git a/shell-completion/hledger-completion.sh b/shell-completion/hledger-completion.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67a3f6496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/hledger-completion.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Completion script for hledger.
+# Created using a Makefile and real hledger.
+
+#set -eo pipefail
+
+completeFunction() {
+    declare cmd=$1
+    declare wordToComplete=$2
+    declare precedingWord=$3
+
+    declare subcommand
+    for subcommand in "${COMP_WORDS[@]}"; do
+	if grep -Fxq "$subcommand" commands.txt; then
+	    #declare -a options
+	    #readarray -t options <(grep "^$wordToComplete" "$subcommand-options.txt")
+	    #COMPREPLY+=( "${options[@]}" )
+	    COMPREPLY+=( $(cat "$subcommand-options.txt" | grep "^$wordToComplete") )
+	    break
+	fi
+	subcommand=
+    done
+
+    if [[ -z $subcommand ]]; then
+
+	# echo;echo no subcommand
+
+	case $precedingWord in
+	    -f|--file|--rules-file)
+		# COMPREPLY+=( $(compgen -df | grep "^$wordToComplete") )
+		:
+		;;
+	    *)
+		# echo "completing sub commands and general options"
+		COMPREPLY+=( $(cat commands.txt generic-options.txt | grep "^$wordToComplete") )
+		;;
+	esac
+
+    else
+	:
+	# echo;echo subcommand is $subcommand
+
+	# if grep -Eqv '\b(register|reg|r)\b' <<< "$COMP_LINE"; then
+	#     return
+	# fi
+	# case $precedingWord in
+	    # register|reg|r) : ;;
+	    # *) return 1 ;;
+	# esac
+
+	declare journalFile
+	# TODO try to get file from -f --file first
+	if [[ -n $HLEDGER_FILE ]]; then
+	    journalFile=$HLEDGER_FILE
+	else
+	    journalFile=~/.hledger.journal
+	fi
+	COMP_WORDBREAKS=' '
+	COMPREPLY+=( $(sed -rn 's/^ +([-_:a-zA-Z0-9]+).*/\1/p' "$journalFile" | grep "^$wordToComplete") )
+
+    fi
+
+}
+
+complete -F completeFunction hledger
diff --git a/shell-completion/output-commands.sh b/shell-completion/output-commands.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2bbc37996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/output-commands.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Output subcommands from man/usage text
+
+set -o errexit -o pipefail -o nounset
+
+printCommands() {
+    declare tmp=$1
+    sed -rn 's/^ ([-a-z]+).*/\1/gp' "$tmp"
+    sed -rn 's/^ .*\(([a-z]+)\).*/\1/gp' "$tmp"
+    # TODO missing: (reg, r)  (multiple aliases)
+}
+
+main() {
+    declare tmp
+    tmp=$(mktemp)
+    cat > "$tmp"
+
+    printCommands "$tmp" | grep -v ^hledger
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/shell-completion/output-options.sh b/shell-completion/output-options.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fef6ec12d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/output-options.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Output short and long options from man/usage text
+
+set -o errexit -o pipefail -o nounset
+
+main() {
+    declare tmp
+    tmp=$(mktemp)
+    cat > "$tmp"
+    sed -rn 's/.* (-[a-zA-Z0-9]).*/\1/gp' < "$tmp"
+
+    # Do not print '=' after long options with arg because it makes completion
+    # for option arguments harder.
+    sed -rn 's/.* (--[-a-zA-Z0-9]+)=?.*/\1/gp' < "$tmp"
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/shell-completion/quote.m4 b/shell-completion/quote.m4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fae52c3ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell-completion/quote.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+divert(`-1')
+# quote(args) - convert args to single-quoted string
+define(`quote', `ifelse(`$#', `0', `', ``$*'')')
+# dquote(args) - convert args to quoted list of quoted strings
+define(`dquote', ``$@'')
+# dquote_elt(args) - convert args to list of double-quoted strings
+define(`dquote_elt', `ifelse(`$#', `0', `', `$#', `1', ```$1''',
+                             ```$1'',$0(shift($@))')')
+divert`'dnl