diff --git a/common-tools/clas-reco/src/main/java/org/jlab/clas/reco/EngineProcessor.java b/common-tools/clas-reco/src/main/java/org/jlab/clas/reco/EngineProcessor.java
index 5f17e9b6d4..28142bc2a8 100644
--- a/common-tools/clas-reco/src/main/java/org/jlab/clas/reco/EngineProcessor.java
+++ b/common-tools/clas-reco/src/main/java/org/jlab/clas/reco/EngineProcessor.java
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ public void show(){
         }
     }
 
-    public static void main(String[] args){
+    protected static OptionParser getParser() {
         OptionParser parser = new OptionParser("recon-util");
         parser.addRequired("-o","output.hipo");
         parser.addRequired("-i","input.evio/hipo");
@@ -386,7 +386,12 @@ public static void main(String[] args){
         parser.addOption("-P",null,"preload file for post-processing");
         parser.addOption("-R","0","rebuild scalers");
         parser.addOption("-H","0","restream helicity");
+        return parser;
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args){
 
+        OptionParser parser = EngineProcessor.getParser();
         parser.parse(args);
         parser.syncLogLevel(LOGGER);