diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -16,6 +16,21 @@
 .. automodule:: scap.arg
   :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
 
+.. automodule:: scap.config
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+  :noindex:
+
+Built-in scap command classes
+=============================
+
+.. automodule:: scap.main
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+
+Plugins
+=======
+.. automodule:: scap.plugins
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+
 Command Execution
 =================
 
@@ -34,12 +49,24 @@
 .. automodule:: scap.deploy
    :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
 
+.. automodule:: scap.git
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+
+.. automodule:: scap.context
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+
+
 General Utilities
 =================
 
 .. automodule:: scap.utils
    :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
 
+.. automodule:: scap.ansi
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
+
+.. automodule:: scap.template
+  :exclude-members: __dict__,__weakref__
 
 Logging and Monitoring
 ======================
diff --git a/scap/ansi.py b/scap/ansi.py
--- a/scap/ansi.py
+++ b/scap/ansi.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     ~~~~~~~~~
     ANSI escape codes
 
-    .. seealso: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code
+    ..seealso:: `https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code`
 """
 
 FG_BLACK = 30
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     >>> esc(BG_WHITE, FG_RED, BLINK) == r'\x1b[5;31;47m'
     True
 
-    :param *args: ANSI attributes
+    :param args: ANSI attributes
     :returns: str
     """
     return '\x1b[%sm' % ';'.join(str(arg) for arg in sorted(args))
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
             == '\x1b[34;47mblue on white\x1b[0m'
     True
 
-    :param *args: ANSI color codes and strings of text
+    :param args: ANSI color codes and strings of text
     :returns: str
     """
     result = ""
diff --git a/scap/arg.py b/scap/arg.py
--- a/scap/arg.py
+++ b/scap/arg.py
@@ -257,6 +257,8 @@
          \nnot all commands are affected by every global argument."
     group = parser.add_argument_group(title, desc)
 
+    default_loglevel = os.getenv('SCAP_LOG_LEVEL', logging.INFO)
+
     group.add_argument(
         '-c', '--conf', dest='conf_file',
         type=argparse.FileType('r'),
@@ -273,7 +275,7 @@
         metavar='<name>:<value>')
     group.add_argument(
         '-v', '--verbose', action='store_const',
-        const=logging.DEBUG, default=logging.INFO,
+        const=logging.DEBUG, default=default_loglevel,
         dest='loglevel', help='Verbose output')
     group.add_argument(
         '-e', '--environment', default=None,
diff --git a/scap/context.py b/scap/context.py
--- a/scap/context.py
+++ b/scap/context.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """
     scap.context
-    ~~~~~~~~~~~
+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Management of deployment host/target directories and execution context.
 
 """
diff --git a/scap/plugins/__init__.py b/scap/plugins/__init__.py
--- a/scap/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/scap/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,57 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+    scap.plugins
+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
+    Scap plugin architecture
+
+    Scap has a very simple and straightforward plugin mechanism which works as
+    follows:
+
+    #. At runtime, the scap executable scans for any `*.py` files in a
+       couple of standard locations. Specifically, :func:`find_plugins` will
+       find plugins in the current project (`./scap/plugins/*.py`) and in the
+       user's home directory (`~/.scap/plugins/*.py`)
+    #. Any matching files are loaded by :func:`scap.plugins.load_plugins` and
+       the code evaluated in the context of the scap.plugins package namespace.
+    #. Finally, any classes within a plugin module which inherit from
+       :class:`scap.cli.Application` are registered as scap subcommands
+       (see :func:`scap.cli.subcommand`).
+
+    So, for example, if you have a file named `scap/plugins/hello.py` relative
+    to either the current working directory or your user's home directory, then
+    scap will evaluate hello.py as a module named :mod:`scap.plugins.hello`.
+    Now if you want it to actually work, then hopefully you have included a
+    class inside hello.py, defined similarly to the following
+
+    **Usage Example**::
+
+        import scap.cli
+
+        @cli.command('hello', subcommands=True,
+                     help='prints "hello world" and exits',)
+        class HelloCommand(cli.Application):
+            @cli.subcommand('world')
+            def world_subcommand(extra_args):
+                print('hello world')
+
+    .. seealso::
+       * The core command-line application infrastructure is in :mod:`scap.cli`
+       * Many of the build-in subcommands are defined in :mod:`scap.main`
+
+    .. function:: find_plugins(plugin_dirs)
+
+        Get a list of all plugins found in in plugin_dirs
+
+        :param list plugin_dirs: directories to search for plugins
+        :return: list of all plugin commands found in plugin_dirs
+    .. function:: load_plugins([plugin_dir])
+
+        load scap plugin modules.
+
+        :type plugin_dir: str or None
+        :param str plugin_dir: an additional location to search
+"""
+
 import importlib
 import logging
 import os
@@ -12,9 +66,7 @@
 
 def find_plugins(plugin_dirs):
     """
-    Returns a list of all plugin commands found in plugin_dir
-
-    Returns an empty list if no commands are defined.
+    returns a list of all plugin commands found in plugin_dirs
     """
     plugins = []
 
@@ -65,17 +117,22 @@
     for plugin in plugins:
         # module path relative to scap.plugins:
         plugin_module = ".%s" % plugin
-        mod = importlib.import_module(plugin_module, "scap.plugins")
-        # find classes in mod which extend scap.cli.Application
-        for objname in dir(mod):
-            obj = getattr(mod, objname)
-            if type(obj) is type and issubclass(obj, Application):
-                if objname in loaded_plugins:
-                    # duplicate: another plugin already used the same name
-                    msg = 'Duplicate plugin named %s, skipping.' % objname
-                    logging.getLogger().warning(msg)
-                    continue
-                # copy the class into the scap.plugins namespace
-                setattr(this_module, objname, obj)
-                loaded_plugins[objname] = obj
-                __all__.append(objname)
+        try:
+            mod = importlib.import_module(plugin_module, "scap.plugins")
+            # find classes in mod which extend scap.cli.Application
+            for objname in dir(mod):
+                obj = getattr(mod, objname)
+                if type(obj) is type and issubclass(obj, Application):
+                    if objname in loaded_plugins:
+                        # duplicate: another plugin already used the same name
+                        msg = 'Duplicate plugin named %s, skipping.'
+                        logging.getLogger().warning(msg, objname)
+                        continue
+                    # copy the class into the scap.plugins namespace
+                    setattr(this_module, objname, obj)
+                    loaded_plugins[objname] = obj
+                    __all__.append(objname)
+        except Exception:
+            msg = 'Problem loading plugins from module: scap.plugins.%s '
+            logger = logging.getLogger()
+            logger.warning(msg % plugin, exc_info=sys.exc_info())
diff --git a/scap/template.py b/scap/template.py
--- a/scap/template.py
+++ b/scap/template.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """
     scap.template
-    ~~~~~~~~~~
+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Module for working with file templates
 """