--- /dev/null
+#ifndef QEMU_HELP_OPTION_H
+#define QEMU_HELP_OPTION_H 1
+
+/**
+ * is_help_option:
+ * @s: string to test
+ *
+ * Check whether @s is one of the standard strings which indicate
+ * that the user is asking for a list of the valid values for a
+ * command option like -cpu or -M. The current accepted strings
+ * are 'help' and '?'. '?' is deprecated (it is a shell wildcard
+ * which makes it annoying to use in a reliable way) but provided
+ * for backwards compatibility.
+ *
+ * Returns: true if @s is a request for a list.
+ */
+static inline bool is_help_option(const char *s)
+{
+ return !strcmp(s, "?") || !strcmp(s, "help");
+}
+
+#endif