diff --git a/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.in b/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.in
index a8955a4a9b5..fee8aa856e2 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.in
+++ b/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.in
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 --requirement ../../../packages/models-library/requirements/_base.in
 
 click
+cookiecutter
 docker # pytest-plugin
+jinja2_time
 jsonschema # pytest-plugin
 pytest # pytest-plugin
 pyyaml
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.txt b/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.txt
index 44411a2736b..391819cffdd 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.txt
+++ b/packages/service-integration/requirements/_base.txt
@@ -1,20 +1,30 @@
 arrow==1.3.0
-    # via -r requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/_base.in
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/_base.in
+    #   cookiecutter
+    #   jinja2-time
 attrs==23.2.0
     # via
     #   jsonschema
     #   referencing
+binaryornot==0.4.4
+    # via cookiecutter
 certifi==2024.2.2
     # via
     #   -c requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
     #   -c requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
     #   requests
+chardet==5.2.0
+    # via binaryornot
 charset-normalizer==3.3.2
     # via requests
 click==8.1.7
     # via
     #   -r requirements/_base.in
+    #   cookiecutter
     #   typer
+cookiecutter==2.6.0
+    # via -r requirements/_base.in
 dnspython==2.6.1
     # via email-validator
 docker==7.1.0
@@ -29,6 +39,14 @@ idna==3.7
     #   requests
 iniconfig==2.0.0
     # via pytest
+jinja2==3.1.4
+    # via
+    #   -c requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
+    #   -c requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
+    #   cookiecutter
+    #   jinja2-time
+jinja2-time==0.2.0
+    # via -r requirements/_base.in
 jsonschema==4.22.0
     # via
     #   -r requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/_base.in
@@ -37,6 +55,8 @@ jsonschema-specifications==2023.12.1
     # via jsonschema
 markdown-it-py==3.0.0
     # via rich
+markupsafe==2.1.5
+    # via jinja2
 mdurl==0.1.2
     # via markdown-it-py
 orjson==3.10.3
@@ -59,19 +79,26 @@ pytest==8.2.0
     # via -r requirements/_base.in
 python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
     # via arrow
+python-slugify==8.0.4
+    # via cookiecutter
 pyyaml==6.0.1
     # via
     #   -c requirements/../../../packages/models-library/requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
     #   -c requirements/../../../requirements/constraints.txt
     #   -r requirements/_base.in
+    #   cookiecutter
 referencing==0.35.1
     # via
     #   jsonschema
     #   jsonschema-specifications
 requests==2.32.2
-    # via docker
+    # via
+    #   cookiecutter
+    #   docker
 rich==13.7.1
-    # via typer
+    # via
+    #   cookiecutter
+    #   typer
 rpds-py==0.18.0
     # via
     #   jsonschema
@@ -80,6 +107,8 @@ shellingham==1.5.4
     # via typer
 six==1.16.0
     # via python-dateutil
+text-unidecode==1.3
+    # via python-slugify
 tomli==2.0.1
     # via pytest
 typer==0.12.3
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/scripts/ooil.bash b/packages/service-integration/scripts/ooil.bash
index 7e5eb116d17..b4527683ef1 100755
--- a/packages/service-integration/scripts/ooil.bash
+++ b/packages/service-integration/scripts/ooil.bash
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 IFS=$'\n\t'
 
-IMAGE_NAME="${DOCKER_REGISTRY:-itisfoundation}/service-integration:${OOIL_IMAGE_TAG:-master-github-latest}"
+IMAGE_NAME="${DOCKER_REGISTRY:-local}/service-integration:${OOIL_IMAGE_TAG:-production}"
 WORKDIR="$(pwd)"
 
 #
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ WORKDIR="$(pwd)"
 run() {
   docker run \
     --rm \
+    --tty \
     --volume="/etc/group:/etc/group:ro" \
     --volume="/etc/passwd:/etc/passwd:ro" \
     --user="$(id --user "$USER")":"$(id --group "$USER")" \
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli.py
deleted file mode 100644
index a257be65c14..00000000000
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-# Allows entrypoint via python -m as well
-
-
-import rich
-import typer
-
-from ._meta import __version__
-from .commands import compose, config, metadata, run_creator, test
-from .settings import AppSettings
-
-app = typer.Typer()
-
-
-def _version_callback(value: bool):
-    if value:
-        rich.print(__version__)
-        raise typer.Exit
-
-
-@app.callback()
-def main(
-    ctx: typer.Context,
-    version: bool = typer.Option(
-        False,
-        "--version",
-        callback=_version_callback,
-        is_eager=True,
-    ),
-    registry_name: str = typer.Option(
-        None,
-        "--REGISTRY_NAME",
-        help="image registry name. Full url or prefix used as prefix in an image name",
-    ),
-    compose_version: str = typer.Option(
-        None,
-        "--COMPOSE_VERSION",
-        help="version used for docker compose specification",
-    ),
-):
-    """o2s2parc service integration library"""
-    assert isinstance(version, bool | None)  # nosec
-
-    overrides = {}
-    if registry_name:
-        overrides["REGISTRY_NAME"] = registry_name
-
-    if compose_version:
-        overrides["COMPOSE_VERSION"] = compose_version
-
-    # save states
-    ctx.settings = AppSettings.parse_obj(overrides)
-
-
-# new
-app.command("compose")(compose.main)
-app.command("config")(config.main)
-app.command("test")(test.main)
-# legacy
-app.command("bump-version")(metadata.bump_version)
-app.command("get-version")(metadata.get_version)
-app.command("run-creator")(run_creator.main)
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/__init__.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..26b9697633c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Allows entrypoint via python -m as well
+
+from typing import Annotated
+
+import rich
+import typer
+
+from .._meta import __version__
+from ..settings import AppSettings
+from . import _compose_spec, _metadata, _run_creator, _test
+from ._config import config_app
+
+app = typer.Typer()
+
+
+def _version_callback(value: bool):  # noqa: FBT002
+    if value:
+        rich.print(__version__)
+        raise typer.Exit
+
+
+@app.callback()
+def main(
+    ctx: typer.Context,
+    registry_name: Annotated[
+        str,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--REGISTRY_NAME",
+            help="image registry name. Full url or prefix used as prefix in an image name",
+        ),
+    ] = None,
+    compose_version: Annotated[
+        str,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--COMPOSE_VERSION",
+            help="version used for docker compose specification",
+        ),
+    ] = None,
+    version: Annotated[  # noqa: FBT002
+        bool,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--version",
+            callback=_version_callback,
+            is_eager=True,
+        ),
+    ] = False,
+):
+    """o2s2parc service Integration Library (OOIL in short)"""
+    assert isinstance(version, bool | None)  # nosec
+
+    overrides = {}
+    if registry_name:
+        overrides["REGISTRY_NAME"] = registry_name
+
+    if compose_version:
+        overrides["COMPOSE_VERSION"] = compose_version
+
+    # save states
+    ctx.settings = AppSettings.parse_obj(overrides)
+
+
+#
+# REGISTER commands and/or sub-apps
+#
+
+app.command("compose")(_compose_spec.create_compose)
+app.add_typer(config_app, name="config", help="Manage osparc config files")
+app.command("test")(_test.run_tests)
+# legacy
+app.command("bump-version")(_metadata.bump_version)
+app.command("get-version")(_metadata.get_version)
+app.command("run-creator")(_run_creator.run_creator)
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/compose.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_compose_spec.py
similarity index 81%
rename from packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/compose.py
rename to packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_compose_spec.py
index 3904828cad5..c2f2477c622 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/compose.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_compose_spec.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import subprocess
-from datetime import datetime
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Annotated
 
+import arrow
 import rich
 import typer
 import yaml
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 from rich.console import Console
 
 from ..compose_spec_model import ComposeSpecification
+from ..errors import UndefinedOciImageSpecError
 from ..oci_image_spec import LS_LABEL_PREFIX, OCI_LABEL_PREFIX
 from ..osparc_config import (
     OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME,
@@ -61,10 +63,10 @@ def create_docker_compose_image_spec(
 
     config_basedir = meta_config_path.parent
 
-    # required
+    # REQUIRED
     meta_cfg = MetadataConfig.from_yaml(meta_config_path)
 
-    # required
+    # REQUIRED
     if docker_compose_overwrite_path:
         docker_compose_overwrite_cfg = DockerComposeOverwriteConfig.from_yaml(
             docker_compose_overwrite_path
@@ -74,11 +76,10 @@ def create_docker_compose_image_spec(
             service_name=meta_cfg.service_name()
         )
 
-    # optional
+    # OPTIONAL
     runtime_cfg = None
     if service_config_path:
         try:
-            # TODO: should include default?
             runtime_cfg = RuntimeConfig.from_yaml(service_config_path)
         except FileNotFoundError:
             rich.print("No runtime config found (optional), using default.")
@@ -90,13 +91,11 @@ def create_docker_compose_image_spec(
             (config_basedir / f"{OCI_LABEL_PREFIX}.yml").read_text()
         )
         if not oci_spec:
-            msg = "Undefined OCI image spec"
-            raise ValueError(msg)
+            raise UndefinedOciImageSpecError
 
         oci_labels = to_labels(oci_spec, prefix_key=OCI_LABEL_PREFIX)
         extra_labels.update(oci_labels)
-    except (FileNotFoundError, ValueError):
-
+    except (FileNotFoundError, UndefinedOciImageSpecError):
         try:
             # if not OCI, try label-schema
             ls_spec = yaml.safe_load(
@@ -109,9 +108,11 @@ def create_docker_compose_image_spec(
                 "No explicit config for OCI/label-schema found (optional), skipping OCI annotations."
             )
     # add required labels
-    extra_labels[f"{LS_LABEL_PREFIX}.build-date"] = datetime.utcnow().strftime(
-        "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"
-    )
+
+    # SEE https://github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/blob/main/annotations.md#pre-defined-annotation-keys
+    # Format the datetime object as a string following RFC-3339
+    rfc3339_format = arrow.now().format("YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ")
+    extra_labels[f"{LS_LABEL_PREFIX}.build-date"] = rfc3339_format
     extra_labels[f"{LS_LABEL_PREFIX}.schema-version"] = "1.0"
 
     extra_labels[f"{LS_LABEL_PREFIX}.vcs-ref"] = _run_git_or_empty_string(
@@ -130,25 +131,28 @@ def create_docker_compose_image_spec(
     )
 
 
-def main(
+def create_compose(
     ctx: typer.Context,
-    config_path: Path = typer.Option(
-        OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME,
-        "-m",
-        "--metadata",
-        help="osparc config file or folder. "
-        "If the latter, it will scan for configs using the glob pattern 'config_path/**/metadata.yml' ",
-    ),
-    to_spec_file: Path = typer.Option(
-        Path("docker-compose.yml"),
-        "-f",
-        "--to-spec-file",
-        help="Output docker-compose image spec",
-    ),
+    config_path: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            "-m",
+            "--metadata",
+            help="osparc config file or folder. "
+            "If the latter, it will scan for configs using the glob pattern 'config_path/**/metadata.yml' ",
+        ),
+    ] = Path(OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME),
+    to_spec_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            "-f",
+            "--to-spec-file",
+            help="Output docker-compose image spec",
+        ),
+    ] = Path("docker-compose.yml"),
 ):
-    """create docker image/runtime compose-specs from an osparc config"""
+    """Creates the docker image/runtime compose-spec file from an .osparc config"""
 
-    # TODO: all these MUST be replaced by osparc_config.ConfigFilesStructure
     if not config_path.exists():
         msg = "Invalid path to metadata file or folder"
         raise typer.BadParameter(msg)
@@ -168,10 +172,10 @@ def main(
         config_name = meta_config.parent.name
         configs_kwargs_map[config_name] = {}
 
-        # load meta [required]
+        # load meta REQUIRED
         configs_kwargs_map[config_name]["meta_config_path"] = meta_config
 
-        # others [optional]
+        # others OPTIONAL
         for file_name, arg_name in (
             ("docker-compose.overwrite.yml", "docker_compose_overwrite_path"),
             ("runtime.yml", "service_config_path"),
@@ -194,7 +198,6 @@ def main(
             settings, **configs_kwargs_map[config_name]
         ).dict(exclude_unset=True)
 
-        # FIXME: shaky! why first decides ??
         if n == 0:
             compose_spec_dict = nth_compose_spec
         else:
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/config.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_config.py
similarity index 55%
rename from packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/config.py
rename to packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_config.py
index e1e5b8ef5b1..9932140a48e 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/config.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_config.py
@@ -1,27 +1,41 @@
 import json
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Final
+from typing import Annotated, Final
 
 import rich
 import typer
 import yaml
-from pydantic import ValidationError
-from pydantic.main import BaseModel
+from pydantic import BaseModel
 
 from ..compose_spec_model import ComposeSpecification
+from ..errors import InvalidLabelsError
 from ..osparc_config import (
+    OSPARC_CONFIG_COMPOSE_SPEC_NAME,
     OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME,
+    OSPARC_CONFIG_METADATA_NAME,
+    OSPARC_CONFIG_RUNTIME_NAME,
     DockerComposeOverwriteConfig,
     MetadataConfig,
     RuntimeConfig,
 )
 
 
-def create_osparc_specs(
+def _get_labels_or_raise(build_labels) -> dict[str, str]:
+    if isinstance(build_labels, list):
+        return dict(item.strip().split("=") for item in build_labels)
+    if isinstance(build_labels, dict):
+        return build_labels
+    if labels__root__ := build_labels.__root__:
+        assert isinstance(labels__root__, dict)  # nosec
+        return labels__root__
+    raise InvalidLabelsError(build_labels=build_labels)
+
+
+def _create_config_from_compose_spec(
     compose_spec_path: Path,
-    docker_compose_overwrite_path: Path = Path("docker-compose.overwrite.yml"),
-    metadata_path: Path = Path("metadata.yml"),
-    service_specs_path: Path = Path("runtime-spec.yml"),
+    docker_compose_overwrite_path: Path,
+    metadata_path: Path,
+    service_specs_path: Path,
 ):
     rich.print(f"Creating osparc config files from {compose_spec_path}")
 
@@ -49,22 +63,12 @@ def _save(service_name: str, filename: Path, model: BaseModel):
 
         for service_name in compose_spec.services:
             try:
-                labels: dict[str, str] = {}
 
                 if build_labels := compose_spec.services[
                     service_name
                 ].build.labels:  # AttributeError if build is str
-                    if isinstance(build_labels, list):
-                        labels = dict(item.strip().split("=") for item in build_labels)
-                    elif isinstance(build_labels, dict):
-                        labels = build_labels
-                    elif labels__root__ := build_labels.__root__:
-                        assert isinstance(labels__root__, dict)  # nosec
-                        labels = labels__root__
-                    else:
-                        msg = f"Invalid build labels {build_labels}"
-                        raise ValueError(msg)
 
+                    labels: dict[str, str] = _get_labels_or_raise(build_labels)
                     meta_cfg = MetadataConfig.from_labels_annotations(labels)
                     _save(service_name, metadata_path, meta_cfg)
 
@@ -82,7 +86,11 @@ def _save(service_name: str, filename: Path, model: BaseModel):
                     runtime_cfg = RuntimeConfig.from_labels_annotations(labels)
                     _save(service_name, service_specs_path, runtime_cfg)
 
-            except (AttributeError, ValidationError, TypeError, ValueError) as err:
+            except (  # noqa: PERF203
+                AttributeError,
+                TypeError,
+                ValueError,
+            ) as err:
                 rich.print(
                     f"WARNING: failure producing specs for {service_name}: {err}"
                 )
@@ -90,30 +98,46 @@ def _save(service_name: str, filename: Path, model: BaseModel):
         rich.print("osparc config files created")
 
 
-def main(
-    from_spec_file: Path = typer.Option(
-        Path("docker-compose.yml"),
-        "-f",
-        "--from-spec-file",
-        help="docker-compose used to deduce osparc config",
-    ),
+config_app = typer.Typer()
+
+
+@config_app.command(name="create")
+def create_config(
+    from_spec_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            "-f",
+            "--from-spec-file",
+            help="docker-compose used to deduce osparc config",
+        ),
+    ] = Path("docker-compose.yml"),
 ):
-    """Creates osparc config from complete docker compose-spec"""
-    # TODO: sync defaults among CLI commands
+    """Creates osparc configuration folder from a complete docker compose-spec"""
     config_dir = from_spec_file.parent / OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME
-    project_cfg_path = config_dir / "docker-compose.overwrite.yml"
-    meta_cfg_path = config_dir / "metadata.yml"
-    runtime_cfg_path = config_dir / "runtime.yml"
+    project_cfg_path = config_dir / OSPARC_CONFIG_COMPOSE_SPEC_NAME
+    meta_cfg_path = config_dir / OSPARC_CONFIG_METADATA_NAME
+    runtime_cfg_path = config_dir / OSPARC_CONFIG_RUNTIME_NAME
 
     meta_cfg_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     runtime_cfg_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     rich.print(f"Creating {config_dir} from {from_spec_file} ...")
 
-    create_osparc_specs(
+    _create_config_from_compose_spec(
         from_spec_file, project_cfg_path, meta_cfg_path, runtime_cfg_path
     )
 
 
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    # pylint: disable=no-value-for-parameter
-    main()
+_COOKIECUTTER_GITHUB_URL = "gh:itisfoundation/cookiecutter-osparc-service"
+
+
+@config_app.command(name="init")
+def init_config(
+    template: Annotated[
+        str, typer.Option(help="Github repo or path to the template")
+    ] = _COOKIECUTTER_GITHUB_URL,
+    checkout: Annotated[str, typer.Option(help="Branch if different from main")] = None,
+):
+    """runs cookie-cutter"""
+    from cookiecutter.main import cookiecutter
+
+    cookiecutter(template, checkout=checkout)
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/metadata.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_metadata.py
similarity index 63%
rename from packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/metadata.py
rename to packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_metadata.py
index eb6e153b7f5..a06504b3b99 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/metadata.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_metadata.py
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from enum import Enum
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Annotated
 
 import rich
 import typer
-import yaml
-from models_library.services import ServiceDockerData
 
-from ..osparc_config import OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME
+from ..osparc_config import OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME, MetadataConfig
 from ..versioning import bump_version_string
 from ..yaml_utils import ordered_safe_dump, ordered_safe_load
 
@@ -24,21 +23,23 @@ class UpgradeTags(str, Enum):
 
 
 def bump_version(
-    target_version: TargetVersionChoices = typer.Argument(
-        TargetVersionChoices.SEMANTIC_VERSION
-    ),
-    upgrade: UpgradeTags = typer.Option(..., case_sensitive=False),
-    metadata_file: Path = typer.Option(
-        "metadata/metadata.yml",
-        help="The metadata yaml file",
-    ),
+    upgrade: Annotated[UpgradeTags, typer.Option(case_sensitive=False)],
+    metadata_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            help="The metadata yaml file",
+        ),
+    ] = Path("metadata/metadata.yml"),
+    target_version: Annotated[
+        TargetVersionChoices, typer.Argument()
+    ] = TargetVersionChoices.SEMANTIC_VERSION,
 ):
     """Bumps target version in metadata  (legacy)"""
     # load
     raw_data: OrderedDict = ordered_safe_load(metadata_file.read_text())
 
     # parse and validate
-    metadata = ServiceDockerData(**raw_data)
+    metadata = MetadataConfig(**raw_data)
 
     # get + bump + set
     attrname = target_version.replace("-", "_")
@@ -54,18 +55,20 @@ def bump_version(
 
 
 def get_version(
-    target_version: TargetVersionChoices = typer.Argument(
-        TargetVersionChoices.SEMANTIC_VERSION
-    ),
-    metadata_file: Path = typer.Option(
-        f"{OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME}/metadata.yml",
-        help="The metadata yaml file",
-    ),
+    target_version: Annotated[
+        TargetVersionChoices, typer.Argument()
+    ] = TargetVersionChoices.SEMANTIC_VERSION,
+    metadata_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            help="The metadata yaml file",
+        ),
+    ] = Path(f"{OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME}/metadata.yml"),
 ):
     """Prints to output requested version (legacy)"""
 
     # parse and validate
-    metadata = ServiceDockerData(**yaml.safe_load(metadata_file.read_text()))
+    metadata = MetadataConfig.from_yaml(metadata_file)
 
     attrname = target_version.replace("-", "_")
     current_version: str = getattr(metadata, attrname)
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/run_creator.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_run_creator.py
similarity index 79%
rename from packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/run_creator.py
rename to packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_run_creator.py
index 3b08948eeec..8cadef194a4 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/run_creator.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_run_creator.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import stat
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Annotated
 
 import typer
 import yaml
 
-from ..osparc_config import OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME
+from ..osparc_config import OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME, OSPARC_CONFIG_METADATA_NAME
 
 
 def get_input_config(metadata_file: Path) -> dict:
@@ -16,17 +17,21 @@ def get_input_config(metadata_file: Path) -> dict:
     return inputs
 
 
-def main(
-    metadata_file: Path = typer.Option(
-        f"{OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME}/metadata.yml",
-        "--metadata",
-        help="The metadata yaml of the node",
-    ),
-    run_script_file_path: Path = typer.Option(
-        ...,
-        "--runscript",
-        help="Path to the run script ",
-    ),
+def run_creator(
+    run_script_file_path: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--runscript",
+            help="Path to the run script ",
+        ),
+    ],
+    metadata_file: Annotated[
+        Path,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--metadata",
+            help="The metadata yaml of the node",
+        ),
+    ] = Path(f"{OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME}/{OSPARC_CONFIG_METADATA_NAME}"),
 ):
     """Creates a sh script that uses jq tool to retrieve variables
     to use in sh from a json file for use in an osparc service (legacy).
@@ -79,8 +84,3 @@ def main(
     run_script_file_path.write_text(shell_script)
     st = run_script_file_path.stat()
     run_script_file_path.chmod(st.st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    # pylint: disable=no-value-for-parameter
-    main()
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/test.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_test.py
similarity index 67%
rename from packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/test.py
rename to packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_test.py
index 3bf25551dc2..cb999b32307 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/test.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/cli/_test.py
@@ -1,15 +1,19 @@
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Annotated
 
 import rich
 import typer
 
 from ..service import pytest_runner
 
+test_app = typer.Typer()
 
-def main(
-    service_dir: Path = typer.Argument(
-        ..., help="Root directory of the service under test"
-    ),
+
+@test_app.command("run")
+def run_tests(
+    service_dir: Annotated[
+        Path, typer.Argument(help="Root directory of the service under test")
+    ],
 ):
     """Runs tests against service directory"""
 
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/__init__.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/commands/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb2d..00000000000
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/errors.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/errors.py
index e9a857edc1c..8d216b7d918 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/errors.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/errors.py
@@ -7,3 +7,11 @@ class ServiceIntegrationError(PydanticErrorMixin, RuntimeError):
 
 class ConfigNotFoundError(ServiceIntegrationError):
     msg_template = "could not find any osparc config under {basedir}"
+
+
+class UndefinedOciImageSpecError(ServiceIntegrationError):
+    ...
+
+
+class InvalidLabelsError(PydanticErrorMixin, ValueError):
+    template_msg = "Invalid build labels {build_labels}"
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/osparc_config.py b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/osparc_config.py
index 17c5f1d181f..b3eb998e7dd 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/osparc_config.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/src/service_integration/osparc_config.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 import logging
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, Literal
+from typing import Any, Final, Literal
 
 from models_library.callbacks_mapping import CallbacksMapping
 from models_library.service_settings_labels import (
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME = ".osparc"
+OSPARC_CONFIG_DIRNAME: Final[str] = ".osparc"
+OSPARC_CONFIG_COMPOSE_SPEC_NAME: Final[str] = "docker-compose.overwrite.yml"
+OSPARC_CONFIG_METADATA_NAME: Final[str] = "metadata.yml"
+OSPARC_CONFIG_RUNTIME_NAME: Final[str] = "runtime.yml"
 
 
 SERVICE_KEY_FORMATS = {
@@ -94,7 +97,7 @@ class MetadataConfig(ServiceDockerData):
 
     @validator("contact")
     @classmethod
-    def check_contact_in_authors(cls, v, values):
+    def _check_contact_in_authors(cls, v, values):
         """catalog service relies on contact and author to define access rights"""
         authors_emails = {author.email for author in values["authors"]}
         if v not in authors_emails:
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_config.py b/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_config.py
index 08967ba63e6..f6243efd59f 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_config.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_config.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ def test_create_new_osparc_config(
 
     result = run_program_with_args(
         "config",
+        "create",
         "--from-spec-file",
         str(tmp_compose_spec),
     )
diff --git a/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_metadata.py b/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_metadata.py
index 24073dcbc42..7204fc953c6 100644
--- a/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_metadata.py
+++ b/packages/service-integration/tests/test_command_metadata.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 import yaml
-from service_integration.commands.metadata import TargetVersionChoices
+from service_integration.cli._metadata import TargetVersionChoices
 
 
 @pytest.fixture