diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 06546b0..f361eb6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "foreignthon"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.3.0"
 description = "Write Python in any language. Transpiles foreign-language .xx.py files to standard Python."
 license = { text = "GPL v3" }
 requires-python = ">=3.9"
diff --git a/src/foreignthon/cli.py b/src/foreignthon/cli.py
index 6938e88..505d1a3 100644
--- a/src/foreignthon/cli.py
+++ b/src/foreignthon/cli.py
@@ -9,15 +9,17 @@ from . import __version__
 from .errors import activate
 from .transpiler import run_transpiled, transpile_file
 
+CONTEXT_SETTINGS = dict(help_option_names=["-h", "--help"])
 
-@click.group()
+
+@click.group(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
 @click.version_option(__version__, prog_name="fpy")
 def main():
     """ForeignThon — write Python in any language."""
     pass
 
 
-@main.command()
+@main.command(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
 @click.argument("file", type=click.Path(exists=True, path_type=Path))
 @click.option("--lang", "-l", default=None, help="Override language code (e.g. es, ta)")
 @click.option("--keep", is_flag=True, help="Keep the compiled .py alongside the source")
@@ -29,8 +31,6 @@ def run(file: Path, lang: str | None, keep: bool):
             source = f"# foreignthon: {lang}\n" + source
             file.write_text(source, encoding="utf-8")
 
-    # Activate error hook BEFORE transpiling so even transpile
-    # errors get shown in the foreign language
     detected_lang = lang or _lang_from_file(file)
     activate(detected_lang)
 
@@ -44,22 +44,41 @@ def run(file: Path, lang: str | None, keep: bool):
     run_transpiled(file, transpiled)
 
 
-@main.command()
+@main.command(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
 @click.argument("file", type=click.Path(exists=True, path_type=Path))
-@click.option("--output", "-o", default=None, help="Output path (default: beside source)")
+@click.option(
+    "--output", "-o", default=None,
+    help="Output file or directory. Defaults to same directory as source."
+)
 def compile(file: Path, output: str | None):
-    """Transpile a file to standard Python without running it."""
+    """
+    Transpile a foreign-language file to standard Python.
+
+    Output can be a file path or a directory:
+
+    \b
+    fpy compile script.es.py              # → script.compiled.py
+    fpy compile script.es.py -o out/      # → out/script.compiled.py
+    fpy compile script.es.py -o out.py    # → out.py
+    """
     transpiled = transpile_file(file)
 
-    out_path = (
-        Path(output) if output
-        else file.with_suffix("").with_suffix(".compiled.py")
-    )
+    if output is None:
+        out_path = file.with_suffix("").with_suffix(".compiled.py")
+    else:
+        out = Path(output)
+        if out.is_dir() or str(output).endswith("/"):
+            out.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            out_path = out / file.with_suffix("").with_suffix(".compiled.py").name
+        else:
+            out_path = out
+
+    out_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     out_path.write_text(transpiled, encoding="utf-8")
     click.echo(f"Compiled: {out_path}")
 
 
-@main.command()
+@main.command(context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
 @click.argument("file", type=click.Path(exists=True, path_type=Path))
 def check(file: Path):
     """Validate a foreign-language file without running it."""
@@ -77,7 +96,7 @@ def check(file: Path):
         sys.exit(1)
 
 
-@main.command("pack")
+@main.command("pack", context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
 @click.argument("json_file", type=click.Path(exists=True, path_type=Path))
 def validate_pack(json_file: Path):
     """Validate a language pack JSON file."""