diff --git a/src/cmdmain.lua b/src/cmdmain.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b394e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmdmain.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+--- This file wraps handle_request(env) in main.lua for command-line or CGI usage.
+-- It emulates the env table usually constructed by uhttpd-mod-lua.
+local main = require('main')
+
+--- Create an environment table mimicking the table uhttpd-mod-lua passes into handle_request().
+-- The table is created using shell environment variables leaving out only 'DOCUMENT_ROOT',
+-- 'SCRIPT_PATH' and the regular shell variables (e.g. IFS, HOME and PS1).
+-- Fields present in the 'real' env table but not in this one are: 'HTTP_VERSION'
+-- and another table 'headers' which is mostly mirrored by the 'HTTP_*' fields.
+-- Note that the 'headers' table may contain extra fields (e.g. 'cache-control').
+-- @treturn table An environment table created from shell environment variables.
+local function createEnvTableFromShellEnvironment()
+	local environ = {}
+	
+	environ['CONTENT_LENGTH'] = os.getenv('CONTENT_LENGTH') or ''
+	environ['CONTENT_TYPE'] = os.getenv('CONTENT_TYPE') or ''
+	environ['GATEWAY_INTERFACE'] = os.getenv('GATEWAY_INTERFACE') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_ACCEPT'] = os.getenv('HTTP_ACCEPT') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET'] = os.getenv('HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'] = os.getenv('HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE'] = os.getenv('HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_AUTHORIZATION'] = os.getenv('HTTP_AUTHORIZATION') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_CONNECTION'] = os.getenv('HTTP_CONNECTION') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_COOKIE'] = os.getenv('HTTP_COOKIE') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_HOST'] = os.getenv('HTTP_HOST') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_REFERER'] = os.getenv('HTTP_REFERER') or ''
+	environ['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] = os.getenv('HTTP_USER_AGENT') or ''
+	environ['PATH_INFO'] = os.getenv('PATH_INFO') or ''
+	environ['QUERY_STRING'] = os.getenv('QUERY_STRING') or ''
+	environ['REDIRECT_STATUS'] = os.getenv('REDIRECT_STATUS') or ''
+	environ['REMOTE_ADDR'] = os.getenv('REMOTE_ADDR') or ''
+	environ['REMOTE_HOST'] = os.getenv('REMOTE_HOST') or ''
+	environ['REMOTE_PORT'] = os.getenv('REMOTE_PORT') or ''
+	environ['REQUEST_METHOD'] = os.getenv('REQUEST_METHOD') or ''
+	environ['REQUEST_URI'] = os.getenv('REQUEST_URI') or ''
+	environ['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = os.getenv('SCRIPT_FILENAME') or ''
+	environ['SCRIPT_NAME'] = os.getenv('SCRIPT_NAME') or ''
+	environ['SERVER_ADDR'] = os.getenv('SERVER_ADDR') or ''
+	environ['SERVER_NAME'] = os.getenv('SERVER_NAME') or ''
+	environ['SERVER_PORT'] = os.getenv('SERVER_PORT') or ''
+	environ['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] = os.getenv('SERVER_PROTOCOL') or ''
+	environ['SERVER_SOFTWARE'] = os.getenv('SERVER_SOFTWARE') or ''
+	
+	return environ
+end
+
+
+--- Entry point for cgi-bin wrapper script. ---
+local rv = handle_request(createEnvTableFromShellEnvironment())
+os.exit(rv)
diff --git a/src/main.lua b/src/main.lua
index 8c4abce..985ad34 100644
--- a/src/main.lua
+++ b/src/main.lua
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ local function setupAutoWifiMode()
 	return nil, "autowifi: uh oh - bad situation in autowifi function"
 end
 
-local function init()
+local function init(environment)
 	log:init(log.LEVEL.debug)
 	log:setStream(io.stderr)
 	
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ local function init()
 	
 	log:info("Wifibox CGI handler started" .. dbgText)
 	
-	if (os.getenv('REQUEST_METHOD') == 'POST') then
-		local n = tonumber(os.getenv('CONTENT_LENGTH'))
+	if (environment['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') then
+		local n = tonumber(environment['CONTENT_LENGTH'])
 		postData = io.read(n)
 	end
 	
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ local function init()
 	return true
 end
 
- local function main()
-	local rq = RequestClass.new(postData, confDefaults.DEBUG_API)
+ local function main(environment)
+	local rq = RequestClass.new(environment, postData, confDefaults.DEBUG_API)
 	
 --	log:info("received request of type " .. rq:getRequestMethod() .. " for " .. (rq:getRequestedApiModule() or "<unknown>")
 --			.. "/" .. (rq:getRealApiFunctionName() or "<unknown>") .. " with arguments: " .. util.dump(rq:getAll()))
@@ -134,19 +134,27 @@ end
 	end
 end
 
----'entry point'---
-local s, msg = init()
-if s == false then
-	local resp = ResponseClass.new()
-	local errSuffix = msg and " (" .. msg .. ")" or ""
+
+--- Main firmware entry point.
+-- This is either used by uhttp-mod-lua directly, or by the d3dapi cgi-bin wrapper
+-- script which builds the env table from the shell environment. The wrapper script
+-- also handles command-line invocation.
+-- @tparam table The CGI environment table.
+-- @treturn number A Z+ return value suitable to return from wrapper script. Note that this value is ignored by uhttpd-mod-lua.
+function handle_request(env)
+	local s, msg = init(env)
 	
-	resp:setError("initialization failed" .. errSuffix)
-	io.write ("Content-type: text/plain\r\n\r\n")
-	resp:send()
-	log:error("initialization failed" .. errSuffix) --NOTE: this assumes the logger has been inited properly, despite init() having failed
-	
-	os.exit(1)
-else
-	main()
-	os.exit(0)
+	if s == false then
+		local resp = ResponseClass.new()
+		local errSuffix = msg and " (" .. msg .. ")" or ""
+		
+		resp:setError("initialization failed" .. errSuffix)
+		resp:send()
+		log:error("initialization failed" .. errSuffix) --NOTE: this assumes the logger has been initialized properly, despite init() having failed
+		
+		return 1
+	else
+		main(env)
+		return 0
+	end
 end
diff --git a/src/rest/request.lua b/src/rest/request.lua
index 8f477b7..d569284 100644
--- a/src/rest/request.lua
+++ b/src/rest/request.lua
@@ -156,23 +156,23 @@ setmetatable(M, {
 
 --This function initializes itself using various environment variables, the arg array and the given postData
 --NOTE: if debugging is enabled, commandline arguments 'm' and 'f' override requested module and function
-function M.new(postData, debugEnabled)
+function M.new(environment, postData, debugEnabled)
 	local self = setmetatable({}, M)
 	
 	--NOTE: is it correct to assume that absence of REQUEST_METHOD indicates command line invocation?
-	self.requestMethod = os.getenv('REQUEST_METHOD')
-	if self.requestMethod ~= nil then
-		self.remoteHost = os.getenv('REMOTE_HOST')
-		self.remotePort = os.getenv('REMOTE_PORT')
-		self.userAgent = os.getenv('HTTP_USER_AGENT')
+	self.requestMethod = environment['REQUEST_METHOD']
+	if type(self.requestMethod) == 'string' and self.requestMethod:len() > 0 then
+		self.remoteHost = environment['REMOTE_HOST']
+		self.remotePort = environment['REMOTE_PORT']
+		self.userAgent = environment['HTTP_USER_AGENT']
 	else
 		self.requestMethod = 'CMDLINE'
 	end
 	
 	self.cmdLineArgs = kvTableFromArray(arg)
-	self.getArgs = kvTableFromUrlEncodedString(os.getenv('QUERY_STRING'))
+	self.getArgs = kvTableFromUrlEncodedString(environment['QUERY_STRING'])
 	self.postArgs = kvTableFromUrlEncodedString(postData)
-	self.pathArgs = arrayFromPath(os.getenv('PATH_INFO'))
+	self.pathArgs = arrayFromPath(environment['PATH_INFO'])
 	
 	-- override path arguments with command line parameter and allow to emulate GET/POST if debugging is enabled *and* if the autowifi special command wasn't mentioned
 	if debugEnabled and self.requestMethod == 'CMDLINE' and self:get('autowifi') == nil then
diff --git a/src/script/d3dapi b/src/script/d3dapi
index 870e627..d9b6856 100755
--- a/src/script/d3dapi
+++ b/src/script/d3dapi
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ SCRIPT_PATH=/usr/share/lua/wifibox
 LOG_FILE=/tmp/wifibox.log
 
 cd $SCRIPT_PATH
-$LUA ./main.lua $@ 2>> $LOG_FILE
+$LUA ./cmdmain.lua $@ 2>> $LOG_FILE
 
-exit
+exit $?
 
 # Code below is for debugging incoming CGI data
 read -n $CONTENT_LENGTH POSTDATA