diff --git a/src/nvd/task.clj b/src/nvd/task.clj
index cdfc258..370ed94 100644
--- a/src/nvd/task.clj
+++ b/src/nvd/task.clj
@@ -23,9 +23,15 @@
 (ns nvd.task
   "Clojure CLI tool entry points: `check`."
   (:require
-   [nvd.task.check :refer [-main]]))
+   [nvd.task.check :as check]
+   [nvd.task.prepopulate-db :as prepopulate-db]))
 
 (defn check
   "Arguments: `:config-filename` (optional), `:classpath` (required)."
   [{:keys [config-filename classpath]}]
-  (-main (or config-filename "") classpath))
+  (check/-main (or config-filename "") classpath))
+
+(defn prepopulate-db
+  "Arguments: `:config-filename` (optional)."
+  [{:keys [config-filename]}]
+  (prepopulate-db/-main (or config-filename "")))
diff --git a/src/nvd/task/prepopulate_db.clj b/src/nvd/task/prepopulate_db.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01c8866
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/nvd/task/prepopulate_db.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+;; The MIT License (MIT)
+;;
+;; Copyright (c) 2026- bevuta IT GmbH
+;;
+;; Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+;; of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+;; in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+;; to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+;; copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+;; furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+;;
+;; The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+;; copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+;;
+;; THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+;; IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+;; FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+;; AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+;; LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+;; OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+;; SOFTWARE.
+
+(ns nvd.task.prepopulate-db
+  (:require
+   [clansi :refer [style]]
+   [clojure.string :as s]
+   [nvd.config :refer [default-edn-config-filename with-config]]
+   [trptcolin.versioneer.core :refer [get-version]])
+  (:import
+   (org.owasp.dependencycheck Engine)
+   (org.owasp.dependencycheck.exception ExceptionCollection)))
+
+(def version
+  (delay {:nvd-clojure (get-version "nvd-clojure" "nvd-clojure")
+          :dependency-check (.getImplementationVersion (.getPackage Engine))}))
+
+(defn do-updates [project]
+  (let [^Engine engine (:engine project)]
+    (try
+      (.doUpdates engine)
+      (catch ExceptionCollection e
+        (println "Encountered errors while analyzing:" (.getMessage e))
+        (doseq [exc (.getExceptions e)]
+          (println exc))
+        (let [exception-info (ex-info (str `ExceptionCollection)
+                                      {:exceptions (.getExceptions e)})]
+          (throw exception-info))))
+    project))
+
+(defn impl [config-filename]
+  (with-config [project config-filename]
+    (println "Prepopulating database for" (-> project
+                                              :title
+                                              (s/trim)
+                                              (str "...")
+                                              (style :bright :yellow)))
+    (println "  using nvd-clojure:" (:nvd-clojure @version) "and dependency-check:" (:dependency-check @version))
+    (-> project
+        do-updates)
+    ;; If we got here, it's all good. Otherwise, we'd be throwing an exception
+    (System/exit 0)))
+
+(defn -main [& [config-filename]]
+  ;; specifically handle blank strings (in addition to nil)
+  ;; so that CLI callers can skip the first argument by simply passing an empty string:
+  (let [config-filename (if (s/blank? config-filename)
+                          default-edn-config-filename
+                          config-filename)]
+    (impl config-filename)))
+