diff --git a/dist/tools/programmer/programmer.py b/dist/tools/programmer/programmer.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..eddcac61d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/tools/programmer/programmer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Copyright (C) 2021 Inria
+#
+# This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+# General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+# directory for more details.
+
+import sys
+import time
+import shlex
+import subprocess
+import argparse
+
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+
+
+SUCCESS = "\033[32;1m✓\033[0m"
+FAILED = "\033[31;1m×\033[0m"
+SPIN = ["⠋", "⠙", "⠹", "⠸", "⠼", "⠴", "⠦", "⠧", "⠇", "⠏"]
+
+
+class Programmer:
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def spawn_process(self):
+        """Yield a subprocess running in background."""
+        kwargs = {} if self.verbose else {
+            "stdout": subprocess.PIPE,
+            "stderr": subprocess.STDOUT
+        }
+        yield subprocess.Popen(shlex.split(self.cmd), **kwargs)
+
+    def spin(self, process):
+        """Print a spinning icon while programmer process is running."""
+        while process.poll() is None:
+            for index in range(len(SPIN)):
+                sys.stdout.write(
+                    "\r \033[36;1m{}\033[0m {} in progress "
+                    "(programmer: '{}')"
+                    .format(SPIN[index], self.action, self.programmer)
+                )
+                sys.stdout.flush()
+                time.sleep(0.1)
+
+    def print_status(self, process, elapsed):
+        """Print status of background programmer process."""
+        print(
+            "\r \u001b[2K{} {} {} (programmer: '{}' - duration: {:0.2f}s)"
+            .format(
+                FAILED if process.returncode != 0 else SUCCESS,
+                self.action,
+                "failed!" if process.returncode != 0 else "done!",
+                self.programmer,
+                elapsed
+            )
+        )
+        # Print content of stdout (which also contain stderr) when the
+        # subprocess failed
+        if process.returncode != 0:
+            print(process.stdout.read().decode())
+        else:
+            print(
+                "(for full programmer output add PROGRAMMER_QUIET=0 or "
+                "QUIET=0 to the make command line)"
+            )
+
+    def run(self):
+        """Run the programmer in a background process."""
+        if not self.cmd.strip():
+            # Do nothing if programmer command is empty
+            return 0
+
+        if self.verbose:
+            print(self.cmd)
+        start = time.time()
+        with self.spawn_process() as proc:
+            try:
+                if self.verbose:
+                    proc.communicate()
+                else:
+                    self.spin(proc)
+            except KeyboardInterrupt:
+                proc.terminate()
+                proc.kill()
+        elapsed = time.time() - start
+        if not self.verbose:
+            # When using the spinning icon, print the programmer status
+            self.print_status(proc, elapsed)
+
+        return proc.returncode
+
+
+def main(parser):
+    """Main function."""
+    programmer = Programmer()
+    parser.parse_args(namespace=programmer)
+    # Return with same return code as subprocess
+    sys.exit(programmer.run())
+
+
+def parser():
+    """Return an argument parser."""
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--action", help="Programmer action")
+    parser.add_argument("--cmd", help="Programmer command")
+    parser.add_argument("--programmer", help="Programmer")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--verbose", action='store_true', default=False, help="Verbose output"
+    )
+    return parser
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(parser())