diff --git a/cmds/dutagent/config_test.go b/cmds/dutagent/config_test.go
index d428d52..dee007a 100644
--- a/cmds/dutagent/config_test.go
+++ b/cmds/dutagent/config_test.go
@@ -58,3 +58,20 @@ func TestInvalidConfigEmptyDevices(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("errors.Is: want %v, got %v", dut.ErrEmptyDevices, err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestInvalidConfigReservedCommandName(t *testing.T) {
+	data := loadTestdata(t, "invalid_config_reserved_command.yaml")
+
+	var cfg config
+
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &cfg)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error, got nil")
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("error message: %s", err)
+
+	if !errors.Is(err, dut.ErrReservedName) {
+		t.Errorf("errors.Is: want %v, got %v", dut.ErrReservedName, err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_command.yaml b/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_command.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf517a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_command.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+version: 0
+devices:
+  device1:
+    desc: "Device 1"
+    cmds:
+      help:
+        desc: "Reserved command name"
+        uses:
+          - module: dummy-status
diff --git a/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_device.yaml b/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_device.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81e4fd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmds/dutagent/testdata/invalid_config_reserved_device.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+version: 0
+devices:
+  help:
+    desc: "Reserved device name"
+    cmds:
+      status:
+        desc: "Report status"
+        uses:
+          - module: dummy-status
diff --git a/cmds/dutctl/dutctl.go b/cmds/dutctl/dutctl.go
index 3d397d3..2763308 100644
--- a/cmds/dutctl/dutctl.go
+++ b/cmds/dutctl/dutctl.go
@@ -168,22 +168,26 @@ func (app *application) start() {
 	}
 
 	if len(app.args) == 1 {
-		device := app.args[0]
-		err := app.commandsRPC(device)
-		app.exit(err)
+		name := app.args[0]
+
+		if handler, ok := deviceKeywordHandlers[name]; ok {
+			app.exit(handler(app, name))
+		}
+
+		app.exit(app.commandsRPC(name))
 	}
 
 	device := app.args[0]
 	command := app.args[1]
 	cmdArgs := app.args[2:]
 
-	if len(cmdArgs) > 0 && cmdArgs[0] == "help" {
-		err := app.detailsRPC(device, command, "help")
-		app.exit(err)
+	if len(cmdArgs) > 0 {
+		if handler, ok := commandKeywordHandlers[cmdArgs[0]]; ok {
+			app.exit(handler(app, device, command))
+		}
 	}
 
-	err := app.runRPC(device, command, cmdArgs)
-	app.exit(err)
+	app.exit(app.runRPC(device, command, cmdArgs))
 }
 
 // exit terminates the application. If the provided error is not nil, it is printed to
diff --git a/cmds/dutctl/keywords.go b/cmds/dutctl/keywords.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e59330c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmds/dutctl/keywords.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Blindspot Software
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/BlindspotSoftware/dutctl/pkg/dut"
+)
+
+// commandKeywordHandler dispatches a reserved keyword that appears after
+// a <device> <command> pair (e.g. "<device> <cmd> help").
+type commandKeywordHandler func(app *application, device, command string) error
+
+// deviceKeywordHandler dispatches a reserved keyword that appears in
+// the device position (e.g. "help" in "dutctl help").
+type deviceKeywordHandler func(app *application, name string) error
+
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // dispatch table keyed by dut.CommandKeywords.
+var commandKeywordHandlers = map[string]commandKeywordHandler{
+	"help": func(app *application, device, command string) error {
+		return app.detailsRPC(device, command, "help")
+	},
+}
+
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // dispatch table keyed by dut.DeviceKeywords.
+var deviceKeywordHandlers = map[string]deviceKeywordHandler{
+	"help": func(app *application, _ string) error {
+		fmt.Fprint(app.stderr, usageAbstract, usageSynopsis, usageDescription)
+		app.printFlagDefaults()
+
+		return nil
+	},
+}
+
+// init enforces that every name in the dut keyword registry has a
+// matching handler. Missing one is a programmer error caught at
+// startup rather than at request time.
+func init() {
+	for _, kw := range dut.CommandKeywords {
+		if _, ok := commandKeywordHandlers[kw.Name]; !ok {
+			panic("dutctl: missing handler for command keyword " + kw.Name)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, kw := range dut.DeviceKeywords {
+		if _, ok := deviceKeywordHandlers[kw.Name]; !ok {
+			panic("dutctl: missing handler for device keyword " + kw.Name)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/dut/config.go b/pkg/dut/config.go
index 3858e12..c9b6031 100644
--- a/pkg/dut/config.go
+++ b/pkg/dut/config.go
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ func (d *Devlist) UnmarshalYAML(node *yaml.Node) error {
 	for idx := 0; idx < len(node.Content); idx += 2 {
 		devName := node.Content[idx].Value
 
+		if IsReservedDeviceName(devName) {
+			return &ConfigError{Device: devName, Err: ErrReservedName}
+		}
+
 		var dev Device
 
 		// Decode triggers Device.UnmarshalYAML on the value node.
@@ -184,13 +188,17 @@ func decodeCmds(node *yaml.Node) (map[string]Command, error) {
 	cmds := make(map[string]Command, len(node.Content)/2) //nolint:mnd // MappingNode stores key/value as alternating pairs
 
 	// Iterate command entries to capture the command name for errors.
-	for i := 0; i < len(node.Content); i += 2 {
-		cmdName := node.Content[i].Value
+	for idx := 0; idx < len(node.Content); idx += 2 {
+		cmdName := node.Content[idx].Value
+
+		if IsReservedCommandName(cmdName) {
+			return nil, &ConfigError{Command: cmdName, Err: ErrReservedName}
+		}
 
 		var cmd Command
 
 		// Decode triggers Command.UnmarshalYAML.
-		err := node.Content[i+1].Decode(&cmd)
+		err := node.Content[idx+1].Decode(&cmd)
 		if err != nil {
 			var configErr *ConfigError
 			if errors.As(err, &configErr) {
diff --git a/pkg/dut/reserved.go b/pkg/dut/reserved.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cee9d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/dut/reserved.go
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Blindspot Software
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package dut
+
+import "errors"
+
+// CommandKeyword is a name reserved for client-side dispatch when it
+// appears as the first argument after a command (e.g. "<device> <cmd>
+// help"). A module command must not be configured with such a name; the
+// dutagent will refuse the config at startup.
+type CommandKeyword struct {
+	Name        string
+	Description string
+}
+
+// DeviceKeyword is a name reserved for client-side dispatch when it
+// appears as the only argument after a device (e.g. "<device>
+// description"). A device must not be configured with such a name.
+type DeviceKeyword struct {
+	Name        string
+	Description string
+}
+
+// CommandKeywords lists every name reserved at the command-keyword
+// position. This list is the single source of truth used by both
+// dutctl dispatch and dutagent config validation.
+//
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // single source of truth for reserved names.
+var CommandKeywords = []CommandKeyword{
+	{Name: "help", Description: "Show usage for the command."},
+}
+
+// DeviceKeywords lists every name reserved at the device-keyword
+// position.
+//
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // single source of truth for reserved names.
+var DeviceKeywords = []DeviceKeyword{
+	{Name: "help", Description: "Show dutctl usage information."},
+}
+
+// ErrReservedName is returned when a device or command in a dutagent
+// configuration is named with a reserved keyword.
+var ErrReservedName = errors.New("name is reserved")
+
+// IsReservedCommandName reports whether name collides with a command
+// keyword.
+func IsReservedCommandName(name string) bool {
+	for _, kw := range CommandKeywords {
+		if kw.Name == name {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// IsReservedDeviceName reports whether name collides with a device
+// keyword.
+func IsReservedDeviceName(name string) bool {
+	for _, kw := range DeviceKeywords {
+		if kw.Name == name {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/dut/reserved_test.go b/pkg/dut/reserved_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d0b7cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/dut/reserved_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Blindspot Software
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+package dut
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestIsReservedCommandName(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		in   string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"reserved help", "help", true},
+		{"plain command", "power", false},
+		{"empty", "", false},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := IsReservedCommandName(tt.in); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("IsReservedCommandName(%q): want %v, got %v", tt.in, tt.want, got)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsReservedDeviceName(t *testing.T) {
+	if IsReservedDeviceName("foo") {
+		t.Errorf("plain device name should not be reserved")
+	}
+
+	if !IsReservedDeviceName("help") {
+		t.Errorf("help should be reserved as a device keyword")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/module/module.go b/pkg/module/module.go
index 948252d..72e8c48 100644
--- a/pkg/module/module.go
+++ b/pkg/module/module.go
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ var (
 
 // Module is a building block of a command running on a device-under-test (DUT).
 // Implementations of this interface are the actual steps that are executed on a DUT.
+//
+// Reserved keywords: certain names are reserved for dutctl client-side dispatch
+// (see [github.com/BlindspotSoftware/dutctl/pkg/dut.CommandKeywords] and
+// [github.com/BlindspotSoftware/dutctl/pkg/dut.DeviceKeywords]). A module command
+// must not be configured with a name from those lists; the dutagent refuses such
+// configs at startup. Furthermore, modules MUST NOT expect a reserved keyword as
+// the first argument to Run: the dutctl client intercepts these and never invokes
+// Run with them.
 type Module interface {
 	// Help provides usage information.
 	// The returned string should contain a description of the module the supported