diff --git a/docs/reference/commandline/cli.md b/docs/reference/commandline/cli.md
index a8529e728f..4d1cd2a638 100644
--- a/docs/reference/commandline/cli.md
+++ b/docs/reference/commandline/cli.md
@@ -167,12 +167,20 @@ property is not set, the client falls back to the default table
 format. For a list of supported formatting directives, see
 [**Formatting** section in the `docker secret ls` documentation](secret_ls.md)
 
+
 The property `nodesFormat` specifies the default format for `docker node ls` output.
 When the `--format` flag is not provided with the `docker node ls` command,
 Docker's client uses the value of `nodesFormat`. If the value of `nodesFormat` is not set,
 the client uses the default table format. For a list of supported formatting
 directives, see the [**Formatting** section in the `docker node ls` documentation](node_ls.md)
 
+The property `configFormat` specifies the default format for `docker
+config ls` output. When the `--format` flag is not provided with the
+`docker config ls` command, Docker's client uses this property. If this
+property is not set, the client falls back to the default table
+format. For a list of supported formatting directives, see
+[**Formatting** section in the `docker config ls` documentation](config_ls.md)
+
 The property `credsStore` specifies an external binary to serve as the default
 credential store. When this property is set, `docker login` will attempt to
 store credentials in the binary specified by `docker-credential-<value>` which
@@ -218,6 +226,7 @@ Following is a sample `config.json` file:
   "statsFormat": "table {{.Container}}\t{{.CPUPerc}}\t{{.MemUsage}}",
   "servicesFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.Mode}}",
   "secretFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.CreatedAt}}\t{{.UpdatedAt}}",
+  "configFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.CreatedAt}}\t{{.UpdatedAt}}",
   "serviceInspectFormat": "pretty",
   "nodesFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Hostname}}\t{{.Availability}}",
   "detachKeys": "ctrl-e,e",
diff --git a/opts/config.go b/opts/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82fd2bce4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opts/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+package opts
+
+import (
+	"encoding/csv"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	swarmtypes "github.com/docker/docker/api/types/swarm"
+)
+
+// ConfigOpt is a Value type for parsing configs
+type ConfigOpt struct {
+	values []*swarmtypes.ConfigReference
+}
+
+// Set a new config value
+func (o *ConfigOpt) Set(value string) error {
+	csvReader := csv.NewReader(strings.NewReader(value))
+	fields, err := csvReader.Read()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	options := &swarmtypes.ConfigReference{
+		File: &swarmtypes.ConfigReferenceFileTarget{
+			UID:  "0",
+			GID:  "0",
+			Mode: 0444,
+		},
+	}
+
+	// support a simple syntax of --config foo
+	if len(fields) == 1 {
+		options.File.Name = fields[0]
+		options.ConfigName = fields[0]
+		o.values = append(o.values, options)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	for _, field := range fields {
+		parts := strings.SplitN(field, "=", 2)
+		key := strings.ToLower(parts[0])
+
+		if len(parts) != 2 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid field '%s' must be a key=value pair", field)
+		}
+
+		value := parts[1]
+		switch key {
+		case "source", "src":
+			options.ConfigName = value
+		case "target":
+			options.File.Name = value
+		case "uid":
+			options.File.UID = value
+		case "gid":
+			options.File.GID = value
+		case "mode":
+			m, err := strconv.ParseUint(value, 0, 32)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("invalid mode specified: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			options.File.Mode = os.FileMode(m)
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid field in config request: %s", key)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if options.ConfigName == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("source is required")
+	}
+
+	o.values = append(o.values, options)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Type returns the type of this option
+func (o *ConfigOpt) Type() string {
+	return "config"
+}
+
+// String returns a string repr of this option
+func (o *ConfigOpt) String() string {
+	configs := []string{}
+	for _, config := range o.values {
+		repr := fmt.Sprintf("%s -> %s", config.ConfigName, config.File.Name)
+		configs = append(configs, repr)
+	}
+	return strings.Join(configs, ", ")
+}
+
+// Value returns the config requests
+func (o *ConfigOpt) Value() []*swarmtypes.ConfigReference {
+	return o.values
+}