diff --git a/apiclient/sample_tools.py b/apiclient/sample_tools.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff17b2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apiclient/sample_tools.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2013 Google Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Utilities for making samples.
+
+Consolidates a lot of code commonly repeated in sample applications.
+"""
+
+__author__ = 'jcgregorio@google.com (Joe Gregorio)'
+__all__ = ['init']
+
+
+import argparse
+import httplib2
+import os
+
+from apiclient import discovery
+from oauth2client import client
+from oauth2client import file
+from oauth2client import tools
+
+
+def init(argv, name, version, doc, filename, scope=None, parents=[]):
+  """A common initialization routine for samples.
+
+  Many of the sample applications do the same initialization, which has now
+  been consolidated into this function. This function uses common idioms found
+  in almost all the samples, i.e. for an API with name 'apiname', the
+  credentials are stored in a file named apiname.dat, and the
+  client_secrets.json file is stored in the same directory as the application
+  main file.
+
+  Args:
+    argv: list of string, the command-line parameters of the application.
+    name: string, name of the API.
+    version: string, version of the API.
+    doc: string, description of the application. Usually set to __doc__.
+    file: string, filename of the application. Usually set to __file__.
+    parents: list of argparse.ArgumentParser, additional command-line flags.
+    scope: string, The OAuth scope used.
+
+  Returns:
+    A tuple of (service, flags), where service is the service object and flags
+    is the parsed command-line flags.
+  """
+  if scope is None:
+    scope = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/' + name
+
+  # Parser command-line arguments.
+  parent_parsers = [tools.argparser]
+  parent_parsers.extend(parents)
+  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+      description=doc,
+      formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
+      parents=parent_parsers)
+  flags = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
+
+  # Name of a file containing the OAuth 2.0 information for this
+  # application, including client_id and client_secret, which are found
+  # on the API Access tab on the Google APIs
+  # Console <http://code.google.com/apis/console>.
+  client_secrets = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(filename),
+                                'client_secrets.json')
+
+  # Set up a Flow object to be used if we need to authenticate.
+  flow = client.flow_from_clientsecrets(client_secrets,
+      scope=scope,
+      message=tools.message_if_missing(client_secrets))
+
+  # Prepare credentials, and authorize HTTP object with them.
+  # If the credentials don't exist or are invalid run through the native client
+  # flow. The Storage object will ensure that if successful the good
+  # credentials will get written back to a file.
+  storage = file.Storage(name + '.dat')
+  credentials = storage.get()
+  if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
+    credentials = tools.run(flow, storage, flags)
+  http = credentials.authorize(http = httplib2.Http())
+
+  # Construct a service object via the discovery service.
+  service = discovery.build(name, version, http=http)
+  return (service, flags)
diff --git a/oauth2client/tools.py b/oauth2client/tools.py
index 839f296..e283a8a 100644
--- a/oauth2client/tools.py
+++ b/oauth2client/tools.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2010 Google Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2013 Google Inc.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -20,19 +20,20 @@
 """
 
 __author__ = 'jcgregorio@google.com (Joe Gregorio)'
-__all__ = ['run']
+__all__ = ['argparser', 'run', 'message_if_missing']
 
 
 import BaseHTTPServer
 import argparse
+import httplib2
 import logging
 import os
 import socket
 import sys
 import webbrowser
 
-from oauth2client.client import FlowExchangeError
-from oauth2client.client import OOB_CALLBACK_URN
+from oauth2client import client
+from oauth2client import file
 from oauth2client import util
 
 try:
@@ -180,7 +181,7 @@
   if not flags.noauth_local_webserver:
     oauth_callback = 'http://%s:%s/' % (flags.auth_host_name, port_number)
   else:
-    oauth_callback = OOB_CALLBACK_URN
+    oauth_callback = client.OOB_CALLBACK_URN
   flow.redirect_uri = oauth_callback
   authorize_url = flow.step1_get_authorize_url()
 
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@
 
   try:
     credential = flow.step2_exchange(code, http=http)
-  except FlowExchangeError, e:
+  except client.FlowExchangeError, e:
     sys.exit('Authentication has failed: %s' % e)
 
   storage.put(credential)
diff --git a/samples/plus/plus.py b/samples/plus/plus.py
index b88395b..d8375ca 100755
--- a/samples/plus/plus.py
+++ b/samples/plus/plus.py
@@ -21,53 +21,17 @@
 
 __author__ = 'jcgregorio@google.com (Joe Gregorio)'
 
-import argparse
-import logging
-import os
 import sys
 
-import httplib2
-
-from apiclient import discovery
-from oauth2client import file
 from oauth2client import client
-from oauth2client import tools
-
-
-# CLIENT_SECRETS, name of a file containing the OAuth 2.0 information for this
-# application, including client_id and client_secret, which are found
-# on the API Access tab on the Google APIs
-# Console <http://code.google.com/apis/console>.
-CLIENT_SECRETS = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'client_secrets.json')
-
-# Set up a Flow object to be used if we need to authenticate.
-FLOW = client.flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRETS,
-    scope='https://www.googleapis.com/auth/plus.me',
-    message=tools.message_if_missing(CLIENT_SECRETS))
+from apiclient import sample_tools
 
 
 def main(argv):
-  # Parse command-line options.
-  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
-      description=__doc__,
-      formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
-      parents=[tools.argparser])
-  flags = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
-
-  # If the Credentials don't exist or are invalid run through the native client
-  # flow. The Storage object will ensure that if successful the good
-  # Credentials will get written back to a file.
-  storage = file.Storage('plus.dat')
-  credentials = storage.get()
-
-  if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
-    credentials = tools.run(FLOW, storage, flags)
-
-  # Create an httplib2.Http object to handle our HTTP requests and authorize it
-  # with our good Credentials.
-  http = credentials.authorize(httplib2.Http())
-
-  service = discovery.build('plus', 'v1', http=http)
+  # Authenticate and construct service.
+  service, flags = sample_tools.init(
+      argv, 'plus', 'v1', __doc__, __file__,
+      scope='https://www.googleapis.com/auth/plus.me')
 
   try:
     person = service.people().get(userId='me').execute()