diff --git a/import-export-cli/go.mod b/import-export-cli/go.mod
index 3c3286ce6..62010f264 100644
--- a/import-export-cli/go.mod
+++ b/import-export-cli/go.mod
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0
 	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.1.2
 	github.com/renstrom/dedent v1.0.0
-	github.com/spf13/cast v1.3.0
-	github.com/spf13/cobra v0.0.5
-	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.4.0
-	github.com/wso2/k8s-api-operator/api-operator v0.0.0-20210511124939-b092d086bf6b // indirect
-	golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200220183623-bac4c82f6975
+	github.com/spf13/cast v1.3.1
+	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.0.0
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.5.1
+	github.com/wso2/k8s-api-operator/api-operator v0.0.0-20210511124939-b092d086bf6b
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200414173820-0848c9571904
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.8
 	k8s.io/api v0.18.2
 )
diff --git a/import-export-cli/go.sum b/import-export-cli/go.sum
index 3a6390662..34994ef26 100644
--- a/import-export-cli/go.sum
+++ b/import-export-cli/go.sum
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ github.com/coreos/prometheus-operator v0.38.0/go.mod h1:xZC7/TgeC0/mBaJk+1H9dbHa
 github.com/coreos/prometheus-operator v0.38.1-0.20200424145508-7e176fda06cc/go.mod h1:erio69w1R/aC14D5nfvAXSlE8FT8jt2Hnavc50Dp33A=
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man v1.0.10 h1:BSKMNlYxDvnunlTymqtgONjNnaRV1sTpcovwwjF22jk=
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man v1.0.10/go.mod h1:SmD6nW6nTyfqj6ABTjUi3V3JVMnlJmwcJI5acqYI6dE=
+github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.0 h1:EoUDS0afbrsXAZ9YQ9jdu/mZ2sXgT1/2yyNng4PGlyM=
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.0/go.mod h1:maD7wRr/U5Z6m/iR4s+kqSMx2CaBsrgA7czyZG/E6dU=
 github.com/creack/pty v1.1.7/go.mod h1:lj5s0c3V2DBrqTV7llrYr5NG6My20zk30Fl46Y7DoTY=
 github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin v0.2.2/go.mod h1:FpkQEhXnPnOthhzymB7CGsFk2G9VLXONKD9G7QGMM+4=
@@ -802,6 +803,7 @@ github.com/rubenv/sql-migrate v0.0.0-20191025130928-9355dd04f4b3/go.mod h1:WS0rl
 github.com/rubenv/sql-migrate v0.0.0-20200212082348-64f95ea68aa3/go.mod h1:rtQlpHw+eR6UrqaS3kX1VYeaCxzCVdimDS7g5Ln4pPc=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday v1.5.2 h1:HyvC0ARfnZBqnXwABFeSZHpKvJHJJfPz81GNueLj0oo=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday v1.5.2/go.mod h1:JO/DiYxRf+HjHt06OyowR9PTA263kcR/rfWxYHBV53g=
+github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.0.1 h1:lPqVAte+HuHNfhJ/0LC98ESWRz8afy9tM/0RK8m9o+Q=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.0.1/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
 github.com/ryanuber/columnize v0.0.0-20160712163229-9b3edd62028f/go.mod h1:sm1tb6uqfes/u+d4ooFouqFdy9/2g9QGwK3SQygK0Ts=
 github.com/ryanuber/columnize v2.1.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:sm1tb6uqfes/u+d4ooFouqFdy9/2g9QGwK3SQygK0Ts=
@@ -816,6 +818,7 @@ github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.0.0/go.mod h1:0CfEIISq7TuYL3j771MWULgwwjU+GofnZX9QAm
 github.com/shopspring/decimal v0.0.0-20180709203117-cd690d0c9e24/go.mod h1:M+9NzErvs504Cn4c5DxATwIqPbtswREoFCre64PpcG4=
 github.com/shurcooL/httpfs v0.0.0-20171119174359-809beceb2371/go.mod h1:ZY1cvUeJuFPAdZ/B6v7RHavJWZn2YPVFQ1OSXhCGOkg=
 github.com/shurcooL/httpfs v0.0.0-20190707220628-8d4bc4ba7749/go.mod h1:ZY1cvUeJuFPAdZ/B6v7RHavJWZn2YPVFQ1OSXhCGOkg=
+github.com/shurcooL/sanitized_anchor_name v1.0.0 h1:PdmoCO6wvbs+7yrJyMORt4/BmY5IYyJwS/kOiWx8mHo=
 github.com/shurcooL/sanitized_anchor_name v1.0.0/go.mod h1:1NzhyTcUVG4SuEtjjoZeVRXNmyL/1OwPU0+IJeTBvfc=
 github.com/shurcooL/vfsgen v0.0.0-20180825020608-02ddb050ef6b/go.mod h1:TrYk7fJVaAttu97ZZKrO9UbRa8izdowaMIZcxYMbVaw=
 github.com/shurcooL/vfsgen v0.0.0-20181202132449-6a9ea43bcacd/go.mod h1:TrYk7fJVaAttu97ZZKrO9UbRa8izdowaMIZcxYMbVaw=
diff --git a/import-export-cli/shell-completions/apictl_bash_completions.sh b/import-export-cli/shell-completions/apictl_bash_completions.sh
index e37c673f6..3e4a626fc 100644
--- a/import-export-cli/shell-completions/apictl_bash_completions.sh
+++ b/import-export-cli/shell-completions/apictl_bash_completions.sh
@@ -36,9 +36,71 @@ __apictl_contains_word()
     return 1
 }
 
+__apictl_handle_go_custom_completion()
+{
+    __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: cur is ${cur}, words[*] is ${words[*]}, #words[@] is ${#words[@]}"
+
+    local out requestComp lastParam lastChar comp directive args
+
+    # Prepare the command to request completions for the program.
+    # Calling ${words[0]} instead of directly apictl allows to handle aliases
+    args=("${words[@]:1}")
+    requestComp="${words[0]} __completeNoDesc ${args[*]}"
+
+    lastParam=${words[$((${#words[@]}-1))]}
+    lastChar=${lastParam:$((${#lastParam}-1)):1}
+    __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: lastParam ${lastParam}, lastChar ${lastChar}"
+
+    if [ -z "${cur}" ] && [ "${lastChar}" != "=" ]; then
+        # If the last parameter is complete (there is a space following it)
+        # We add an extra empty parameter so we can indicate this to the go method.
+        __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: Adding extra empty parameter"
+        requestComp="${requestComp} \"\""
+    fi
+
+    __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: calling ${requestComp}"
+    # Use eval to handle any environment variables and such
+    out=$(eval "${requestComp}" 2>/dev/null)
+
+    # Extract the directive integer at the very end of the output following a colon (:)
+    directive=${out##*:}
+    # Remove the directive
+    out=${out%:*}
+    if [ "${directive}" = "${out}" ]; then
+        # There is not directive specified
+        directive=0
+    fi
+    __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: the completion directive is: ${directive}"
+    __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: the completions are: ${out[*]}"
+
+    if [ $((directive & 1)) -ne 0 ]; then
+        # Error code.  No completion.
+        __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: received error from custom completion go code"
+        return
+    else
+        if [ $((directive & 2)) -ne 0 ]; then
+            if [[ $(type -t compopt) = "builtin" ]]; then
+                __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: activating no space"
+                compopt -o nospace
+            fi
+        fi
+        if [ $((directive & 4)) -ne 0 ]; then
+            if [[ $(type -t compopt) = "builtin" ]]; then
+                __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}: activating no file completion"
+                compopt +o default
+            fi
+        fi
+
+        while IFS='' read -r comp; do
+            COMPREPLY+=("$comp")
+        done < <(compgen -W "${out[*]}" -- "$cur")
+    fi
+}
+
 __apictl_handle_reply()
 {
     __apictl_debug "${FUNCNAME[0]}"
+    local comp
     case $cur in
         -*)
             if [[ $(type -t compopt) = "builtin" ]]; then
@@ -50,7 +112,9 @@ __apictl_handle_reply()
             else
                 allflags=("${flags[*]} ${two_word_flags[*]}")
             fi
-            COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "${allflags[*]}" -- "$cur") )
+            while IFS='' read -r comp; do
+                COMPREPLY+=("$comp")
+            done < <(compgen -W "${allflags[*]}" -- "$cur")
             if [[ $(type -t compopt) = "builtin" ]]; then
                 [[ "${COMPREPLY[0]}" == *= ]] || compopt +o nospace
             fi
@@ -96,14 +160,22 @@ __apictl_handle_reply()
     completions=("${commands[@]}")
     if [[ ${#must_have_one_noun[@]} -ne 0 ]]; then
         completions=("${must_have_one_noun[@]}")
+    elif [[ -n "${has_completion_function}" ]]; then
+        # if a go completion function is provided, defer to that function
+        completions=()
+        __apictl_handle_go_custom_completion
     fi
     if [[ ${#must_have_one_flag[@]} -ne 0 ]]; then
         completions+=("${must_have_one_flag[@]}")
     fi
-    COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "${completions[*]}" -- "$cur") )
+    while IFS='' read -r comp; do
+        COMPREPLY+=("$comp")
+    done < <(compgen -W "${completions[*]}" -- "$cur")
 
     if [[ ${#COMPREPLY[@]} -eq 0 && ${#noun_aliases[@]} -gt 0 && ${#must_have_one_noun[@]} -ne 0 ]]; then
-        COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "${noun_aliases[*]}" -- "$cur") )
+        while IFS='' read -r comp; do
+            COMPREPLY+=("$comp")
+        done < <(compgen -W "${noun_aliases[*]}" -- "$cur")
     fi
 
     if [[ ${#COMPREPLY[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
@@ -138,7 +210,7 @@ __apictl_handle_filename_extension_flag()
 __apictl_handle_subdirs_in_dir_flag()
 {
     local dir="$1"
-    pushd "${dir}" >/dev/null 2>&1 && _filedir -d && popd >/dev/null 2>&1
+    pushd "${dir}" >/dev/null 2>&1 && _filedir -d && popd >/dev/null 2>&1 || return
 }
 
 __apictl_handle_flag()
@@ -590,12 +662,6 @@ _apictl_delete_api()
     flags+=("--verbose")
 
     must_have_one_flag=()
-    must_have_one_flag+=("--environment=")
-    must_have_one_flag+=("-e")
-    must_have_one_flag+=("--name=")
-    must_have_one_flag+=("-n")
-    must_have_one_flag+=("--version=")
-    must_have_one_flag+=("-v")
     must_have_one_noun=()
     noun_aliases=()
 }
@@ -2019,6 +2085,7 @@ __start_apictl()
     local commands=("apictl")
     local must_have_one_flag=()
     local must_have_one_noun=()
+    local has_completion_function
     local last_command
     local nouns=()