diff --git a/.ctags.d/v.ctags b/.ctags.d/v.ctags
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7d36bdf174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ctags.d/v.ctags
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+## TODO: support more precise struct/const/enum fields
+
+--langdef=V
+--map-V=+.v
+--map-V=+.vv
+--map-V=+.vsh
+--kinddef-V=m,imodule,imported modules
+--kinddef-V=M,module,modules
+--kinddef-V=C,cfunction,cfunctions
+--kinddef-V=f,function,functions
+--kinddef-V=h,method,functions
+--kinddef-V=c,const,constants
+--kinddef-V=v,variable,variables
+--kinddef-V=s,struct,structs
+--kinddef-V=e,enum,enums
+--kinddef-V=i,interface,interfaces
+--kinddef-V=S,sfield,struct field
+--kinddef-V=E,efield,enum field
+--_roledef-V=m.imported,imported module
+--_roledef-V=M.declared,module declaration
+--regex-V=/^module[[:blank:]]+([0-9a-zA-Z]+)[[:blank:]]*$/\1/M/{_role=declared}{scope=push}
+--regex-V=/^import[[:blank:]]+(([0-9a-zA-Z]+)?|.*\.([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z]+))[[:blank:]]*$/\2\3/m/{_role=imported}{scope=ref}
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*fn[[:blank:]]+C\.([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)\(/C.\1/C/
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*fn[[:blank:]]+([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)\(/\2/f/
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*fn[[:blank:]]+\(.*\)[[:blank:]]*([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)\(/\2/h/
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*struct[[:blank:]]+([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)[[:blank:]]*\{/\2/s/{scope=push}
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*enum[[:blank:]]+([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)[[:blank:]]*\{/\2/e/{scope=push}
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*interface[[:blank:]]+([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]*)[[:blank:]]*\{/\2/i/{scope=push}
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]+)[[:blank:]]*(,)?[[:blank:]]*(\/\/.*)?$/\1/E/{scope=ref}
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]+)[[:blank:]]+\??\&?(\[[0-9]*\])?([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_.]+)[[:blank:]]*(\/\/.*)?$/\1/S/{scope=ref}
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*\}[[:blank:]]*$//{scope=pop}{placeholder}
+
+## Variables:
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*(mut[[:blank:]]*)([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]+)[[:blank:]]*:=/\2/v/{scope=ref}
+
+## Consts:
+--regex-V=/^(pub)?[[:blank:]]*const[[:blank:]]+\([[:blank:]]*/const/c/{scope=push}
+##NB: the next variable regexp should work only inside const ( ), but currently works for ordinary assignments too:
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*([a-zA-Z_][0-9a-zA-Z_]+)[[:blank:]]*=/\1/v/{scope=ref}
+--regex-V=/^[[:blank:]]*\)[[:blank:]]*$//{scope=pop}{placeholder}
+
+--extras=+q
+--extras=+r
+--fields=+r
diff --git a/cmd/v/internal/help/build.txt b/cmd/v/internal/help/build.txt
index 7c89477728..3aa323df3c 100644
--- a/cmd/v/internal/help/build.txt
+++ b/cmd/v/internal/help/build.txt
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ The build flags are shared by the build and run commands:
    -v, -vv, -vvv
       Enable varying verbosity in the V compiler while compiling
 
+   -print_v_files
+      Just print the list of all parsed .v files, then stop processing further.
+      This is useful for running external processing tools:
+        ./v -print_v_files cmd/v | etags -L -
+      ... will generate a TAGS file, that emacs can then use to jump
+      to the definition of functions used by v itself. For vim:
+        ./v -print_v_files cmd/v | ctags -L -
+      ... will generate a simillar tags file, that vi compatible editors can use.
+      NB: an useful, although not entirely accurate regexp based Universal Ctags options file
+      for V is located in `.ctags.d/v.ctags` . If you use https://ctags.io/ , it will be used
+      up automatically, or you can specify it explicitly with --options=.ctags.d/v.ctags .
+
 For C-specific build flags, use `v help build-c`.
 
 See also:
diff --git a/cmd/v/v.v b/cmd/v/v.v
index 8d99096370..d445d19805 100644
--- a/cmd/v/v.v
+++ b/cmd/v/v.v
@@ -174,6 +174,9 @@ fn parse_args(args []string) (&pref.Preferences, string) {
 			'-x64' {
 				res.backend = .x64
 			}
+			'-print_v_files' {
+				res.print_v_files = true
+			}
 			'-os' {
 				target_os := cmdline.option(current_args, '-os', '')
 				i++
diff --git a/vlib/v/builder/builder.v b/vlib/v/builder/builder.v
index 9656c35efe..c64de9da9d 100644
--- a/vlib/v/builder/builder.v
+++ b/vlib/v/builder/builder.v
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ pub fn (mut b Builder) parse_imports() {
 		}
 	}
 	b.resolve_deps()
+	//
+	if b.pref.print_v_files {
+		for p in b.parsed_files {
+			println(p.path)
+		}
+		exit(0)        
+	}
 }
 
 pub fn (mut b Builder) resolve_deps() {
diff --git a/vlib/v/builder/c.v b/vlib/v/builder/c.v
index bae0db0f0f..252e63b5ca 100644
--- a/vlib/v/builder/c.v
+++ b/vlib/v/builder/c.v
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ pub fn (mut b Builder) gen_c(v_files []string) string {
 pub fn (mut b Builder) build_c(v_files []string, out_file string) {
 	b.out_name_c = out_file
 	b.info('build_c($out_file)')
+	output := b.gen_c(v_files)
 	mut f := os.create(out_file) or {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	f.writeln(b.gen_c(v_files))
+	f.writeln(output)
 	f.close()
 	// os.write_file(out_file, b.gen_c(v_files))
 }
diff --git a/vlib/v/builder/js.v b/vlib/v/builder/js.v
index 3917c98399..c18342c307 100644
--- a/vlib/v/builder/js.v
+++ b/vlib/v/builder/js.v
@@ -29,10 +29,11 @@ pub fn (mut b Builder) gen_js(v_files []string) string {
 pub fn (mut b Builder) build_js(v_files []string, out_file string) {
 	b.out_name_js = out_file
 	b.info('build_js($out_file)')
+	output := b.gen_js(v_files)
 	mut f := os.create(out_file) or {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	f.writeln(b.gen_js(v_files))
+	f.writeln(output)
 	f.close()
 }
 
diff --git a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
index a8b92034d7..a03ea645c9 100644
--- a/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
+++ b/vlib/v/pref/pref.v
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ pub mut:
 	mod                 string
 	run_args            []string // `v run x.v 1 2 3` => `1 2 3`
 	printfn_list        []string // a list of generated function names, whose source should be shown, for debugging
+	print_v_files       bool     // when true, just print the list of all parsed .v files then stop. 
 }
 
 pub fn backend_from_string(s string) ?Backend {