diff --git a/docs/changelog/1585.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/1585.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91cb7744d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1585.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Expose a programmatic API as ``from virtualenv import cli_run`` - by :user:`gaborbernat`.
diff --git a/docs/changelog/1585.doc.rst b/docs/changelog/1585.doc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47a865cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1585.doc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Document a programmatic API as ``from virtualenv import cli_run`` under :ref:`programmatic_api` -
+by :user:`gaborbernat`.
diff --git a/docs/render_cli.py b/docs/render_cli.py
index af350d18f..4417c63d3 100644
--- a/docs/render_cli.py
+++ b/docs/render_cli.py
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ def build_rows(options):
             names = option["name"]
             default = option["default"]
             if default is not None:
-                if isinstance(default, str) and default[0] == default[-1] and default[0] == '"':
+                if isinstance(default, str) and default and default[0] == default[-1] and default[0] == '"':
                     default = default[1:-1]
                     if default == SUPPRESS:
                         default = None
diff --git a/docs/user_guide.rst b/docs/user_guide.rst
index 32b523afe..fa178e74b 100644
--- a/docs/user_guide.rst
+++ b/docs/user_guide.rst
@@ -180,3 +180,27 @@ also provisions a ``decativate`` command that will allow you to undo the operati
 A  longer explanation of this can be found within Allison Kaptur's 2013 blog post: `There's no magic: virtualenv
 edition <https://www.recurse.com/blog/14-there-is-no-magic-virtualenv-edition>`_ explains how virtualenv uses bash and
 Python and ``PATH`` and ``PYTHONHOME`` to isolate virtual environments' paths.
+
+.. _programmatic_api:
+
+Programmatic API
+----------------
+
+At the moment ``virtualenv`` offers only CLI level interface. If you want to trigger invocation of Python environments
+from within Python you should be using the ``virtualenv.cli_run`` method; this takes an ``args`` argument where you can
+pass the options the same way you would from the command line. The run will return a session object containing data
+about the created virtual environment.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+   from virtualenv import cli_run
+
+   cli_run(["venv"])
+
+.. automodule:: virtualenv
+   :members:
+
+.. currentmodule:: virtualenv.session
+
+.. autoclass:: Session
+    :members:
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/__init__.py b/src/virtualenv/__init__.py
index 127d67ce7..c72643f02 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/__init__.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
+from .run import cli_run
 from .version import __version__
 
-__all__ = ("__version__", "run")
+__all__ = (
+    "__version__",
+    "cli_run",
+)
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/__main__.py b/src/virtualenv/__main__.py
index b7508203d..38fee15b7 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/__main__.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/__main__.py
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@
 def run(args=None, options=None):
     start = datetime.now()
     from virtualenv.error import ProcessCallFailed
-    from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+    from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 
     if args is None:
         args = sys.argv[1:]
     try:
-        session = run_via_cli(args, options)
+        session = cli_run(args, options)
         logging.warning(
             "created virtual environment in %.0fms %s with seeder %s",
             (datetime.now() - start).total_seconds() * 1000,
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def run_with_catch(args=None):
     try:
         run(args, options)
     except (KeyboardInterrupt, Exception) as exception:
-        if options.with_traceback:
+        if getattr(options, "with_traceback", False):
             logging.shutdown()  # force flush of log messages before the trace is printed
             raise
         else:
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/config/ini.py b/src/virtualenv/config/ini.py
index 017aae93f..883960706 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/config/ini.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/config/ini.py
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 
 from .convert import convert
 
-DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE = default_config_dir() / "virtualenv.ini"
-
 
 class IniConfig(object):
     VIRTUALENV_CONFIG_FILE_ENV_VAR = six.ensure_str("VIRTUALENV_CONFIG_FILE")
@@ -24,18 +22,26 @@ class IniConfig(object):
     def __init__(self):
         config_file = os.environ.get(self.VIRTUALENV_CONFIG_FILE_ENV_VAR, None)
         self.is_env_var = config_file is not None
-        self.config_file = Path(config_file) if config_file is not None else DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE
+        self.config_file = Path(config_file) if config_file is not None else (default_config_dir() / "virtualenv.ini")
         self._cache = {}
-        self.has_config_file = self.config_file.exists()
-        if self.has_config_file:
-            self.config_file = self.config_file.resolve()
-            self.config_parser = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()
-            try:
-                self._load()
-                self.has_virtualenv_section = self.config_parser.has_section(self.section)
-            except Exception as exception:
-                logging.error("failed to read config file %s because %r", config_file, exception)
-                self.has_config_file = None
+
+        exception = None
+        self.has_config_file = None
+        try:
+            self.has_config_file = self.config_file.exists()
+        except OSError as exc:
+            exception = exc
+        else:
+            if self.has_config_file:
+                self.config_file = self.config_file.resolve()
+                self.config_parser = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()
+                try:
+                    self._load()
+                    self.has_virtualenv_section = self.config_parser.has_section(self.section)
+                except Exception as exc:
+                    exception = exc
+        if exception is not None:
+            logging.error("failed to read config file %s because %r", config_file, exception)
 
     def _load(self):
         with self.config_file.open("rt") as file_handler:
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/run/__init__.py b/src/virtualenv/run/__init__.py
index ed7f6ef9b..443ba669a 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/run/__init__.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/run/__init__.py
@@ -12,11 +12,12 @@
 from .plugin.seeders import SeederSelector
 
 
-def run_via_cli(args, options=None):
-    """Run the virtual environment creation via CLI arguments
+def cli_run(args, options=None):
+    """Create a virtual environment given some command line interface arguments
 
     :param args: the command line arguments
-    :return: the creator used
+    :param options: passing in a ``argparse.Namespace`` object allows return of the parsed options
+    :return: the session object of the creation (its structure for now is experimental and might change on short notice)
     """
     session = session_via_cli(args, options)
     session.run()
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/session.py b/src/virtualenv/session.py
index 5f655c321..9e799668f 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/session.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/session.py
@@ -7,12 +7,39 @@
 
 
 class Session(object):
+    """Represents a virtual environment creation session"""
+
     def __init__(self, verbosity, interpreter, creator, seeder, activators):
-        self.verbosity = verbosity
-        self.interpreter = interpreter
-        self.creator = creator
-        self.seeder = seeder
-        self.activators = activators
+        self._verbosity = verbosity
+        self._interpreter = interpreter
+        self._creator = creator
+        self._seeder = seeder
+        self._activators = activators
+
+    @property
+    def verbosity(self):
+        """The verbosity of the run"""
+        return self._verbosity
+
+    @property
+    def interpreter(self):
+        """Create a virtual environment based on this reference interpreter"""
+        return self._interpreter
+
+    @property
+    def creator(self):
+        """The creator used to build the virtual environment (must be compatible with the interpreter)"""
+        return self._creator
+
+    @property
+    def seeder(self):
+        """The mechanism used to provide the seed packages (pip, setuptools, wheel)"""
+        return self._seeder
+
+    @property
+    def activators(self):
+        """Activators used to generate activations scripts"""
+        return self._activators
 
     def run(self):
         self._create()
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 8dc6a1cae..777dec5ac 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ def ensure_py_info_cache_empty():
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def ignore_global_config(tmp_path, mocker):
+def ignore_global_config(tmp_path, mocker, monkeypatch):
     mocker.patch("virtualenv.dirs._CFG_DIR", None)
-    mocker.patch("virtualenv.dirs.user_config_dir", return_value=tmp_path / "this-should-never-exist")
+    mocker.patch("virtualenv.dirs.user_config_dir", return_value=Path(str(tmp_path / "this-should-never-exist")))
     yield
 
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_zipapp.py b/tests/integration/test_zipapp.py
index ed4f6ef4e..152000dab 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_zipapp.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_zipapp.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import six
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.util.path import Path
 
 HERE = Path(__file__).parent
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def zipapp_build_env(tmp_path_factory):
             for version in range(8, 4, -1):
                 try:
                     # create a virtual environment which is also guaranteed to contain a recent enough pip (bundled)
-                    session = run_via_cli(
+                    session = cli_run(
                         ["-vvv", "-p", "{}3.{}".format(impl, version), "--activators", "", str(create_env_path)]
                     )
                     exe = str(session.creator.exe)
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def zipapp(zipapp_build_env, tmp_path_factory):
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def zipapp_test_env(tmp_path_factory):
     base_path = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("zipapp-test")
-    session = run_via_cli(["-v", "--activators", "", "--without-pip", str(base_path / "env")])
+    session = cli_run(["-v", "--activators", "", "--without-pip", str(base_path / "env")])
     yield session.creator.exe
     shutil.rmtree(str(base_path))
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/activation/conftest.py b/tests/unit/activation/conftest.py
index 17f028dc8..f0ddfd8a4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/activation/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/unit/activation/conftest.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 import six
 
 from virtualenv.info import IS_PYPY, WIN_CPYTHON_2
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.util.path import Path
 from virtualenv.util.subprocess import Popen
 
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def raise_on_non_source_class():
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def activation_python(tmp_path_factory, special_char_name, current_fastest):
     dest = os.path.join(six.ensure_text(str(tmp_path_factory.mktemp("activation-tester-env"))), special_char_name)
-    session = run_via_cli(["--without-pip", dest, "--prompt", special_char_name, "--creator", current_fastest, "-vv"])
+    session = cli_run(["--without-pip", dest, "--prompt", special_char_name, "--creator", current_fastest, "-vv"])
     pydoc_test = session.creator.purelib / "pydoc_test.py"
     pydoc_test.write_text('"""This is pydoc_test.py"""')
     yield session
diff --git a/tests/unit/create/conftest.py b/tests/unit/create/conftest.py
index 07e821f45..3b2aada47 100644
--- a/tests/unit/create/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/unit/create/conftest.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.util.path import Path
 from virtualenv.util.subprocess import Popen
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def old_virtualenv(tmp_path_factory):
         return CURRENT.executable
     else:
         env_for_old_virtualenv = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("env-for-old-virtualenv")
-        result = run_via_cli(["--no-download", "--activators", "", str(env_for_old_virtualenv)])
+        result = cli_run(["--no-download", "--activators", "", str(env_for_old_virtualenv)])
         # noinspection PyBroadException
         try:
             process = Popen(
diff --git a/tests/unit/create/test_creator.py b/tests/unit/create/test_creator.py
index 919679af1..6af52062e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/create/test_creator.py
+++ b/tests/unit/create/test_creator.py
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@
 import pytest
 import six
 
-from virtualenv.__main__ import run
+from virtualenv.__main__ import run, run_with_catch
 from virtualenv.create.creator import DEBUG_SCRIPT, Creator, get_env_debug_info
 from virtualenv.discovery.builtin import get_interpreter
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
 from virtualenv.info import IS_PYPY, fs_supports_symlink
 from virtualenv.pyenv_cfg import PyEnvCfg
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli, session_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run, session_via_cli
 from virtualenv.util.path import Path
 
 CURRENT = PythonInfo.current_system()
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def test_os_path_sep_not_allowed(tmp_path, capsys, sep):
 
 def _non_success_exit_code(capsys, target):
     with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as context:
-        run_via_cli(args=[target])
+        run_with_catch(args=[target])
     assert context.value.code != 0
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
     assert not out, out
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def test_create_no_seed(python, creator, isolated, system, coverage_env, special
     ]
     if isolated == "global":
         cmd.append("--system-site-packages")
-    result = run_via_cli(cmd)
+    result = cli_run(cmd)
     coverage_env()
     if IS_PYPY:
         # pypy cleans up file descriptors periodically so our (many) subprocess calls impact file descriptor limits
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ def _session_via_cli(args, options=None):
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not sys.version_info[0] == 2, reason="python 2 only tests")
 def test_debug_bad_virtualenv(tmp_path):
     cmd = [str(tmp_path), "--without-pip"]
-    result = run_via_cli(cmd)
+    result = cli_run(cmd)
     # if the site.py is removed/altered the debug should fail as no one is around to fix the paths
     site_py = result.creator.stdlib / "site.py"
     site_py.unlink()
@@ -223,12 +223,12 @@ def test_create_clear_resets(tmp_path, creator, clear, caplog):
         pytest.skip("venv without clear might fail")
     marker = tmp_path / "magic"
     cmd = [str(tmp_path), "--seeder", "app-data", "--without-pip", "--creator", creator, "-vvv"]
-    run_via_cli(cmd)
+    cli_run(cmd)
 
     marker.write_text("")  # if we a marker file this should be gone on a clear run, remain otherwise
     assert marker.exists()
 
-    run_via_cli(cmd + (["--clear"] if clear else []))
+    cli_run(cmd + (["--clear"] if clear else []))
     assert marker.exists() is not clear
 
 
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ def test_prompt_set(tmp_path, creator, prompt):
     if prompt is not None:
         cmd.extend(["--prompt", "magic"])
 
-    result = run_via_cli(cmd)
+    result = cli_run(cmd)
     actual_prompt = tmp_path.name if prompt is None else prompt
     cfg = PyEnvCfg.from_file(result.creator.pyenv_cfg.path)
     if prompt is None:
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ def test_cross_major(cross_python, coverage_env, tmp_path, current_fastest):
         "--creator",
         current_fastest,
     ]
-    result = run_via_cli(cmd)
+    result = cli_run(cmd)
     coverage_env()
     env = PythonInfo.from_exe(str(result.creator.exe))
     assert env.version_info.major != CURRENT.version_info.major
@@ -312,5 +312,5 @@ def test_create_long_path(current_fastest, tmp_path):
     folder.mkdir(parents=True)
 
     cmd = [str(folder)]
-    result = run_via_cli(cmd)
+    result = cli_run(cmd)
     subprocess.check_call([str(result.creator.script("pip")), "--version"])
diff --git a/tests/unit/create/test_interpreters.py b/tests/unit/create/test_interpreters.py
index d14bf0cd8..002326b8b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/create/test_interpreters.py
+++ b/tests/unit/create/test_interpreters.py
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@
 import pytest
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 
 
 @pytest.mark.slow
 def test_failed_to_find_bad_spec():
     of_id = uuid4().hex
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as context:
-        run_via_cli(["-p", of_id])
+        cli_run(["-p", of_id])
     msg = repr(RuntimeError("failed to find interpreter for Builtin discover of python_spec={!r}".format(of_id)))
     assert repr(context.value) == msg
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def test_failed_to_find_bad_spec():
 def test_failed_to_find_implementation(of_id, mocker):
     mocker.patch("virtualenv.run.plugin.creators.CreatorSelector._OPTIONS", return_value={})
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as context:
-        run_via_cli(["-p", of_id])
+        cli_run(["-p", of_id])
     assert repr(context.value) == repr(
         RuntimeError("No virtualenv implementation for {}".format(PythonInfo.current_system()))
     )
diff --git a/tests/unit/seed/test_boostrap_link_via_app_data.py b/tests/unit/seed/test_boostrap_link_via_app_data.py
index 65620bd74..87bace139 100644
--- a/tests/unit/seed/test_boostrap_link_via_app_data.py
+++ b/tests/unit/seed/test_boostrap_link_via_app_data.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
 from virtualenv.info import fs_supports_symlink
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.seed.embed.wheels import BUNDLE_SUPPORT
 from virtualenv.seed.embed.wheels.acquire import BUNDLE_FOLDER
 from virtualenv.util.subprocess import Popen
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def test_base_bootstrap_link_via_app_data(tmp_path, coverage_env, current_fastes
     ]
     if not copies:
         create_cmd.append("--symlink-app-data")
-    result = run_via_cli(create_cmd)
+    result = cli_run(create_cmd)
     coverage_env()
     assert result
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def test_base_bootstrap_link_via_app_data(tmp_path, coverage_env, current_fastes
     assert setuptools not in files_post_first_uninstall
 
     # check we can run it again and will work - checks both overwrite and reuse cache
-    result = run_via_cli(create_cmd)
+    result = cli_run(create_cmd)
     coverage_env()
     assert result
     files_post_second_create = list(site_package.iterdir())
diff --git a/tests/unit/seed/test_extra_install.py b/tests/unit/seed/test_extra_install.py
index 14898fa37..dd3bc238b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/seed/test_extra_install.py
+++ b/tests/unit/seed/test_extra_install.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.util.path import Path
 from virtualenv.util.subprocess import Popen
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def builtin_shows_marker_missing():
 )
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("creator", list(i for i in CREATOR_CLASSES.keys() if i != "builtin"))
 def test_can_build_c_extensions(creator, tmp_path, coverage_env):
-    session = run_via_cli(["--creator", creator, "--seed", "app-data", str(tmp_path), "-vvv"])
+    session = cli_run(["--creator", creator, "--seed", "app-data", str(tmp_path), "-vvv"])
     coverage_env()
     cmd = [
         str(session.creator.script("pip")),
diff --git a/tests/unit/seed/test_pip_invoke.py b/tests/unit/seed/test_pip_invoke.py
index 0795a9f7e..6cd71147d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/seed/test_pip_invoke.py
+++ b/tests/unit/seed/test_pip_invoke.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from virtualenv.discovery.py_info import PythonInfo
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 from virtualenv.seed.embed.wheels import BUNDLE_SUPPORT
 
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def test_base_bootstrap_via_pip_invoke(tmp_path, coverage_env, current_fastest):
         "--creator",
         current_fastest,
     ]
-    result = run_via_cli(create_cmd)
+    result = cli_run(create_cmd)
     coverage_env()
     assert result
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_run.py b/tests/unit/test_run.py
index 133dfdb39..436e5eba6 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_run.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_run.py
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 import six
 
 from virtualenv import __version__
-from virtualenv.run import run_via_cli
+from virtualenv.run import cli_run
 
 
 def test_help(capsys):
     with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as context:
-        run_via_cli(args=["-h", "-vvv"])
+        cli_run(args=["-h", "-vvv"])
     assert context.value.code == 0
 
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def test_help(capsys):
 
 def test_version(capsys):
     with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as context:
-        run_via_cli(args=["--version"])
+        cli_run(args=["--version"])
     assert context.value.code == 0
 
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()