diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8355e1c5a..bcde6af2f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 			],
 			"node": [
 				"dist/node.d.ts"
+			],
+			"extractor": [
+				"dist/extractor.d.ts"
 			]
 		}
 	},
@@ -35,6 +38,11 @@
 		"./node": {
 			"types": "./dist/node.d.ts",
 			"import": "./dist/node.js"
+		},
+		"./extractor": {
+			"types": "./dist/extractor.d.ts",
+			"import": "./dist/extractor.js",
+			"require": "./dist/extractor.js"
 		}
 	},
 	"scripts": {
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index a40c7dd08..73299e9c3 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import { Command } from 'commander';
 import { Defuddle } from './node';
 import { writeFile, readFile } from 'fs/promises';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'url';
 import { parseLinkedomHTML } from './utils/linkedom-compat';
 import { countWords } from './utils';
 import { buildFrontmatter } from './frontmatter';
 import { getInitialUA, fetchPage, extractRawMarkdown, cleanMarkdownContent, BOT_UA } from './fetch';
+import { ExtractorRegistry } from './extractor-registry';
 
 export interface ParseOptions {
 	output?: string;
@@ -19,6 +21,38 @@ export interface ParseOptions {
 	lang?: string;
 	userAgent?: string;
 	frontmatter?: boolean;
+	extractor?: string[];
+}
+
+function collectExtractor(value: string, previous: string[]): string[] {
+	return previous.concat([value]);
+}
+
+// Production CJS builds: `await import(s)` is lowered by tsc (module=CommonJS)
+// to a `require(s)` equivalent that cannot resolve file:// URLs or .mjs files.
+// Hide the dynamic import inside a Function() so tsc doesn't see it, and the
+// expression is parsed at runtime by Node, which honours native ESM dynamic
+// import.
+//
+// Vitest (test runs): the source TS goes through esbuild, which preserves
+// `import()`. But the Function()-eval shortcut runs outside vitest's module
+// graph and trips its "A dynamic import callback was not specified" check.
+// Detect that environment and use the in-source `import()` form so vitest
+// can hook it normally.
+const __INSIDE_VITEST__ = (globalThis as Record<string, unknown>).__vitest_worker__ !== undefined;
+const dynamicImport: (specifier: string) => Promise<{ default?: unknown; [k: string]: unknown }> =
+	__INSIDE_VITEST__
+		? ((specifier: string) => import(specifier)) as never
+		: (new Function('specifier', 'return import(specifier)') as never);
+
+async function loadExtractor(extractorPath: string): Promise<void> {
+	const absPath = resolve(process.cwd(), extractorPath);
+	const mod = await dynamicImport(pathToFileURL(absPath).href);
+	const mapping = (mod.default ?? mod) as { patterns?: unknown; extractor?: unknown };
+	if (!mapping || !Array.isArray(mapping.patterns) || typeof mapping.extractor !== 'function') {
+		throw new Error(`--extractor ${extractorPath}: module must default-export { patterns: (string | RegExp)[], extractor: class }`);
+	}
+	ExtractorRegistry.register(mapping as { patterns: (string | RegExp)[]; extractor: new (...args: unknown[]) => unknown } as never);
 }
 
 interface ParseResult {
@@ -60,6 +94,12 @@ export async function parseSource(source: string | undefined, options: ParseOpti
 		language: options.lang,
 	};
 
+	if (options.extractor && options.extractor.length > 0) {
+		for (const extractorPath of options.extractor) {
+			await loadExtractor(extractorPath);
+		}
+	}
+
 	let html: string;
 	let url: string | undefined;
 
@@ -174,6 +214,7 @@ export function createProgram(): Command {
 		.option('--debug', 'Enable debug mode')
 		.option('-l, --lang <code>', 'Preferred language (BCP 47, e.g. en, fr, ja)')
 		.option('-u, --user-agent <string>', 'Custom User-Agent header for HTTP requests (helps with 403/FORBIDDEN responses)')
+		.option('--extractor <path>', 'Load a custom extractor module (repeatable). The file must default-export { patterns, extractor }.', collectExtractor, [])
 		.action(async (source: string | undefined, options: ParseOptions) => {
 			try {
 				const { output } = await parseSource(source, options);
diff --git a/src/extractor-registry.ts b/src/extractor-registry.ts
index e3df8eaaa..20088248b 100644
--- a/src/extractor-registry.ts
+++ b/src/extractor-registry.ts
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ import { LeetCodeExtractor } from './extractors/leetcode';
 import { LwnExtractor } from './extractors/lwn';
 import { MastodonExtractor } from './extractors/mastodon';
 
-type ExtractorConstructor = new (document: Document, url: string, schemaOrgData?: any, options?: ExtractorOptions) => BaseExtractor;
+export type ExtractorConstructor = new (document: Document, url: string, schemaOrgData?: any, options?: ExtractorOptions) => BaseExtractor;
 
-interface ExtractorMapping {
+export interface ExtractorMapping {
 	patterns: (string | RegExp)[];
 	extractor: ExtractorConstructor;
 }
diff --git a/src/extractor.ts b/src/extractor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67d11a8a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/extractor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// Public entry for extractor authors.
+//
+// Import `BaseExtractor` from here to write a custom site-specific extractor,
+// and either load it via the CLI's `--extractor <path>` flag or register it at
+// runtime with `ExtractorRegistry.register(...)`.
+//
+// Example user file (loaded via --extractor):
+//
+//   import { BaseExtractor } from 'defuddle/extractor';
+//
+//   class MyExtractor extends BaseExtractor {
+//     canExtract() { return false; }
+//     canExtractAsync() { return true; }
+//     prefersAsync() { return true; }
+//     async extractAsync() { /* fetch additional pages, return ExtractorResult */ }
+//   }
+//
+//   export default {
+//     patterns: [/^https?:\/\/example\.com\/article\//],
+//     extractor: MyExtractor,
+//   };
+
+export { BaseExtractor } from './extractors/_base';
+export type { ExtractorOptions } from './extractors/_base';
+export type { ExtractorResult, ExtractedContent, ExtractorVariables } from './types/extractors';
+export { ExtractorRegistry } from './extractor-registry';
+export type { ExtractorMapping, ExtractorConstructor } from './extractor-registry';
diff --git a/tests/cli.test.ts b/tests/cli.test.ts
index 4522602c7..44a32d9dc 100644
--- a/tests/cli.test.ts
+++ b/tests/cli.test.ts
@@ -105,4 +105,37 @@ describe('CLI parseSource', () => {
 		// commander camelCases --user-agent → options.userAgent, which parseSource reads.
 		expect(option?.attributeName()).toBe('userAgent');
 	});
+
+	test('registers the --extractor flag as a repeatable string array', () => {
+		const parseCommand = createProgram().commands.find((c) => c.name() === 'parse');
+		const option = parseCommand?.options.find((o) => o.long === '--extractor');
+
+		expect(option).toBeDefined();
+		expect(option?.attributeName()).toBe('extractor');
+		// commander invokes the collector with the default starting empty array
+		expect(option?.defaultValue).toEqual([]);
+	});
+
+	test('--extractor loads the supplied module and registers it with ExtractorRegistry', async () => {
+		const { ExtractorRegistry } = await import('../src/extractor-registry');
+		const fixturePath = join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'cli-extractor-custom.mjs');
+
+		const before = (ExtractorRegistry as unknown as { mappings: unknown[] }).mappings.length;
+
+		// parseSource runs loadExtractor early. The fixture's patterns don't match
+		// the stdin (no URL) so the registered extractor isn't used for parsing —
+		// we only assert registration happened.
+		await parseSource(undefined, { extractor: [fixturePath] }, createMockStdin(fixtureHtml));
+
+		const after = (ExtractorRegistry as unknown as { mappings: unknown[] }).mappings.length;
+		expect(after).toBe(before + 1);
+	});
+
+	test('--extractor rejects modules that do not default-export the expected shape', async () => {
+		const fixturePath = join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'cli-extractor-malformed.mjs');
+
+		await expect(
+			parseSource(undefined, { extractor: [fixturePath] }, createMockStdin(fixtureHtml))
+		).rejects.toThrow(/must default-export/);
+	});
 });
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-custom.mjs b/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-custom.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf19264f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-custom.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Test fixture loaded by tests/cli.test.ts via --extractor.
+// Duck-types the BaseExtractor interface so the test doesn't depend on `dist/`.
+
+class CliTestExtractor {
+	constructor(document, url) {
+		this.document = document;
+		this.url = url;
+	}
+	canExtract() { return false; }
+	canExtractAsync() { return false; }
+	prefersAsync() { return false; }
+	extract() {
+		return { content: '', contentHtml: '', extractedContent: {} };
+	}
+	async extractAsync() { return this.extract(); }
+}
+
+export default {
+	patterns: ['cli-test-only.invalid'],
+	extractor: CliTestExtractor,
+};
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-malformed.mjs b/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-malformed.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47c47f34f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/cli-extractor-malformed.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Malformed: missing required `patterns` and `extractor` keys.
+// tests/cli.test.ts expects loadExtractor to reject this.
+
+export default { wrong: 'shape' };
diff --git a/tsconfig.node.json b/tsconfig.node.json
index 64f18ced6..a3696f464 100644
--- a/tsconfig.node.json
+++ b/tsconfig.node.json
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@
 		"lib": ["ES2020", "DOM", "DOM.Iterable"],
 		"types": ["node"]
 	},
-	"include": ["src/node.ts", "src/cli.ts"],
+	"include": ["src/node.ts", "src/cli.ts", "src/extractor.ts"],
 	"exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
 }