diff --git a/.changeset/four-peaches-talk.md b/.changeset/four-peaches-talk.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4b0d2e8a47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/four-peaches-talk.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/cli': patch
+---
+
+Internal refactor of opaque type handling.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/wiring/CliInitializer.ts b/packages/cli/src/wiring/CliInitializer.ts
index d3cba34f60..b310a07a12 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/wiring/CliInitializer.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/wiring/CliInitializer.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import { CommandGraph } from './CommandGraph';
-import { CliFeature, InternalCliFeature, InternalCliPlugin } from './types';
+import { CliFeature, OpaqueCliPlugin } from './types';
 import { CommandRegistry } from './CommandRegistry';
 import { Command } from 'commander';
 import { version } from '../lib/version';
@@ -42,10 +42,11 @@ export class CliInitializer {
   }
 
   async #register(feature: CliFeature) {
-    if (isCliPlugin(feature)) {
-      await feature.init(this.commandRegistry);
+    if (OpaqueCliPlugin.isType(feature)) {
+      const internal = OpaqueCliPlugin.toInternal(feature);
+      await internal.init(this.commandRegistry);
     } else {
-      throw new Error(`Unsupported feature type: ${feature.$$type}`);
+      throw new Error(`Unsupported feature type: ${(feature as any).$$type}`);
     }
   }
 
@@ -146,26 +147,6 @@ export class CliInitializer {
   }
 }
 
-function toInternalCliFeature(feature: CliFeature): InternalCliFeature {
-  if (feature.$$type !== '@backstage/CliFeature') {
-    throw new Error(`Invalid CliFeature, bad type '${feature.$$type}'`);
-  }
-  const internal = feature as InternalCliFeature;
-  if (internal.version !== 'v1') {
-    throw new Error(`Invalid CliFeature, bad version '${internal.version}'`);
-  }
-  return internal;
-}
-
-function isCliPlugin(feature: CliFeature): feature is InternalCliPlugin {
-  const internal = toInternalCliFeature(feature);
-  if (internal.featureType === 'plugin') {
-    return true;
-  }
-  // Backwards compatibility for v1 registrations that use duck typing
-  return 'plugin' in internal;
-}
-
 /** @internal */
 export function unwrapFeature(
   feature: CliFeature | { default: CliFeature },
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/wiring/describeParentCallSite.ts b/packages/cli/src/wiring/describeParentCallSite.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..35603e33b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/wiring/describeParentCallSite.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+// Single re-export to avoid doing this import in multiple places, but still
+// avoid duplicate declarations because this one is a bit tricky.
+// eslint-disable-next-line @backstage/no-relative-monorepo-imports
+export { describeParentCallSite } from '../../../frontend-plugin-api/src/routing/describeParentCallSite';
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/wiring/factory.ts b/packages/cli/src/wiring/factory.ts
index eec058e180..6374f37c14 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/wiring/factory.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/wiring/factory.ts
@@ -14,19 +14,18 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { CommandRegistry } from './CommandRegistry';
-import { InternalCliPlugin } from './types';
+import { describeParentCallSite } from './describeParentCallSite';
+import { BackstageCommand, CliPlugin, OpaqueCliPlugin } from './types';
 
 export function createCliPlugin(options: {
   pluginId: string;
-  init: (registry: CommandRegistry) => Promise<void>;
-}): InternalCliPlugin {
-  return {
-    id: options.pluginId,
+  init: (registry: {
+    addCommand: (command: BackstageCommand) => void;
+  }) => Promise<void>;
+}): CliPlugin {
+  return OpaqueCliPlugin.createInstance('v1', {
+    pluginId: options.pluginId,
     init: options.init,
-    $$type: '@backstage/CliFeature',
-    version: 'v1',
-    featureType: 'plugin',
-    description: 'A Backstage CLI plugin',
-  };
+    description: `created at '${describeParentCallSite()}'`,
+  });
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/wiring/types.ts b/packages/cli/src/wiring/types.ts
index 0decdc6479..86b66f229e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/wiring/types.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/wiring/types.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-import { CommandRegistry } from './CommandRegistry';
+import { OpaqueType } from '@internal/opaque';
 
 export interface BackstageCommand {
   path: string[];
@@ -22,26 +22,23 @@ export interface BackstageCommand {
   execute: (options: { args: string[] }) => Promise<void>;
 }
 
-export interface CliFeature {
-  $$type: '@backstage/CliFeature';
-}
+export type CliFeature = CliPlugin;
 
 export interface CliPlugin {
-  id: string;
-  init: (registry: CommandRegistry) => Promise<void>;
-  $$type: '@backstage/CliFeature';
+  readonly pluginId: string;
+  readonly $$type: '@backstage/CliPlugin';
 }
 
-/**
- * @public
- */
-export interface InternalCliPlugin extends CliFeature {
-  version: 'v1';
-  featureType: 'plugin';
-  description: string;
-  id: string;
-  init: (registry: CommandRegistry) => Promise<void>;
-}
-
-/** @internal */
-export type InternalCliFeature = InternalCliPlugin;
+export const OpaqueCliPlugin = OpaqueType.create<{
+  public: CliPlugin;
+  versions: {
+    readonly version: 'v1';
+    readonly description: string;
+    init: (registry: {
+      addCommand: (command: BackstageCommand) => void;
+    }) => Promise<void>;
+  };
+}>({
+  type: '@backstage/CliPlugin',
+  versions: ['v1'],
+});