diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/doc_knows_cli.yml b/changelogs/fragments/doc_knows_cli.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..d9f5fd65849221
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/doc_knows_cli.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - ansible-doc pretty cli options output.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py b/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
index e6444f145f812e..642e2beaec8596 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
@@ -1043,6 +1043,15 @@ def add_fields(text, fields, limit, opt_indent, return_values=False, base_indent
                             if ignore in item:
                                 del item[ignore]
 
+            if 'cli' in opt and opt['cli']:
+                conf['cli'] = []
+                for cli in opt['cli']:
+                    if 'option' not in cli:
+                        conf['cli'].append({'name': cli['name'], 'option': '--%s' % cli['name'].replace('_', '-')})
+                    else:
+                        conf['cli'].append(cli)
+                del opt['cli']
+
             if conf:
                 text.append(DocCLI._dump_yaml({'set_via': conf}, opt_indent))
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index fa6e0bf83cf5eb..992a71fdb9b502 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@
             - name: ansible_ssh_private_key_file
           cli:
             - name: private_key_file
+              option: '--private-key'
 
       control_path:
         description: