International audienceThe ctools are a set of analysis executables that are being developed as a framework for analysing Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) high-level data products. The ctools are inspired by science analysis software available for existing high-energy astronomy instruments, and follow the modular ftools model developed by HEASARC. The ctools are based on GammaLib, a C++ library interfaced to Python that provides a framework for an instrument-independent analysis of gamma-ray data. We present the status of the software development, and illustrate its capabilities by using ctools for the analysis of simulated CTA data