diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index 870850198..396d36fb1 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
   config.vm.provision :shell, inline: "docker login --username resindev --password #{ENV.fetch('DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD')}"
 
   config.vm.provision :shell, privileged: false,
-    inline: "cd /home/vagrant/open-balena && ./scripts/start-project #{ENV.fetch('OPENBALENA_PROJECT_NAME', '')} #{ENV.fetch('OPENBALENA_HOST_NAME', '')}"
+    # FIXME: -n/-d should only be passed if the relevant ENV var is set
+    inline: "cd /home/vagrant/open-balena && ./scripts/start-project -n #{ENV.fetch('OPENBALENA_PROJECT_NAME', '')} -d #{ENV.fetch('OPENBALENA_HOST_NAME', '')}"
   config.vm.provision :shell, privileged: false,
     inline: 'cd /home/vagrant/open-balena && ./scripts/run-fig-command up -d || true',
     run: 'always'
diff --git a/scripts/make-env b/scripts/make-env
index 5f316a36d..ff4f757a7 100755
--- a/scripts/make-env
+++ b/scripts/make-env
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ usage() {
   echo "usage: $0"
   echo
   echo "Required Variables:"
-  echo "HOST_NAME"
+  echo "DOMAIN"
   echo "ROOT_CA:    Path to root CA certificate"
   echo "ROOT_CRT:   Path to root/wildcard certificate"
   echo "ROOT_KEY:   Path to root/wildcard private key"
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ usage() {
   echo
 }
 
-for var in HOST_NAME ROOT_CA ROOT_CRT ROOT_KEY JWT_CRT JWT_KEY JWT_KID VPN_CA VPN_CRT VPN_KEY VPN_DH; do
+for var in DOMAIN ROOT_CA ROOT_CRT ROOT_KEY JWT_CRT JWT_KEY JWT_KID VPN_CA VPN_CRT VPN_KEY VPN_DH; do
     if [ -z "${!var-}" ]; then
         usage
         exit 1
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ b64encode_str() {
 cat <<STR
 export OPENBALENA_DEBUG=true
 export OPENBALENA_PRODUCTION_MODE=false
-export OPENBALENA_HOST_NAME=$HOST_NAME
+export OPENBALENA_HOST_NAME=$DOMAIN
 export OPENBALENA_JWT_SECRET=$(randstr 32)
 export OPENBALENA_RESINOS_REGISTRY_CODE=$(randstr 32)
 export OPENBALENA_ROOT_CA=$(b64encode "$ROOT_CA")
diff --git a/scripts/patch-hosts b/scripts/patch-hosts
index 921aeee18..b79e6a6fd 100755
--- a/scripts/patch-hosts
+++ b/scripts/patch-hosts
@@ -5,19 +5,19 @@ set -e
 CMD=$0
 DIR=$(dirname "$CMD")
 
-HOST_NAME=$1
+DOMAIN=$1
 
 SERVICES="api registry vpn db"
 SERVICES="${SERVICES} img devices" # FIXME: remove
 
 usage() {
-  echo "usage: $0 HOST_NAME"
+  echo "usage: $0 DOMAIN"
   echo
-  echo "  HOST_NAME   the domain name to add host entries for, eg. example.com"
+  echo "  DOMAIN   the domain name to add host entries for, eg. example.com"
   echo
 }
 
-if [ -z "$HOST_NAME" ]; then
+if [ -z "$DOMAIN" ]; then
   usage
   exit 1
 fi
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ fi
 # append all entries to hosts file.
 tmp=$(mktemp --tmpdir openbalena.XXXX)
 for service in $SERVICES; do
-  name="${service}.${HOST_NAME}"
+  name="${service}.${DOMAIN}"
   if ! grep "\s$name" /etc/hosts >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
     echo "adding $name"
     echo "127.0.0.1 $name" >>$tmp
diff --git a/scripts/run-fig-command b/scripts/run-fig-command
index 3332ca867..fa8ec1528 100755
--- a/scripts/run-fig-command
+++ b/scripts/run-fig-command
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ DIR=$(dirname "$CMD")
 BASE_DIR=$(dirname "$DIR")
 
 echo_bold() {
-  printf "\033[1m${@}\033[0m\n"
+  printf "\033[1m%s\033[0m\n" "$@"
 }
 
 PROJECT_FILE="${BASE_DIR}/.project"
@@ -28,4 +28,4 @@ PROJECT_NAME=$(basename "$PROJECT")
   --project-name $PROJECT_NAME \
   -f "${BASE_DIR}/compose/services.yml" \
   -f "${PROJECT}/docker-compose.yml" \
-  "$@"
+  "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/start-project b/scripts/start-project
index 1a4991ba6..16057b2bb 100755
--- a/scripts/start-project
+++ b/scripts/start-project
@@ -4,20 +4,38 @@ CMD=$0
 DIR=$(dirname "$CMD")
 BASE_DIR=$(dirname "$DIR")
 
-PROJECT_NAME=${1:-demo}
-HOST_NAME=${2:-openbalena.local}
+PROJECT_NAME=demo
+DOMAIN=openbalena.local
+
+show_help=false
+patch_hosts=false
+while getopts ":hpP:H:" opt; do
+    case "${opt}" in
+        h) show_help=true;;
+        p) patch_hosts=true;;
+        P) PROJECT_NAME="${OPTARG}";;
+        H) DOMAIN="${OPTARG}";;
+    esac
+done
+shift $((OPTIND-1))
 
 PROJECT_DIR="$(pwd)/${PROJECT_NAME}"
 CERTS_DIR="${PROJECT_DIR}/certs"
 
 usage() {
-  echo "usage: $0 [PROJECT_NAME [HOST_NAME]]"
+  echo "usage: $0 [-h] [-p] [-n PROJECT_NAME] [-d DOMAIN]"
   echo
+  echo "  -p            patch hosts - patch the host /etc/hosts file"
   echo "  PROJECT_NAME  a name for the deployment, eg. staging. Default is 'demo'"
-  echo "  HOST_NAME     the domain name this deployment will run as, eg. example.com. Default is 'openbalena.local'"
+  echo "  DOMAIN     the domain name this deployment will run as, eg. example.com. Default is 'openbalena.local'"
   echo
 }
 
+if [ "$show_help" = "true" ]; then
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 echo_bold() {
   printf "\033[1m%s\033[0m\n" "${@}"
 }
@@ -31,16 +49,16 @@ echo_bold "==> Creating new project at: $PROJECT_DIR"
 mkdir -p "$PROJECT_DIR" "$CERTS_DIR"
 
 echo_bold "==> Generating root CA cert..."
-source "${DIR}/gen-root-ca" "${HOST_NAME}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
+source "${DIR}/gen-root-ca" "${DOMAIN}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
 
 echo_bold "==> Generating root cert chain for haproxy..."
-source "${DIR}/gen-root-cert" "${HOST_NAME}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
+source "${DIR}/gen-root-cert" "${DOMAIN}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
 
 echo_bold "==> Generating token auth cert..."
-source "${DIR}/gen-token-auth-cert" "${HOST_NAME}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
+source "${DIR}/gen-token-auth-cert" "${DOMAIN}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
 
 echo_bold "==> Generating VPN CA, cert and dhparam (this may take a while)..."
-source "${DIR}/gen-vpn-certs" "${HOST_NAME}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
+source "${DIR}/gen-vpn-certs" "${DOMAIN}" "${CERTS_DIR}"
 
 echo_bold "==> Setting up environment..."
 cat >"${PROJECT_DIR}/activate" <(source "${DIR}/make-env")
@@ -48,9 +66,10 @@ cat >"${PROJECT_DIR}/activate" <(source "${DIR}/make-env")
 echo_bold "==> Adding default compose file..."
 cp "${BASE_DIR}/compose/template.yml" "${PROJECT_DIR}/docker-compose.yml"
 
-# FIXME: should be explicitly requested via a flag
-echo_bold "==> Patching /etc/hosts..."
-"${DIR}/patch-hosts" $HOST_NAME
+if [ "${patch_hosts}" = "true" ]; then
+    echo_bold "==> Patching /etc/hosts..."
+    source "${DIR}/patch-hosts" "${DOMAIN}"
+fi
 
 echo_bold "==> Activating project..."
 "${DIR}/select-project" "${PROJECT_DIR}"
\ No newline at end of file