diff --git a/cmd/debug.go b/cmd/debug.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ef4c06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/debug.go
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/noerw/osem_notify/core"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	debugCmd.AddCommand(debugNotificationsCmd)
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(debugCmd)
+}
+
+var debugCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "debug",
+	Short: "Run some debugging checks on osem_notify itself",
+	Long:  "osem_notify debug <feature> tests the functionality of the given feature",
+	PersistentPreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
+	},
+	PersistentPostRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		printConfig()
+	},
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		cmd.Help()
+	},
+}
+
+var debugNotificationsCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "notifications",
+	Short: "Verify that notifications are working",
+	Long:  "osem_notify debug <feature> tests the functionality of the given feature",
+	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		defaultNotifyConf := &core.NotifyConfig{}
+		err := viper.UnmarshalKey("defaultHealthchecks", defaultNotifyConf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		for transport, notifier := range core.Notifiers {
+			notLog := log.WithField("transport", transport)
+			opts := defaultNotifyConf.Notifications.Options
+			notLog.Infof("testing notifer %s with options %v", transport, opts)
+			n, err := notifier.New(opts)
+			if err != nil {
+				notLog.Warnf("could not initialize %s notifier. configuration might be missing?", transport)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			host, _ := os.Hostname()
+			err = n.Submit(core.Notification{
+				Subject: "Test notification from opeSenseMap notifier",
+				Body:    fmt.Sprintf("Your notification set up on %s is working fine!", host),
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				notLog.Warnf("could not submit test notification for %s notifier!", transport)
+				continue
+			}
+			notLog.Info("Test notification (successfully?) submitted, check the specified inbox")
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	},
+}
diff --git a/core/notifier_email.go b/core/notifier_email.go
index 706d0a1..fdc7a0f 100644
--- a/core/notifier_email.go
+++ b/core/notifier_email.go
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ func (n EmailNotifier) ComposeNotification(box *Box, checks []CheckResult) Notif
 	}
 
 	return Notification{
-		subject: fmt.Sprintf("Issues with your box \"%s\" on opensensemap.org!", box.Name),
-		body: fmt.Sprintf("A check at %s identified the following issue(s) with your box %s:\n\n%s\n\nYou may visit https://opensensemap.org/explore/%s for more details.\n\n--\nSent automatically by osem_notify (https://github.com/noerw/osem_notify)",
+		Subject: fmt.Sprintf("Issues with your box \"%s\" on opensensemap.org!", box.Name),
+		Body: fmt.Sprintf("A check at %s identified the following issue(s) with your box %s:\n\n%s\n\nYou may visit https://opensensemap.org/explore/%s for more details.\n\n--\nSent automatically by osem_notify (https://github.com/noerw/osem_notify)",
 			time.Now().Round(time.Minute), box.Name, strings.Join(resultTexts, "\n"), box.Id),
 	}
 }
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func (n EmailNotifier) Submit(notification Notification) error {
 	)
 
 	from := viper.GetString("email.from")
-	body := fmt.Sprintf("From: openSenseMap Notifier <%s>\nSubject: %s\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"utf-8\"\n\n%s", from, notification.subject, notification.body)
+	body := fmt.Sprintf("From: openSenseMap Notifier <%s>\nSubject: %s\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"utf-8\"\n\n%s", from, notification.Subject, notification.Body)
 
 	// Connect to the server, authenticate, set the sender and recipient,
 	// and send the email all in one step.
diff --git a/core/notifiers.go b/core/notifiers.go
index 155a667..f2f090c 100644
--- a/core/notifiers.go
+++ b/core/notifiers.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
-var notifiers = map[string]AbstractNotifier{
+var Notifiers = map[string]AbstractNotifier{
 	"email": EmailNotifier{},
 }
 
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ type AbstractNotifier interface {
 }
 
 type Notification struct {
-	body    string
-	subject string
+	Body    string
+	Subject string
 }
 
 //////
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func (box Box) GetNotifier() (AbstractNotifier, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("No notification transport provided")
 	}
 
-	notifier := notifiers[transport]
+	notifier := Notifiers[transport]
 	if notifier == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is not a supported notification transport", transport)
 	}