diff --git a/cmd/check.go b/cmd/check.go
index 6b39391..7d3aced 100644
--- a/cmd/check.go
+++ b/cmd/check.go
@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@ var checkCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 var checkBoxCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "boxes <boxId> [...<boxIds>]",
-	Short: "one-off check on one or more box IDs",
-	Long:  "specify box IDs to check them for events",
-	Args:  BoxIdValidator,
+	Use:     "boxes <boxId> [...<boxIds>]",
+	Aliases: []string{"box"},
+	Short:   "one-off check on one or more box IDs",
+	Long:    "specify box IDs to check them for events",
+	Args:    BoxIdValidator,
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		cmd.SilenceUsage = true
 		return checkAndNotify(args)
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 268be71..32638e7 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -41,14 +41,19 @@ func init() {
 		shouldNotify bool
 		debug        bool
 		logFormat    string
+		api          string
 	)
 
 	cobra.OnInitialize(initConfig)
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&cfgFile, "config", "c", "", "path to config file (default $HOME/.osem_notify.yml)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&api, "api", "a", "https://api.opensensemap.org", "openSenseMap API to query against")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&logFormat, "logformat", "l", "plain", "log format, can be plain or json")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&debug, "debug", "d", false, "enable verbose logging")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&shouldNotify, "notify", "n", false, "if set, will send out notifications.\nOtherwise results are printed to stdout only")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&shouldNotify, "notify", "n", false, `if set, will send out notifications.
+Otherwise results are printed to stdout only.
+You might want to run 'osem_notify debug notifications' first to verify everything works.
+`)
 
 	viper.BindPFlags(rootCmd.PersistentFlags()) // let flags override config
 }
diff --git a/cmd/watch.go b/cmd/watch.go
index 9db9dce..747b99e 100644
--- a/cmd/watch.go
+++ b/cmd/watch.go
@@ -4,14 +4,20 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
-var watchInterval int
 var ticker <-chan time.Time
 
 func init() {
-	watchCmd.AddCommand(watchBoxesCmd)
+	var (
+		watchInterval int
+	)
+
 	watchCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&watchInterval, "interval", "i", 15, "interval to run checks in minutes")
+	viper.BindPFlags(watchCmd.PersistentFlags())
+
+	watchCmd.AddCommand(watchBoxesCmd)
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(watchCmd)
 }
 
@@ -23,12 +29,14 @@ var watchCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 var watchBoxesCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "boxes <boxId> [...<boxIds>]",
-	Short: "watch a list of box IDs for events",
-	Long:  "specify box IDs to watch them for events",
-	Args:  BoxIdValidator,
+	Use:     "boxes <boxId> [...<boxIds>]",
+	Aliases: []string{"box"},
+	Short:   "watch a list of box IDs for events",
+	Long:    "specify box IDs to watch them for events",
+	Args:    BoxIdValidator,
 	PreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		ticker = time.NewTicker(time.Duration(watchInterval) * time.Minute).C
+		interval := viper.GetDuration("interval") * time.Minute
+		ticker = time.NewTicker(interval).C
 	},
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		cmd.SilenceUsage = true
diff --git a/core/BoxCheckResults.go b/core/BoxCheckResults.go
index f2c8c7a..328d102 100644
--- a/core/BoxCheckResults.go
+++ b/core/BoxCheckResults.go
@@ -161,8 +161,10 @@ func checkBox(boxId string, defaultConf *NotifyConfig) (*Box, []CheckResult, err
 	boxLogger := log.WithFields(log.Fields{"boxId": boxId})
 	boxLogger.Info("checking box for events")
 
+	osem := NewOsemClient(viper.GetString("api"))
+
 	// get box data
-	box, err := Osem.GetBox(boxId)
+	box, err := osem.GetBox(boxId)
 	if err != nil {
 		boxLogger.Error(err)
 		return nil, nil, err
diff --git a/core/OsemClient.go b/core/OsemClient.go
index c8bae5e..65d4ec5 100644
--- a/core/OsemClient.go
+++ b/core/OsemClient.go
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ type OsemClient struct {
 	sling *sling.Sling
 }
 
-func NewOsemClient(client *http.Client) *OsemClient {
+func NewOsemClient(endpoint string) *OsemClient {
 	return &OsemClient{
-		sling: sling.New().Client(client).Base("https://api.opensensemap.org/"),
+		sling: sling.New().Client(&http.Client{}).Base(endpoint),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -32,4 +32,3 @@ func (client *OsemClient) GetBox(boxId string) (*Box, error) {
 	return box, nil
 }
 
-var Osem = NewOsemClient(&http.Client{}) // default client