diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9889c3c..13c8b02 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -83,7 +83,9 @@ The following variables can be set in the environment.
 
 | Name | Description | Default       |
 |-------|------------|---------------|
-| `MCPSERVER_PORT` | Port to run MCP server on, if using http variant | 8089 |
+| `MCPSERVER_PORT` | Port to run MCP server on, if using http variant | `8089` |
+| `MCPSERVER_HOST` | Default host to run MCP server (http) | `0.0.0.0` |
+| `MCPSERVER_PATH` | Default path for server endpoint | `/mcp` |
 | `MCPSERVER_TOKEN` | Token to use for testing | unset |
 
 ## Examples
diff --git a/mcpserver/cli/__init__.py b/mcpserver/cli/__init__.py
index 7ee221e..664bb01 100644
--- a/mcpserver/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/mcpserver/cli/__init__.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 install()
 
 import mcpserver
+from mcpserver.cli.args import populate_start_args
 from mcpserver.logger import setup_logger
 
 default_port = os.environ.get("MCPSERVER_PORT") or 8000
@@ -59,39 +60,7 @@ def get_parser():
         formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter,
         description="generate subsystem metadata for a cluster",
     )
-    start.add_argument(
-        "--port", default=default_port, type=int, help="port to run the agent gateway"
-    )
-
-    # Note from V: SSE is considered deprecated (don't use it...)
-    start.add_argument(
-        "-t",
-        "--transport",
-        default="stdio",
-        help="Transport to use (defaults to stdin)",
-        choices=["stdio", "http", "sse", "streamable-http"],
-    )
-    start.add_argument("--host", default="0.0.0.0", help="Host (defaults to 0.0.0.0)")
-    start.add_argument(
-        "--tool-module",
-        action="append",
-        help="Additional tool module paths to discover from.",
-        default=[],
-    )
-    start.add_argument("--tool", action="append", help="Direct tool to import.", default=[])
-    start.add_argument("--resource", action="append", help="Direct resource to import.", default=[])
-    start.add_argument("--prompt", action="append", help="Direct prompt to import.", default=[])
-    start.add_argument("--include", help="Include tags", action="append", default=None)
-    start.add_argument("--exclude", help="Exclude tag", action="append", default=None)
-    start.add_argument("--path", help="Server path for mcp", default="/mcp")
-    start.add_argument("--config", help="Configuration file for server.")
-
-    start.add_argument(
-        "--mask-error_details",
-        help="Mask error details (for higher security deployments)",
-        action="store_true",
-        default=False,
-    )
+    populate_start_args(start)
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/mcpserver/cli/args.py b/mcpserver/cli/args.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e89426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mcpserver/cli/args.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import os
+
+default_port = os.environ.get("MCPSERVER_PORT") or 8000
+default_host = os.environ.get("MCPSERVER_HOST") or "0.0.0.0"
+default_path = os.environ.get("MCPSERVER_PATH") or "/mcp"
+
+
+def populate_start_args(start):
+    """
+    Given the argparse parser, add start args to it.
+
+    We provide this so a secondary library can consistently
+    add parsing args to its parser.
+    """
+    start.add_argument(
+        "--port", default=default_port, type=int, help="port to run the agent gateway"
+    )
+
+    # Note from V: SSE is considered deprecated (don't use it...)
+    start.add_argument(
+        "-t",
+        "--transport",
+        default="stdio",
+        help="Transport to use (defaults to stdin)",
+        choices=["stdio", "http", "sse", "streamable-http"],
+    )
+    start.add_argument("--host", default=default_host, help=f"Host (defaults to {default_host})")
+    start.add_argument(
+        "--tool-module",
+        action="append",
+        help="Additional tool module paths to discover from.",
+        default=[],
+    )
+    start.add_argument("--tool", action="append", help="Direct tool to import.", default=[])
+    start.add_argument("--resource", action="append", help="Direct resource to import.", default=[])
+    start.add_argument("--prompt", action="append", help="Direct prompt to import.", default=[])
+    start.add_argument("--include", help="Include tags", action="append", default=None)
+    start.add_argument("--exclude", help="Exclude tag", action="append", default=None)
+    start.add_argument("--path", help="Server path for mcp", default=default_path)
+    start.add_argument("--config", help="Configuration file for server.")
+
+    start.add_argument(
+        "--mask-error_details",
+        help="Mask error details (for higher security deployments)",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+    )
diff --git a/mcpserver/cli/manager.py b/mcpserver/cli/manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..025f28f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mcpserver/cli/manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+from mcpserver.core.config import MCPConfig
+from mcpserver.tools.manager import ToolManager
+
+# Discover and register defaults
+manager = ToolManager()
+manager.register()
+
+
+def get_manager(mcp, cfg):
+    """
+    Get the common tool manager and register tools.
+    """
+    # Add additional module paths (custom out of tree modules)
+    for path in cfg.discovery:
+        print(f"🧐 Registering additional module: {path}")
+        manager.register(path)
+
+    # explicit egistration
+    for endpoint in register(mcp, cfg):
+        print(f"   ✅ Registered: {endpoint.name}")
+
+    # Load into the manager (tools, resources, prompts)
+    for tool in manager.load_tools(mcp, cfg.include, cfg.exclude):
+        print(f"   ✅ Registered: {tool.name}")
+
+
+def register(mcp, cfg: MCPConfig):
+    """
+    Registers specific tools, prompts, and resources defined in the config.
+    Replaces the previous args-based register function.
+    """
+    # Define which config lists map to which manager methods
+    registries = [
+        (cfg.tools, manager.register_tool),
+        (cfg.prompts, manager.register_prompt),
+        (cfg.resources, manager.register_resource),
+    ]
+
+    for capability_list, register_func in registries:
+        for item in capability_list:
+            # item is a CapabilityConfig object with .path and .name
+            yield register_func(mcp, item.path, name=item.name)
diff --git a/mcpserver/cli/start.py b/mcpserver/cli/start.py
index 442b6c7..161ade0 100644
--- a/mcpserver/cli/start.py
+++ b/mcpserver/cli/start.py
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 
 from mcpserver.app import init_mcp
+from mcpserver.cli.manager import get_manager
 from mcpserver.core.config import MCPConfig
 
 # These are routes also served here
 from mcpserver.routes import *
-from mcpserver.tools.manager import ToolManager
-
-# Discover and register defaults
-manager = ToolManager()
-manager.register()
 
 
 def main(args, extra, **kwargs):
@@ -23,28 +19,14 @@ def main(args, extra, **kwargs):
     else:
         cfg = MCPConfig.from_args(args)
 
+    # Get the tool manager and register discovered tools
     mcp = init_mcp(cfg.exclude, cfg.include, args.mask_error_details)
+    manager = get_manager(mcp, cfg)
 
     # Create ASGI app from MCP server
     mcp_app = mcp.http_app(path=cfg.server.path)
     app = FastAPI(title="MCP Server", lifespan=mcp_app.lifespan)
 
-    # Dynamic Loading of Tools
-    print(f"🔌 Loading tools... ")
-
-    # Add additional module paths (custom out of tree modules)
-    for path in cfg.discovery:
-        print(f"🧐 Registering additional module: {path}")
-        manager.register(path)
-
-    # explicit egistration
-    for endpoint in register(mcp, cfg):
-        print(f"   ✅ Registered: {endpoint.name}")
-
-    # Load into the manager (tools, resources, prompts)
-    for tool in manager.load_tools(mcp, cfg.include, cfg.exclude):
-        print(f"   ✅ Registered: {tool.name}")
-
     # Mount the MCP server. Note from V: we can use mount with antother FastMCP
     # mcp.run can also be replaced with mcp.run_async
     app.mount("/", mcp_app)
@@ -61,21 +43,3 @@ def main(args, extra, **kwargs):
     # For testing we usually control+C, let's not make it ugly
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         print("🖥️  Shutting down...")
-
-
-def register(mcp, cfg: MCPConfig):
-    """
-    Registers specific tools, prompts, and resources defined in the config.
-    Replaces the previous args-based register function.
-    """
-    # Define which config lists map to which manager methods
-    registries = [
-        (cfg.tools, manager.register_tool),
-        (cfg.prompts, manager.register_prompt),
-        (cfg.resources, manager.register_resource),
-    ]
-
-    for capability_list, register_func in registries:
-        for item in capability_list:
-            # item is a CapabilityConfig object with .path and .name
-            yield register_func(mcp, item.path, name=item.name)
diff --git a/mcpserver/version.py b/mcpserver/version.py
index 04c633d..983fa24 100644
--- a/mcpserver/version.py
+++ b/mcpserver/version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__version__ = "0.0.11"
+__version__ = "0.0.12"
 AUTHOR = "Vanessa Sochat"
 AUTHOR_EMAIL = "vsoch@users.noreply.github.com"
 NAME = "mcp-serve"