diff --git a/src/clients/mod.rs b/src/clients/mod.rs
index 08be8de478..d2da563ec0 100644
--- a/src/clients/mod.rs
+++ b/src/clients/mod.rs
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ pub struct NymClient {
     // to be used by "send" function or socket, etc
     input_rx: mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<InputMessage>,
     socket_listening_address: SocketAddr,
-    is_local: bool,
+    directory: String,
     auth_token: Option<AuthToken>,
     socket_type: SocketType,
 }
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ impl NymClient {
     pub fn new(
         address: DestinationAddressBytes,
         socket_listening_address: SocketAddr,
-        is_local: bool,
+        directory: String,
         auth_token: Option<AuthToken>,
         socket_type: SocketType,
     ) -> Self {
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ impl NymClient {
             input_tx,
             input_rx,
             socket_listening_address,
-            is_local,
+            directory,
             auth_token,
             socket_type,
         }
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ impl NymClient {
         println!("Starting nym client");
         let mut rt = Runtime::new()?;
 
-        let topology = get_topology(self.is_local);
+        let topology = get_topology(self.directory.clone());
         // this is temporary and assumes there exists only a single provider.
         let provider_address: SocketAddr = topology
             .mix_provider_nodes
diff --git a/src/commands/tcpsocket.rs b/src/commands/tcpsocket.rs
index 8c160a5ee0..d609f00d1b 100644
--- a/src/commands/tcpsocket.rs
+++ b/src/commands/tcpsocket.rs
@@ -9,13 +9,17 @@ use std::net::ToSocketAddrs;
 pub fn execute(matches: &ArgMatches) {
     println!("{}", banner());
 
-    let is_local = matches.is_present("local");
     let id = matches.value_of("id").unwrap().to_string();
     let port = match matches.value_of("port").unwrap_or("9001").parse::<u16>() {
         Ok(n) => n,
         Err(err) => panic!("Invalid port value provided - {:?}", err),
     };
 
+    let directory_server = matches
+        .value_of("directory")
+        .unwrap_or("https://directory.nymtech.net")
+        .to_string();
+
     println!("Starting TCP socket on port: {:?}", port);
     println!("Listening for messages...");
 
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@ pub fn execute(matches: &ArgMatches) {
     let client = NymClient::new(
         keypair.public_bytes(),
         socket_address.clone(),
-        is_local,
+        directory_server,
         auth_token,
         SocketType::TCP,
     );
diff --git a/src/commands/websocket.rs b/src/commands/websocket.rs
index 913417c31e..1b8ccd69b2 100644
--- a/src/commands/websocket.rs
+++ b/src/commands/websocket.rs
@@ -8,13 +8,17 @@ use std::net::ToSocketAddrs;
 pub fn execute(matches: &ArgMatches) {
     println!("{}", banner());
 
-    let is_local = matches.is_present("local");
     let id = matches.value_of("id").unwrap().to_string();
     let port = match matches.value_of("port").unwrap_or("9001").parse::<u16>() {
         Ok(n) => n,
         Err(err) => panic!("Invalid port value provided - {:?}", err),
     };
 
+    let directory_server = matches
+        .value_of("directory")
+        .unwrap_or("https://directory.nymtech.net")
+        .to_string();
+
     println!("Starting websocket on port: {:?}", port);
     println!("Listening for messages...");
 
@@ -30,7 +34,7 @@ pub fn execute(matches: &ArgMatches) {
     let client = NymClient::new(
         keypair.public_bytes(),
         socket_address,
-        is_local,
+        directory_server,
         auth_token,
         SocketType::WebSocket,
     );
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index a753b97a82..6d73a64713 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -37,10 +37,11 @@ fn main() {
                     .takes_value(true)
                     .required(true)
                 )
-                .arg(Arg::with_name("local")
-                    .long("local")
-                    .help("Flag to indicate whether the client is expected to run on the local deployment.")
-                    .takes_value(false)
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("directory")
+                        .long("directory")
+                        .help("Address of the directory server the client is getting topology from")
+                        .takes_value(true),
                 )
         )
         .subcommand(
@@ -54,10 +55,11 @@ fn main() {
                         .takes_value(true)
                         .required(true),
                 )
-                .arg(Arg::with_name("local")
-                    .long("local")
-                    .help("Flag to indicate whether the client is expected to run on the local deployment.")
-                    .takes_value(false)
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("directory")
+                        .long("directory")
+                        .help("Address of the directory server the client is getting topology from")
+                        .takes_value(true),
                 )
                 .arg(Arg::with_name("id")
                     .long("id")
@@ -76,10 +78,11 @@ fn main() {
                         .help("Port for websocket to listen on")
                         .takes_value(true)
                 )
-                .arg(Arg::with_name("local")
-                    .long("local")
-                    .help("Flag to indicate whether the client is expected to run on the local deployment.")
-                    .takes_value(false)
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("directory")
+                        .long("directory")
+                        .help("Address of the directory server the client is getting topology from")
+                        .takes_value(true),
                 )
                 .arg(Arg::with_name("id")
                     .long("id")
diff --git a/src/utils/topology.rs b/src/utils/topology.rs
index 08eb1ab5e1..5e11de7aa7 100644
--- a/src/utils/topology.rs
+++ b/src/utils/topology.rs
@@ -5,22 +5,16 @@ use crate::clients::directory::requests::presence_topology_get::PresenceTopology
 use crate::clients::directory::DirectoryClient;
 use crate::utils::{addressing, bytes};
 use curve25519_dalek::montgomery::MontgomeryPoint;
-use futures::AsyncReadExt;
 use rand::seq::SliceRandom;
 use sphinx::route::Node as SphinxNode;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
-use std::convert::TryFrom;
-use std::net::{IpAddr, SocketAddr};
-use std::string::ToString;
+use std::net::SocketAddr;
 
-pub(crate) fn get_topology(is_local: bool) -> Topology {
-    let url = if is_local {
-        "http://localhost:8080".to_string()
-    } else {
-        "https://directory.nymtech.net".to_string()
+pub(crate) fn get_topology(directory_server: String) -> Topology {
+    println!("Using directory server: {:?}", directory_server);
+    let directory_config = directory::Config {
+        base_url: directory_server,
     };
-    println!("Using directory server: {:?}", url);
-    let directory_config = directory::Config { base_url: url };
     let directory = directory::Client::new(directory_config);
 
     let topology = directory