diff --git a/cli/packages/cmd/root.go b/cli/packages/cmd/root.go
index 20d49173b..6556a4c29 100644
--- a/cli/packages/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cli/packages/cmd/root.go
@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"os"
 
-	"github.com/Infisical/infisical-merge/packages/config"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"github.com/Infisical/infisical-merge/packages/config"
+	"github.com/Infisical/infisical-merge/packages/util"
 )
 
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -30,7 +32,16 @@ func Execute() {
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolP("toggle", "t", false, "Help message for toggle")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&debugLogging, "debug", "d", false, "Enable verbose logging")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&config.INFISICAL_URL, "domain", "https://app.infisical.com/api", "Point the CLI to your own backend")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&config.INFISICAL_URL, "domain", util.INFISICAL_DEFAULT_API_URL, "Point the CLI to your own backend [can also set via environment variable name: API_URL]")
 	// rootCmd.PersistentPreRun = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	// }
+
+	// if config.INFISICAL_URL is set to the default value, check if INFISICAL_URL is set in the environment
+	// this is used to allow overrides of the default value
+	if !rootCmd.Flag("domain").Changed {
+		if envInfisicalBackendUrl, ok := os.LookupEnv("API_URL"); ok {
+			config.INFISICAL_URL = envInfisicalBackendUrl
+		}
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/cli/packages/config/config.go b/cli/packages/config/config.go
index 5ceb695e6..6c56858e6 100644
--- a/cli/packages/config/config.go
+++ b/cli/packages/config/config.go
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 package config
 
-var INFISICAL_URL = "http://localhost:8080/api"
+var INFISICAL_URL string
diff --git a/cli/packages/util/constants.go b/cli/packages/util/constants.go
index fc7f5d581..1aa98e2a5 100644
--- a/cli/packages/util/constants.go
+++ b/cli/packages/util/constants.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package util
 const (
 	CONFIG_FILE_NAME                     = "infisical-config.json"
 	CONFIG_FOLDER_NAME                   = ".infisical"
+	INFISICAL_DEFAULT_API_URL            = "https://app.infisical.com/api"
 	INFISICAL_WORKSPACE_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = ".infisical.json"
 	INFISICAL_TOKEN_NAME                 = "INFISICAL_TOKEN"
 	SECRET_TYPE_PERSONAL                 = "personal"
diff --git a/docs/cli/overview.mdx b/docs/cli/overview.mdx
index 0c998feb4..390e99982 100644
--- a/docs/cli/overview.mdx
+++ b/docs/cli/overview.mdx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ The Infisical CLI provides a way to inject environment variables from the platfo
     	brew install infisical/get-cli/infisical
     	```
 
-    	## Updates
+    	### Updates
 
     	```bash
     	brew upgrade infisical
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ The Infisical CLI provides a way to inject environment variables from the platfo
     			scoop install infisical
     			```
 
-    		## Updates
+    		### Updates
 
     		```bash
     		scoop update infisical
@@ -99,8 +99,28 @@ The Infisical CLI provides a way to inject environment variables from the platfo
    </Tab>
 </Tabs>
 
-## Log in to the Infisical CLI
+### Log in to the Infisical CLI
 
 ```bash
 infisical login
 ```
+
+<Accordion title="Optional: point CLI to self-hosted">
+The CLI is set to connect to Infisical Cloud by default, but if you're running your own instance of Infisical, you can direct the CLI to it using one of the methods provided below.
+
+#### Export environment variable 
+You can point the CLI to the self hosted Infisical instance by exporting the environment variable `API_URL` in your terminal.
+
+```bash
+# Example
+export API_URL="https://your-self-hosted-infisical.com/api"
+```
+
+#### Set manually on every command
+Another option to point the CLI to your self hosted Infisical instance is to set it via a flag on every command you run.
+
+```bash 
+# Example
+infisical <any-command> --domain="https://your-self-hosted-infisical.com/api"
+```
+</Accordion>