diff --git a/Earthfile b/Earthfile
index 43a93cd87..66e1b15f7 100644
--- a/Earthfile
+++ b/Earthfile
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ pelias-config:
     WORKDIR ./generate_config
 
     RUN yarn install && yarn build
-    RUN bin/generate-pelias-config "${area}" "${countries}" < areas.csv > pelias.json
+    RUN bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv "${area}" "${countries}" > pelias.json
     SAVE ARTIFACT pelias.json /pelias.json
 
 pelias-import-base:
diff --git a/services/pelias/generate_config/README.md b/services/pelias/generate_config/README.md
index ca3fe6cd4..646a680d5 100644
--- a/services/pelias/generate_config/README.md
+++ b/services/pelias/generate_config/README.md
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ npm run build
 ## Usage
 
 ```
-bin/generate-pelias-config < areas.csv [area] [optional Country Code]
-bin/generate-pelias-config < areas.csv Seattle
-bin/generate-pelias-config < areas.csv Seattle CA
-bin/generate-pelias-config < areas.csv Seattle "US CA"
-bin/generate-pelias-config < areas.csv planet-v1.26 ALL
+bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv [area] [optional Country Code]
+bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv Seattle
+bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv Seattle CA
+bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv Seattle "US CA"
+bin/generate-pelias-config areas.csv planet-v1.26 ALL
 ```
diff --git a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/Area.ts b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/Area.ts
index 53e2f62ff..403fab608 100644
--- a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/Area.ts
+++ b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/Area.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import * as defaultConfig from "./defaultConfig.json";
+import { default as defaultConfig } from "./defaultConfig.json";
 import { PeliasConfig } from "./index";
 
 type ImportsConfig = {
diff --git a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.test.ts b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.test.ts
index 9e54942f1..e352e81d0 100644
--- a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.test.ts
+++ b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import * as path from "path";
 test("guesses country when missing", () => {
   const inputPath = path.join(path.resolve(__dirname), "../areas.csv");
   const input = readFileSync(inputPath, "utf-8");
-  const config = generate(input, { area: "Seattle", countries: [] });
+  const config = generate(input, "Seattle", []);
   expect(config["imports"]["whosonfirst"]).toEqual({
     countryCode: ["US"],
     datapath: "/data/whosonfirst",
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ test("guesses country when missing", () => {
 test("use country when specified", () => {
   const inputPath = path.join(path.resolve(__dirname), "../areas.csv");
   const input = readFileSync(inputPath, "utf-8");
-  const config = generate(input, { area: "Seattle", countries: ["CA"] });
+  const config = generate(input, "Seattle", ["CA"]);
   expect(config["imports"]["whosonfirst"]).toEqual({
     countryCode: ["CA"],
     datapath: "/data/whosonfirst",
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ test("use country when specified", () => {
 test("unknown area", () => {
   const inputPath = path.join(path.resolve(__dirname), "../areas.csv");
   const input = readFileSync(inputPath, "utf-8");
-  const config = generate(input, { area: "planet-v1.26", countries: ["ALL"] });
+  const config = generate(input, "planet-v1.26", ["ALL"]);
   expect(config["imports"]["whosonfirst"]).toEqual({
     datapath: "/data/whosonfirst",
     importPostalcodes: true,
diff --git a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.ts b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.ts
index dff884853..590fdd621 100644
--- a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.ts
+++ b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/index.ts
@@ -1,40 +1,27 @@
 import { parse } from "csv-parse/sync";
 import Area from "./Area";
 
-type Args = {
-  area: string;
-  countries: string[];
-};
-
 // TODO: add types
 export type PeliasConfig = any; // eslint-disable-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 
-export function parseArgs(): Args {
-  const args = process.argv.slice(2);
-
-  const area = args[0];
-  if (!area) {
-    throw Error("Missing area arg");
-  }
-
-  const countries = args.slice(1);
-  return { area, countries };
-}
-
-export function generate(input: string, args: Args): PeliasConfig {
+export function generate(
+  input: string,
+  areaName: string,
+  countries: string[],
+): PeliasConfig {
   const area = (() => {
     for (const record of parse(input, { columns: true })) {
       const area = Area.fromRecord(record);
-      if (area.name != args.area) {
+      if (area.name != areaName) {
         continue;
       }
 
-      if (args.countries.length > 0) {
-        area.countryCodes = args.countries;
+      if (countries.length > 0) {
+        area.countryCodes = countries;
       }
       return area;
     }
-    return new Area(args.area, args.countries, []);
+    return new Area(areaName, countries, []);
   })();
 
   return area.peliasConfig();
diff --git a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/scripts/generatePeliasConfig.ts b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/scripts/generatePeliasConfig.ts
index e8e630dea..615572b23 100644
--- a/services/pelias/generate_config/src/scripts/generatePeliasConfig.ts
+++ b/services/pelias/generate_config/src/scripts/generatePeliasConfig.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,28 @@
-import { generate, parseArgs } from "../index";
+import { generate } from "../index";
 import { readFileSync } from "fs";
 
-const config = generate(readFileSync(0, "utf-8"), parseArgs());
+export function parseArgs(args: string[]): [string, string, string[]] {
+  const USAGE = `ARGS: \n <inputPath> <area> [<countries ...>]`;
+
+  const inputPath = args.shift();
+  if (!inputPath) {
+    console.error(USAGE);
+    throw Error("Missing `inputPath` arg");
+  }
+
+  const area = args.shift();
+  if (!area) {
+    console.error(USAGE);
+    throw Error("Missing `area` arg");
+  }
+
+  const countries = args;
+  return [inputPath, area, countries];
+}
+
+// Get just the args from `node $cmd [args...]`
+const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+const [inputPath, area, countries] = parseArgs(args);
+const input = readFileSync(inputPath, "utf-8");
+const config = generate(input, area, countries);
 console.log(JSON.stringify(config, undefined, 2));