diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index ce9199c844254..49db551ae6339 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -77,41 +77,6 @@
 
 using json = nlohmann::ordered_json;
 
-//
-// Environment variable utils
-//
-
-template<typename T>
-static typename std::enable_if<std::is_same<T, std::string>::value, void>::type
-get_env(std::string name, T & target) {
-    char * value = std::getenv(name.c_str());
-    target = value ? std::string(value) : target;
-}
-
-template<typename T>
-static typename std::enable_if<!std::is_same<T, bool>::value && std::is_integral<T>::value, void>::type
-get_env(std::string name, T & target) {
-    char * value = std::getenv(name.c_str());
-    target = value ? std::stoi(value) : target;
-}
-
-template<typename T>
-static typename std::enable_if<std::is_floating_point<T>::value, void>::type
-get_env(std::string name, T & target) {
-    char * value = std::getenv(name.c_str());
-    target = value ? std::stof(value) : target;
-}
-
-template<typename T>
-static typename std::enable_if<std::is_same<T, bool>::value, void>::type
-get_env(std::string name, T & target) {
-    char * value = std::getenv(name.c_str());
-    if (value) {
-        std::string val(value);
-        target = val == "1" || val == "true";
-    }
-}
-
 //
 // CPU utils
 //
@@ -390,6 +355,29 @@ bool gpt_params_parse_ex(int argc, char ** argv, gpt_params & params, std::vecto
         }
     }
 
+    // handle environment variables
+    for (auto & opt : options) {
+        std::string value;
+        if (opt.get_value_from_env(value)) {
+            try {
+                if (opt.handler_void && (value == "1" || value == "true")) {
+                    opt.handler_void();
+                }
+                if (opt.handler_int) {
+                    opt.handler_int(std::stoi(value));
+                }
+                if (opt.handler_string) {
+                    opt.handler_string(value);
+                    continue;
+                }
+            } catch (std::exception & e) {
+                throw std::invalid_argument(format(
+                    "error while handling environment variable \"%s\": %s\n\n", opt.env.c_str(), e.what()));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // handle command line arguments
     auto check_arg = [&](int i) {
         if (i+1 >= argc) {
             throw std::invalid_argument("expected value for argument");
@@ -405,6 +393,9 @@ bool gpt_params_parse_ex(int argc, char ** argv, gpt_params & params, std::vecto
             throw std::invalid_argument(format("error: invalid argument: %s", arg.c_str()));
         }
         auto opt = *arg_to_options[arg];
+        if (opt.has_value_from_env()) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "warn: %s environment variable is set, but will be overwritten by command line argument %s\n", opt.env.c_str(), arg.c_str());
+        }
         try {
             if (opt.handler_void) {
                 opt.handler_void();
@@ -449,10 +440,6 @@ bool gpt_params_parse_ex(int argc, char ** argv, gpt_params & params, std::vecto
 
     gpt_params_handle_model_default(params);
 
-    if (params.hf_token.empty()) {
-        get_env("HF_TOKEN", params.hf_token);
-    }
-
     if (params.escape) {
         string_process_escapes(params.prompt);
         string_process_escapes(params.input_prefix);
@@ -762,7 +749,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
                 params.cpuparams.n_threads = std::thread::hardware_concurrency();
             }
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_THREADS"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-tb", "--threads-batch"}, "N",
         "number of threads to use during batch and prompt processing (default: same as --threads)",
@@ -960,28 +947,28 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](int value) {
             params.n_ctx = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_CTX_SIZE"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-n", "--predict"}, "N",
         format("number of tokens to predict (default: %d, -1 = infinity, -2 = until context filled)", params.n_predict),
         [&params](int value) {
             params.n_predict = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_N_PREDICT"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-b", "--batch-size"}, "N",
         format("logical maximum batch size (default: %d)", params.n_batch),
         [&params](int value) {
             params.n_batch = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_BATCH"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-ub", "--ubatch-size"}, "N",
         format("physical maximum batch size (default: %d)", params.n_ubatch),
         [&params](int value) {
             params.n_ubatch = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_UBATCH"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--keep"}, "N",
         format("number of tokens to keep from the initial prompt (default: %d, -1 = all)", params.n_keep),
@@ -1002,7 +989,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params]() {
             params.flash_attn = true;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_FLASH_ATTN"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-p", "--prompt"}, "PROMPT",
         "prompt to start generation with\n",
@@ -1599,7 +1586,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.defrag_thold = std::stof(value);
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_DEFRAG_THOLD"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-np", "--parallel"}, "N",
         format("number of parallel sequences to decode (default: %d)", params.n_parallel),
@@ -1620,14 +1607,14 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params]() {
             params.cont_batching = true;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_CONT_BATCHING"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-nocb", "--no-cont-batching"},
         "disable continuous batching",
         [&params]() {
             params.cont_batching = false;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_NO_CONT_BATCHING"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--mmproj"}, "FILE",
         "path to a multimodal projector file for LLaVA. see examples/llava/README.md",
@@ -1688,7 +1675,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
                 fprintf(stderr, "warning: see main README.md for information on enabling GPU BLAS support\n");
             }
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_N_GPU_LAYERS"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-ngld", "--gpu-layers-draft"}, "N",
         "number of layers to store in VRAM for the draft model",
@@ -1830,7 +1817,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.model = value;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMMON, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_EXPORT_LORA}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMMON, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_EXPORT_LORA}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_MODEL"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-md", "--model-draft"}, "FNAME",
         "draft model for speculative decoding (default: unused)",
@@ -1844,28 +1831,28 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.model_url = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_MODEL_URL"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-hfr", "--hf-repo"}, "REPO",
         "Hugging Face model repository (default: unused)",
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.hf_repo = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_HF_REPO"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-hff", "--hf-file"}, "FILE",
         "Hugging Face model file (default: unused)",
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.hf_file = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_HF_FILE"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-hft", "--hf-token"}, "TOKEN",
         "Hugging Face access token (default: value from HF_TOKEN environment variable)",
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.hf_token = value;
         }
-    ));
+    ).set_env("HF_TOKEN"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--context-file"}, "FNAME",
         "file to load context from (repeat to specify multiple files)",
@@ -2012,14 +1999,14 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.hostname = value;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_HOST"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--port"}, "PORT",
         format("port to listen (default: %d)", params.port),
         [&params](int value) {
             params.port = value;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_PORT"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--path"}, "PATH",
         format("path to serve static files from (default: %s)", params.public_path.c_str()),
@@ -2028,19 +2015,19 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         }
     ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
-        {"--embedding(s)"},
+        {"--embedding", "--embeddings"},
         format("restrict to only support embedding use case; use only with dedicated embedding models (default: %s)", params.embedding ? "enabled" : "disabled"),
         [&params]() {
             params.embedding = true;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_EMBEDDINGS"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--api-key"}, "KEY",
         "API key to use for authentication (default: none)",
         [&params](std::string value) {
             params.api_keys.push_back(value);
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_API_KEY"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--api-key-file"}, "FNAME",
         "path to file containing API keys (default: none)",
@@ -2086,7 +2073,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params](int value) {
             params.n_threads_http = value;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_THREADS_HTTP"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-spf", "--system-prompt-file"}, "FNAME",
         "set a file to load a system prompt (initial prompt of all slots), this is useful for chat applications",
@@ -2123,14 +2110,14 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
         [&params]() {
             params.endpoint_metrics = true;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_ENDPOINT_METRICS"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--no-slots"},
         format("disables slots monitoring endpoint (default: %s)", params.endpoint_slots ? "enabled" : "disabled"),
         [&params]() {
             params.endpoint_slots = false;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_NO_ENDPOINT_SLOTS"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"--slot-save-path"}, "PATH",
         "path to save slot kv cache (default: disabled)",
@@ -2157,7 +2144,7 @@ std::vector<llama_arg> gpt_params_parser_init(gpt_params & params, llama_example
             }
             params.chat_template = value;
         }
-    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_MAIN, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    ).set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_MAIN, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_CHAT_TEMPLATE"));
     add_opt(llama_arg(
         {"-sps", "--slot-prompt-similarity"}, "SIMILARITY",
         format("how much the prompt of a request must match the prompt of a slot in order to use that slot (default: %.2f, 0.0 = disabled)\n", params.slot_prompt_similarity),
diff --git a/common/common.h b/common/common.h
index 05211bf972764..c6f476ec34586 100644
--- a/common/common.h
+++ b/common/common.h
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ struct llama_arg {
     llama_arg(std::vector<std::string> args, std::string help, std::function<void(void)> handler) : args(args), help(help), handler_void(handler) {}
 
     // support 2 values for arg
+    // note: env variable is not yet support for 2 values
     llama_arg(std::vector<std::string> args, std::string value_hint, std::string value_hint_2, std::string help, std::function<void(std::string, std::string)> handler) : args(args), value_hint(value_hint), value_hint_2(value_hint_2), help(help), handler_str_str(handler) {}
 
     llama_arg & set_examples(std::set<enum llama_example> examples) {
@@ -324,6 +325,7 @@ struct llama_arg {
     }
 
     llama_arg & set_env(std::string env) {
+        help = help + "\n(env: " + env + ")";
         this->env = std::move(env);
         return *this;
     }
@@ -332,6 +334,20 @@ struct llama_arg {
         return examples.find(ex) != examples.end();
     }
 
+    bool get_value_from_env(std::string & output) {
+        if (env.empty()) return false;
+        char * value = std::getenv(env.c_str());
+        if (value) {
+            output = value;
+            return true;
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    bool has_value_from_env() {
+        return std::getenv(env.c_str());
+    }
+
     std::string to_string(bool markdown);
 };
 
diff --git a/tests/test-arg-parser.cpp b/tests/test-arg-parser.cpp
index 8b95a59d39c86..ff1a626c39761 100644
--- a/tests/test-arg-parser.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-arg-parser.cpp
@@ -63,5 +63,29 @@ int main(void) {
     assert(params.n_predict == 6789);
     assert(params.n_batch == 9090);
 
+    printf("test-arg-parser: test environment variables (valid + invalid usages)\n\n");
+
+    setenv("LLAMA_ARG_THREADS", "blah", true);
+    argv = {"binary_name"};
+    assert(false == gpt_params_parse(argv.size(), list_str_to_char(argv).data(), params, options));
+
+    setenv("LLAMA_ARG_MODEL", "blah.gguf", true);
+    setenv("LLAMA_ARG_THREADS", "1010", true);
+    argv = {"binary_name"};
+    assert(true == gpt_params_parse(argv.size(), list_str_to_char(argv).data(), params, options));
+    assert(params.model == "blah.gguf");
+    assert(params.cpuparams.n_threads == 1010);
+
+
+    printf("test-arg-parser: test environment variables being overwritten\n\n");
+
+    setenv("LLAMA_ARG_MODEL", "blah.gguf", true);
+    setenv("LLAMA_ARG_THREADS", "1010", true);
+    argv = {"binary_name", "-m", "overwritten.gguf"};
+    assert(true == gpt_params_parse(argv.size(), list_str_to_char(argv).data(), params, options));
+    assert(params.model == "overwritten.gguf");
+    assert(params.cpuparams.n_threads == 1010);
+
+
     printf("test-arg-parser: all tests OK\n\n");
 }