diff --git a/cli/internal/cli.go b/cli/internal/cli.go
index b7555bdc9..73f47a68c 100644
--- a/cli/internal/cli.go
+++ b/cli/internal/cli.go
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ var NewAppServerFlag = &cli.StringFlag{
 var NoDomainChecks bool
 var NoDomainChecksFlag = &cli.BoolFlag{
 	Name:        "no-domain-checks, D",
-	Usage:       "Disable app domain sanity checks",
+	Usage:       "Disable domain sanity checks",
 	Destination: &NoDomainChecks,
 }
 
diff --git a/cli/server/add.go b/cli/server/add.go
index c4bf6f131..ce8f888ac 100644
--- a/cli/server/add.go
+++ b/cli/server/add.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func cleanUp(domainName string) {
 // Docker manages SSH connection details. These are stored to disk in
 // ~/.docker. Abra can manage this completely for the user, so it's an
 // implementation detail.
-func newContext(c *cli.Context, domainName, username, port string) error {
+func newContext(c *cli.Context, name, host, username, port string) error {
 	store := contextPkg.NewDefaultDockerContextStore()
 	contexts, err := store.Store.List()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ func newContext(c *cli.Context, domainName, username, port string) error {
 	}
 
 	for _, context := range contexts {
-		if context.Name == domainName {
-			logrus.Debugf("context for %s already exists", domainName)
+		if context.Name == name {
+			logrus.Debugf("context for %s already exists", name)
 			return nil
 		}
 	}
 
-	logrus.Debugf("creating context with domain %s, username %s and port %s", domainName, username, port)
+	logrus.Debugf("creating context with name %s, host %s, username %s and port %s", name, host, username, port)
 
-	if err := client.CreateContext(domainName, username, port); err != nil {
+	if err := client.CreateContext(name, host, username, port); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -112,11 +112,16 @@ Abra can then load SSH connection details from this configuratiion with:
 If "--local" is passed, then Abra assumes that the current local server is
 intended as the target server. This is useful when you want to have your entire
 Co-op Cloud config located on the server itself, and not on your local
-developer machine.
+developer machine. The domain is then set to "default".
+
+You can also pass "--no-domain-checks" flag to use any arbitrary name instead
+of a real domain. Host will be resolved with the "hostname" entry of your SSH
+configuration. Checks for a valid online domain will be skipped.
 `,
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		internal.DebugFlag,
 		internal.NoInputFlag,
+		internal.NoDomainChecksFlag,
 		localFlag,
 	},
 	Before:    internal.SubCommandBefore,
@@ -150,23 +155,29 @@ developer machine.
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		if _, err := dns.EnsureIPv4(domainName); err != nil {
-			logrus.Fatal(err)
-		}
-
-		if err := createServerDir(domainName); err != nil {
-			logrus.Fatal(err)
+		if !internal.NoDomainChecks {
+			if _, err := dns.EnsureIPv4(domainName); err != nil {
+				logrus.Fatal(err)
+			}
 		}
 
 		hostConfig, err := sshPkg.GetHostConfig(domainName)
 		if err != nil {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
 		}
+		if hostConfig.Host == "" {
+			hostConfig.Host = domainName
+		}
 
-		if err := newContext(c, domainName, hostConfig.User, hostConfig.Port); err != nil {
+		if err := createServerDir(domainName); err != nil {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
+		if err := newContext(c, domainName, hostConfig.Host, hostConfig.User, hostConfig.Port); err != nil {
+			logrus.Fatal(err)
+			cleanUp(domainName)
+		}
+
 		logrus.Infof("attempting to create client for %s", domainName)
 		if _, err := client.New(domainName); err != nil {
 			cleanUp(domainName)
diff --git a/pkg/client/context.go b/pkg/client/context.go
index f3e6c69d7..f3777c2f8 100644
--- a/pkg/client/context.go
+++ b/pkg/client/context.go
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 type Context = contextStore.Metadata
 
-func CreateContext(contextName string, user string, port string) error {
-	host := contextName
+func CreateContext(contextName string, host string, user string, port string) error {
 	if user != "" {
 		host = fmt.Sprintf("%s@%s", user, host)
 	}