diff --git a/cli/ipfs.go b/cli/ipfs.go
index 78253b3b9..7b53e2894 100644
--- a/cli/ipfs.go
+++ b/cli/ipfs.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/gonuts/flag"
 	"github.com/jbenet/commander"
+	config "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/config"
+	core "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/core"
 	u "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/util"
 	"os"
 )
@@ -56,3 +58,13 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	return
 }
+
+func localNode() (*core.IpfsNode, error) {
+	//todo implement config file flag
+	cfg, err := config.LoadConfig("")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return core.NewIpfsNode(cfg)
+}