diff --git a/products/jbrowse-cli/README.md b/products/jbrowse-cli/README.md
index 4d565b5f75..b835a24d1f 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-cli/README.md
+++ b/products/jbrowse-cli/README.md
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ OPTIONS
 
   -n, --name=name                       Name of the track. Will be defaulted to the trackId if none specified
 
-  -t, --type=type                       Type of track, by default inferred from track file
+  -t, --trackType=trackType             Type of track, by default inferred from track file
 
   --category=category                   Optional Comma separated string of categories to group tracks
 
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ EXAMPLES
   $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --load copy
   $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --target /path/to/jbrowse2/installation/config.json --load symlink
   $ jbrowse add-track https://mywebsite.com/my.bam
-  $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --type AlignmentsTrack --name 'New Track' --load move
+  $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --trackType AlignmentsTrack --name 'New Track' --load move
   $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --trackId AlignmentsTrack1 --load inPlace --overwrite
   $ jbrowse add-track /path/to/my.bam --config '{"defaultRendering": "density"}'
 ```
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-cli/src/commands/add-track.ts b/products/jbrowse-cli/src/commands/add-track.ts
index 88562b2c5e..7aeb2b649b 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-cli/src/commands/add-track.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-cli/src/commands/add-track.ts
@@ -208,18 +208,18 @@ export default class AddTrack extends JBrowseCommand {
     }
 
     // set up the track information
-    const type = trackType || this.guessTrackType(adapter.type)
+    trackType = trackType || this.guessTrackType(adapter.type)
     trackId = trackId || path.basename(location, path.extname(location))
     name = name || trackId
     assemblyNames = assemblyNames || configContents.assemblies[0].name
     this.debug(`Name is: ${name}`)
-    this.debug(`Type is: ${type}`)
+    this.debug(`Type is: ${trackType}`)
     this.debug(`Track is :${trackId}`)
     this.debug(`Assembly name(s) is :${assemblyNames}`)
 
     const configObj = config ? parseJSON(config) : {}
     const trackConfig: Track = {
-      type,
+      type: trackType,
       trackId,
       name,
       category: category ? category.split(',').map(c => c.trim()) : undefined,
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ export default class AddTrack extends JBrowseCommand {
     }
 
     // any special track modifications go here
-    switch (type) {
+    switch (trackType) {
       case 'AlignmentsTrack': {
         const assembly = configContents.assemblies.find(
           asm => asm.name === assemblyNames,