diff --git a/.github/workflows/madara-commands.yml b/.github/workflows/madara-commands.yml
index 7e8c0b794f..074e93554e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/madara-commands.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/madara-commands.yml
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ jobs:
           target/production/madara key inspect --scheme Ed25519 "${{ steps.key-gen.outputs.SEED_PHRASE }}"
       - name: Add keys to the node keystore
         run: |
-          target/production/madara key insert --scheme Sr25519 --suri "${{ steps.key-gen.outputs.SEED_PHRASE }}" --key-type aura
-          target/production/madara key insert --scheme Ed25519 --suri "${{ steps.key-gen.outputs.SEED_PHRASE }}" --key-type gran
+          target/production/madara key insert --chain=chain-raw.json --scheme Sr25519 --suri "${{ steps.key-gen.outputs.SEED_PHRASE }}" --key-type aura
+          target/production/madara key insert --chain=chain-raw.json --scheme Ed25519 --suri "${{ steps.key-gen.outputs.SEED_PHRASE }}" --key-type gran
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d78174cf1a..c6432e3eb7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Next release
 
+- Fix(node): Fix creating a local testnet with multiple nodes fails using only
+  cli flags
 - dev: change `Vec::new` to `Vec::with_capacity` where possible.
 - chore(rpc): clean trace api
 - feat(rpc): added state diff real value in trace api
diff --git a/crates/node/src/command.rs b/crates/node/src/command.rs
index dec543c15b..2b6df6e8af 100644
--- a/crates/node/src/command.rs
+++ b/crates/node/src/command.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+use std::env;
+use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
 use frame_benchmarking_cli::{BenchmarkCmd, ExtrinsicFactory, SUBSTRATE_REFERENCE_HARDWARE};
 use madara_runtime::Block;
 use sc_cli::{ChainSpec, SubstrateCli};
@@ -10,6 +15,30 @@ use crate::constants::DEV_CHAIN_ID;
 use crate::constants::SHARINGAN_CHAIN_ID;
 use crate::{chain_spec, service};
 
+fn spit_spec_to_json(base_config: impl ChainSpec) -> Result<Box<dyn ChainSpec>, String> {
+    let mut temp_dir = match env::var_os("HOME") {
+        Some(home_dir) => PathBuf::from(home_dir),
+        None => return Err("Failed to get home directory".to_string()),
+    };
+
+    temp_dir.push(".madara");
+
+    fs::create_dir_all(&temp_dir).map_err(|e| format!("Failed to create directory: {}", e))?;
+
+    let temp_file_name = format!("{:?}-spec.json", base_config.chain_type());
+    let temp_file_path = temp_dir.join(temp_file_name);
+
+    let json_config = ChainSpec::as_json(&base_config, true).expect("failed to create json dump of chainspec");
+
+    if temp_file_path.exists() {
+        Ok(Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(temp_file_path.clone())?))
+    } else {
+        let mut file = File::create(&temp_file_path).map_err(|e| format!("Failed to create temporary file: {}", e))?;
+        file.write_all(json_config.as_bytes()).map_err(|e| format!("Failed to write to temporary file: {}", e))?;
+        Ok(Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(temp_file_path)?))
+    }
+}
+
 impl SubstrateCli for Cli {
     fn impl_name() -> String {
         "Madara Node".into()
@@ -36,11 +65,12 @@ impl SubstrateCli for Cli {
     }
 
     fn load_spec(&self, id: &str) -> Result<Box<dyn ChainSpec>, String> {
-        Ok(match id {
+        match id {
             DEV_CHAIN_ID => {
                 let sealing = self.run.sealing.map(Into::into).unwrap_or_default();
                 let base_path = self.run.base_path().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-                Box::new(chain_spec::development_config(sealing, base_path)?)
+                let base_config = chain_spec::development_config(sealing, base_path)?;
+                spit_spec_to_json(base_config)
             }
             #[cfg(feature = "sharingan")]
             SHARINGAN_CHAIN_ID => Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_bytes(
@@ -48,10 +78,11 @@ impl SubstrateCli for Cli {
             )?),
             "" | "local" | "madara-local" => {
                 let base_path = self.run.base_path().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-                Box::new(chain_spec::local_testnet_config(base_path, id)?)
+                let base_config = chain_spec::local_testnet_config(base_path, id)?;
+                spit_spec_to_json(base_config)
             }
-            path_or_url => Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(std::path::PathBuf::from(path_or_url))?),
-        })
+            path_or_url => Ok(Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(std::path::PathBuf::from(path_or_url))?)),
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/run_testnet.sh b/scripts/run_testnet.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e9be101e2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run_testnet.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# Function to kill background processes
+cleanup() {
+    echo "Stopping background processes and removing files..."
+    find . -type f -name "validator_output.txt" -delete
+    find . -type f -name "node_output.txt" -delete
+    kill "$validator_pid" "$node_pid" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+# Trap EXIT signal to ensure cleanup runs on script exit
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+# build release
+cargo build --release
+
+# copy configs from dev
+./target/release/madara setup --from-local ./configs/ --chain=dev --base-path /tmp/alice
+
+# copy configs over from dev
+./target/release/madara setup --from-local ./configs/ --chain=dev --base-path /tmp/node1
+
+# purge validator chain
+./target/release/madara purge-chain --base-path /tmp/alice --chain dev -y
+
+# purge node chain
+./target/release/madara purge-chain --base-path /tmp/node1 --chain dev -y
+
+# run validator in background instance
+./target/release/madara \
+--base-path=/tmp/alice \
+--chain=dev \
+--alice \
+--node-key=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 \
+--validator  > validator_output.txt 2>&1 &
+validator_pid=$!
+
+
+# run node in another background instance
+ ./target/release/madara \
+--chain=dev \
+--bootnodes=/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooWEyoppNCUx8Yx66oV9fJnriXwCcXwDDUA2kj6vnc6iDEp \
+--base-path=/tmp/node1 \
+--rpc-port=9946  > node_output.txt 2>&1 &
+node_pid=$!
+
+# Give some time for the services to start and produce output
+sleep 20
+
+# look for the 1 peer message
+specific_message="1 peers"
+
+# Check if the message is there in the file and fail if not
+if ! grep -q "$specific_message" validator_output.txt; then
+    echo "Node failed to connect to validator"
+    cat validator_output.txt
+    cat node_output.txt
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Validator successfully connected."