diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index d6c58e63d..4e9c484ae 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ def voila_args_extra():
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def voila_args(voila_notebook, voila_args_extra):
-    return [voila_notebook, '--VoilaApp.log_level=DEBUG'] + voila_args_extra
+    debug_args = ['--VoilaTest.log_level=DEBUG'] if os.environ.get('VOILA_TEST_DEBUG', False) else []
+    return [voila_notebook] + voila_args_extra + debug_args
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/template_cli_test.py b/tests/template_cli_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb0860a66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/template_cli_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# tests programmatic config of template sytem
+import pytest
+import os
+
+BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def voila_args_extra():
+    path_gridstack = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, '../share/jupyter/voila/template/gridstack/nbconvert_templates'))
+    path_default = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, '../share/jupyter/voila/template/default/nbconvert_templates'))
+    return ['--template=None', '--Voila.nbconvert_template_paths=[%r, %r]' % (path_gridstack, path_default)] 
+
+
+@pytest.mark.gen_test
+def test_template_gridstack(http_client, base_url):
+    response = yield http_client.fetch(base_url)
+    assert response.code == 200
+    assert 'gridstack.css' in response.body.decode('utf-8')
+    assert 'Hi Voila' in response.body.decode('utf-8')
diff --git a/voila/app.py b/voila/app.py
index 55ff488ae..4c23b5ef4 100644
--- a/voila/app.py
+++ b/voila/app.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import tornado.web
 
 from traitlets.config.application import Application
-from traitlets import Unicode, Integer, Bool, default
+from traitlets import Unicode, Integer, Bool, List, default
 
 from jupyter_server.services.kernels.kernelmanager import MappingKernelManager
 from jupyter_server.services.kernels.handlers import KernelHandler, ZMQChannelsHandler
@@ -101,6 +101,39 @@ class Voila(Application):
         )
     )
 
+    notebook_path = Unicode(
+        None,
+        config=True,
+        allow_none=True,
+        help=(
+            'path to notebook to serve with voila')
+    )
+
+    nbconvert_template_paths = List(
+        [],
+        config=True,
+        help=(
+            'path to nbconvert templates'
+        )
+    )
+
+    template_paths = List(
+        [],
+        allow_none=True,
+        config=True,
+        help=(
+            'path to nbconvert templates'
+        )
+    )
+
+    static_paths = List(
+        [STATIC_ROOT],
+        config=True,
+        help=(
+            'paths to static assets'
+        )
+    )
+
     @default('connection_dir_root')
     def _default_connection_dir(self):
         connection_dir = tempfile.gettempdir()
@@ -138,20 +171,19 @@ def initialize(self, argv=None):
 
     def parse_command_line(self, argv=None):
         super(Voila, self).parse_command_line(argv)
-        self.notebook_path = self.extra_args[0] if len(self.extra_args) == 1 else None
-        self.nbconvert_template_paths = []
-        self.template_paths = []
-        self.static_paths = [self.static_root]
+
+    def setup_template_dirs(self):
+        self.notebook_path = self.notebook_path if self.notebook_path else self.extra_args[0] if len(self.extra_args) == 1 else None
         if self.template:
             collect_template_paths(
                 self.nbconvert_template_paths,
                 self.static_paths,
                 self.template_paths,
                 self.template)
-            self.log.debug('using template: %s', self.template)
-            self.log.debug('nbconvert template paths: %s', self.nbconvert_template_paths)
-            self.log.debug('template paths: %s', self.template_paths)
-            self.log.debug('static paths: %s', self.static_paths)
+        self.log.debug('using template: %s', self.template)
+        self.log.debug('nbconvert template paths: %s', self.nbconvert_template_paths)
+        self.log.debug('template paths: %s', self.template_paths)
+        self.log.debug('static paths: %s', self.static_paths)
         if self.notebook_path and not os.path.exists(self.notebook_path):
             raise ValueError('Notebook not found: %s' % self.notebook_path)
 
@@ -160,6 +192,7 @@ def _handle_signal_stop(self, sig, frame):
         self.ioloop.add_callback_from_signal(self.ioloop.stop)
 
     def start(self):
+        self.setup_template_dirs()
         self.connection_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(
             prefix='voila_',
             dir=self.connection_dir_root