diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index f70aa62..545bceb 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -2,7 +2,13 @@
 
 ## 3.1.1 (not yet released)
 
-(nothing yet)
+- `triton --accept-version VER` hidden top-level option for development. This
+  allows calling the target cloudapi with the given value for the
+  "Accept-Version" header -- which is how CloudAPI does API versioning.
+  By default `triton` is coded to a particular cloudapi version range, so
+  forcing a different version *could* result in breaking in the triton client
+  code that handles the response. IOW, this is just a tool for developers
+  of this Triton client and CloudAPI itself.
 
 
 ## 3.1.0
diff --git a/lib/cli.js b/lib/cli.js
index c04e0ac..5f4d401 100644
--- a/lib/cli.js
+++ b/lib/cli.js
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ var OPTIONS = [
         type: 'string',
         help: 'SSH key fingerprint. Environment: TRITON_KEY_ID=FINGERPRINT ' +
             'or SDC_KEY_ID=FINGERPRINT.',
-        helpArg: 'FINGERPRINT'
+        helpArg: 'FP'
     },
     {
         names: ['url', 'U'],
@@ -127,6 +127,18 @@ var OPTIONS = [
             'TRITON_TLS_INSECURE=1, SDC_TLS_INSECURE=1 (or the deprecated ' +
             'SDC_TESTING=1).',
         'default': false
+    },
+    {
+        names: ['accept-version'],
+        type: 'string',
+        helpArg: 'VER',
+        help: 'A cloudapi API version, or semver range, to attempt to use. ' +
+            'This is passed in the "Accept-Version" header. ' +
+            'See `triton cloudapi /--ping` to list supported versions. ' +
+            'The default is "' + tritonapi.CLOUDAPI_ACCEPT_VERSION + '". ' +
+            '*This is intended for development use only. It could cause ' +
+            '`triton` processing of responses to break.*',
+        hidden: true
     }
 ];
 
@@ -253,13 +265,20 @@ CLI.prototype.init = function (opts, args, callback) {
 CLI.prototype._applyProfileOverrides =
         function _applyProfileOverrides(profile) {
     var self = this;
-    ['account', 'user', 'url', 'keyId', 'insecure'].forEach(function (field) {
+    [
+        {oname: 'account', pname: 'account'},
+        {oname: 'user', pname: 'user'},
+        {oname: 'url', pname: 'url'},
+        {oname: 'keyId', pname: 'keyId'},
+        {oname: 'insecure', pname: 'insecure'},
+        {oname: 'accept_version', pname: 'acceptVersion'}
+    ].forEach(function (field) {
         // We need to check `opts._order` to know if boolean opts
         // were specified.
         var specified = self.opts._order.filter(
-            function (opt) { return opt.key === field; }).length > 0;
+            function (opt) { return opt.key === field.oname; }).length > 0;
         if (specified) {
-            profile[field] = self.opts[field];
+            profile[field.pname] = self.opts[field.oname];
         }
     });
 };
diff --git a/lib/tritonapi.js b/lib/tritonapi.js
index 0a4b52e..4340aa6 100644
--- a/lib/tritonapi.js
+++ b/lib/tritonapi.js
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ var errors = require('./errors');
 var loadConfigSync = require('./config').loadConfigSync;
 
 
+// ---- globals
+
+var CLOUDAPI_ACCEPT_VERSION = '~8||~7';
+
+
 
 // ---- internal support stuff
 
@@ -117,8 +122,11 @@ TritonApi.prototype._cloudapiFromProfile =
     assert.optionalString(profile.user, 'profile.user');
     assert.optionalString(profile.privKey, 'profile.privKey');
     assert.optionalBool(profile.insecure, 'profile.insecure');
+    assert.optionalString(profile.acceptVersion, 'profile.acceptVersion');
+
     var rejectUnauthorized = (profile.insecure === undefined
         ? true : !profile.insecure);
+    var acceptVersion = profile.acceptVersion || CLOUDAPI_ACCEPT_VERSION;
 
     var sign;
     if (profile.privKey) {
@@ -139,7 +147,7 @@ TritonApi.prototype._cloudapiFromProfile =
         url: profile.url,
         account: profile.account,
         user: profile.user,
-        version: '*',
+        version: acceptVersion,
         rejectUnauthorized: rejectUnauthorized,
         sign: sign,
         log: this.log
@@ -933,6 +941,9 @@ TritonApi.prototype.deletePolicy = function deletePolicy(opts, cb) {
 
 //---- exports
 
-module.exports.createClient = function (options) {
-    return new TritonApi(options);
+module.exports = {
+    CLOUDAPI_ACCEPT_VERSION: CLOUDAPI_ACCEPT_VERSION,
+    createClient: function createClient(opts) {
+        return new TritonApi(opts);
+    }
 };