diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 28acd8a..f29cc4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ healthCheckTimeout: 60
 # Valid log levels: debug, info (default), warn, error
 logLevel: info
 
+# Automatic Port Values
+# use ${PORT} in model.cmd and model.proxy to use an automatic port number
+# when you use ${PORT} you can omit a custom model.proxy value, as it will
+# default to http://localhost:${PORT}
+
+# override the default port (5800) for automatic port values
+startPort: 10001
+
 # define valid model values and the upstream server start
 models:
   "llama":
@@ -83,6 +91,7 @@ models:
       - "CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0"
 
     # where to reach the server started by cmd, make sure the ports match
+    # can be omitted if you use an automatic ${PORT} in cmd
     proxy: http://127.0.0.1:8999
 
     # aliases names to use this model for
@@ -109,14 +118,14 @@ models:
   # but they can still be requested as normal
   "qwen-unlisted":
     unlisted: true
-    cmd: llama-server --port 9999 -m Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf -ngl 0
+    cmd: llama-server --port ${PORT} -m Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf -ngl 0
 
   # Docker Support (v26.1.4+ required!)
   "docker-llama":
-    proxy: "http://127.0.0.1:9790"
+    proxy: "http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}"
     cmd: >
       docker run --name dockertest
-      --init --rm -p 9790:8080 -v /mnt/nvme/models:/models
+      --init --rm -p ${PORT}:8080 -v /mnt/nvme/models:/models
       ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:server
       --model '/models/Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf'
 
diff --git a/proxy/config.go b/proxy/config.go
index 182dc84..e82ffda 100644
--- a/proxy/config.go
+++ b/proxy/config.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/shlex"
@@ -63,6 +64,9 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// map aliases to actual model IDs
 	aliases map[string]string
+
+	// automatic port assignments
+	StartPort int `yaml:"startPort"`
 }
 
 func (c *Config) RealModelName(search string) (string, bool) {
@@ -108,6 +112,14 @@ func LoadConfigFromReader(r io.Reader) (Config, error) {
 		config.HealthCheckTimeout = 15
 	}
 
+	// set default port ranges
+	if config.StartPort == 0 {
+		// default to 5800
+		config.StartPort = 5800
+	} else if config.StartPort < 1 {
+		return Config{}, fmt.Errorf("startPort must be greater than 1")
+	}
+
 	// Populate the aliases map
 	config.aliases = make(map[string]string)
 	for modelName, modelConfig := range config.Models {
@@ -119,6 +131,31 @@ func LoadConfigFromReader(r io.Reader) (Config, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// iterate over the models and replace any ${PORT} with the next available port
+	// Get and sort all model IDs first, makes testing more consistent
+	modelIds := make([]string, 0, len(config.Models))
+	for modelId := range config.Models {
+		modelIds = append(modelIds, modelId)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(modelIds) // This guarantees stable iteration order
+
+	// iterate over the sorted models
+	nextPort := config.StartPort
+	for _, modelId := range modelIds {
+		modelConfig := config.Models[modelId]
+		if strings.Contains(modelConfig.Cmd, "${PORT}") {
+			modelConfig.Cmd = strings.ReplaceAll(modelConfig.Cmd, "${PORT}", strconv.Itoa(nextPort))
+			if modelConfig.Proxy == "" {
+				modelConfig.Proxy = fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%d", nextPort)
+			} else {
+				modelConfig.Proxy = strings.ReplaceAll(modelConfig.Proxy, "${PORT}", strconv.Itoa(nextPort))
+			}
+			nextPort++
+			config.Models[modelId] = modelConfig
+		} else if modelConfig.Proxy == "" {
+			return Config{}, fmt.Errorf("model %s requires a proxy value when not using automatic ${PORT}", modelId)
+		}
+	}
 	config = AddDefaultGroupToConfig(config)
 	// check that members are all unique in the groups
 	memberUsage := make(map[string]string) // maps member to group it appears in
diff --git a/proxy/config_test.go b/proxy/config_test.go
index bb0ce5a..6cff42d 100644
--- a/proxy/config_test.go
+++ b/proxy/config_test.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ models:
     checkEndpoint: "/"
   model4:
     cmd: path/to/cmd --arg1 one
+    proxy: "http://localhost:8082"
     checkEndpoint: "/"
 
 healthCheckTimeout: 15
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ groups:
 	}
 
 	expected := Config{
+		StartPort: 5800,
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": {
 				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
@@ -98,6 +100,7 @@ groups:
 			},
 			"model4": {
 				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8082",
 				CheckEndpoint: "/",
 			},
 		},
@@ -166,8 +169,9 @@ groups:
 `
 	// Load the config and verify
 	_, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
-	assert.Equal(t, "model member model2 is used in multiple groups: group1 and group2", err.Error())
 
+	// a Contains as order of the map is not guaranteed
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "model member model2 is used in multiple groups:")
 }
 
 func TestConfig_ModelAliasesAreUnique(t *testing.T) {
@@ -186,10 +190,12 @@ models:
       - m1
       - m2
 `
-
 	// Load the config and verify
 	_, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
-	assert.Equal(t, "duplicate alias m1 found in model: model2", err.Error())
+
+	// this is a contains because it could be `model1` or `model2` depending on the order
+	// go decided on the order of the map
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "duplicate alias m1 found in model: model")
 }
 
 func TestConfig_ModelConfigSanitizedCommand(t *testing.T) {
@@ -279,3 +285,77 @@ func TestConfig_SanitizeCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Nil(t, args)
 }
+
+func TestConfig_AutomaticPortAssignments(t *testing.T) {
+
+	t.Run("Default Port Ranges", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := ``
+		config, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 5800, config.StartPort)
+	})
+	t.Run("User specific port ranges", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := `startPort: 1000`
+		config, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 1000, config.StartPort)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Invalid start port", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := `startPort: abcd`
+		_, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		assert.NotNil(t, err)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("start port must be greater than 1", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := `startPort: -99`
+		_, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		assert.NotNil(t, err)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Automatic port assignments", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := `
+startPort: 5800
+models:
+  model1:
+    cmd: svr --port ${PORT}
+  model2:
+    cmd: svr --port ${PORT}
+    proxy: "http://172.11.22.33:${PORT}"
+  model3:
+    cmd: svr --port 1999
+    proxy: "http://1.2.3.4:1999"
+`
+		config, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 5800, config.StartPort)
+		assert.Equal(t, "svr --port 5800", config.Models["model1"].Cmd)
+		assert.Equal(t, "http://localhost:5800", config.Models["model1"].Proxy)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, "svr --port 5801", config.Models["model2"].Cmd)
+		assert.Equal(t, "http://172.11.22.33:5801", config.Models["model2"].Proxy)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, "svr --port 1999", config.Models["model3"].Cmd)
+		assert.Equal(t, "http://1.2.3.4:1999", config.Models["model3"].Proxy)
+
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Proxy value required if no ${PORT} in cmd", func(t *testing.T) {
+		content := `
+models:
+  model1:
+    cmd: svr --port 111
+`
+		_, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+		assert.Equal(t, "model model1 requires a proxy value when not using automatic ${PORT}", err.Error())
+	})
+}