diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 90102a4e4b..505eea6d4b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -39,3 +39,4 @@ local-dev-cluster
 *.test
 *.cache
 /tmp
+.env
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9efaad8db7..30f8882018 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -340,11 +340,11 @@ cluster-sync:
 .PHONY: cluster-sync
 
 cluster-up:
-	./hack/cluster-up.sh
+	./hack/cluster.sh up
 .PHONY: cluster-up
 
 cluster-down:
-	./hack/cluster-down.sh
+	./hack/cluster.sh down
 .PHONY: cluster-down
 
 e2e:
diff --git a/hack/cluster-down.sh b/hack/cluster-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index a5a83445cc..0000000000
--- a/hack/cluster-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-#
-# This file is part of the Kepler project
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-#
-# Copyright 2023 The Kepler Contributors
-#
-set -e
-# Supported CLUSTER_PROVIDER are kind,microshift
-export CLUSTER_PROVIDER=${CLUSTER_PROVIDER:-kind}
-
-function main() {
-	if [ -d local-dev-cluster ]
-	then
-		echo "using local local-dev-cluster"
-	else
-		echo "downloading local-dev-cluster"
-		git clone -b v0.0.3 https://github.com/sustainable-computing-io/local-dev-cluster.git --depth=1
-	fi
-
-	echo "undeploying ${CLUSTER_PROVIDER} cluster"
-	cd local-dev-cluster && ./main.sh down
-}
-
-main "$@"
diff --git a/hack/cluster-up.sh b/hack/cluster-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 3838bcb766..0000000000
--- a/hack/cluster-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-#
-# This file is part of the Kepler project
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-#
-# Copyright 2022 The Kepler Contributors
-#
-set -e
-# Supported CLUSTER_PROVIDER are kind,microshift
-export CLUSTER_PROVIDER=${CLUSTER_PROVIDER:-kind}
-
-function main() {
-	if [ -d local-dev-cluster ]
-	then
-		echo "using local local-dev-cluster"
-	else
-		echo "downloading local-dev-cluster"
-		git clone -b v0.0.3 https://github.com/sustainable-computing-io/local-dev-cluster.git --depth=1
-	fi
-
-	echo "deploying ${CLUSTER_PROVIDER} cluster"
-	cd local-dev-cluster && ./main.sh up
-}
-
-main "$@"
diff --git a/hack/cluster.sh b/hack/cluster.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..fe949f65f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/cluster.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# This file is part of the Kepler project
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+# Copyright 2022 The Kepler Contributors
+#
+set -eu -o pipefail
+
+# NOTE: assumes that the project root is one level up
+PROJECT_ROOT=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)
+declare -r PROJECT_ROOT
+
+# NOTE: this allows common settings to be stored as `.env` file
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+[[ -f "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env" ]] && source "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env"
+
+# NOTE: these settings can be overridden in the .env file
+declare -r LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_DIR="${LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_DIR:-"$PROJECT_ROOT/local-dev-cluster"}"
+declare -r LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_VERSION="${LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_VERSION:-v0.0.3}"
+
+# Supported CLUSTER_PROVIDER are kind,microshift
+export CLUSTER_PROVIDER=${CLUSTER_PROVIDER:-kind}
+
+clone_local_dev_cluster() {
+	if [ -d "$LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_DIR" ]; then
+		echo "using local local-dev-cluster"
+		return 0
+	fi
+
+	echo "downloading local-dev-cluster"
+	git clone -b "$LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_VERSION" \
+		https://github.com/sustainable-computing-io/local-dev-cluster.git \
+		--depth=1 \
+		"$LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_DIR"
+}
+
+main() {
+	local op="$1"
+	shift
+
+	cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+	clone_local_dev_cluster
+	echo "Bringing cluster - $op"
+	"$LOCAL_DEV_CLUSTER_DIR/main.sh" "$op"
+}
+
+main "$@"