diff --git a/cmd/elastic.sh b/cmd/elastic.sh
index 701c19c9..f627d279 100644
--- a/cmd/elastic.sh
+++ b/cmd/elastic.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function elastic_schema_drop(){ compose_run 'schema' node scripts/drop_index "$@
 function elastic_schema_create(){ compose_run 'schema' ./bin/create_index; }
 function elastic_start(){
   mkdir -p $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch
-  # attemp to set proper permissions if running as root
+  # Attempt to set proper permissions if running as root
   chown $DOCKER_USER $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch 2>/dev/null || true
   compose_exec up -d elasticsearch
 }
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ function elastic_status(){
     --output /dev/null \
     --silent \
     --write-out "%{http_code}" \
-    "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost:9200}/_cluster/health?wait_for_status=yellow&timeout=1s" \
+    "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost}:${ELASTIC_PORT:-9200}/_cluster/health?wait_for_status=yellow&timeout=1s" \
       || true;
 }
 
-# the same function but with a trailing newline
+# Function to get HTTP status with a trailing newline, using optional port
 function elastic_status_newline(){ echo $(elastic_status); }
 register 'elastic' 'status' 'HTTP status code of the elasticsearch service' elastic_status_newline
 
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ function elastic_wait(){
   i=1
   while [[ "$i" -le "$retry_count" ]]; do
     if [[ $(elastic_status) -eq 200 ]]; then
-      echo "Elasticsearch up!"
+      echo "Elasticsearch up on port ${ELASTIC_PORT:-9200}!"
       exit 0
     elif [[ $(elastic_status) -eq 408 ]]; then
-      # 408 indicates the server is up but not yet yellow status
+      # 408 indicates the server is up but has not reached yellow status yet
       printf ":"
     else
       printf "."
@@ -58,11 +58,13 @@ function elastic_wait(){
 
 register 'elastic' 'wait' 'wait for elasticsearch to start up' elastic_wait
 
-function elastic_info(){ curl -s "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost:9200}/"; }
+# Function to get Elasticsearch version and build info with an optional port argument
+function elastic_info(){ curl -s "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost}:${ELASTIC_PORT:-9200}/"; }
 register 'elastic' 'info' 'display elasticsearch version and build info' elastic_info
 
+# Function to display a summary of document counts per source/layer with optional port
 function elastic_stats(){
-  curl -s "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost:9200}/pelias/_search?request_cache=true&timeout=10s&pretty=true" \
+  curl -s "http://${ELASTIC_HOST:-localhost}:${ELASTIC_PORT:-9200}/pelias/_search?request_cache=true&timeout=10s&pretty=true" \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{
           "aggs": {