diff --git a/cardano-testnet/src/Parsers/Cardano.hs b/cardano-testnet/src/Parsers/Cardano.hs
index 013c3349872..140aab6c62e 100644
--- a/cardano-testnet/src/Parsers/Cardano.hs
+++ b/cardano-testnet/src/Parsers/Cardano.hs
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ pCardanoTestnetCliOptions envCli = CardanoTestnetOptions
     pAnyShelleyBasedEra' =
       pAnyShelleyBasedEra envCli <&> (\(EraInEon x) -> AnyShelleyBasedEra x)
 
-pTestnetNodeOptions :: Parser TestnetNodeOptions
+pTestnetNodeOptions :: Parser [TestnetNodeOptions]
 pTestnetNodeOptions =
   asum' [
       AutomaticNodeOptions . (`L.replicate` defaultSpoOptions) <$>
diff --git a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Components/Configuration.hs b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Components/Configuration.hs
index 77c78ca96ea..041e73a7f10 100644
--- a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Components/Configuration.hs
+++ b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Components/Configuration.hs
@@ -152,16 +152,11 @@ numSeededUTxOKeys = 3
 
 createSPOGenesisAndFiles
   :: (MonadTest m, MonadCatch m, MonadIO m, HasCallStack)
-  => CardanoTestnetOptions -- ^ The options to use
-  -> GenesisOptions
-  -> UserProvidedData (ShelleyGenesis StandardCrypto)
-  -> UserProvidedData AlonzoGenesis
-  -> UserProvidedData (ConwayGenesis StandardCrypto)
+  => Either AutomaticNodeOptions [InputNodeConfigFile]
   -> TmpAbsolutePath
   -> m FilePath -- ^ Shelley genesis directory
 createSPOGenesisAndFiles
-  testnetOptions genesisOptions@GenesisOptions{genesisTestnetMagic}
-  mShelleyGenesis mAlonzoGenesis mConwayGenesis
+  testnetOptions
   (TmpAbsolutePath tempAbsPath) = GHC.withFrozenCallStack $ do
   AnyShelleyBasedEra sbe <- pure cardanoNodeEra
 
diff --git a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Cardano.hs b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Cardano.hs
index bd151728b7a..5ef0c814f37 100644
--- a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Cardano.hs
+++ b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Cardano.hs
@@ -162,17 +162,7 @@ cardanoTestnetDefault testnetOptions genesisOptions conf = do
 -- > └── module
 cardanoTestnet :: ()
   => HasCallStack
-  => CardanoTestnetOptions -- ^ The options to use
-  -> GenesisOptions
-  -> UserProvidedData (ShelleyGenesis StandardCrypto)
-  -- ^ The shelley genesis to use, One possible way to provide this value is to use 'getDefaultShelleyGenesis'
-  -- and customize it. Generated if omitted.
-  -> UserProvidedData AlonzoGenesis
-  -- ^ The alonzo genesis to use. One possible way to provide this value is to use 'getDefaultAlonzoGenesis'
-  -- and customize it. Generated if omitted.
-  -> UserProvidedData (ConwayGenesis StandardCrypto)
-  -- ^ The conway genesis to use. One possible way to provide this value is to use 'defaultConwayGenesis'
-  -- and customize it. Generated if omitted.
+  => CardanoTestnetCliOptions -- ^ The options to use
   -> Conf
   -> H.Integration TestnetRuntime
 cardanoTestnet
diff --git a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Types.hs b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Types.hs
index 53703bed3c8..c792319faa7 100644
--- a/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Types.hs
+++ b/cardano-testnet/src/Testnet/Start/Types.hs
@@ -50,32 +50,37 @@ import qualified Hedgehog.Extras as H
 -- | Command line options for the @cardano-testnet@ executable. They are used
 -- in the parser, and then get split into 'CardanoTestnetOptions' and
 -- 'GenesisOptions'
-data CardanoTestnetCliOptions = CardanoTestnetCliOptions
-  { cliTestnetOptions :: CardanoTestnetOptions
-  , cliGenesisOptions :: GenesisOptions
-  } deriving (Eq, Show)
+data CardanoTestnetCliOptions = CardanoTestnetCliOptions {
+    -- First options that are common to both the automatic and user-provided cases
+    cardanoNodeLoggingFormat :: NodeLoggingFormat
+  , cardanoEnableNewEpochStateLogging :: Bool -- ^ if epoch state logging is enabled
+  , cardanoOutputDir :: Maybe FilePath -- ^ The output directory where to store files, sockets, and so on. If unset, a temporary directory is used.   commonOptions :: CardanoTestnetCommonOptions
+  -- Then onto options that depend on the scenario
+  , nodeOptions :: Either AutomaticNodeOptions [InputNodeConfigFile]
+  }
+
+-- | The kind of options used when the user doesn't provide the
+-- nodes' configuration files (nor the genesis files) and instead
+-- relies on @cardano-testnet@ to generate them
+data AutomaticNodeOptions = AutomaticNodeOptions
+  { cardanoMaxSupply :: Word64 -- ^ The amount of Lovelace you are starting your testnet with (forward to shelley genesis)
+  , cardanoNumDReps :: NumDReps -- ^ The number of DReps to generate at creation
+  , cardanoNodeEra :: AnyShelleyBasedEra -- ^ The era to start at
+  , individualNodeOptions :: AutomaticNodeOption -- ^ The number of nodes to create, and whether to create a SPO or relay node
+  , genesisEpochLength :: Int -- ^ An epoch's duration, in number of slots
+  , genesisSlotLength :: Double -- ^ Slot length, in seconds
+  , genesisActiveSlotsCoeff :: Double
+  , genesisTestnetMagic :: Int -- TODO Use the NetworkMagic type from API
+  }
+  deriving (Eq, Show)
 
-instance Default CardanoTestnetCliOptions where
-  def = CardanoTestnetCliOptions
-    { cliTestnetOptions = def
-    , cliGenesisOptions = def
-    }
+data AutomaticNodeOption = AutomaticNodeOption
+  { isSpoOrRelayNode :: Bool
+  , enableP2P :: Bool
+  }
 
--- | Options which, contrary to 'GenesisOptions' are not implemented
--- by tuning the genesis files.
-data CardanoTestnetOptions = CardanoTestnetOptions
-  { -- | Options controlling how many nodes to create and whether to use user-provided
-    -- configuration files, or to generate them automatically.
-    cardanoNodes :: TestnetNodeOptions
-  , cardanoNodeEra :: AnyShelleyBasedEra -- ^ The era to start at
-  , cardanoMaxSupply :: Word64 -- ^ The amount of Lovelace you are starting your testnet with (forwarded to shelley genesis)
-                               -- TODO move me to GenesisOptions when https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-cli/pull/874 makes it to cardano-node
-  , cardanoEnableP2P :: Bool
-  , cardanoNodeLoggingFormat :: NodeLoggingFormat
-  , cardanoNumDReps :: NumDReps -- ^ The number of DReps to generate at creation
-  , cardanoEnableNewEpochStateLogging :: Bool -- ^ if epoch state logging is enabled
-  , cardanoOutputDir :: Maybe FilePath -- ^ The output directory where to store files, sockets, and so on. If unset, a temporary directory is used.
-  } deriving (Eq, Show)
+instance Default CardanoTestnetCliOptions where
+  def = undefined
 
 -- | Path to the configuration file of the node, specified by the user
 newtype InputNodeConfigFile = InputNodeConfigFile FilePath
@@ -108,54 +113,7 @@ newtype NumDReps = NumDReps Int
   deriving (Show, Read, Eq, Enum, Ord, Num, Real, Integral) via Int
 
 instance Default CardanoTestnetOptions where
-  def = CardanoTestnetOptions
-    { cardanoNodes = cardanoDefaultTestnetNodeOptions
-    , cardanoNodeEra = AnyShelleyBasedEra ShelleyBasedEraBabbage
-    , cardanoMaxSupply = 100_000_020_000_000 -- 100 000 billions Lovelace, so 100 millions ADA. This amount should be bigger than the 'byronTotalBalance' in Testnet.Start.Byron
-    , cardanoEnableP2P = False
-    , cardanoNodeLoggingFormat = NodeLoggingFormatAsJson
-    , cardanoNumDReps = 3
-    , cardanoEnableNewEpochStateLogging = True
-    , cardanoOutputDir = Nothing
-    }
-
--- | Options that are implemented by writing fields in the Shelley genesis file.
-data GenesisOptions = GenesisOptions
-  { genesisTestnetMagic :: Int -- TODO Use the NetworkMagic type from API
-  , genesisEpochLength :: Int -- ^ An epoch's duration, in number of slots
-  , genesisSlotLength :: Double -- ^ Slot length, in seconds
-  , genesisActiveSlotsCoeff :: Double
-  } deriving (Eq, Show)
-
-instance Default GenesisOptions where
-  def = GenesisOptions
-    { genesisTestnetMagic = 42
-    , genesisEpochLength = 500
-    , genesisSlotLength = 0.1
-    , genesisActiveSlotsCoeff = 0.05
-    }
-
-data TestnetNodeOptions =
-  UserProvidedNodeOptions FilePath
-  -- ^ Value used when the user specifies the node configuration file. We start one single SPO node.
-  | AutomaticNodeOptions [AutomaticNodeOption]
-  -- ^ Value used when @cardano-testnet@ controls the node configuration files.
-  -- We start a custom number of nodes.
-  deriving (Eq, Show)
-
--- | Type used when the user doesn't specify the node configuration file. We start
--- a custom number of nodes. The '@String' arguments will be appended to the default
--- options when starting the node.
-data AutomaticNodeOption =
-    SpoNodeOptions [String]
-  | RelayNodeOptions [String]
-  deriving (Eq, Show)
-
--- | Type used to track whether the user is providing its data (node configuration file path, genesis file, etc.)
--- or whether it needs to be programmatically generated by @cardanoTestnet@ and friends.
-data UserProvidedData a =
-    UserProvidedData a
-  | NoUserProvidedData
+  def = undefined
 
 isSpoNodeOptions :: AutomaticNodeOption -> Bool
 isSpoNodeOptions SpoNodeOptions{} = True
diff --git a/cardano-testnet/test/cardano-testnet-golden/files/golden/help.cli b/cardano-testnet/test/cardano-testnet-golden/files/golden/help.cli
index 445f59aa6d3..48e7010a815 100644
--- a/cardano-testnet/test/cardano-testnet-golden/files/golden/help.cli
+++ b/cardano-testnet/test/cardano-testnet-golden/files/golden/help.cli
@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
 Usage: cardano-testnet (cardano | version | help)
 
-Usage: cardano-testnet cardano [--num-pool-nodes COUNT | --node-config FILEPATH]
-  [ --shelley-era
-  | --allegra-era
-  | --mary-era
-  | --alonzo-era
-  | --babbage-era
-  | --conway-era
-  ]
-  [--max-lovelace-supply WORD64]
-  [--enable-p2p BOOL]
+Usage: cardano-testnet cardano
+  [[[--num-spo-nodes COUNT]
+    [--num-relay-nodes COUNT]
+    [--max-lovelace-supply WORD64]
+    [--num-dreps NUMBER]
+    [--epoch-length SLOTS]
+    [--slot-length SECONDS]
+    [--active-slots-coeff DOUBLE]
+    [ --shelley-era
+    | --allegra-era
+    | --mary-era
+    | --alonzo-era
+    | --babbage-era
+    | --conway-era
+    ]
+   ]
+   | --node-config FILEPATH]
   [--nodeLoggingFormat LOGGING_FORMAT]
-  [--num-dreps NUMBER]
   [--enable-new-epoch-state-logging]
   [--output-dir DIRECTORY]
   --testnet-magic INT
-  [--epoch-length SLOTS]
-  [--slot-length SECONDS]
-  [--active-slots-coeff DOUBLE]
 
   Start a testnet in any era