diff --git a/dwave/cloud/cli.py b/dwave/cloud/cli.py
index d2a1e95..b4b37d9 100644
--- a/dwave/cloud/cli.py
+++ b/dwave/cloud/cli.py
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ from dwave.cloud import Client
 from dwave.cloud.utils import readline_input
 from dwave.cloud.package_info import __title__, __version__
 from dwave.cloud.exceptions import (
-    SolverAuthenticationError, InvalidAPIResponseError, UnsupportedSolverError)
+    SolverAuthenticationError, InvalidAPIResponseError, UnsupportedSolverError,
+    ConfigFileReadError, ConfigFileParseError)
 from dwave.cloud.config import (
-    load_config_from_files, get_default_config,
+    load_profile_from_files, load_config_from_files, get_default_config,
     get_configfile_path, get_default_configfile_path,
     get_configfile_paths)
 
@@ -64,6 +65,29 @@ def list_local_config():
         click.echo(path)
 
 
+def inspect_config(ctx, param, value):
+    if not value or ctx.resilient_parsing:
+        return
+
+    config_file = ctx.params.get('config_file')
+    profile = ctx.params.get('profile')
+
+    try:
+        section = load_profile_from_files(
+            [config_file] if config_file else None, profile)
+
+        click.echo("Config file: {}".format(config_file if config_file else "auto-detected"))
+        click.echo("Profile: {}".format(profile if profile else "auto-detected"))
+        click.echo("---")
+        for key, val in section.items():
+            click.echo("{} = {}".format(key, val))
+
+    except (ValueError, ConfigFileReadError, ConfigFileParseError) as e:
+        click.echo(e)
+
+    ctx.exit()
+
+
 @click.group()
 @click.version_option(prog_name=__title__, version=__version__)
 def cli():
@@ -71,10 +95,13 @@ def cli():
 
 
 @cli.command()
-@click.option('--config-file', default=None, help='Config file path',
-              type=click.Path(exists=False, dir_okay=False))
-@click.option('--profile', default=None,
+@click.option('--config-file', '-c', default=None, is_eager=True,
+              type=click.Path(exists=False, dir_okay=False),
+              help='Config file path')
+@click.option('--profile', '-p', default=None, is_eager=True,
               help='Connection profile name (config section name)')
+@click.option('--inspect', is_flag=True, expose_value=False, callback=inspect_config,
+              help='Only inspect existing config/profile (no update)')
 @click.option('--list-config-files', is_flag=True, callback=list_config_files,
               expose_value=False, is_eager=True,
               help='List paths of all config files detected on this system')
@@ -163,9 +190,9 @@ def configure(config_file, profile):
 
 
 @cli.command()
-@click.option('--config-file', default=None, help='Config file path',
+@click.option('--config-file', '-c', default=None, help='Config file path',
               type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False))
-@click.option('--profile', default=None, help='Connection profile name')
+@click.option('--profile', '-p', default=None, help='Connection profile name')
 def ping(config_file, profile):
     """Ping the QPU by submitting a single-qubit problem."""
 
diff --git a/dwave/cloud/config.py b/dwave/cloud/config.py
index e61d1b1..ae2e9c1 100644
--- a/dwave/cloud/config.py
+++ b/dwave/cloud/config.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def get_configfile_paths(system=True, user=True, local=True, only_existing=True)
 
     Candidates examined depend on the OS, but for Linux possible list is:
     ``dwave.conf`` in CWD, user-local ``.config/dwave/``, system-wide
-    ``/etc/dwave/``. For details, see :func:`load_config_from_file`.
+    ``/etc/dwave/``. For details, see :func:`load_config_from_files`.
 
     Args:
         system (boolean, default=True):
@@ -160,6 +160,70 @@ def load_config_from_files(filenames=None):
     return config
 
 
+def load_profile_from_files(filenames=None, profile=None):
+    """Load config from a list of `filenames`, returning only section
+    defined with `profile`.
+
+    Note:
+        Config files and profile name are **not** read from process environment.
+
+    Args:
+        filenames (list[str], default=None):
+            D-Wave cloud client configuration file locations. Set to ``None`` to
+            auto-detect config files, as described in
+            :func:`load_config_from_files`.
+
+        profile (str, default=None):
+            Name of the profile to return from configuration read from config
+            file(s). Set to ``None`` fallback to ``profile`` key under
+            ``[defaults]`` section, or the first non-defaults section, or the
+            actual ``[defaults]`` section.
+
+    Returns:
+        dict:
+            Mapping of config keys to config values. If no valid config/profile
+            found, returns an empty dict.
+
+    Raises:
+        :exc:`~dwave.cloud.exceptions.ConfigFileReadError`:
+            Config file specified or detected could not be opened or read.
+
+        :exc:`~dwave.cloud.exceptions.ConfigFileParseError`:
+            Config file parse failed.
+
+        :exc:`ValueError`:
+            Profile name not found.
+    """
+
+    # progressively build config from a file, or a list of auto-detected files
+    # raises ConfigFileReadError/ConfigFileParseError on error
+    config = load_config_from_files(filenames)
+
+    # determine profile name fallback:
+    #  (1) profile key under [defaults],
+    #  (2) first non-[defaults] section
+    #  (3) [defaults] section
+    first_section = next(iter(config.sections() + [None]))
+    config_defaults = config.defaults()
+    if not profile:
+        profile = config_defaults.get('profile', first_section)
+
+    if profile:
+        try:
+            section = dict(config[profile])
+        except KeyError:
+            raise ValueError("Config profile {!r} not found".format(profile))
+    else:
+        # as the very last resort (unspecified profile name and
+        # no profiles defined in config), try to use [defaults]
+        if config_defaults:
+            section = config_defaults
+        else:
+            section = {}
+
+    return section
+
+
 def get_default_config():
     config = configparser.ConfigParser(default_section="defaults")
     config.read_string(u"""
@@ -204,7 +268,7 @@ def load_config(config_file=None, profile=None, client=None,
     performed (looking first for ``dwave.conf`` in process' current working
     directory, then in user-local config directories, and finally in system-wide
     config dirs). For details on format and location detection, see
-    :func:`load_config_from_file`.
+    :func:`load_config_from_files`.
 
     If location of ``config_file`` is explicitly specified (via arguments or
     environment variable), but the file does not exits, or is not readable,
@@ -327,51 +391,22 @@ def load_config(config_file=None, profile=None, client=None,
             Config file parse failed.
     """
 
-    def _get_section(filenames, profile):
-        """Load config from a list of `filenames`, returning only section
-        defined with `profile`."""
-
-        # progressively build config from a file, or a list of auto-detected files
-        # raises ConfigFileReadError/ConfigFileParseError on error
-        config = load_config_from_files(filenames)
-
-        # determine profile name fallback:
-        #  (1) profile key under [defaults],
-        #  (2) first non-[defaults] section
-        first_section = next(iter(config.sections() + [None]))
-        config_defaults = config.defaults()
-        default_profile = config_defaults.get('profile', first_section)
-
-        # select profile from the config
-        if profile is None:
-            profile = os.getenv("DWAVE_PROFILE", default_profile)
-        if profile:
-            try:
-                section = dict(config[profile])
-            except KeyError:
-                raise ValueError("Config profile {!r} not found".format(profile))
-        else:
-            # as the very last resort (unspecified profile name and
-            # no profiles defined in config), try to use [defaults]
-            if config_defaults:
-                section = config_defaults
-            else:
-                section = {}
-
-        return section
+    if profile is None:
+        profile = os.getenv("DWAVE_PROFILE")
 
     if config_file == False:
         # skip loading from file altogether
         section = {}
     elif config_file == True:
         # force auto-detection, disregarding DWAVE_CONFIG_FILE
-        section = _get_section(None, profile)
+        section = load_profile_from_files(None, profile)
     else:
         # auto-detect if not specified with arg or env
         if config_file is None:
             # note: both empty and undefined DWAVE_CONFIG_FILE treated as None
             config_file = os.getenv("DWAVE_CONFIG_FILE")
-        section = _get_section([config_file] if config_file else None, profile)
+        section = load_profile_from_files(
+            [config_file] if config_file else None, profile)
 
     # override a selected subset of values via env or kwargs,
     # pass-through the rest unmodified
@@ -424,7 +459,7 @@ def legacy_load_config(profile=None, endpoint=None, token=None, solver=None,
             profile-b|https://two.com,token-two
 
         Assuming the new config file ``dwave.conf`` is not found (in any of the
-        standard locations, see :meth:`~dwave.cloud.config.load_config_from_file`
+        standard locations, see :meth:`~dwave.cloud.config.load_config_from_files`
         and :meth:`~dwave.cloud.config.load_config`), then:
 
         >>> client = dwave.cloud.Client.from_config()

diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 266ee25..c3522ab 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -76,6 +76,49 @@ class TestCli(unittest.TestCase):
                         ])
                         self.assertEqual(result.output.strip(), './dwave.conf')
 
+    def test_configure_inspect(self):
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+            config_file = 'dwave.conf'
+            with open(config_file, 'w') as f:
+                f.write('''
+                    [defaults]
+                    endpoint = 1
+                    [a]
+                    endpoint = 2
+                    [b]
+                    token = 3''')
+
+            # test auto-detected case
+            with mock.patch('dwave.cloud.config.get_configfile_paths',
+                            lambda **kw: [config_file]):
+                result = runner.invoke(cli, [
+                    'configure', '--inspect'
+                ])
+                self.assertIn('endpoint = 2', result.output)
+
+            # test explicit config
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, [
+                'configure', '--inspect', '--config-file', config_file
+            ])
+            self.assertIn('endpoint = 2', result.output)
+
+            # test explicit profile
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, [
+                'configure', '--inspect', '--config-file', config_file,
+                '--profile', 'b'
+            ])
+            self.assertIn('endpoint = 1', result.output)
+            self.assertIn('token = 3', result.output)
+
+            # test eagerness of config-file ane profile
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, [
+                'configure', '--config-file', config_file,
+                '--profile', 'b', '--inspect'
+            ])
+            self.assertIn('endpoint = 1', result.output)
+            self.assertIn('token = 3', result.output)
+
 
     def test_ping(self):
         config_file = 'dwave.conf'

Add config debug/show feature to dwave CLI
tests/test_cli.py::TestCli::test_configure_inspect
tests/test_cli.py::TestCli::test_configure tests/test_cli.py::TestCli::test_configure_list_config tests/test_cli.py::TestCli::test_ping