diff --git a/lib/core/config.js b/lib/core/config.js
index 44dace7b0..55e20ad1f 100644
--- a/lib/core/config.js
+++ b/lib/core/config.js
@@ -75,7 +75,9 @@ Config.prototype._mergeConfig = function(configFilePath, defaultConfig, env, ena
     return configToReturn;
   }
 
-  if (!fs.existsSync(configFilePath)) {
+  // due to embark.json; TODO: refactor this
+  configFilePath = configFilePath.replace('.js', '').replace('.json','');
+  if (!fs.existsSync(configFilePath + '.js') && !fs.existsSync(configFilePath + '.json')) {
     // TODO: remove this if
     if (this.logger) {
       this.logger.warn(__("no config file found at %s using default config", configFilePath));
@@ -83,7 +85,12 @@ Config.prototype._mergeConfig = function(configFilePath, defaultConfig, env, ena
     return defaultConfig['default'] || {};
   }
 
-  let config = fs.readJSONSync(configFilePath);
+  let config;
+  if (fs.existsSync(configFilePath + '.js')) {
+    config = require(fs.dappPath(configFilePath + '.js'));
+  } else {
+    config = fs.readJSONSync(configFilePath + '.json');
+  }
   let configObject = utils.recursiveMerge(defaultConfig, config);
 
   if (env) {
@@ -109,7 +116,7 @@ Config.prototype.loadBlockchainConfigFile = function() {
     }
   };
 
-  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'blockchain.json', 'blockchain');
+  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'blockchain', 'blockchain');
 
   this.blockchainConfig = this._mergeConfig(configFilePath, configObject, this.env, true);
 };
@@ -142,7 +149,7 @@ Config.prototype.loadContractsConfigFile = function() {
     configObject = utils.recursiveMerge(configObject, pluginConfig);
   });
 
-  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'contracts.json', 'contracts');
+  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'contracts', 'contracts');
 
   const newContractsConfig = this._mergeConfig(configFilePath, configObject, this.env);
 
@@ -193,7 +200,7 @@ Config.prototype.loadStorageConfigFile = function() {
     }
   };
 
-  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'storage.json', 'storage');
+  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'storage', 'storage');
 
   this.storageConfig = this._mergeConfig(configFilePath, configObject, this.env);
 };
@@ -210,7 +217,7 @@ Config.prototype.loadCommunicationConfigFile = function() {
     }
   };
 
-  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'communication.json', 'communication');
+  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'communication', 'communication');
 
   this.communicationConfig = this._mergeConfig(configFilePath, configObject, this.env);
 };
@@ -220,7 +227,7 @@ Config.prototype.loadWebServerConfigFile = function() {
     "enabled": true, "host": "localhost", "port": 8000
   };
 
-  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'webserver.json', 'webserver');
+  let configFilePath = this._getFileOrOject(this.configDir, 'webserver', 'webserver');
 
   this.webServerConfig = this._mergeConfig(configFilePath, configObject, false);
 };
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 3c0704628..66af9eee6 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -9929,7 +9929,6 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/taskgroup/-/taskgroup-4.3.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-feGT/r12gnPEV3MElwJNUSwnkVo=",
       "requires": {
-        "ambi": "2.5.0",
         "csextends": "1.2.0"
       }
     },
diff --git a/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.js b/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f768afdc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+module.exports = {
+  // default applies to all enviroments
+  default: {
+    // rpc to deploy the contracts
+    deployment: {
+      host: "localhost",
+      port: 8545,
+      type: "rpc"
+    },
+    // order of connections the dapp should connect to
+    dappConnection: [
+      "$WEB3",  // uses pre existing web3 object if available (e.g in Mist)
+      "http://localhost:8545"
+    ],
+    gas: "auto",
+    contracts: {
+      // example:
+      //SimpleStorage: {
+      //  args: [ 100 ]
+      //}
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.json b/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 8ea794ea4..000000000
--- a/templates/boilerplate/config/contracts.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "default": {
-    "deployment": {
-      "host": "localhost",
-      "port": 8545,
-      "type": "rpc"
-    },
-    "dappConnection": [
-      "$WEB3",
-      "http://localhost:8545"
-    ],
-    "gas": "auto",
-    "contracts": {
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/templates/demo/config/contracts.js b/templates/demo/config/contracts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1d8c5b237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/demo/config/contracts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+module.exports = {
+  // default applies to all enviroments
+  default: {
+    // rpc to deploy the contracts
+    deployment: {
+      host: "localhost",
+      port: 8545,
+      type: "rpc"
+    },
+    // order of connections the dapp should connect to
+    dappConnection: [
+      "$WEB3",  // uses pre existing web3 object if available (e.g in Mist)
+      "http://localhost:8545"
+    ],
+    gas: "auto",
+    contracts: {
+      SimpleStorage: {
+        fromIndex: 0,
+        args: [ 100 ]
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/templates/demo/config/contracts.json b/templates/demo/config/contracts.json
deleted file mode 100644
index da7463900..000000000
--- a/templates/demo/config/contracts.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "default": {
-    "deployment": {
-      "host": "localhost",
-      "port": 8545,
-      "type": "rpc"
-    },
-    "dappConnection": [
-      "$WEB3",
-      "http://localhost:8545"
-    ],
-    "gas": "auto",
-    "contracts": {
-      "SimpleStorage": {
-        "fromIndex": 0,
-        "args": [
-          100
-        ]
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/templates/simple/contracts.js b/templates/simple/contracts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f768afdc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/simple/contracts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+module.exports = {
+  // default applies to all enviroments
+  default: {
+    // rpc to deploy the contracts
+    deployment: {
+      host: "localhost",
+      port: 8545,
+      type: "rpc"
+    },
+    // order of connections the dapp should connect to
+    dappConnection: [
+      "$WEB3",  // uses pre existing web3 object if available (e.g in Mist)
+      "http://localhost:8545"
+    ],
+    gas: "auto",
+    contracts: {
+      // example:
+      //SimpleStorage: {
+      //  args: [ 100 ]
+      //}
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/templates/simple/contracts.json b/templates/simple/contracts.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 8ea794ea4..000000000
--- a/templates/simple/contracts.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "default": {
-    "deployment": {
-      "host": "localhost",
-      "port": 8545,
-      "type": "rpc"
-    },
-    "dappConnection": [
-      "$WEB3",
-      "http://localhost:8545"
-    ],
-    "gas": "auto",
-    "contracts": {
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/templates/simple/embark.json b/templates/simple/embark.json
index 35edb5397..812324905 100644
--- a/templates/simple/embark.json
+++ b/templates/simple/embark.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "app": {},
   "buildDir": "build/",
   "config": {
-    "contracts": "contracts.json",
+    "contracts": "contracts.js",
     "blockchain": false,
     "storage": false,
     "communication": false,
diff --git a/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.js b/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6b19e9b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+module.exports = {
+  default: {
+    deployment: {
+      host: "localhost",
+      port: 8545,
+      type: "rpc"
+    },
+    dappConnection: [
+      "$WEB3",
+      "ws://localhost:8546",
+      "http://localhost:8550",
+      "http://localhost:8545",
+      "http://localhost:8550"
+    ],
+    gas: "auto",
+    contracts: {
+      Ownable: {
+        deploy: false
+      },
+      SimpleStorage: {
+        fromIndex: 0,
+        args: [
+          100
+        ]
+      },
+      AnotherStorage: {
+        args: [
+          "$SimpleStorage"
+        ]
+      },
+      Token: {
+        deploy: false,
+        args: [1000]
+      },
+      Test: {
+        onDeploy: [
+          "Test.methods.changeAddress('$MyToken')"
+        ]
+      },
+      MyToken: {
+        instanceOf: "Token"
+      },
+      MyToken2: {
+        instanceOf: "Token",
+        args: [200]
+      },
+      AlreadyDeployedToken: {
+        address: "0xece374063fe5cc7efbaca0a498477cada94e5ad6",
+        instanceOf: "Token"
+      },
+      MyToken3: {
+        instanceOf: "Tokn"
+      },
+      ContractArgs: {
+        args: {
+          initialValue: 123,
+          "_addresses": ["$MyToken2", "$SimpleStorage"]
+        }
+      },
+      SomeContract: {
+        args: [
+          ["$MyToken2", "$SimpleStorage"],
+          100
+        ]
+      },
+      ERC20: {
+        file: "zeppelin-solidity/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol"
+      },
+      SimpleStorageTest: {
+        file: "./some_folder/test_contract.sol",
+        args: [
+          1000
+        ]
+      },
+      Identity: {
+        file: "https://github.com/status-im/contracts/blob/master/contracts/identity/Identity.sol"
+      },
+      SimpleStorageWithHttpImport: {
+        fromIndex: 0,
+        args: [
+          100
+        ]
+      }
+    },
+    afterDeploy: [
+      "Test.methods.changeAddress('$MyToken')",
+      "web3.eth.getAccounts((err, accounts) => Test.methods.changeAddress(accounts[0]))"
+    ]
+  },
+  development: {
+    contracts: {
+      MyToken2: {
+        instanceOf: "Token",
+        args: [2000]
+      }
+    }
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.json b/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.json
deleted file mode 100644
index b1f0597fa..000000000
--- a/test_apps/test_app/config/contracts.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,98 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "default": {
-    "deployment": {
-      "host": "localhost",
-      "port": 8545,
-      "type": "rpc"
-    },
-    "dappConnection": [
-      "$WEB3",
-      "ws://localhost:8546",
-      "http://localhost:8550",
-      "http://localhost:8545",
-      "http://localhost:8550"
-    ],
-    "gas": "auto",
-    "contracts": {
-      "Ownable": {
-        "deploy": false
-      },
-      "SimpleStorage": {
-        "fromIndex": 0,
-        "args": [
-          100
-        ]
-      },
-      "AnotherStorage": {
-        "args": [
-          "$SimpleStorage"
-        ]
-      },
-      "Token": {
-        "deploy": false,
-        "args": [1000]
-      },
-      "Test": {
-        "onDeploy": [
-          "Test.methods.changeAddress('$MyToken')"
-        ]
-      },
-      "MyToken": {
-        "instanceOf": "Token"
-      },
-      "MyToken2": {
-        "instanceOf": "Token",
-        "args": [200]
-      },
-      "AlreadyDeployedToken": {
-        "address": "0xece374063fe5cc7efbaca0a498477cada94e5ad6",
-        "instanceOf": "Token"
-      },
-      "MyToken3": {
-        "instanceOf": "Tokn"
-      },
-      "ContractArgs": {
-        "args": {
-          "initialValue": 123,
-          "_addresses": ["$MyToken2", "$SimpleStorage"]
-        }
-      },
-      "SomeContract": {
-        "args": [
-          ["$MyToken2", "$SimpleStorage"],
-          100
-        ]
-      },
-      "ERC20": {
-        "file": "zeppelin-solidity/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol"
-      },
-      "SimpleStorageTest": {
-        "file": "./some_folder/test_contract.sol",
-        "args": [
-          1000
-        ]
-      },
-      "Identity": {
-        "file": "https://github.com/status-im/contracts/blob/master/contracts/identity/Identity.sol"
-      },
-      "SimpleStorageWithHttpImport": {
-        "fromIndex": 0,
-        "args": [
-          100
-        ]
-      }
-    },
-    "afterDeploy": [
-      "Test.methods.changeAddress('$MyToken')",
-      "web3.eth.getAccounts((err, accounts) => Test.methods.changeAddress(accounts[0]))"
-    ]
-  },
-  "development": {
-    "contracts": {
-      "MyToken2": {
-        "instanceOf": "Token",
-        "args": [2000]
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}