diff --git a/storage/conf.nim b/storage/conf.nim
index ee6c877a..ca743daa 100644
--- a/storage/conf.nim
+++ b/storage/conf.nim
@@ -208,16 +208,21 @@ type
     mixEnabled* {.
       desc:
         "Route DHT provider lookups through the Mix protocol via the " &
-        "dht-mix-proxy. Hides the requester's identity from the proxy.",
+        "dht-mix-proxy. Hides the requester's identity from the proxy",
       defaultValue: false,
       name: "mix-enabled"
     .}: bool
 
     mixPool* {.
+      desc: "Path to the Mix relay pool JSON file", defaultValue: "", name: "mix-pool"
+    .}: string
+
+    mixPoolJson* {.
       desc:
-        "Path to the Mix relay pool JSON file " & "(produced by the `mix_pool` tool).",
+        "Inline JSON content of the Mix relay pool." &
+        "Takes precedence over --mix-pool when non-empty",
       defaultValue: "",
-      name: "mix-pool"
+      name: "mix-pool-json"
     .}: string
 
     maxPeers* {.
diff --git a/storage/storage.nim b/storage/storage.nim
index fabd0ded..91f102ba 100644
--- a/storage/storage.nim
+++ b/storage/storage.nim
@@ -94,7 +94,12 @@ proc start*(s: StorageServer) {.async.} =
         mixPub, mixPriv, switch.peerInfo.peerId, mixAddr, switch.peerInfo.privateKey
       ).valueOr:
         raise newException(StorageError, "Failed to build Mix node info: " & error.msg)
-      relayPool = loadRelayPubInfoTable(s.config.mixPool).valueOr:
+      relayPool = (
+        if s.config.mixPoolJson.len > 0:
+          loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(s.config.mixPoolJson)
+        else:
+          loadRelayPubInfoTableFromFile(s.config.mixPool)
+      ).valueOr:
         raise newException(StorageError, "Failed to load Mix relay pool: " & error.msg)
       mixProto = MixProtocol.new(mixNodeInfo, switch)
 
diff --git a/storage/utils/mixidentity.nim b/storage/utils/mixidentity.nim
index 49a9a273..db9bb854 100644
--- a/storage/utils/mixidentity.nim
+++ b/storage/utils/mixidentity.nim
@@ -155,37 +155,25 @@ proc pubInfoFromJson(node: JsonNode): ?!MixPubInfo =
 
   success MixPubInfo.init(peerId, multiAddr, mixPubKey, libp2pPubKey)
 
-proc loadRelayPubInfoTable*(poolPath: string): ?!Table[PeerId, MixPubInfo] =
+proc loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson*(poolJson: string): ?!Table[PeerId, MixPubInfo] =
   ## Expected format:
   ##   { "version": 1, "relays": [ { peerId, multiAddr, mixPubKey, libp2pPubKey }, ... ] }
-  if poolPath.len == 0:
+  if poolJson.len == 0:
     return success initTable[PeerId, MixPubInfo]()
 
-  if not fileExists(poolPath):
-    return failure("Mix pool file does not exist: " & poolPath)
-
-  let raw =
-    try:
-      readFile(poolPath)
-    except IOError as exc:
-      return failure("Failed to read pool " & poolPath & ": " & exc.msg)
-
   let parsed =
     try:
-      parseJson(raw)
+      parseJson(poolJson)
     except CatchableError as exc:
       return failure("Failed to parse pool JSON: " & exc.msg)
 
   let versionNode = parsed.getOrDefault("version")
   if versionNode.isNil or versionNode.getInt() != PoolFormatVersion:
-    return failure(
-      "Unsupported pool version (expected " & $PoolFormatVersion & " in " & poolPath &
-        ")"
-    )
+    return failure("Unsupported pool version (expected " & $PoolFormatVersion & ")")
 
   let relaysNode = parsed.getOrDefault("relays")
   if relaysNode.isNil or relaysNode.kind != JArray:
-    return failure("Pool file missing 'relays' array: " & poolPath)
+    return failure("Pool JSON missing 'relays' array")
 
   var t = initTable[PeerId, MixPubInfo]()
   for entry in relaysNode:
@@ -194,4 +182,19 @@ proc loadRelayPubInfoTable*(poolPath: string): ?!Table[PeerId, MixPubInfo] =
 
   success t
 
+proc loadRelayPubInfoTableFromFile*(poolPath: string): ?!Table[PeerId, MixPubInfo] =
+  if poolPath.len == 0:
+    return success initTable[PeerId, MixPubInfo]()
+
+  if not fileExists(poolPath):
+    return failure("Mix pool file does not exist: " & poolPath)
+
+  let poolJson =
+    try:
+      readFile(poolPath)
+    except IOError as exc:
+      return failure("Failed to read pool " & poolPath & ": " & exc.msg)
+
+  loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(poolJson)
+
 {.pop.}
diff --git a/tests/storage/utils/testmixidentity.nim b/tests/storage/utils/testmixidentity.nim
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f04c8b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/storage/utils/testmixidentity.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import std/tables
+
+import pkg/unittest2
+import pkg/libp2p/peerid
+import pkg/storage/utils/mixidentity {.all.}
+
+const SamplePoolJson = """
+{
+  "version": 1,
+  "relays": [
+    {
+      "peerId": "16Uiu2HAmNNzXL3wnW64pPFJDwrSJnNaX4CNLeWPbzdPcVJhRTGwP",
+      "multiAddr": "/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4242",
+      "mixPubKey": "8a6571e8665fb1c894215f97d6a244591b655b1f5fd5ff7f928ef8b74aa66c5f",
+      "libp2pPubKey": "03907bc5a41bec7c5ba11f8dfe6c7f779328d2d5bb48c9a978a11e09f3fbf61b3e"
+    },
+    {
+      "peerId": "16Uiu2HAmM6CDJa9HJQ76cRubcpAmrHfMcUCvYncA9M4BfFFEszQn",
+      "multiAddr": "/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4243",
+      "mixPubKey": "f268d04a1a0903ecf63a3441b986eae414579aa47ff22b071370e6fcd9d3b45c",
+      "libp2pPubKey": "037d526dab2572c2336f721813964011899ba7d11a3ebebed1d22d1dea2b74e547"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+"""
+
+suite "mixidentity / loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson":
+  test "empty string yields an empty table":
+    let res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson("")
+    check res.isOk
+    check res.get.len == 0
+
+  test "parses a well-formed pool":
+    let res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(SamplePoolJson)
+    check res.isOk
+    let t = res.get
+    check t.len == 2
+    let
+      p0 = PeerId.init("16Uiu2HAmNNzXL3wnW64pPFJDwrSJnNaX4CNLeWPbzdPcVJhRTGwP").get
+      p1 = PeerId.init("16Uiu2HAmM6CDJa9HJQ76cRubcpAmrHfMcUCvYncA9M4BfFFEszQn").get
+    check p0 in t
+    check p1 in t
+
+  test "rejects malformed JSON":
+    let res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson("{not json")
+    check res.isErr
+
+  test "rejects unsupported version":
+    let
+      json = """{"version": 99, "relays": []}"""
+      res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(json)
+    check res.isErr
+
+  test "rejects missing relays array":
+    let
+      json = """{"version": 1}"""
+      res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(json)
+    check res.isErr
+
+  test "rejects entry missing required field":
+    let json = """
+{
+  "version": 1,
+  "relays": [
+    {
+      "peerId": "16Uiu2HAmNNzXL3wnW64pPFJDwrSJnNaX4CNLeWPbzdPcVJhRTGwP",
+      "multiAddr": "/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4242",
+      "mixPubKey": "8a6571e8665fb1c894215f97d6a244591b655b1f5fd5ff7f928ef8b74aa66c5f"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+"""
+    let res = loadRelayPubInfoTableFromJson(json)
+    check res.isErr