diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eccce92..858398b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -63,8 +63,15 @@ ETL_VERSION=### Version number of the TIMDEX ETL infrastructure.  This can be us
 Usage: -c [OPTIONS]
 
 Options:
-  -i, --input-file TEXT           Filepath for harvested input records to
-                                  transform  [required]
+  -i, --input-file TEXT           Filepath of input records to transform.
+                                  The filename must be in the format
+                                  <source>-<YYYY-MM-DD>-<run-type>-extracted-
+                                  records-
+                                  to-<action><index[optional]>.<extension>.
+                                  Examples: 'gisogm-2024-03-28-daily-extracted-
+                                  records-to-index.jsonl' or
+                                  'alma-2023-01-13-full-extracted-records-to-
+                                  index_17.xml'.  [required]
   --output-file TEXT              Filepath to write output TIMDEX JSON records
                                   to. NOTE: this option will be removed when
                                   output to parquet is finalized.
diff --git a/transmogrifier/cli.py b/transmogrifier/cli.py
index 4305aaf..86481d6 100644
--- a/transmogrifier/cli.py
+++ b/transmogrifier/cli.py
@@ -20,8 +20,12 @@
     "-i",
     "--input-file",
     required=True,
-    help="Filepath for harvested input records to transform",
+    help="Filepath of input records to transform.  The filename must be in the format "
+    "<source>-<YYYY-MM-DD>-<run-type>-extracted-records-to-<action><index[optional]>"
+    ".<extension>.  Examples: 'gisogm-2024-03-28-daily-extracted-records-to-index.jsonl' "
+    "or 'alma-2023-01-13-full-extracted-records-to-index_17.xml'.",
 )
+# NOTE: FEATURE FLAG: CLI arg '--output-file' will be removed after v2 work is complete
 @click.option(
     "--output-file",
     required=False,