diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index 9d101d5a8..93d12668d 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ func NewServerRoutes(s *Server) *http.ServeMux {
 	m.Handle("/diff", s.middleware(dsh.DiffHandler))
 	m.Handle("/body/", s.middleware(dsh.BodyHandler))
 	m.Handle("/unpack/", s.middleware(dsh.UnpackHandler))
+	m.Handle("/publish/", s.middleware(dsh.PublishHandler))
 
 	renderh := NewRenderHandlers(s.qriNode.Repo)
 	m.Handle("/render/", s.middleware(renderh.RenderHandler))
diff --git a/api/dataset_test.go b/api/dataset_test.go
index bf0ec8092..9c01b781d 100644
--- a/api/dataset_test.go
+++ b/api/dataset_test.go
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@ func TestDatasetHandlers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	runHandlerTestCases(t, "export", h.ZipDatasetHandler, exportCases)
 
+	publishCases := []handlerTestCase{
+		{"OPTIONS", "/", nil},
+		{"POST", "/publish/me/cities", nil},
+		{"DELETE", "/publish/me/cities", nil},
+	}
+	runHandlerTestCases(t, "publish", h.PublishHandler, publishCases)
+
 	// TODO: Perhaps add an option to runHandlerTestCases to set Content-Type, then combine
 	// `runHandlerZipPostTestCases` with `runHandlerTestCases`.
 	unpackCases := []handlerTestCase{
diff --git a/api/datasets.go b/api/datasets.go
index 11f80661c..41f6026fb 100644
--- a/api/datasets.go
+++ b/api/datasets.go
@@ -181,6 +181,22 @@ func (h *DatasetHandlers) UnpackHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 	}
 }
 
+// PublishHandler works with dataset publicity
+func (h *DatasetHandlers) PublishHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	switch r.Method {
+	case "OPTIONS":
+		util.EmptyOkHandler(w, r)
+	case "GET":
+		// TODO - this should list published datasets
+	case "POST":
+		h.publishHandler(w, r, true)
+	case "DELETE":
+		h.publishHandler(w, r, false)
+	default:
+		util.NotFoundHandler(w, r)
+	}
+}
+
 // ZipDatasetHandler is the endpoint for getting a zip archive of a dataset
 func (h *DatasetHandlers) ZipDatasetHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	switch r.Method {
@@ -705,6 +721,22 @@ func (h DatasetHandlers) bodyHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 }
 
+func (h DatasetHandlers) publishHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, publish bool) {
+	ref, err := DatasetRefFromPath(r.URL.Path[len("/publish"):])
+	if err != nil {
+		util.WriteErrResponse(w, http.StatusBadRequest, err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	ref.Published = publish
+	var ok bool
+	if err := h.DatasetRequests.SetPublishStatus(&ref, &ok); err != nil {
+		util.WriteErrResponse(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, err)
+		return
+	}
+	util.WriteResponse(w, ref)
+}
+
 func (h DatasetHandlers) unpackHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, postData []byte) {
 	zr, err := zip.NewReader(bytes.NewReader(postData), int64(len(postData)))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/api/testdata/api.snapshot b/api/testdata/api.snapshot
index d53ee4cae..fced1f851 100755
Binary files a/api/testdata/api.snapshot and b/api/testdata/api.snapshot differ
diff --git a/repo/fs/refstore.go b/repo/fs/refstore.go
index 1a9e3b98c..4f4f81547 100644
--- a/repo/fs/refstore.go
+++ b/repo/fs/refstore.go
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ func (n Refstore) PutRef(p repo.DatasetRef) (err error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// TODO - move this up into base package
 	if n.index != nil {
 		batch := n.index.NewBatch()
 		err = batch.Index(p.Path, ds)