diff --git a/api/datasets.go b/api/datasets.go
index 9e260ad48..a426faab4 100644
--- a/api/datasets.go
+++ b/api/datasets.go
@@ -364,13 +364,19 @@ func (h *DatasetHandlers) addHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// TODO (b5) - move this into lib.Add
 	if ref.Peername == "" || ref.Name == "" {
 		util.WriteErrResponse(w, http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Errorf("need peername and dataset name: '/add/[peername]/[datasetname]'"))
 		return
 	}
 
+	p := &lib.AddParams{
+		Ref:     ref.String(),
+		LinkDir: r.FormValue("dir"),
+	}
+
 	res := repo.DatasetRef{}
-	err = h.Add(&ref, &res)
+	err = h.Add(p, &res)
 	if err != nil {
 		util.WriteErrResponse(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, err)
 		return
diff --git a/cmd/add.go b/cmd/add.go
index 2edb0e019..4314a66ff 100644
--- a/cmd/add.go
+++ b/cmd/add.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/qri-io/ioes"
 	"github.com/qri-io/qri/lib"
@@ -35,12 +36,15 @@ the name of the peer that originally added the dataset. You must have
 		},
 	}
 
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&o.LinkDir, "link", "", "path to directory to link dataset to")
+
 	return cmd
 }
 
 // AddOptions encapsulates state for the add command
 type AddOptions struct {
 	ioes.IOStreams
+	LinkDir         string
 	DatasetRequests *lib.DatasetRequests
 }
 
@@ -57,20 +61,32 @@ func (o *AddOptions) Run(args []string) error {
 	o.StartSpinner()
 	defer o.StopSpinner()
 
+	if len(args) > 1 && o.LinkDir != "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("link flag can only be used with a single reference")
+	}
+
 	for _, arg := range args {
-		ref, err := parseCmdLineDatasetRef(arg)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
+		if o.LinkDir != "" {
+			abs, err := filepath.Abs(o.LinkDir)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			o.LinkDir = abs
+		}
+
+		p := &lib.AddParams{
+			Ref:     arg,
+			LinkDir: o.LinkDir,
 		}
 
 		res := repo.DatasetRef{}
-		if err = o.DatasetRequests.Add(&ref, &res); err != nil {
+		if err := o.DatasetRequests.Add(p, &res); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
 		refStr := refStringer(res)
 		fmt.Fprintf(o.Out, "\n%s", refStr.String())
-		printInfo(o.Out, "Successfully added dataset %s", ref)
+		printInfo(o.Out, "Successfully added dataset %s", arg)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/lib/datasets.go b/lib/datasets.go
index d58dbe632..50d9a3a21 100644
--- a/lib/datasets.go
+++ b/lib/datasets.go
@@ -614,21 +614,48 @@ func (r *DatasetRequests) Remove(p *RemoveParams, res *RemoveResponse) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// AddParams encapsulates parameters to the add command
+type AddParams struct {
+	Ref        string
+	LinkDir    string
+	RemoteAddr string // remote to attempt to pull from
+}
+
 // Add adds an existing dataset to a peer's repository
-func (r *DatasetRequests) Add(ref *repo.DatasetRef, res *repo.DatasetRef) (err error) {
+func (r *DatasetRequests) Add(p *AddParams, res *repo.DatasetRef) (err error) {
 	if r.cli != nil {
-		return r.cli.Call("DatasetRequests.Add", ref, res)
+		return r.cli.Call("DatasetRequests.Add", p, res)
 	}
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 
-	defaultAddr := ""
-	if r.inst != nil && r.inst.cfg.Registry != nil {
-		defaultAddr = r.inst.cfg.Registry.Location
+	ref, err := repo.ParseDatasetRef(p.Ref)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if p.RemoteAddr == "" && r.inst != nil && r.inst.cfg.Registry != nil {
+		p.RemoteAddr = r.inst.cfg.Registry.Location
 	}
 
-	err = actions.AddDataset(ctx, r.node, r.inst.RemoteClient(), defaultAddr, ref)
-	*res = *ref
-	return err
+	if err = actions.AddDataset(ctx, r.node, r.inst.RemoteClient(), p.RemoteAddr, &ref); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	*res = ref
+
+	if p.LinkDir != "" {
+		checkoutp := &CheckoutParams{
+			Ref: ref.String(),
+			Dir: p.LinkDir,
+		}
+		m := NewFSIMethods(r.inst)
+		checkoutRes := ""
+		if err = m.Checkout(checkoutp, &checkoutRes); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 // ValidateDatasetParams defines parameters for dataset
diff --git a/lib/datasets_test.go b/lib/datasets_test.go
index e3b213696..1f2423631 100644
--- a/lib/datasets_test.go
+++ b/lib/datasets_test.go
@@ -767,11 +767,11 @@ func TestDatasetRequestsRemove(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestDatasetRequestsAdd(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
-		p   *repo.DatasetRef
+		p   *AddParams
 		res *repo.DatasetRef
 		err string
 	}{
-		{&repo.DatasetRef{Name: "abc", Path: "hash###"}, nil, "node is not online and no registry is configured"},
+		{&AddParams{Ref: "abc/hash###"}, nil, "node is not online and no registry is configured"},
 	}
 
 	mr, err := testrepo.NewTestRepo()
@@ -842,12 +842,15 @@ func TestDatasetRequestsAddP2P(t *testing.T) {
 				index, _ := strconv.ParseInt(num, 10, 32)
 				name := datasets[index]
 				ref := repo.DatasetRef{Peername: profile.Peername, Name: name}
+				p := &AddParams{
+					Ref: ref.AliasString(),
+				}
 
 				// Build requests for peer1 to peer2.
 				dsr := NewDatasetRequests(p0, nil)
 				got := &repo.DatasetRef{}
 
-				err := dsr.Add(&ref, got)
+				err := dsr.Add(p, got)
 				if err != nil {
 					pro1, _ := p0.Repo.Profile()
 					pro2, _ := p1.Repo.Profile()