diff --git a/api/update_test.go b/api/update_test.go
index a8277b13f..096749618 100644
--- a/api/update_test.go
+++ b/api/update_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package api
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ func TestUpdateHandlers(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg.Store.Type = "map"
 	cfg.Repo.Type = "mem"
 
-	inst, err := lib.NewInstance(tmpDir,
+	inst, err := lib.NewInstance(context.Background(), tmpDir,
 		lib.OptConfig(cfg),
 	)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/qri.go b/cmd/qri.go
index c1babceee..5def6653b 100644
--- a/cmd/qri.go
+++ b/cmd/qri.go
@@ -109,11 +109,10 @@ func (o *QriOptions) Init() (err error) {
 	initBody := func() {
 		opts := []lib.Option{
 			lib.OptIOStreams(o.IOStreams), // transfer iostreams to instance
-			lib.OptCtx(o.ctx),             // transfer request context to instance
 			lib.OptSetIPFSPath(o.ipfsFsPath),
 			lib.OptCheckConfigMigrations(""),
 		}
-		o.inst, err = lib.NewInstance(o.qriRepoPath, opts...)
+		o.inst, err = lib.NewInstance(o.ctx, o.qriRepoPath, opts...)
 	}
 	o.initialized.Do(initBody)
 	return
diff --git a/cmd/update_test.go b/cmd/update_test.go
index 7b9e83015..37852def7 100644
--- a/cmd/update_test.go
+++ b/cmd/update_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ func TestUpdateMethods(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg.Repo = &config.Repo{Type: "mem", Middleware: []string{}}
 	cfg.Store = &config.Store{Type: "map"}
 
-	inst, err := lib.NewInstance(tmpDir, lib.OptConfig(cfg), lib.OptIOStreams(streams))
+	inst, err := lib.NewInstance(context.Background(), tmpDir, lib.OptConfig(cfg), lib.OptIOStreams(streams))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/lib/config_test.go b/lib/config_test.go
index 291a16a06..c3a2318aa 100644
--- a/lib/config_test.go
+++ b/lib/config_test.go
@@ -8,22 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/qri-io/qri/config"
 )
 
-// func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
-// 	path, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "config_tests")
-// 	if err != nil {
-// 		t.Fatal(err.Error())
-// 	}
-// 	defer os.RemoveAll(path)
-// 	cfgPath := path + "/config.yaml"
-
-// 	if err := config.DefaultConfigForTesting().WriteToFile(cfgPath); err != nil {
-// 		t.Fatal(err.Error())
-// 	}
-// 	if err := LoadConfig(ioes.NewDiscardIOStreams(), cfgPath); err != nil {
-// 		t.Error(err.Error())
-// 	}
-// }
-
 func TestGetConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg := config.DefaultConfigForTesting()
 	// TODO (b5) - hack until we can get better test-instance allocation
diff --git a/lib/lib.go b/lib/lib.go
index 3f40f1ae0..3634ae3b7 100644
--- a/lib/lib.go
+++ b/lib/lib.go
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ type Methods interface {
 // * Config consists only of static values stored in a configuration file
 // Options may override config in specific cases to avoid undefined state
 type InstanceOptions struct {
-	Ctx     context.Context
 	Cfg     *config.Config
 	Streams ioes.IOStreams
 }
@@ -98,14 +97,6 @@ type InstanceOptions struct {
 // Option is a function that manipulates config details when fed to New()
 type Option func(o *InstanceOptions) error
 
-// OptCtx sets the base context to use for this instance
-func OptCtx(ctx context.Context) Option {
-	return func(o *InstanceOptions) error {
-		o.Ctx = ctx
-		return nil
-	}
-}
-
 // OptConfig supplies a configuration directly
 func OptConfig(cfg *config.Config) Option {
 	return func(o *InstanceOptions) error {
@@ -176,14 +167,12 @@ func OptCheckConfigMigrations(cfgPath string) Option {
 
 // NewInstance creates a new Qri Instance, if no Option funcs are provided,
 // New uses a default set of Option funcs
-func NewInstance(repoPath string, opts ...Option) (qri *Instance, err error) {
+func NewInstance(ctx context.Context, repoPath string, opts ...Option) (qri *Instance, err error) {
 	if repoPath == "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("repo path is required")
 	}
 
-	o := &InstanceOptions{
-		Ctx: context.Background(),
-	}
+	o := &InstanceOptions{}
 
 	// attempt to load a base configuration from repoPath
 	if o.Cfg, err = loadRepoConfig(repoPath); err != nil {
@@ -215,7 +204,7 @@ func NewInstance(repoPath string, opts ...Option) (qri *Instance, err error) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	ctx, teardown := context.WithCancel(o.Ctx)
+	ctx, teardown := context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	inst := &Instance{
 		ctx:      ctx,
 		teardown: teardown,
@@ -248,7 +237,7 @@ func NewInstance(repoPath string, opts ...Option) (qri *Instance, err error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if inst.store, err = newStore(o.Ctx, cfg); err != nil {
+	if inst.store, err = newStore(ctx, cfg); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 	if inst.qfs, err = newFilesystem(cfg, inst.store); err != nil {
@@ -271,7 +260,7 @@ func NewInstance(repoPath string, opts ...Option) (qri *Instance, err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-// TODO (b5): this is a repo layout assertion, move to repo package
+// TODO (b5): this is a repo layout assertion, move to repo package?
 func loadRepoConfig(repoPath string) (*config.Config, error) {
 	path := filepath.Join(repoPath, "config.yaml")
 
diff --git a/lib/lib_test.go b/lib/lib_test.go
index 75d11217a..3b2504c55 100644
--- a/lib/lib_test.go
+++ b/lib/lib_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package lib
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ func TestNewInstance(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg.Store.Type = "map"
 	cfg.Repo.Type = "mem"
 
-	got, err := NewInstance(os.TempDir(), OptConfig(cfg))
+	got, err := NewInstance(context.Background(), os.TempDir(), OptConfig(cfg))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func TestNewInstance(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
-	if _, err = NewInstance(""); err == nil {
+	if _, err = NewInstance(context.Background(), ""); err == nil {
 		t.Error("expected NewInstance to error when provided no repo path")
 	}
 }
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ func TestNewDefaultInstance(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg.Store.Path = tempDir
 	cfg.WriteToFile(filepath.Join(tempDir, "config.yaml"))
 
-	_, err = NewInstance(tempDir)
+	_, err = NewInstance(context.Background(), tempDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/lib/update_test.go b/lib/update_test.go
index e26322761..44cb3b4b4 100644
--- a/lib/update_test.go
+++ b/lib/update_test.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func TestUpdateMethods(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg.Repo = &config.Repo{Type: "mem", Middleware: []string{}}
 	cfg.Store = &config.Store{Type: "map"}
 
-	inst, err := NewInstance(tmpDir, OptConfig(cfg), OptIOStreams(ioes.NewDiscardIOStreams()))
+	inst, err := NewInstance(context.Background(), tmpDir, OptConfig(cfg), OptIOStreams(ioes.NewDiscardIOStreams()))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}