diff --git a/core/commands/pin.go b/core/commands/pin.go
index b23e89e8d..d96aace7e 100644
--- a/core/commands/pin.go
+++ b/core/commands/pin.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"time"
 
 	cmds "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/commands"
 	core "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/core"
@@ -33,6 +34,11 @@ type PinOutput struct {
 	Pins []*cid.Cid
 }
 
+type AddPinOutput struct {
+	Pins     []*cid.Cid
+	Progress int `json:",omitempty"`
+}
+
 var addPinCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	Helptext: cmds.HelpText{
 		Tagline:          "Pin objects to local storage.",
@@ -44,8 +50,9 @@ var addPinCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	},
 	Options: []cmds.Option{
 		cmds.BoolOption("recursive", "r", "Recursively pin the object linked to by the specified object(s).").Default(true),
+		cmds.BoolOption("progress", "Show progress"),
 	},
-	Type: PinOutput{},
+	Type: AddPinOutput{},
 	Run: func(req cmds.Request, res cmds.Response) {
 		n, err := req.InvocContext().GetNode()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -61,22 +68,88 @@ var addPinCmd = &cmds.Command{
 			res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
 			return
 		}
+		showProgress, _, _ := req.Option("progress").Bool()
 
-		added, err := corerepo.Pin(n, req.Context(), req.Arguments(), recursive)
-		if err != nil {
-			res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
+		if !showProgress {
+			added, err := corerepo.Pin(n, req.Context(), req.Arguments(), recursive)
+			if err != nil {
+				res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
+				return
+			}
+			res.SetOutput(&AddPinOutput{Pins: added})
 			return
 		}
 
-		res.SetOutput(&PinOutput{added})
+		v := new(dag.ProgressTracker)
+		ctx := v.DeriveContext(req.Context())
+
+		ch := make(chan []*cid.Cid)
+		go func() {
+			defer close(ch)
+			added, err := corerepo.Pin(n, ctx, req.Arguments(), recursive)
+			if err != nil {
+				res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
+				return
+			}
+			ch <- added
+		}()
+		out := make(chan interface{})
+		res.SetOutput((<-chan interface{})(out))
+		go func() {
+			ticker := time.NewTicker(500 * time.Millisecond)
+			defer ticker.Stop()
+			defer close(out)
+			for {
+				select {
+				case val, ok := <-ch:
+					if !ok {
+						// error already set just return
+						return
+					}
+					if pv := v.Value(); pv != 0 {
+						out <- &AddPinOutput{Progress: v.Value()}
+					}
+					out <- &AddPinOutput{Pins: val}
+					return
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					out <- &AddPinOutput{Progress: v.Value()}
+				case <-ctx.Done():
+					res.SetError(ctx.Err(), cmds.ErrNormal)
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}()
 	},
 	Marshalers: cmds.MarshalerMap{
 		cmds.Text: func(res cmds.Response) (io.Reader, error) {
-			added, ok := res.Output().(*PinOutput)
-			if !ok {
+			var added []*cid.Cid
+
+			switch out := res.Output().(type) {
+			case *AddPinOutput:
+				added = out.Pins
+			case <-chan interface{}:
+				progressLine := false
+				for r0 := range out {
+					r := r0.(*AddPinOutput)
+					if r.Pins != nil {
+						added = r.Pins
+					} else {
+						if progressLine {
+							fmt.Fprintf(res.Stderr(), "\r")
+						}
+						fmt.Fprintf(res.Stderr(), "Fetched/Processed %d nodes", r.Progress)
+						progressLine = true
+					}
+				}
+				if progressLine {
+					fmt.Fprintf(res.Stderr(), "\n")
+				}
+				if res.Error() != nil {
+					return nil, res.Error()
+				}
+			default:
 				return nil, u.ErrCast()
 			}
-
 			var pintype string
 			rec, found, _ := res.Request().Option("recursive").Bool()
 			if rec || !found {
@@ -86,7 +159,7 @@ var addPinCmd = &cmds.Command{
 			}
 
 			buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-			for _, k := range added.Pins {
+			for _, k := range added {
 				fmt.Fprintf(buf, "pinned %s %s\n", k, pintype)
 			}
 			return buf, nil
diff --git a/merkledag/merkledag.go b/merkledag/merkledag.go
index f752ff50f..b81d2b60b 100644
--- a/merkledag/merkledag.go
+++ b/merkledag/merkledag.go
@@ -139,8 +139,21 @@ func (n *dagService) Remove(nd node.Node) error {
 }
 
 // FetchGraph fetches all nodes that are children of the given node
-func FetchGraph(ctx context.Context, c *cid.Cid, serv DAGService) error {
-	return EnumerateChildrenAsync(ctx, serv, c, cid.NewSet().Visit)
+func FetchGraph(ctx context.Context, root *cid.Cid, serv DAGService) error {
+	v, _ := ctx.Value("progress").(*ProgressTracker)
+	if v == nil {
+		return EnumerateChildrenAsync(ctx, serv, root, cid.NewSet().Visit)
+	}
+	set := cid.NewSet()
+	visit := func(c *cid.Cid) bool {
+		if set.Visit(c) {
+			v.Increment()
+			return true
+		} else {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return EnumerateChildrenAsync(ctx, serv, root, visit)
 }
 
 // FindLinks searches this nodes links for the given key,
@@ -389,6 +402,27 @@ func EnumerateChildren(ctx context.Context, ds LinkService, root *cid.Cid, visit
 	return nil
 }
 
+type ProgressTracker struct {
+	Total int
+	lk    sync.Mutex
+}
+
+func (p *ProgressTracker) DeriveContext(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, "progress", p)
+}
+
+func (p *ProgressTracker) Increment() {
+	p.lk.Lock()
+	defer p.lk.Unlock()
+	p.Total++
+}
+
+func (p *ProgressTracker) Value() int {
+	p.lk.Lock()
+	defer p.lk.Unlock()
+	return p.Total
+}
+
 // FetchGraphConcurrency is total number of concurrent fetches that
 // 'fetchNodes' will start at a time
 var FetchGraphConcurrency = 8
diff --git a/merkledag/merkledag_test.go b/merkledag/merkledag_test.go
index bd310469f..e7cfc8891 100644
--- a/merkledag/merkledag_test.go
+++ b/merkledag/merkledag_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"math/rand"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
@@ -547,3 +548,80 @@ func TestEnumerateAsyncFailsNotFound(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("this should have failed")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestProgressIndicator(t *testing.T) {
+	testProgressIndicator(t, 5)
+}
+
+func TestProgressIndicatorNoChildren(t *testing.T) {
+	testProgressIndicator(t, 0)
+}
+
+func testProgressIndicator(t *testing.T, depth int) {
+	ds := dstest.Mock()
+
+	top, numChildren := mkDag(ds, depth)
+
+	v := new(ProgressTracker)
+	ctx := v.DeriveContext(context.Background())
+
+	err := FetchGraph(ctx, top, ds)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if v.Value() != numChildren+1 {
+		t.Errorf("wrong number of children reported in progress indicator, expected %d, got %d",
+			numChildren+1, v.Value())
+	}
+}
+
+func mkDag(ds DAGService, depth int) (*cid.Cid, int) {
+	totalChildren := 0
+	f := func() *ProtoNode {
+		p := new(ProtoNode)
+		buf := make([]byte, 16)
+		rand.Read(buf)
+
+		p.SetData(buf)
+		_, err := ds.Add(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		return p
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < depth; i++ {
+		thisf := f
+		f = func() *ProtoNode {
+			pn := mkNodeWithChildren(thisf, 10)
+			_, err := ds.Add(pn)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			totalChildren += 10
+			return pn
+		}
+	}
+
+	nd := f()
+	c, err := ds.Add(nd)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	return c, totalChildren
+}
+
+func mkNodeWithChildren(getChild func() *ProtoNode, width int) *ProtoNode {
+	cur := new(ProtoNode)
+
+	for i := 0; i < width; i++ {
+		c := getChild()
+		if err := cur.AddNodeLinkClean(fmt.Sprint(i), c); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return cur
+}
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0085-pins.sh b/test/sharness/t0085-pins.sh
index b07b9eef4..94889dc8a 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0085-pins.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0085-pins.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ test_description="Test ipfs pinning operations"
 
 
 test_pins() {
+	EXTRA_ARGS=$1
+
 	test_expect_success "create some hashes" '
 		HASH_A=$(echo "A" | ipfs add -q --pin=false) &&
 		HASH_B=$(echo "B" | ipfs add -q --pin=false) &&
@@ -30,8 +32,8 @@ test_pins() {
 		echo $HASH_G >> hashes
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "pin those hashes via stdin" '
-		cat hashes | ipfs pin add
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs pin add $EXTRA_ARGS' via stdin" '
+		cat hashes | ipfs pin add $EXTRA_ARGS
 	'
 
 	test_expect_success "unpin those hashes" '
@@ -39,15 +41,30 @@ test_pins() {
 	'
 }
 
-test_pin_dag() {
+RANDOM_HASH=Qme8uX5n9hn15pw9p6WcVKoziyyC9LXv4LEgvsmKMULjnV
+
+test_pins_error_reporting() {
+	EXTRA_ARGS=$1
+
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs pin add $EXTRA_ARGS' on non-existent hash should fail" '
+		test_must_fail ipfs pin add $EXTRA_ARGS $RANDOM_HASH 2> err &&
+		grep -q "not found" err
+	'
+}
+
+test_pin_dag_init() {
 	EXTRA_ARGS=$1
 
 	test_expect_success "'ipfs add $EXTRA_ARGS --pin=false' 1MB file" '
 		random 1048576 56 > afile &&
 		HASH=`ipfs add $EXTRA_ARGS --pin=false -q afile`
 	'
+}
 
-	test_expect_success "'ipfs pin add' file" '
+test_pin_dag() {
+	test_pin_dag_init $1
+
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs pin add --progress' file" '
 		ipfs pin add --recursive=true $HASH
 	'
 
@@ -67,20 +84,45 @@ test_pin_dag() {
 	'
 }
 
+test_pin_progress() {
+	test_pin_dag_init
+
+	test_expect_success "'ipfs pin add --progress' file" '
+		ipfs pin add --progress $HASH 2> err
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "pin progress reported correctly" '
+		cat err
+		grep -q " 5 nodes" err
+	'
+}
+
 test_init_ipfs
 
 test_pins
+test_pins --progress
+
+test_pins_error_reporting
+test_pins_error_reporting --progress
 
 test_pin_dag
 test_pin_dag --raw-leaves
 
+test_pin_progress
+
 test_launch_ipfs_daemon --offline
 
 test_pins
+test_pins --progress
+
+test_pins_error_reporting
+test_pins_error_reporting --progress
 
 test_pin_dag
 test_pin_dag --raw-leaves
 
+test_pin_progress
+
 test_kill_ipfs_daemon
 
 test_done