diff --git a/pkg/commands/addbase.go b/pkg/commands/addbase.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7486be11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/addbase.go
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package commands
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/fs"
+)
+
+type addBaseOptions struct {
+	baseDirectoryPath string
+}
+
+// newCmdAddBase adds the file path of the kustomize base to the kustomization file.
+func newCmdAddBase(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
+	var o addBaseOptions
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "base",
+		Short: "Adds a directory path to a base kustomization to the current directory's kustomization file.",
+		Example: `
+		add base {filepath}`,
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			err := o.Validate(args)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			err = o.Complete(cmd, args)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			return o.RunAddBase(fsys)
+		},
+	}
+	return cmd
+}
+
+// Validate validates addBase command.
+func (o *addBaseOptions) Validate(args []string) error {
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		return errors.New("must specify a base directory")
+	}
+	o.baseDirectoryPath = args[0]
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Complete completes addBase command.
+func (o *addBaseOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+// RunAddBase runs addBase command (do real work).
+func (o *addBaseOptions) RunAddBase(fsys fs.FileSystem) error {
+	_, err := fsys.Stat(o.baseDirectoryPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	mf, err := newKustomizationFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, fsys)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	m, err := mf.read()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if stringInSlice(o.baseDirectoryPath, m.Bases) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("base %s already in kustomization file", o.baseDirectoryPath)
+	}
+
+	m.Bases = append(m.Bases, o.baseDirectoryPath)
+
+	return mf.write(m)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/commands/addbase_test.go b/pkg/commands/addbase_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e9cab2b5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/addbase_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package commands
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/fs"
+)
+
+const (
+	baseDirectoryPath = "my/path/to/wonderful/base"
+)
+
+func TestAddBaseHappyPath(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakeFS.Mkdir(baseDirectoryPath, 0777)
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+
+	cmd := newCmdAddBase(fakeFS)
+	args := []string{baseDirectoryPath}
+	err := cmd.RunE(cmd, args)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected cmd error: %v", err)
+	}
+	content, err := fakeFS.ReadFile(constants.KustomizationFileName)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected read error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(string(content), baseDirectoryPath) {
+		t.Errorf("expected patch name in kustomization")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddBaseAlreadyThere(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	// Create fake directory
+	fakeFS.Mkdir(baseDirectoryPath, 0777)
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+
+	cmd := newCmdAddBase(fakeFS)
+	args := []string{baseDirectoryPath}
+	err := cmd.RunE(cmd, args)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected cmd error: %v", err)
+	}
+	// adding an existing base should return an error
+	err = cmd.RunE(cmd, args)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected already there problem")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != "base "+baseDirectoryPath+" already in kustomization file" {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddBaseNoArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+
+	cmd := newCmdAddBase(fakeFS)
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err.Error() != "must specify a base directory" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect error: %v", err.Error())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/commands/commands.go b/pkg/commands/commands.go
index 1405e668e..b0a1ccdca 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/commands.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/commands.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func newCmdEdit(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 func newCmdAdd(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 	c := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "add",
-		Short: "Adds configmap/resource/patch to the kustomization file.",
+		Short: "Adds configmap/resource/patch/base to the kustomization file.",
 		Long:  "",
 		Example: `
 	# Adds a configmap to the kustomization file
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ func newCmdAdd(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 
 	# Adds a patch to the kustomization
 	kustomize edit add patch <filepath>
+
+	# Adds a base directory to the kustomization
+	kustomize edit add base <filepath>
 `,
 		Args: cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 	}
@@ -99,6 +102,7 @@ func newCmdAdd(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 		newCmdAddResource(fsys),
 		newCmdAddPatch(fsys),
 		newCmdAddConfigMap(fsys),
+		newCmdAddBase(fsys),
 	)
 	return c
 }