diff --git a/pkg/commands/addmetadata.go b/pkg/commands/addmetadata.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..56e57ba32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/addmetadata.go
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 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 (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/fs"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/validate"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+// KindOfAdd is the kind of metadata being added: label or annotation
+type KindOfAdd int
+
+const (
+	annotation KindOfAdd = iota
+	label
+)
+
+func (k KindOfAdd) String() string {
+	kinds := [...]string{
+		"annotation",
+		"label",
+	}
+	if k < 0 || k > 1 {
+		return "Unknown metadatakind"
+	}
+	return kinds[k]
+}
+
+type addMetadataOptions struct {
+	metadata map[string]string
+}
+
+// newCmdAddAnnotation adds one or more commonAnnotations to the kustomization file.
+func newCmdAddAnnotation(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
+	var o addMetadataOptions
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "annotation",
+		Short: "Adds one or more commonAnnotations to the kustomization.yaml in current directory",
+		Example: `
+		add annotation {annotationKey1:annotationValue1},{annotationKey2:annotationValue2}`,
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			err := o.ValidateAndParse(args, annotation)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			return o.RunAddAnnotation(fsys, annotation)
+		},
+	}
+	return cmd
+}
+
+// newCmdAddLabel adds one or more commonLabels to the kustomization file.
+func newCmdAddLabel(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
+	var o addMetadataOptions
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "label",
+		Short: "Adds one or more commonLabels to the kustomization.yaml in current directory",
+		Example: `
+		add label {labelKey1:labelValue1},{labelKey2:labelValue2}`,
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			err := o.ValidateAndParse(args, label)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			return o.RunAddLabel(fsys, label)
+		},
+	}
+	return cmd
+}
+
+// ValidateAndParse validates addLabel and addAnnotation commands and parses them into o.metadata
+func (o *addMetadataOptions) ValidateAndParse(args []string, k KindOfAdd) error {
+	o.metadata = make(map[string]string)
+	if len(args) < 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("must specify %s", k)
+	}
+	if len(args) > 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%ss must be comma-separated, with no spaces. See help text for example", k)
+	}
+	inputs := strings.Split(args[0], ",")
+	for _, input := range inputs {
+		switch k {
+		case label:
+			valid, err := validate.IsValidLabel(input)
+			if !valid {
+				return err
+			}
+		case annotation:
+			valid, err := validate.IsValidAnnotation(input)
+			if !valid {
+				return err
+			}
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("unknown metadata kind %s", k)
+		}
+		//parse annotation keys and values into metadata
+		kv := strings.Split(input, ":")
+		o.metadata[kv[0]] = kv[1]
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// RunAddAnnotation runs addAnnotation command, doing the real work.
+func (o *addMetadataOptions) RunAddAnnotation(fsys fs.FileSystem, k KindOfAdd) error {
+	mf, err := newKustomizationFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, fsys)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	m, err := mf.read()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if m.CommonAnnotations == nil {
+		m.CommonAnnotations = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+
+	for key, value := range o.metadata {
+		if k == annotation {
+			if _, ok := m.CommonAnnotations[key]; ok {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s %s already in kustomization file", k, key)
+			}
+			m.CommonAnnotations[key] = value
+		}
+	}
+	return mf.write(m)
+}
+
+// RunAddLabel runs addLabel command, doing the real work.
+func (o *addMetadataOptions) RunAddLabel(fsys fs.FileSystem, k KindOfAdd) error {
+	mf, err := newKustomizationFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, fsys)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	m, err := mf.read()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if m.CommonLabels == nil {
+		m.CommonLabels = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+
+	for key, value := range o.metadata {
+		if _, ok := m.CommonLabels[key]; ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s %s already in kustomization file", k, key)
+		}
+		m.CommonLabels[key] = value
+	}
+	return mf.write(m)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/commands/addmetadata_test.go b/pkg/commands/addmetadata_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e796ff04b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/addmetadata_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 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 (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/constants"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pkg/fs"
+)
+
+func TestParseValidateInput(t *testing.T) {
+	var testcases = []struct {
+		input        string
+		valid        bool
+		name         string
+		expectedData map[string]string
+		kind         KindOfAdd
+	}{
+		{
+			input: "otters:cute",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Adds single input",
+			expectedData: map[string]string{
+				"otters": "cute",
+			},
+			kind: label,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "owls:great,unicorns:magical",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Adds two items",
+			expectedData: map[string]string{
+				"owls":     "great",
+				"unicorns": "magical",
+			},
+			kind: label,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "123:45",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Numeric input is allowed",
+			expectedData: map[string]string{
+				"123": "45",
+			},
+			kind: annotation,
+		},
+		{
+			input:        " ",
+			valid:        false,
+			name:         "Empty space input",
+			expectedData: nil,
+			kind:         annotation,
+		},
+	}
+	var o addMetadataOptions
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		args := []string{tc.input}
+		err := o.ValidateAndParse(args, tc.kind)
+		if err != nil && tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("for test case %s, unexpected cmd error: %v", tc.name, err)
+		}
+		if err == nil && !tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: expected invalid format error for test case %v", tc.name)
+		}
+		//o.metadata should be the same as expectedData
+		if tc.valid {
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(o.metadata, tc.expectedData) {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, unexpected data was added", tc.name)
+			}
+		} else {
+			if len(o.metadata) != 0 {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, expected no data to be added", tc.name)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRunAddAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+	var o addMetadataOptions
+	o.metadata = map[string]string{"owls": "cute", "otters": "adorable"}
+
+	err := o.RunAddAnnotation(fakeFS, annotation)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: could not write to kustomization file")
+	}
+	// adding the same test input should not work
+	err = o.RunAddAnnotation(fakeFS, annotation)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected already in kustomization file error")
+	}
+	// adding new annotations should work
+	o.metadata = map[string]string{"new": "annotation"}
+	err = o.RunAddAnnotation(fakeFS, annotation)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: could not write to kustomization file")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddAnnotationNoArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	cmd := newCmdAddAnnotation(fakeFS)
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected an error but error is %v", err)
+	}
+	if err != nil && err.Error() != "must specify annotation" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect error: %v", err.Error())
+	}
+}
+func TestAddAnnotationMultipleArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+	cmd := newCmdAddAnnotation(fakeFS)
+	args := []string{"this:annotation", "has:spaces"}
+	err := cmd.RunE(cmd, args)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected an error but error is %v", err)
+	}
+	if err != nil && err.Error() != "annotations must be comma-separated, with no spaces. See help text for example" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect error: %v", err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRunAddLabel(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+	var o addMetadataOptions
+	o.metadata = map[string]string{"owls": "cute", "otters": "adorable"}
+
+	err := o.RunAddLabel(fakeFS, label)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: could not write to kustomization file")
+	}
+	// adding the same test input should not work
+	err = o.RunAddLabel(fakeFS, label)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected already in kustomization file error")
+	}
+	// adding new labels should work
+	o.metadata = map[string]string{"new": "label"}
+	err = o.RunAddLabel(fakeFS, label)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: could not write to kustomization file")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddLabelNoArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+
+	cmd := newCmdAddLabel(fakeFS)
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected an error but error is: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err != nil && err.Error() != "must specify label" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect error: %v", err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddLabelMultipleArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeFS := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakeFS.WriteFile(constants.KustomizationFileName, []byte(kustomizationContent))
+	cmd := newCmdAddLabel(fakeFS)
+	args := []string{"this:input", "has:spaces"}
+	err := cmd.RunE(cmd, args)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected an error but error is: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err != nil && err.Error() != "labels must be comma-separated, with no spaces. See help text for example" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect error: %v", err.Error())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/commands/commands.go b/pkg/commands/commands.go
index 20648465a..20e987a66 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/commands.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/commands.go
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@ func newCmdAdd(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 	# Adds one or more base directories to the kustomization
 	kustomize edit add base <filepath>
 	kustomize edit add base <filepath1>,<filepath2>,<filepath3>
+
+	# Adds one or more commonLabels to the kustomization
+	kustomize edit add label {labelKey1:labelValue1},{labelKey2:labelValue2}
+
+	# Adds one or more commonAnnotations to the kustomization
+	kustomize edit add annotation {annotationKey1:annotationValue1},{annotationKey2:annotationValue2}
 `,
 		Args: cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 	}
@@ -104,6 +110,8 @@ func newCmdAdd(fsys fs.FileSystem) *cobra.Command {
 		newCmdAddPatch(fsys),
 		newCmdAddConfigMap(fsys),
 		newCmdAddBase(fsys),
+		newCmdAddLabel(fsys),
+		newCmdAddAnnotation(fsys),
 	)
 	return c
 }
diff --git a/pkg/validate/validate.go b/pkg/validate/validate.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94ae5de11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/validate/validate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package validate
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+)
+
+// TODO: these are rudimentary placeholder validation functions and need
+// additional work to truly match expected syntax rules.
+
+// IsValidLabel checks whether a label key/value pair has correct syntax and
+// character set
+func IsValidLabel(keyval string) (bool, error) {
+	ok, err := regexp.MatchString(`\A([a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+):([a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+)\z`, keyval)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if !ok {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid label format: %s", keyval)
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
+// IsValidAnnotation checks whether an annotation key/value pair has correct
+// syntax and character set
+func IsValidAnnotation(keyval string) (bool, error) {
+	ok, err := regexp.MatchString(`\A([a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+):([a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+)\z`, keyval)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if !ok {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid annotation format: %s", keyval)
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/validate/validate_test.go b/pkg/validate/validate_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff84f82b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/validate/validate_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package validate
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestIsValidLabel(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		input, name string
+		valid       bool
+	}{
+		{
+			input: "otters:cute",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Valid input format",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "dogs,cats",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Does not contain colon",
+		},
+		{
+			input: ":noKey",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Missing key",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "noValue:",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Missing value",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "exclamation!:point",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Non-alphanumeric input",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "123:45",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Numeric input is allowed",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		ok, err := IsValidLabel(tc.input)
+		if tc.valid && err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, expected no error but got: %s", tc.name, err.Error())
+		}
+		if ok && !tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("for test case %s, expected invalid label format error", tc.name)
+		}
+		if !ok && tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, expected test to pass", tc.name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsValidAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		input, name string
+		valid       bool
+	}{
+		{
+			input: "owls:adorable",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Valid input format",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "cake,cookies",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Does not contain colon",
+		},
+		{
+			input: ":noKey",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Missing key",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "noValue:",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Missing value",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "exclamation!:point",
+			valid: false,
+			name:  "Input has a bang!",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "987:65",
+			valid: true,
+			name:  "Numeric input is valid",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		ok, err := IsValidAnnotation(tc.input)
+		if tc.valid && err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, expected no error but got: %s", tc.name, err.Error())
+		}
+		if ok && !tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("for test case %s, expected invalid annotation format error", tc.name)
+		}
+		if !ok && tc.valid {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: for test case %s, expected test to pass", tc.name)
+		}
+	}
+}