diff --git a/client/cmd/install.go b/client/cmd/install.go
index b6da8dd..5eefe8e 100644
--- a/client/cmd/install.go
+++ b/client/cmd/install.go
@@ -44,25 +44,27 @@ var (
 
 // installCmd represents the install command
 var installCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "install [package name]",
-	Short: "install packages",
-	Long:  `install packages`,
+	Use:   "install [package name] | [package name] [package name]",
+	Short: "install package(s)",
+	Long:  `install package(s)`,
 	Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		argCount := len(args)
 
-		if argCount != 1 {
+		if argCount == 0 {
 			cmd.Usage()
 
-			if argCount == 0 {
-				return fmt.Errorf("missing package")
-			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("missing package(s)")
+		}
+
+		if argCount > 1 && version != "" {
+			cmd.Usage()
 
-			return fmt.Errorf("install requires one package, received %d", argCount)
+			return fmt.Errorf("setting version with multiple packages makes no sense")
 		}
 
 		return nil
 	},
-	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		client, err := newClient(socketAddr)
 
 		err = errWrap("connecting to vin", err)
@@ -70,7 +72,14 @@ var installCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			return err
 		}
 
-		return errWrap("installation", client.install(args[0], version, force))
+		for _, pkg := range args {
+			err = client.install(pkg, version, force)
+			if err != nil {
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		return errWrap("installation", err)
 	},
 }
 
diff --git a/client/cmd/root_test.go b/client/cmd/root_test.go
index 332ac1e..81501d6 100644
--- a/client/cmd/root_test.go
+++ b/client/cmd/root_test.go
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	defaultExpect  = "vin provides package management stuff for vinyl linux\n\nIt offers:\n  * Speed and extensibility- no mucking around with byzantine package manager configs\n  * Modern tooling- sha and md5 are slow and unwieldly. We've moved on. PGP signing package manifests. Why? Sod it, let git handle it\n  * Low barrier to entry for contributing- why are we mucking about with granting access to servers/ mailing lists to make changes? Github/ gitlab/ gitea/ all of these solve these issues better. Slap a reasonably permissive CLA onto a repo somewhere, and let people do what they do.\n\nUsage:\n  vin [command]\n\nAvailable Commands:\n  advise      generate a vin config.toml for this machine\n  help        Help about any command\n  install     install packages\n  reload      trigger a reload of manifests\n  version     Return server and client version information\n\nFlags:\n      --config string   config file (default is $HOME/.vin.yaml)\n  -h, --help            help for vin\n      --sock string     path to the vin socket file (default \"unix:///var/run/vin.sock\")\n\nUse \"vin [command] --help\" for more information about a command.\n"
-	defaultInstall = "Usage:\n  vin install [package name] [flags]\n\nFlags:\n  -f, --force            Force installation, even when targets are marked as installed\n  -h, --help             help for install\n  -v, --version string   Version constraint to install. This command allows strict versions, such as \"1.2.3\", or loose versions such as \">=1.20, <1.3.5\" (default \"latest\")\n\nGlobal Flags:\n      --config string   config file (default is $HOME/.vin.yaml)\n      --sock string     path to the vin socket file (default \"unix:///var/run/vin.sock\")\n"
+	defaultExpect  = "vin provides package management stuff for vinyl linux\n\nIt offers:\n  * Speed and extensibility- no mucking around with byzantine package manager configs\n  * Modern tooling- sha and md5 are slow and unwieldly. We've moved on. PGP signing package manifests. Why? Sod it, let git handle it\n  * Low barrier to entry for contributing- why are we mucking about with granting access to servers/ mailing lists to make changes? Github/ gitlab/ gitea/ all of these solve these issues better. Slap a reasonably permissive CLA onto a repo somewhere, and let people do what they do.\n\nUsage:\n  vin [command]\n\nAvailable Commands:\n  advise      generate a vin config.toml for this machine\n  help        Help about any command\n  install     install package(s)\n  reload      trigger a reload of manifests\n  version     Return server and client version information\n\nFlags:\n      --config string   config file (default is $HOME/.vin.yaml)\n  -h, --help            help for vin\n      --sock string     path to the vin socket file (default \"unix:///var/run/vin.sock\")\n\nUse \"vin [command] --help\" for more information about a command.\n"
+	defaultInstall = "Usage:\n  vin install [package name] | [package name] [package name] [flags]\n\nFlags:\n  -f, --force            Force installation, even when targets are marked as installed\n  -h, --help             help for install\n  -v, --version string   Version constraint to install. This command allows strict versions, such as \"1.2.3\", or loose versions such as \">=1.20, <1.3.5\" (default \"latest\")\n\nGlobal Flags:\n      --config string   config file (default is $HOME/.vin.yaml)\n      --sock string     path to the vin socket file (default \"unix:///var/run/vin.sock\")\n"
 	defaultReload  = ""
 )