diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3a5a6f9..c03d245 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 clean:
-	rm -r test/bender_test
-	rm -r tmp
+	rm -rf test/bender_test 2> /dev/null
+	rm -rf tmp 2> /dev/null
 
 sandbox:
-	mkdir -p ./tmp/
-	cp -r ~/.config/ ./tmp/config
+	mkdir -p ./tmp/ 2> /dev/null
+	cp -r ~/.config/ ./tmp/config 2> /dev/null
+
+unit-test:
+	TESTING=true go test -v ./test
diff --git a/cmd/init.go b/cmd/init.go
index 5506815..025c12d 100644
--- a/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/init.go
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ var initCommand = &cobra.Command {
 
 func runInitCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
   fs := FileSystem
+  // if user has passed a dotfile path flag need to add it to
+  // viper's search path for a config file
+  viper.AddConfigPath(filepath.Join(DotfilePath, "bender"))
 
   if(viper.Get("testing") == true && fs.Name() != "MemMapFS") {
     log.Fatalf("wrong filesystem, got %s", fs.Name())
@@ -69,8 +72,8 @@ func runInitCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
   }
 
   err = viper.WriteConfig()
-  if err != nil {
-    fmt.Printf("Unable to write config on init: %s\n", err)
+  if err != nil && viper.Get("testing") != true {
+    log.Fatalf("Unable to write config on init: %s\n", err)
   }
 
   if (viper.Get("testing") != "true"){
diff --git a/cmd/link.go b/cmd/link.go
index 2ccc513..8fe259a 100644
--- a/cmd/link.go
+++ b/cmd/link.go
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func runLinkCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-  fs := UseFilesystem()
+  fs := FileSystem
   fmt.Println("Symlinking dotfiles...")
   dotfileRoot := viper.Get("dotfile-path").(string)
   entries, err := afero.ReadDir(fs, dotfileRoot)
   if err != nil {
-    log.Fatal(err)
+    log.Fatalf("Could not read dotfiles directory: %s\n",err)
   }
   for _, entry := range(entries) {
     configName := entry.Name()
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ func runLinkCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
     }
     dotPath := filepath.Join(dotfileRoot, entry.Name())
 
-    configPath := viper.Get(configName).(string)
+    configPath := viper.GetString(configName)
+    if configPath == ""{
+      fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "Warning: could not find config for %s\n", entry.Name())
+    }
 
 
     // destination needs to be removed before symlink
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 9564e06..0517c89 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ func init() {
   viper.SetConfigName("config")
   viper.SetConfigType("yaml")
   viper.AddConfigPath("./tmp/dotfiles/bender")
+  fmt.Printf("dotfile path is %s\n", DotfilePath)
   viper.AddConfigPath(filepath.Join(DotfilePath, "bender"))
 
   err := viper.ReadInConfig()
@@ -89,29 +90,4 @@ func UseFilesystem() afero.Fs {
 }
 
 // TODO: this can probably be removed
-func SetUpForTesting() afero.Fs {
-  viper.Set("testing", true)
-  fs := UseFilesystem()
-
-  homedir := "bender_test/"
-  fs.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/"), 0755)
-  fs.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homedir, ".dotfiles/"), 0755)
-
-  fs.Mkdir("bin/", 0755)
-  fs.Create("bin/alacritty")
-  fs.Create("bin/nvim")
-  fs.Create("bin/tmux")
-
-  fs.Mkdir(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/alacritty"), 0755)
-  fs.Mkdir(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/nvim"), 0755)
-  fs.Mkdir(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/tmux"), 0755)
-
-  fs.Create(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/alacritty/alacritty.conf"))
-  fs.Create(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/nvim/nvim.conf"))
-  fs.Create(filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/tmux/tmux.conf"))
-
-  FileSystem = fs
- 
-  return fs
-}
 
diff --git a/test/link_test.go b/test/link_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..723ae04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/link_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/Marcusk19/bender/cmd"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+
+func TestLinkCommand(t *testing.T) {
+  setUpTesting()
+  bender := cmd.RootCmd
+  actual := new(bytes.Buffer)
+
+  bender.SetOut(actual)
+  bender.SetErr(actual)
+  bender.SetArgs([]string{"link"})
+
+  bender.Execute()
+
+  homedir := os.Getenv("HOME")
+  someconfig := filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/someconfig/")
+  somedot := filepath.Join(homedir, ".dotfiles/someconfig/")
+
+  expected := fmt.Sprintf("%s,%s", someconfig, somedot)
+
+  assert.Equal(t, expected, actual.String(), "actual differs from expected")
+
+  tearDownTesting()
+}
+
+func setUpTesting() {
+  fs := cmd.FileSystem
+  homedir := os.Getenv("HOME")
+  fs.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homedir, ".dotfiles/bender"), 0755)
+  fs.Create(filepath.Join(homedir, ".dotfiles/bender/config"))
+  fs.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(homedir, ".dotfiles/someconfig/"), 0755)
+
+  viper.Set("someconfig", filepath.Join(homedir, ".config/someconfig/"))
+
+}
+
+func tearDownTesting() {
+  fs := cmd.FileSystem
+  fs.RemoveAll("bender_test/")
+}