diff --git a/src/DynamoCLI/CommandLineRunner.cs b/src/DynamoCLI/CommandLineRunner.cs
index 2a4ba16a593..2d887a21472 100644
--- a/src/DynamoCLI/CommandLineRunner.cs
+++ b/src/DynamoCLI/CommandLineRunner.cs
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ private static XmlDocument RunCommandLineArgs(DynamoModel model, StartupUtils.Co
             {
                 Console.WriteLine("geometryFilePath option is only available when running DynamoWPFCLI, not DynamoCLI");
             }
+
             model.HostAnalyticsInfo = cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo;
 
             cmdLineArgs.ImportedPaths.ToList().ForEach(path =>
diff --git a/src/DynamoCLI/Program.cs b/src/DynamoCLI/Program.cs
index 2fa6946bd5d..ff0f6bd03dd 100644
--- a/src/DynamoCLI/Program.cs
+++ b/src/DynamoCLI/Program.cs
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ static internal void Main(string[] args)
                 DynamoModel model;
                 if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(cmdLineArgs.ASMPath))
                 {
-                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, cmdLineArgs.ASMPath);
+                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, cmdLineArgs.ASMPath, cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo);
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true);
+                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, string.Empty, cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo);
                 }
                 var runner = new CommandLineRunner(model);
                 runner.Run(cmdLineArgs);
diff --git a/src/DynamoCoreWpf/ViewModels/Watch3D/DefaultWatch3DViewModel.cs b/src/DynamoCoreWpf/ViewModels/Watch3D/DefaultWatch3DViewModel.cs
index bc185d13bff..9da3001aa5f 100644
--- a/src/DynamoCoreWpf/ViewModels/Watch3D/DefaultWatch3DViewModel.cs
+++ b/src/DynamoCoreWpf/ViewModels/Watch3D/DefaultWatch3DViewModel.cs
@@ -195,7 +195,14 @@ internal WorkspaceViewModel CurrentSpaceViewModel
         {
             get
             {
-                return viewModel.Workspaces.FirstOrDefault(vm => vm.Model == dynamoModel.CurrentWorkspace);
+                if (viewModel == null)
+                {
+                    return null;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    return viewModel.Workspaces.FirstOrDefault(vm => vm.Model == dynamoModel.CurrentWorkspace);
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/CommandLineRunnerWPF.cs b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/CommandLineRunnerWPF.cs
index da6f4c92c6c..8a932009412 100644
--- a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/CommandLineRunnerWPF.cs
+++ b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/CommandLineRunnerWPF.cs
@@ -40,13 +40,6 @@ private static XmlDocument RunCommandLineArgs(DynamoViewModel viewModel, Startup
                 Console.WriteLine("commandFilePath option is only available when running DynamoSandbox, not DynamoWPFCLI");
             }
 
-            viewModel.Model.HostAnalyticsInfo= cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo;
-
-            cmdLineArgs.ImportedPaths.ToList().ForEach(path =>
-            {
-                ImportAssembly(viewModel.Model, path);
-            });
-
             viewModel.OpenCommand.Execute(new Tuple<string, bool>(cmdLineArgs.OpenFilePath, true));
             Console.WriteLine("loaded file");
             viewModel.Model.EvaluationCompleted += (o, args) => { evalComplete = true; };
diff --git a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/DynamoWPFCLI.csproj b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/DynamoWPFCLI.csproj
index 70100f969ad..0a7b885ec57 100644
--- a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/DynamoWPFCLI.csproj
+++ b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/DynamoWPFCLI.csproj
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
     <Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.Prism">
       <HintPath>..\..\extern\prism\Microsoft.Practices.Prism.dll</HintPath>
     </Reference>
+    <Reference Include="WindowsBase" />
     <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="8.0.3" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/Program.cs b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/Program.cs
index a3714a47778..81c259659e5 100644
--- a/src/DynamoWPFCLI/Program.cs
+++ b/src/DynamoWPFCLI/Program.cs
@@ -1,49 +1,50 @@
 using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Threading;
 using Dynamo.Applications;
 using Dynamo.Models;
 using Dynamo.ViewModels;
 using Dynamo.Wpf.ViewModels.Watch3D;
+using static System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher;
 
 namespace DynamoWPFCLI
 {
     internal class Program
     {
         [STAThread]
-        static internal void Main(string[] args)
+        internal static void Main(string[] args)
         {
 
             try
             {
                 var cmdLineArgs = StartupUtils.CommandLineArguments.Parse(args);
                 var locale = StartupUtils.SetLocale(cmdLineArgs);
+
                 if (cmdLineArgs.DisableAnalytics)
                 {
                     Dynamo.Logging.Analytics.DisableAnalytics = true;
                 }
 
-                DynamoModel model;
-                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(cmdLineArgs.ASMPath))
+                if (cmdLineArgs.KeepAlive)
                 {
-                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, cmdLineArgs.ASMPath);
+                    var thread = new Thread(() => RunKeepAlive(cmdLineArgs));
+
+                    thread.Name = "DynamoModelKeepAlive";
+                    thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
+                    thread.Start();
+
+                    Console.WriteLine("Starting DynamoWPFCLI in keepalive mode");
+                    Console.ReadLine();
+
+                    ShutDown();
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true);
+                    var viewModel = StartupDaynamo(cmdLineArgs);
+
+                    var runner = new CommandLineRunnerWPF(viewModel);
+                    runner.Run(cmdLineArgs);
                 }
-                var viewModel = DynamoViewModel.Start(
-                    new DynamoViewModel.StartConfiguration()
-                    {
-                        DynamoModel = model,
-                        Watch3DViewModel = new DefaultWatch3DViewModel(null, new Watch3DViewModelStartupParams(model))
-                        {
-                            Active = false,
-                            CanBeActivated = false
-                        }
-                    });
-
-                var runner = new CommandLineRunnerWPF(viewModel);
-                runner.Run(cmdLineArgs);
-                
             }
             catch (Exception e)
             {
@@ -61,5 +62,93 @@ static internal void Main(string[] args)
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Start Dynamo Model and ViewModel per cmdLineArgs parameters.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="cmdLineArgs"></param>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        private static DynamoViewModel StartupDaynamo(StartupUtils.CommandLineArguments cmdLineArgs)
+        {
+            DynamoModel model;
+            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(cmdLineArgs.ASMPath))
+            {
+                model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, cmdLineArgs.ASMPath, cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                model = Dynamo.Applications.StartupUtils.MakeModel(true, string.Empty, cmdLineArgs.AnalyticsInfo);
+            }
+
+            model.ShutdownCompleted += (m) => { ShutDown(); };
+
+            var viewModel = DynamoViewModel.Start(
+                new DynamoViewModel.StartConfiguration()
+                {
+                    DynamoModel = model,
+                    Watch3DViewModel = new DefaultWatch3DViewModel(null, new Watch3DViewModelStartupParams(model))
+                    {
+                        Active = false,
+                        CanBeActivated = false
+                    }
+                });
+
+            cmdLineArgs.ImportedPaths.ToList().ForEach(path =>
+            {
+                ImportAssembly(model, path);
+            });
+
+            return viewModel;
+        }
+
+        private static void RunKeepAlive(StartupUtils.CommandLineArguments cmdLineArgs)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                StartupDaynamo(cmdLineArgs);
+
+                Console.WriteLine("-----------------------------------------");
+                Console.WriteLine("DynamoWPFCLI is running in keepalive mode");
+                Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to shutdown...");
+
+                Run();
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                Console.WriteLine("Server is shutting down due to an error");
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Attempts to import an assembly as a node library from a given file path.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="model"></param>
+        /// <param name="path"></param>
+        private static void ImportAssembly(DynamoModel model, string path)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var filePath = new System.IO.FileInfo(path);
+                if (!filePath.Exists)
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine($"could not find requested import library at path{path}");
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine($"attempting to import assembly {path}");
+                    var assembly = System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile(path);
+                    model.LoadNodeLibrary(assembly, true);
+                }
+            }
+            catch (Exception e)
+            {
+                Console.WriteLine($"exception while trying to load assembly {path}: {e}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static void ShutDown()
+        {
+            Environment.Exit(0);
+        }
+
     }
 }