diff --git a/datadotworld/__init__.py b/datadotworld/__init__.py
index cfe359d..5af6206 100644
--- a/datadotworld/__init__.py
+++ b/datadotworld/__init__.py
@@ -27,7 +27,12 @@
 
 import weakref
 
-from datadotworld.config import FileConfig, ChainedConfig
+from datadotworld.config import (
+    FileConfig,
+    ChainedConfig,
+    InlineConfig,
+    EnvConfig
+)
 from datadotworld.datadotworld import DataDotWorld, UriParam  # noqa: F401
 
 __version__ = '1.4.3'
@@ -37,24 +42,28 @@
 __instances = weakref.WeakValueDictionary()
 
 
-def _get_instance(profile):
+def _get_instance(profile, **kwargs):
     """
 
     :param profile:
 
     """
     instance = __instances.get(profile)
+
     if instance is None:
-        config_param = (ChainedConfig()
-                        if profile == 'default'
-                        else FileConfig(profile=profile))
+        config_param = (ChainedConfig(config_chain=[
+            InlineConfig(kwargs.get('auth_token')),
+            EnvConfig(),
+            FileConfig()])
+                if profile == 'default'
+                else FileConfig(profile=profile))
         instance = DataDotWorld(config=config_param)
         __instances[profile] = instance
     return instance
 
 
 def load_dataset(dataset_key, force_update=False, auto_update=False,
-                 profile='default'):
+                 profile='default', **kwargs):
     """Load a dataset from the local filesystem, downloading it from data.world
     first, if necessary.
 
@@ -86,13 +95,14 @@ def load_dataset(dataset_key, force_update=False, auto_update=False,
     >>> list(dataset.dataframes)
     ['changelog', 'datadotworldbballstats', 'datadotworldbballteam']
     """
-    return _get_instance(profile).load_dataset(dataset_key,
-                                               force_update=force_update,
-                                               auto_update=auto_update)
+    return _get_instance(profile, **kwargs). \
+        load_dataset(dataset_key,
+                     force_update=force_update,
+                     auto_update=auto_update)
 
 
 def query(dataset_key, query, query_type='sql', profile='default',
-          parameters=None):
+          parameters=None, **kwargs):
     """Query an existing dataset
 
     :param dataset_key: Dataset identifier, in the form of owner/id or of a url
@@ -127,9 +137,10 @@ def query(dataset_key, query, query_type='sql', profile='default',
     >>> df.shape
     (8, 6)
     """
-    return _get_instance(profile).query(dataset_key, query,
-                                        query_type=query_type,
-                                        parameters=parameters)
+    return _get_instance(profile, **kwargs).query(dataset_key, query,
+                                                  query_type=query_type,
+                                                  parameters=parameters,
+                                                  **kwargs)
 
 
 def open_remote_file(dataset_key, file_name, profile='default',
@@ -210,12 +221,12 @@ def open_remote_file(dataset_key, file_name, profile='default',
     ...                          'test', mode='rb') as r:
     ...   bytes = r.read()
     """
-    return _get_instance(profile).open_remote_file(
+    return _get_instance(profile, **kwargs).open_remote_file(
         dataset_key, file_name,
         mode=mode, **kwargs)
 
 
-def api_client(profile='default'):
+def api_client(profile='default', **kwargs):
     """Return API client for access to data.world's REST API
 
     :param profile: Configuration profile (account) to use.
@@ -232,7 +243,7 @@ def api_client(profile='default'):
     ...     'jonloyens/an-intro-to-dataworld-dataset').get('title')
     'An Intro to data.world Dataset'
     """
-    return _get_instance(profile).api_client
+    return _get_instance(profile, **kwargs).api_client
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/datadotworld/config.py b/datadotworld/config.py
index a9693a3..c24dec4 100644
--- a/datadotworld/config.py
+++ b/datadotworld/config.py
@@ -229,3 +229,9 @@ def _first_not_none(seq, supplier_func):
                 return obj
 
         return None
+
+
+class InlineConfig(DefaultConfig):
+    def __init__(self, token):
+        super(InlineConfig, self).__init__()
+        self._auth_token = token
diff --git a/datadotworld/datadotworld.py b/datadotworld/datadotworld.py
index 2ee47fc..60737c9 100644
--- a/datadotworld/datadotworld.py
+++ b/datadotworld/datadotworld.py
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ def __init__(self, config=None):
         self._protocol = 'https'
         self._query_host = 'query.data.world'
         self._download_host = 'download.data.world'
-
         self._config = config or ChainedConfig()
         self.api_client = RestApiClient(self._config)
 
diff --git a/tests/datadotworld/test_config.py b/tests/datadotworld/test_config.py
index f7c1727..645a7bf 100644
--- a/tests/datadotworld/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/datadotworld/test_config.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 from six import StringIO
 
 from datadotworld.config import FileConfig, EnvConfig, DefaultConfig, \
-    ChainedConfig
+    ChainedConfig, InlineConfig
 
 
 # Shared fixtures
@@ -67,6 +67,22 @@ def test_tmp_dir(self):
                     equal_to(path.expanduser(tempfile.gettempdir())))
 
 
+class TestInlineConfig:
+    def test_auth_token(self):
+        config = InlineConfig('inline_token')
+        assert_that(config.auth_token, equal_to('inline_token'))
+
+    def test_cache_dir(self):
+        config = InlineConfig('inline_token')
+        assert_that(config.cache_dir,
+                    equal_to(path.expanduser('~/.dw/cache')))
+
+    def test_tmp_dir(self):
+        config = InlineConfig('inline_token')
+        assert_that(config.tmp_dir,
+                    equal_to(path.expanduser(tempfile.gettempdir())))
+
+
 class TestEnvConfig:
     def test_auth_token(self, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setattr(os, 'environ', {'DW_AUTH_TOKEN': 'env_token'})