diff --git a/src/commands/plugins/install.ts b/src/commands/plugins/install.ts
index f8735339..da0d7202 100644
--- a/src/commands/plugins/install.ts
+++ b/src/commands/plugins/install.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {Command} from '@oclif/command'
+import {Command, flags} from '@oclif/command'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import cli from 'cli-ux'
 
@@ -10,12 +10,17 @@ export default class PluginsInstall extends Command {
   static examples = ['$ <%= config.bin %> plugins:install <%- config.pjson.oclif.examplePlugin || "myplugin" %> ']
   static strict = false
   static args = [{name: 'plugin', description: 'plugin to install', required: true}]
+  static flags = {
+    help: flags.help({char: 'h'}),
+    verbose: flags.boolean({char: 'v'}),
+  }
   static aliases = ['plugins:add']
 
   plugins = new Plugins(this.config)
 
   async run() {
-    const {argv} = this.parse(PluginsInstall)
+    const {flags, argv} = this.parse(PluginsInstall)
+    if (flags.verbose) this.plugins.verbose = true
     for (let plugin of argv) {
       let {name, tag} = parsePlugin(plugin)
       cli.action.start(`Installing plugin ${chalk.cyan(this.plugins.friendlyName(name))}`)
diff --git a/src/commands/plugins/link.ts b/src/commands/plugins/link.ts
index f5573d5b..079f89dd 100644
--- a/src/commands/plugins/link.ts
+++ b/src/commands/plugins/link.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {Command} from '@oclif/command'
+import {Command, flags} from '@oclif/command'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import cli from 'cli-ux'
 
@@ -9,11 +9,16 @@ export default class PluginsLink extends Command {
   static usage = 'plugins:link PLUGIN'
   static examples = ['$ <%= config.bin %> plugins:link <%- config.pjson.oclif.examplePlugin || "myplugin" %> ']
   static args = [{name: 'path', description: 'path to plugin', required: true, default: '.'}]
+  static flags = {
+    help: flags.help({char: 'h'}),
+    verbose: flags.boolean({char: 'v'}),
+  }
 
   plugins = new Plugins(this.config)
 
   async run() {
-    const {args} = this.parse(PluginsLink)
+    const {flags, args} = this.parse(PluginsLink)
+    this.plugins.verbose = flags.verbose
     cli.action.start(`Linking plugin ${chalk.cyan(args.path)}`)
     await this.plugins.link(args.path)
     cli.action.stop()
diff --git a/src/commands/plugins/uninstall.ts b/src/commands/plugins/uninstall.ts
index f2ccdc0b..4b3205c5 100644
--- a/src/commands/plugins/uninstall.ts
+++ b/src/commands/plugins/uninstall.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {Command} from '@oclif/command'
+import {Command, flags} from '@oclif/command'
 import cli from 'cli-ux'
 
 import Plugins from '../../plugins'
@@ -12,13 +12,18 @@ export default class PluginsUninstall extends Command {
   `
   static variableArgs = true
   static args = [{name: 'plugin', description: 'plugin to uninstall'}]
+  static flags = {
+    help: flags.help({char: 'h'}),
+    verbose: flags.boolean({char: 'v'}),
+  }
   static aliases = ['plugins:unlink', 'plugins:remove']
 
   plugins = new Plugins(this.config)
 
   async run() {
-    const {argv} = this.parse(PluginsUninstall)
+    const {flags, argv} = this.parse(PluginsUninstall)
     this.plugins = new Plugins(this.config)
+    if (flags.verbose) this.plugins.verbose = true
     if (!argv.length) argv.push('.')
     for (let plugin of argv) {
       const friendly = this.plugins.friendlyName(plugin)
diff --git a/src/commands/plugins/update.ts b/src/commands/plugins/update.ts
index 7fce849d..46dda1f2 100644
--- a/src/commands/plugins/update.ts
+++ b/src/commands/plugins/update.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {Command} from '@oclif/command'
+import {Command, flags} from '@oclif/command'
 
 import Plugins from '../../plugins'
 
@@ -6,11 +6,16 @@ export default class PluginsUpdate extends Command {
   static topic = 'plugins'
   static command = 'update'
   static description = 'update installed plugins'
+  static flags = {
+    help: flags.help({char: 'h'}),
+    verbose: flags.boolean({char: 'v'}),
+  }
 
   plugins = new Plugins(this.config)
 
   async run() {
-    this.parse(PluginsUpdate)
+    const {flags} = this.parse(PluginsUpdate)
+    this.plugins.verbose = flags.verbose
     await this.plugins.update()
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins.ts b/src/plugins.ts
index 36cf562e..a6705927 100644
--- a/src/plugins.ts
+++ b/src/plugins.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,12 @@ import Yarn from './yarn'
 const initPJSON: Config.PJSON.User = {private: true, oclif: {schema: 1, plugins: []}, dependencies: {}}
 
 export default class Plugins {
+  verbose = false
   readonly yarn: Yarn
   private readonly debug: any
 
   constructor(public config: Config.IConfig) {
-    this.yarn = new Yarn({config, cwd: this.config.dataDir})
+    this.yarn = new Yarn({config})
     this.debug = require('debug')('@oclif/plugins')
   }
 
@@ -54,11 +55,12 @@ export default class Plugins {
         name = unfriendly
       }
       await this.createPJSON()
-      await this.yarn.exec(['add', `${name}@${tag}`])
+      await this.yarn.exec(['add', `${name}@${tag}`], {cwd: this.config.dataDir, verbose: this.verbose})
       const plugin = await Config.load({devPlugins: false, userPlugins: false, root: path.join(this.config.dataDir, 'node_modules', name), name})
       if (!plugin.valid && !this.config.plugins.find(p => p.name === '@oclif/plugin-legacy')) {
         throw new Error('plugin is invalid')
       }
+      await this.refresh(plugin.root)
       await this.add({name, tag: range || tag, type: 'user'})
     } catch (err) {
       await this.uninstall(name).catch(err => this.debug(err))
@@ -66,12 +68,21 @@ export default class Plugins {
     }
   }
 
+  // if yarn.lock exists, fetch locked dependencies
+  async refresh(root: string, {prod = true}: {prod?: boolean} = {}) {
+    if (fs.existsSync(path.join(root, 'yarn.lock'))) {
+      // use yarn.lock to fetch dependencies
+      await this.yarn.exec(prod ? ['--prod'] : [], {cwd: root, verbose: this.verbose})
+    }
+  }
+
   async link(p: string) {
     const c = await Config.load(path.resolve(p))
     cli.action.start(`${this.config.name}: linking plugin ${c.name}`)
     if (!c.valid && !this.config.plugins.find(p => p.name === '@oclif/plugin-legacy')) {
       throw new CLIError('plugin is not a valid oclif plugin')
     }
+    await this.refresh(c.root, {prod: false})
     await this.add({type: 'link', name: c.name, root: c.root})
   }
 
@@ -93,7 +104,7 @@ export default class Plugins {
     try {
       const pjson = await this.pjson()
       if ((pjson.oclif.plugins || []).find(p => typeof p === 'object' && p.type === 'user' && p.name === name)) {
-        await this.yarn.exec(['remove', name])
+        await this.yarn.exec(['remove', name], {cwd: this.config.dataDir, verbose: this.verbose})
       }
     } finally {
       await this.remove(name)
@@ -104,7 +115,10 @@ export default class Plugins {
     const plugins = (await this.list()).filter((p): p is Config.PJSON.PluginTypes.User => p.type === 'user')
     if (plugins.length === 0) return
     cli.action.start(`${this.config.name}: Updating plugins`)
-    await this.yarn.exec(['add', ...plugins.map(p => `${p.name}@${p.tag}`)])
+    await this.yarn.exec(['add', ...plugins.map(p => `${p.name}@${p.tag}`)], {cwd: this.config.dataDir, verbose: this.verbose})
+    for (let p of plugins) {
+      await this.refresh(path.join(this.config.dataDir, 'node_modules', p.name))
+    }
     cli.action.stop()
   }
 
diff --git a/src/yarn.ts b/src/yarn.ts
index c90f0b47..9256ec5f 100644
--- a/src/yarn.ts
+++ b/src/yarn.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
 import {IConfig} from '@oclif/config'
+import ux from 'cli-ux'
 import * as path from 'path'
 
 const debug = require('debug')('cli:yarn')
 
 export default class Yarn {
   config: IConfig
-  cwd: string
 
-  constructor({config, cwd}: { config: IConfig; cwd: string }) {
+  constructor({config}: { config: IConfig }) {
     this.config = config
-    this.cwd = cwd
   }
 
   get bin(): string {
@@ -20,8 +19,12 @@ export default class Yarn {
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       const {fork} = require('child_process')
       let forked = fork(modulePath, args, options)
-      forked.stdout.on('data', (d: any) => process.stdout.write(d))
       forked.stderr.on('data', (d: any) => process.stderr.write(d))
+      forked.stdout.setEncoding('utf8')
+      forked.stdout.on('data', (d: any) => {
+        if (options.verbose) process.stdout.write(d)
+        else ux.action.status = d.replace(/\n$/, '').split('\n').pop()
+      })
 
       forked.on('error', reject)
       forked.on('exit', (code: number) => {
@@ -39,13 +42,14 @@ export default class Yarn {
     })
   }
 
-  async exec(args: string[] = []): Promise<void> {
+  async exec(args: string[] = [], opts: {cwd: string, verbose: boolean}): Promise<void> {
+    const cwd = opts.cwd
     if (args[0] !== 'run') {
       const cacheDir = path.join(this.config.cacheDir, 'yarn')
       args = [
         ...args,
         '--non-interactive',
-        `--mutex=file:${path.join(this.cwd, 'yarn.lock')}`,
+        `--mutex=file:${path.join(cwd, 'yarn.lock')}`,
         `--preferred-cache-folder=${cacheDir}`,
         '--check-files',
       ]
@@ -56,12 +60,16 @@ export default class Yarn {
 
     const npmRunPath = require('npm-run-path')
     let options = {
-      cwd: this.cwd,
+      ...opts,
+      cwd,
       stdio: [0, null, null, 'ipc'],
-      env: npmRunPath.env({cwd: this.cwd, env: process.env}),
+      env: npmRunPath.env({cwd, env: process.env}),
     }
 
-    debug(`${this.cwd}: ${this.bin} ${args.join(' ')}`)
+    if (opts.verbose) {
+      process.stderr.write(`${cwd}: ${this.bin} ${args.join(' ')}`)
+    }
+    debug(`${cwd}: ${this.bin} ${args.join(' ')}`)
     try {
       await this.fork(this.bin, args, options)
       debug('done')
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ export default class Yarn {
       let networkConcurrency = '--network-concurrency=1'
       if (err.message.includes('EAI_AGAIN') && !args.includes(networkConcurrency)) {
         debug('EAI_AGAIN')
-        return this.exec([...args, networkConcurrency])
+        return this.exec([...args, networkConcurrency], opts)
       }
       throw err
     }