diff --git a/bin/ansible-galaxy b/bin/ansible-galaxy
index 79594bad97..74fb82fbb0 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-galaxy
+++ b/bin/ansible-galaxy
@@ -174,6 +174,9 @@ def build_option_parser(action):
             '-p', '--init-path', dest='init_path', default="./",
             help='The path in which the skeleton role will be created. '
                  'The default is the current working directory.')
+        parser.add_option(
+            '--offline', dest='offline', default=False, action='store_true',
+            help="Don't query the galaxy API when creating roles")
     elif action == "install":
         parser.set_usage("usage: %prog install [options] [-r FILE | role_name(s)[,version] | scm+role_repo_url[,version] | tar_file(s)]")
         parser.add_option(
@@ -573,11 +576,13 @@ def execute_init(args, options, parser):
     init_path  = get_opt(options, 'init_path', './')
     api_server = get_opt(options, "api_server", "galaxy.ansible.com")
     force      = get_opt(options, 'force', False)
+    offline    = get_opt(options, 'offline', False)
 
-    api_config = api_get_config(api_server)
-    if not api_config:
-        print "The API server (%s) is not responding, please try again later." % api_server
-        sys.exit(1)
+    if not offline:
+        api_config = api_get_config(api_server)
+        if not api_config:
+            print "The API server (%s) is not responding, please try again later." % api_server
+            sys.exit(1)
 
     try:
         role_name = args.pop(0).strip()
@@ -623,12 +628,12 @@ def execute_init(args, options, parser):
             # datastructure in place, plus with all of the available 
             # tags/platforms included (but commented out) and the 
             # dependencies section
-            platforms = api_get_list(api_server, "platforms")
-            if not platforms:
-                platforms = []
-            categories = api_get_list(api_server, "categories")
-            if not categories:
-                categories = []
+            platforms = []
+            if not offline:
+                platforms = api_get_list(api_server, "platforms") or []
+            categories = []
+            if not offline:
+                categories = api_get_list(api_server, "categories") or []
             
             # group the list of platforms from the api based
             # on their names, with the release field being 
@@ -692,11 +697,6 @@ def execute_install(args, options, parser):
         print "Please specify a user/role name, or a roles file, but not both"
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    api_config = api_get_config(api_server)
-    if not api_config:
-        print "The API server (%s) is not responding, please try again later." % api_server
-        sys.exit(1)
-
     roles_done = []
     if role_file:
         f = open(role_file, 'r')
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ def execute_install(args, options, parser):
     else:
         # roles were specified directly, so we'll just go out grab them
         # (and their dependencies, unless the user doesn't want us to).
-        roles_left = args
+        roles_left = map(ansible.utils.role_spec_parse, args)
 
     while len(roles_left) > 0:
         # query the galaxy API for the role data
@@ -730,6 +730,11 @@ def execute_install(args, options, parser):
                 tmp_file = fetch_role(role_src, None, None, options)
             else:
                 # installing from galaxy
+                api_config = api_get_config(api_server)
+                if not api_config:
+                    print "The API server (%s) is not responding, please try again later." % api_server
+                    sys.exit(1)
+
                 role_data = api_lookup_role_by_name(api_server, role_src)
                 if not role_data:
                     print "Sorry, %s was not found on %s." % (role_src, api_server)