diff --git a/src/access_nri_intake/cli.py b/src/access_nri_intake/cli.py
index 04176ac7..fbb67427 100644
--- a/src/access_nri_intake/cli.py
+++ b/src/access_nri_intake/cli.py
@@ -632,11 +632,33 @@ def use_esm_datastore(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
         ),
     )
 
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--datastore-name",
+        type=str,
+        help=(
+            "Name of the datastore to use. If not provided, this will default to"
+            " 'experiment_datastore'."
+        ),
+        default="experiment_datastore",
+    )
+
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--description",
+        type=str,
+        help=(
+            "Description of the datastore. If not provided, a default description will be used:"
+            " 'esm_datastore for the model output in {--expt-dir}'"
+        ),
+        default=None,
+    )
+
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
     builder = args.builder
     experiment_dir = Path(args.expt_dir)
     catalog_dir = Path(args.cat_dir) if args.cat_dir else experiment_dir
     builder_kwargs = args.builder_kwargs or {}
+    datastore_name = args.datastore_name
+    description = args.description
 
     try:
         builder = getattr(builders, builder)
@@ -664,6 +686,8 @@ def use_esm_datastore(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
         builder,
         catalog_dir,
         builder_kwargs=builder_kwargs,
+        datastore_name=datastore_name,
+        description=description,
         open_ds=False,
     )
 
diff --git a/src/access_nri_intake/experiment/utils.py b/src/access_nri_intake/experiment/utils.py
index d23103af..4fe92b4c 100644
--- a/src/access_nri_intake/experiment/utils.py
+++ b/src/access_nri_intake/experiment/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import ast
 import json
 import re
 import warnings
@@ -305,10 +306,12 @@ def parse_kwargs(kwargs: str) -> dict:
     for item in kwargs.split():
         kw, arg = item.split("=")
         if kw == "ensemble":
-            if arg.lower() not in ["true", "false"]:
+            try:
+                ret[kw] = ast.literal_eval(arg.capitalize())
+                if not isinstance(ret[kw], bool):
+                    raise ValueError
+            except (ValueError, SyntaxError):
                 raise TypeError(f"Ensemble kwarg must be a boolean, not {arg}.")
-            else:
-                ret[kw] = True if arg.lower() == "true" else False
 
     return ret
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index f16e454a..a76a7f98 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 import glob
 import os
 import shutil
-from pathlib import Path
+from pathlib import Path, PosixPath
 from unittest import mock
 
 import intake
 import pytest
 import yaml
 
+import access_nri_intake
 from access_nri_intake.catalog.manager import CatalogManager
 from access_nri_intake.cli import (
     MetadataCheckError,
@@ -1152,18 +1153,71 @@ def test_use_esm_datastore_nonexistent_dirs(expt_dir, cat_dir):
 
 
 @mock.patch("access_nri_intake.cli.use_datastore")
-def test_use_esm_datastore_valid(use_datastore):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "argv, expected_call_args, expected_call_kwargs",
+    [
+        (
+            ["--builder", "AccessOm2Builder"],
+            (
+                PosixPath("."),
+                access_nri_intake.source.builders.AccessOm2Builder,
+                PosixPath("."),
+            ),
+            {
+                "builder_kwargs": {},
+                "datastore_name": "experiment_datastore",
+                "description": None,
+                "open_ds": False,
+            },
+        ),
+        (
+            ["--builder", "Mom6Builder", "--datastore-name", "VERY_BAD_NAME"],
+            (
+                PosixPath("."),
+                access_nri_intake.source.builders.Mom6Builder,
+                PosixPath("."),
+            ),
+            {
+                "builder_kwargs": {},
+                "datastore_name": "VERY_BAD_NAME",
+                "description": None,
+                "open_ds": False,
+            },
+        ),
+        (
+            [
+                "--builder",
+                "AccessOm2Builder",
+                "--description",
+                "meaningless_description",
+            ],
+            (
+                PosixPath("."),
+                access_nri_intake.source.builders.AccessOm2Builder,
+                PosixPath("."),
+            ),
+            {
+                "builder_kwargs": {},
+                "datastore_name": "experiment_datastore",
+                "description": "meaningless_description",
+                "open_ds": False,
+            },
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_use_esm_datastore_valid(
+    use_datastore, argv, expected_call_args, expected_call_kwargs
+):
     """I'm not using any args here, so we should get defaults. This should return
     zero. I'm going to mock the use_datastore function so it doesn't do anything,
     just returns none"""
     use_datastore.return_value = None
-    ret = use_esm_datastore(
-        [
-            "--builder",
-            "AccessOm2Builder",
-        ]
-    )
+    ret = use_esm_datastore(argv)
+
+    args, kwargs = use_datastore.call_args
 
+    assert args == expected_call_args
+    assert kwargs == expected_call_kwargs
     assert ret == 0
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_experiment.py b/tests/test_experiment.py
index 56f14587..a0dd9e55 100644
--- a/tests/test_experiment.py
+++ b/tests/test_experiment.py
@@ -458,6 +458,11 @@ def test_validate_args(builder: str, kwargs, fails, err_msg):
             True,
             None,
         ),
+        (
+            "ensemble=1",
+            True,
+            None,
+        ),
         (
             "esnmebel=True",
             False,