diff --git a/environments-and-requirements/requirements-base.txt b/environments-and-requirements/requirements-base.txt
index b7a3a2a7cf..bff12d499a 100644
--- a/environments-and-requirements/requirements-base.txt
+++ b/environments-and-requirements/requirements-base.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ opencv-python
 picklescan
 pillow
 pip>=22
+prompt-toolkit
 pudb
 pyreadline3
 pytorch-lightning==1.7.7
diff --git a/installer/installer.py b/installer/installer.py
index 6862468eae..165a67d5f6 100644
--- a/installer/installer.py
+++ b/installer/installer.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory, TemporaryFile
 
 SUPPORTED_PYTHON = ">=3.9.0,<3.11"
-INSTALLER_REQS = ["rich", "semver", "requests", "plumbum"]
+INSTALLER_REQS = ["rich", "semver", "requests", "plumbum", "prompt-toolkit"]
 
 OS = platform.uname().system
 ARCH = platform.uname().machine
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ class Installer:
         Obtain the InvokeAI installation payload
         """
 
+        pass
+
     def install(self, path: str = "~/invokeai", version: str = "latest") -> None:
         """
         Install the InvokeAI application into the given runtime path
diff --git a/installer/main.py b/installer/main.py
index 53b41fd28d..cc743a2afe 100644
--- a/installer/main.py
+++ b/installer/main.py
@@ -2,12 +2,20 @@
 InvokeAI Installer
 """
 
+import argparse
 from installer import Installer
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+
+    parser.add_argument("-d", "--destination", type=str, help="Destination path for installation", default="~/invokeai")
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
     inst = Installer()
+
     try:
-        inst.install()
+        inst.install(path=args.destination)
     except KeyboardInterrupt as exc:
         print("\n")
         print("Ctrl-C pressed. Aborting.")
diff --git a/installer/messages.py b/installer/messages.py
index 3d84bfc607..d83e29ac89 100644
--- a/installer/messages.py
+++ b/installer/messages.py
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ Installer user interaction
 
 import platform
 from pathlib import Path
-from tkinter.filedialog import askdirectory
 
+from prompt_toolkit import prompt
+from prompt_toolkit.completion import PathCompleter
+from prompt_toolkit.shortcuts import CompleteStyle
 from rich import box, print
 from rich.console import Console
 from rich.panel import Panel
@@ -49,26 +51,56 @@ def dest_path(init_path=None) -> Path:
     :rtype: Path
     """
 
+    # TODO: feels like this could be refactored for clarity (@ebr)
+
     dest = init_path
+    if dest is not None:
+        dest = Path(dest).expanduser().resolve()
+
     dest_confirmed = False
 
     while not dest_confirmed:
         console.line()
-        if dest is not None:
-            dest = Path(dest).expanduser().resolve()
-            print(f"InvokeAI will be installed at {dest}")
-            dest_confirmed = Confirm.ask(f"Continue?")
+
+        print(f"InvokeAI will be installed at {dest}")
+        dest_confirmed = Confirm.ask(f"Is this correct?", default="y")
+
         if not dest_confirmed:
-            print(f"Please select the destination directory for the installation")
-            resp = askdirectory(initialdir=dest)
-            if resp == ():
-                continue
-            dest = Path(resp).expanduser().resolve()
+
+            # needs more thought into how to handle this nicely
+            # so that the first selected destination continues to shows up as
+            # default until the user is done selecting (potentially multiple times)
+            old_dest = dest
+
+            path_completer = PathCompleter(
+                only_directories=True,
+                expanduser=True,
+                get_paths=lambda: [Path(dest).parent],
+                file_filter=lambda n: not n.startswith("."),
+            )
+            print(f"Please select the destination directory for the installation \[{dest}]: ")
+            selected = prompt(
+                "[Tab] to complete ⮞ ",
+                complete_in_thread=True,
+                completer=path_completer,
+                complete_style=CompleteStyle.READLINE_LIKE,
+            )
+            print(selected)
+            if Path(selected).is_absolute():
+                # use the absolute path directly
+                dest = Path(selected)
+            else:
+                # the user entered a relative path - offer to create it as a sibling to the original destination
+                dest = dest.parent / Path(selected)
+            dest = dest.expanduser().resolve()
+
         if dest.exists():
             print(f":exclamation: Directory {dest} already exists.")
             dest_confirmed = Confirm.ask(
                 ":question: Are you sure you want to (re)install in this location?", default="y"
             )
+            if not dest_confirmed:
+                dest = old_dest
 
     try:
         dest.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)