diff --git a/apps/cli/cli_common.c b/apps/cli/cli_common.c
index b9016e92..334a9e42 100644
--- a/apps/cli/cli_common.c
+++ b/apps/cli/cli_common.c
@@ -180,14 +180,12 @@ cli_signal_flush(clicon_handle h)
     cli_signal_block (h);
 }
 
-/*! Transform data 
- * Add next-last cvv (resolved variable) as body to xml bottom for leaf and 
- * leaf-list.
- * There may be some translation necessary.
+/*! Create body and add last CLI variable vector as value
+ * Create and add an XML body as child of XML node xbot. Set its value to the last 
+ * CLI variable vector element. 
  */
 static int
 dbxml_body(cxobj     *xbot,
-	   yang_stmt *ybot,
 	   cvec      *cvv)
 {
     int     retval = -1;
@@ -214,12 +212,14 @@ dbxml_body(cxobj     *xbot,
 }
 
 /*! Modify xml datastore from a callback using xml key format strings
- * @param[in]  h    Clicon handle
- * @param[in]  cvv  Vector of cli string and instantiated variables 
- * @param[in]  argv Vector. First element xml key format string, eg "/aaa/%s"
- * @param[in]  op   Operation to perform on database
+ * @param[in]  h     Clicon handle
+ * @param[in]  cvv   Vector of cli string and instantiated variables 
+ * @param[in]  argv  Vector. First element xml key format string, eg "/aaa/%s"
+ * @param[in]  op    Operation to perform on database
+ * @param[in]  nsctx Namespace context for last value added
  * Cvv will contain first the complete cli string, and then a set of optional
  * instantiated variables.
+ * If the last node is a leaf, the last cvv element is added as a value. This value
  * Example:
  * cvv[0]  = "set interfaces interface eth0 type bgp"
  * cvv[1]  = "eth0"
@@ -227,12 +227,16 @@ dbxml_body(cxobj     *xbot,
  * argv[0] = "/interfaces/interface/%s/type"
  * op: OP_MERGE
  * @see cli_callback_generate where arg is generated
+ * @note The last value may require namespace binding present in nsctx. Note that the nsctx 
+ *   cannot normally be supplied by the clispec functions, such as cli_set, but need to be 
+ *   generated by afunction such as clixon_instance_id_bind() or other programmatically.
  */
-static int
+int
 cli_dbxml(clicon_handle       h, 
 	  cvec               *cvv, 
 	  cvec               *argv, 
-	  enum operation_type op)
+	  enum operation_type op,
+	  cvec               *nsctx)
 {
     int        retval = -1;
     char      *api_path_fmt;    /* xml key format */
@@ -246,6 +250,7 @@ cli_dbxml(clicon_handle       h,
     cxobj     *xa;              /* attribute */
     cxobj     *xerr = NULL;
     int        ret;
+    cg_var    *cv;
 
     if (cvec_len(argv) != 1){
 	clicon_err(OE_PLUGIN, 0, "Requires one element to be xml key format string");
@@ -284,10 +289,20 @@ cli_dbxml(clicon_handle       h,
 	goto done;
     if (xml_value_set(xa, xml_operation2str(op)) < 0)
 	goto done;
-    if (yang_keyword_get(y) != Y_LIST && yang_keyword_get(y) != Y_LEAF_LIST){
-	if (cvec_len(cvv) > 1 &&
-	    dbxml_body(xbot, y, cvv) < 0)
+    /* should it not be list & container?? */
+    if (yang_keyword_get(y) != Y_LIST &&
+	yang_keyword_get(y) != Y_LEAF_LIST &&
+	cvec_len(cvv) > 1){
+	if (dbxml_body(xbot, cvv) < 0)
 	    goto done;
+	/* Loop over namespace context and add them for the value */
+	cv = NULL;
+	while ((cv = cvec_each(nsctx, cv)) != NULL){
+	    char *ns = cv_string_get(cv);
+	    char *pf = cv_name_get(cv);
+	    if (ns && pf && xmlns_set(xbot, pf, ns) < 0)
+		goto done;
+	}
     }
     if ((cb = cbuf_new()) == NULL){
 	clicon_err(OE_XML, errno, "cbuf_new");
@@ -326,7 +341,7 @@ cli_set(clicon_handle h,
 {
     int retval = -1;
 
-    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REPLACE) < 0)
+    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REPLACE, NULL) < 0)
 	goto done;
     retval = 0;
  done:
@@ -345,7 +360,7 @@ cli_merge(clicon_handle h,
 {
     int retval = -1;
 
-    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_MERGE) < 0)
+    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_MERGE, NULL) < 0)
 	goto done;
     retval = 0;
  done:
@@ -364,7 +379,7 @@ cli_create(clicon_handle h,
 {
     int retval = -1;
 
-    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_CREATE) < 0)
+    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_CREATE, NULL) < 0)
 	goto done;
     retval = 0;
  done:
@@ -383,7 +398,7 @@ cli_remove(clicon_handle h,
 {
     int retval = -1;
 
-    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REMOVE) < 0)
+    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REMOVE, NULL) < 0)
 	goto done;
     retval = 0;
  done:
@@ -402,7 +417,7 @@ cli_del(clicon_handle h,
 {
     int   retval = -1;
 
-    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REMOVE) < 0)
+    if (cli_dbxml(h, cvv, argv, OP_REMOVE, NULL) < 0)
 	goto done;
     retval = 0;
  done:
diff --git a/apps/cli/clixon_cli_api.h b/apps/cli/clixon_cli_api.h
index c7c31040..3acfe90f 100644
--- a/apps/cli/clixon_cli_api.h
+++ b/apps/cli/clixon_cli_api.h
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ int cli_notification_register(clicon_handle h, char *stream, enum format_enum fo
 
 /* cli_common.c: CLIgen new vector callbacks */
 
+int cli_dbxml(clicon_handle h, cvec *vars, cvec *argv, cvec *nsctx);
+
 int cli_set(clicon_handle h, cvec *vars, cvec *argv);
 
 int cli_merge(clicon_handle h, cvec *vars, cvec *argv);
diff --git a/lib/clixon/clixon_path.h b/lib/clixon/clixon_path.h
index 08b717fc..ecb8f347 100644
--- a/lib/clixon/clixon_path.h
+++ b/lib/clixon/clixon_path.h
@@ -89,9 +89,11 @@ int clixon_xml_find_api_path(cxobj *xt, yang_stmt *yt, cxobj ***xvec, int *xlen,
 		     ...) __attribute__ ((format (printf, 5, 6)));;
 int clixon_xml_find_instance_id(cxobj *xt, yang_stmt *yt, cxobj ***xvec, int *xlen, const char *format,
 		     ...) __attribute__ ((format (printf, 5, 6)));;
+int clixon_instance_id_bind(yang_stmt *yt, cvec *nsctx, const char *format, ...) __attribute__ ((format (printf, 3, 4)));
 #else
 int clixon_xml_find_api_path(cxobj *xt, yang_stmt *yt,  cxobj ***xvec, int *xlen, const char *format, ...);
 int clixon_xml_find_instance_id(cxobj *xt, yang_stmt *yt, cxobj ***xvec, int *xlen, const char *format, ...);
+int clixon_instance_id_bind(yang_stmt *yt, cvec *nsctx, const char *format, ...);
 #endif
 
 #endif  /* _CLIXON_PATH_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/src/clixon_path.c b/lib/src/clixon_path.c
index 4492fa28..672230f1 100644
--- a/lib/src/clixon_path.c
+++ b/lib/src/clixon_path.c
@@ -1683,3 +1683,94 @@ clixon_xml_find_instance_id(cxobj     *xt,
     goto done;
 }
 
+/*! Given (instance-id) path and YANG, parse path, resolve YANG and return namespace binding
+ *
+ * Instance-identifier is a subset of XML XPaths and defined in Yang, used in NACM for 
+ * example.
+ * @param[in]  yt       Yang statement of top symbol (can be yang-spec if top-level)
+ * @param[out] nsctx    Namespace context (should be created on entry)
+ * @param[in]  format   Format string for api-path syntax
+ * @retval    -1        Error
+ * @retval     0        Non-fatal failure, yang bind failures, etc, 
+ * @retval     1        OK with found xml nodes in xvec (if any)
+ * Reasons for nomatch (retval = 0) are:
+ * - Modulename in api-path does not correspond to existing module
+ * - Modulename not defined for top-level id. 
+ * - Number of keys in key-value list does not match Yang list
+ * @code
+ *    cvec *nsctx = NULL;
+ *
+ *    nsctx = cvec_new(0);
+ *    if (clixon_instance_id_bind(yspec, nsctx, "/symbol/%s", "foo") < 0) 
+ *       goto err;
+ *    ...
+ *    cvec_free(nsctx);
+ * @endcode
+ * @note canonical namespace contexts are used, see xpath2canonical
+ * @see clixon_xml_find_instance_id   for finding XML nodes using instance-id:s
+ * @see RFC7950 Sec 9.13 
+ */
+int
+clixon_instance_id_bind(yang_stmt  *yt,
+			cvec       *nsctx,
+			const char *format,
+			...)
+{
+    int          retval = -1;
+    va_list      ap;
+    size_t       len;
+    char        *path = NULL;
+    clixon_path *cplist = NULL;
+    clixon_path *cp;
+    int          ret;
+    char        *namespace;
+    
+    va_start(ap, format);
+    len = vsnprintf(NULL, 0, format, ap);
+    va_end(ap);
+    /* allocate a path string exactly fitting the length */
+    if ((path = malloc(len+1)) == NULL){
+	clicon_err(OE_UNIX, errno, "malloc");
+	goto done;
+    }
+    /* second round: actually compute api-path string content */
+    va_start(ap, format);
+    if (vsnprintf(path, len+1, format, ap) < 0){
+	clicon_err(OE_UNIX, errno, "vsnprintf");
+	va_end(ap);
+	goto done;
+    }
+    va_end(ap);
+    if (instance_id_parse(path, &cplist) < 0)
+	goto done;
+    if (clicon_debug_get())
+	clixon_path_print(stderr, cplist);
+    /* Resolve module:name to pointer to yang-stmt, fail if not successful */
+    if ((ret = instance_id_resolve(cplist, yt)) < 0)
+	goto done;
+    if (ret == 0)
+	goto fail;
+    /* Loop through prefixes used */
+    if ((cp = cplist) != NULL){
+	do {
+	    if (cp->cp_prefix &&
+		cp->cp_yang &&
+		(namespace = yang_find_mynamespace(cp->cp_yang)) != NULL){
+		if (xml_nsctx_get(nsctx, cp->cp_prefix) == NULL)
+		    if (xml_nsctx_add(nsctx, cp->cp_prefix, namespace) < 0)
+			goto done;
+	    }
+	    cp = NEXTQ(clixon_path *, cp);
+	} while (cp && cp != cplist);
+    }
+    retval = 1;
+ done:
+    if (cplist)
+	clixon_path_free(cplist);
+    if (path)
+	free(path);
+    return retval;
+ fail:
+    retval = 0;
+    goto done;
+}