diff --git a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/namespaces.py b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/namespaces.py
index 96b81a2..18df045 100644
--- a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/namespaces.py
+++ b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/namespaces.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from pprint import pformat
 from linkml_runtime.linkml_model import SchemaDefinition
 from linkml_runtime.dumpers import yaml_dumper
 from time import sleep
+from copy import copy
 
 
 from nwb_schema_language import Namespaces
@@ -76,7 +77,6 @@ class NamespacesAdapter(Adapter):
             sch_result += sch.build()
             if progress is not None:
                 progress.update(sch.namespace, advance=1)
-            sleep(1)
 
         # recursive step
         if not skip_imports:
@@ -84,12 +84,19 @@ class NamespacesAdapter(Adapter):
                 imported_build = imported.build(progress=progress)
                 sch_result += imported_build
 
-        # add in monkeypatch nwb types
-        sch_result.schemas.append(NwbLangSchema)
 
         # now generate the top-level namespaces that import everything
         for ns in self.namespaces.namespaces:
+
+            # add in monkeypatch nwb types
+            nwb_lang = copy(NwbLangSchema)
+            lang_schema_name = '.'.join([ns.name, 'nwb.language'])
+            nwb_lang.name = lang_schema_name
+            sch_result.schemas.append(nwb_lang)
+
             ns_schemas = [sch.name for sch in self.schemas if sch.namespace == ns.name]
+            ns_schemas.append(lang_schema_name)
+
             # also add imports bc, well, we need them
             if not skip_imports:
                 ns_schemas.extend([ns.name for imported in self.imported for ns in imported.namespaces.namespaces])
@@ -179,6 +186,11 @@ class NamespacesAdapter(Adapter):
         """
         Populate the imports that are needed for each schema file
 
+        This function adds a string version of imported schema assuming the
+        generated schema will live in the same directory. If the path to
+        the imported schema needs to be adjusted, that should happen elsewhere
+        (eg in :class:`.LinkMLProvider`) because we shouldn't know about
+        directory structure or anything like that here.
         """
         for sch in self.schemas:
             for needs in sch.needed_imports:
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/schema.py b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/schema.py
index a13961d..b676ae4 100644
--- a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/schema.py
+++ b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/adapters/schema.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class SchemaAdapter(Adapter):
                 types=res.types
             )
             # every schema needs the language elements
-            sch.imports.append('nwb.language')
+            sch.imports.append('.'.join([self.namespace, 'nwb.language']))
             return BuildResult(schemas=[sch])
 
     def split_subclasses(self, classes: BuildResult) -> BuildResult:
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/generators/pydantic.py b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/generators/pydantic.py
index bbefb37..f90d60d 100644
--- a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/generators/pydantic.py
+++ b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/generators/pydantic.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ The `serialize` method
 
 """
 import pdb
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import List, Dict, Set, Tuple, Optional, TypedDict
 import os, sys
@@ -193,8 +193,8 @@ class NWBPydanticGenerator(PydanticGenerator):
     SKIP_CLASSES=('',)
     # SKIP_CLASSES=('VectorData','VectorIndex')
     split:bool=True
-    schema_map:Dict[str, SchemaDefinition]=None
-    versions:List[dict] = None
+    schema_map:Optional[Dict[str, SchemaDefinition]]=None
+    versions:dict = None
     """See :meth:`.LinkMLProvider.build` for usage - a list of specific versions to import from"""
 
 
@@ -220,8 +220,8 @@ class NWBPydanticGenerator(PydanticGenerator):
             if module_name == self.schema.name:
                 continue
 
-            if self.versions and module_name in [v['name'] for v in self.versions]:
-                version = version_module_case([v['version'] for v in self.versions if v['name'] == module_name][0])
+            if self.versions and module_name in self.versions:
+                version = version_module_case(self.versions[module_name])
                 local_mod_name = '....' + module_case(module_name) + '.' + version + '.' + 'namespace'
             else:
 
@@ -537,7 +537,8 @@ class NWBPydanticGenerator(PydanticGenerator):
 
         sv: SchemaView
         sv = self.schemaview
-        sv.schema_map = self.schema_map
+        if self.schema_map is not None:
+            sv.schema_map = self.schema_map
         schema = sv.schema
         pyschema = SchemaDefinition(
             id=schema.id,
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/maps/naming.py b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/maps/naming.py
index 9757bce..c95f8ad 100644
--- a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/maps/naming.py
+++ b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/maps/naming.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import pdb
 import re
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -44,9 +45,19 @@ def relative_path(target: Path, origin: Path):
     References:
         - https://stackoverflow.com/a/71874881
     """
-    try:
-        return Path(target).resolve().relative_to(Path(origin).resolve())
-    except ValueError as e: # target does not start with origin
-        # recursion with origin (eventually origin is root so try will succeed)
-        return Path('..').joinpath(relative_path(target, Path(origin).parent))
+    def _relative_path(target:Path, origin:Path):
+        try:
+            return Path(target).resolve().relative_to(Path(origin).resolve())
+        except ValueError as e: # target does not start with origin
+            # recursion with origin (eventually origin is root so try will succeed)
+            return Path('..').joinpath(_relative_path(target, Path(origin).parent))
+
+    try:
+        successful = Path(target).resolve().relative_to(Path(origin).resolve())
+        return successful
+    except ValueError as e:  # target does not start with origin
+        # recursion with origin (eventually origin is root so try will succeed)
+        relative = Path('..').joinpath(_relative_path(target, Path(origin).parent))
+        # remove the first '..' because this thing freaking double counts
+        return Path(*relative.parts[1:])
 
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/providers/schema.py b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/providers/schema.py
index 8f9ca01..9e51c43 100644
--- a/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/providers/schema.py
+++ b/nwb_linkml/src/nwb_linkml/providers/schema.py
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@ Relationship to other modules:
 """
 import pdb
 from typing import Dict, TypedDict, List, Optional, Literal, TypeVar, Any, Dict
+from types import ModuleType
 from pathlib import Path
 import os
 from abc import abstractmethod, ABC
 import warnings
 import importlib
+import sys
 
 from linkml_runtime.linkml_model import SchemaDefinition, SchemaDefinitionName
 from linkml_runtime.dumpers import yaml_dumper
@@ -34,9 +36,6 @@ from nwb_linkml.generators.pydantic import NWBPydanticGenerator
 from nwb_linkml.providers.git import DEFAULT_REPOS
 from nwb_linkml.ui import AdapterProgress
 
-class NamespaceVersion(TypedDict):
-    namespace: str
-    version: str
 
 P = TypeVar('P')
 
@@ -112,14 +111,16 @@ class Provider(ABC):
 
         if version is not None:
             version_path = namespace_path / version_module_case(version)
-            version_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
+            #version_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
         else:
             # or find the most recently built one
             versions = sorted(namespace_path.iterdir(), key=os.path.getmtime)
+            versions = [v for v in versions if v.is_dir() and v.name not in ('__pycache__')]
             if len(versions) == 0:
                 raise FileNotFoundError('No version provided, and no existing schema found')
             version_path = versions[-1]
 
+
         return version_path
 
 
@@ -180,20 +181,21 @@ class LinkMLProvider(Provider):
     def build(
         self,
         ns_adapter: adapters.NamespacesAdapter,
-        versions: Optional[List[NamespaceVersion]] = None,
+        versions: Optional[dict] = None,
         dump: bool = True,
     ) -> Dict[str | SchemaDefinitionName, LinkMLSchemaBuild]:
         """
         Arguments:
             namespaces (:class:`.NamespacesAdapter`): Adapter (populated with any necessary imported namespaces)
                 to build
-            versions (List[NamespaceVersion]): List of specific versions to use
-                for cross-namespace imports. If none is provided, use the most recent version
+            versions (dict): Dict of specific versions to use
+                for cross-namespace imports. as ``{'namespace': 'version'}``
+                 If none is provided, use the most recent version
                 available.
             dump (bool): If ``True`` (default), dump generated schema to YAML. otherwise just return
         """
 
-        self._find_imports(ns_adapter, versions, populate=True)
+        #self._find_imports(ns_adapter, versions, populate=True)
         if self.verbose:
             progress = AdapterProgress(ns_adapter)
             #progress.start()
@@ -212,16 +214,22 @@ class LinkMLProvider(Provider):
         build_result = {}
 
         namespace_sch = [sch for sch in built.schemas if 'namespace' in sch.annotations.keys()]
+        namespace_names = [sch.name for sch in namespace_sch]
         for ns_linkml in namespace_sch:
             version = ns_adapter.versions[ns_linkml.name]
             version_path = self.namespace_path(ns_linkml.name, version, allow_repo=False)
+            version_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
             ns_file = version_path / 'namespace.yaml'
+            ns_linkml = self._fix_schema_imports(ns_linkml, ns_adapter, ns_file)
             yaml_dumper.dump(ns_linkml, ns_file)
+
             # write the schemas for this namespace
-            ns_schema_names = [name.strip('.yaml') for name in ns_adapter.namespace_schemas(ns_linkml.name)]
-            other_schema = [sch for sch in built.schemas if sch.name in ns_schema_names]
+            other_schema = [sch for sch in built.schemas if sch.name.split('.')[0] == ns_linkml.name and sch not in namespace_sch]
             for sch in other_schema:
                 output_file = version_path / (sch.name + '.yaml')
+                # fix the paths for intra-schema imports
+                sch = self._fix_schema_imports(sch, ns_adapter, output_file)
+
                 yaml_dumper.dump(sch, output_file)
 
             # make return result for just this namespace
@@ -233,6 +241,20 @@ class LinkMLProvider(Provider):
 
         return build_result
 
+    def _fix_schema_imports(self, sch: SchemaDefinition,
+                            ns_adapter: adapters.NamespacesAdapter,
+                            output_file: Path) -> SchemaDefinition:
+        for animport in sch.imports:
+            if animport.split('.')[0] in ns_adapter.versions.keys():
+                imported_path = self.namespace_path(animport.split('.')[0], ns_adapter.versions[animport.split('.')[0]]) / 'namespace'
+                rel_path = relative_path(imported_path, output_file)
+                if str(rel_path) == '.' or str(rel_path) == 'namespace':
+                    # same directory, just keep the existing import
+                    continue
+                idx = sch.imports.index(animport)
+                del sch.imports[idx]
+                sch.imports.insert(idx, str(rel_path))
+        return sch
     def get(self, namespace: str, version: Optional[str] = None) -> SchemaView:
         """
         Get a schema view over the namespace
@@ -240,7 +262,9 @@ class LinkMLProvider(Provider):
         path = self.namespace_path(namespace, version) / 'namespace.yaml'
         if not path.exists():
             path = self._find_source(namespace, version)
-        return SchemaView(path)
+        sv = SchemaView(path)
+        sv.path = path
+        return sv
 
     def _find_source(self, namespace:str, version: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
         """Try and find the namespace if it exists in our default repository and build it!"""
@@ -254,43 +278,42 @@ class LinkMLProvider(Provider):
 
 
 
-
-    def _find_imports(self,
-                      ns: adapters.NamespacesAdapter,
-                      versions: Optional[List[NamespaceVersion]] = None,
-                      populate: bool=True) -> Dict[str, List[str]]:
-        """
-        Find relative paths to other linkml schema that need to be
-        imported, but lack an explicit source
-
-        Arguments:
-            ns (:class:`.NamespacesAdapter`): Namespaces to find imports to
-            versions (List[:class:`.NamespaceVersion`]): Specific versions to import
-            populate (bool): If ``True`` (default), modify the namespace adapter to include the imports,
-                otherwise just return
-
-        Returns:
-            dict of lists for relative paths to other schema namespaces
-        """
-        import_paths = {}
-        for ns_name, needed_imports in ns.needed_imports.items():
-            our_path = self.namespace_path(ns_name, ns.versions[ns_name]) / 'namespace.yaml'
-            import_paths[ns_name] = []
-            for needed_import in needed_imports:
-                needed_version = None
-                if versions:
-                    needed_versions = [v['version'] for v in versions if v['namespace'] == needed_import]
-                    if len(needed_versions) > 0:
-                        needed_version = needed_versions[0]
-
-                version_path = self.namespace_path(needed_import, needed_version) / 'namespace.yaml'
-                import_paths[ns_name].append(str(relative_path(version_path, our_path)))
-
-            if populate:
-                for sch in ns.schemas:
-                    sch.imports.extend(import_paths)
-
-        return import_paths
+    #
+    # def _find_imports(self,
+    #                   ns: adapters.NamespacesAdapter,
+    #                   versions: Optional[dict] = None,
+    #                   populate: bool=True) -> Dict[str, List[str]]:
+    #     """
+    #     Find relative paths to other linkml schema that need to be
+    #     imported, but lack an explicit source
+    #
+    #     Arguments:
+    #         ns (:class:`.NamespacesAdapter`): Namespaces to find imports to
+    #         versions (dict): Specific versions to import
+    #         populate (bool): If ``True`` (default), modify the namespace adapter to include the imports,
+    #             otherwise just return
+    #
+    #     Returns:
+    #         dict of lists for relative paths to other schema namespaces
+    #     """
+    #     import_paths = {}
+    #     for ns_name, needed_imports in ns.needed_imports.items():
+    #         our_path = self.namespace_path(ns_name, ns.versions[ns_name], allow_repo=False) / 'namespace.yaml'
+    #         import_paths[ns_name] = []
+    #         for needed_import in needed_imports:
+    #             needed_version = None
+    #             if versions:
+    #                 needed_version = versions.get(needed_import, None)
+    #
+    #             version_path = self.namespace_path(needed_import, needed_version, allow_repo=False) / 'namespace.yaml'
+    #             import_paths[ns_name].append(str(relative_path(version_path, our_path)))
+    #
+    #         if populate:
+    #             pdb.set_trace()
+    #             for sch in ns.schemas:
+    #                 sch.imports.extend(import_paths[ns_name])
+    #
+    #     return import_paths
 
 
 class PydanticProvider(Provider):
@@ -304,9 +327,24 @@ class PydanticProvider(Provider):
             self,
             namespace: str | Path,
             version: Optional[str] = None,
-            versions: Optional[List[NamespaceVersion]] = None,
-            dump: bool = True
+            versions: Optional[dict] = None,
+            dump: bool = True,
+            **kwargs
     ) -> str:
+        """
+
+
+        Args:
+            namespace:
+            version:
+            versions:
+            dump:
+            **kwargs: Passed to :class:`.NWBPydanticGenerator`
+
+        Returns:
+
+        """
+
         if isinstance(namespace, str) and not (namespace.endswith('.yaml') or namespace.endswith('.yml')):
             # we're given a name of a namespace to build
             path = LinkMLProvider(path=self.config.cache_dir).namespace_path(namespace, version) / 'namespace.yaml'
@@ -314,22 +352,67 @@ class PydanticProvider(Provider):
             # given a path to a namespace linkml yaml file
             path = Path(namespace)
 
+        default_kwargs = {
+            'split': False,
+            'emit_metadata': True,
+            'gen_slots': True,
+            'pydantic_version': '2'
+        }
+        default_kwargs.update(kwargs)
+
         generator = NWBPydanticGenerator(
             str(path),
-            split=False,
             versions=versions,
-            emit_metadata=True,
-            gen_slots=True,
-            pydantic_version='2'
+            **default_kwargs
         )
         serialized = generator.serialize()
         if dump:
             out_file = self.path / path.parts[-3] / path.parts[-2] / 'namespace.py'
+            out_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True,exist_ok=True)
             with open(out_file, 'w') as ofile:
                 ofile.write(serialized)
 
         return serialized
 
+    @classmethod
+    def module_name(self, namespace:str, version:Optional[str]=None) -> str:
+        name_pieces = ['nwb_linkml', 'models', namespace]
+        if version is not None:
+            name_pieces.append(version_module_case(version))
+        module_name = '.'.join(name_pieces)
+        return module_name
+    def import_module(
+        self,
+        namespace: str,
+        version: Optional[str] = None
+    ) -> ModuleType:
+        path = self.namespace_path(namespace, version) / 'namespace.py'
+        if not path.exists():
+            raise ImportError(f'Module has not been built yet {path}')
+        module_name = self.module_name(namespace, version)
+        spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name, path)
+        module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+        sys.modules[module_name] = module
+        spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+        return module
+
+    def get(self, namespace: str, version: Optional[str] = None) -> ModuleType:
+        module_name = self.module_name(namespace, version)
+        if module_name in sys.modules:
+            return sys.modules[module_name]
+
+        try:
+            path = self.namespace_path(namespace, version)
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            path = None
+
+        if path is None or not path.exists():
+            _ = self.build(namespace, version)
+        module = self.import_module(namespace, version)
+        return module
+
+
+
 
 class SchemaProvider:
     """
@@ -342,30 +425,29 @@ class SchemaProvider:
     consistency.
 
     Store each generated schema in a directory structure indexed by
-    schema namespace name and a truncated hash of the loaded schema dictionaries
-    (not the hash of the .yaml file, since we are also provided schema in nwbfiles)
+    schema namespace name and version
 
     eg:
 
         cache_dir
           - linkml
             - nwb_core
-              - hash_532gn90f
+              - v0_2_0
                 - nwb.core.namespace.yaml
                 - nwb.fore.file.yaml
                 - ...
-              - hash_fuia082f
+              - v0_2_1
                 - nwb.core.namespace.yaml
                 - ...
             - my_schema
-              - hash_t3tn908h
+              - v0_1_0
                 - ...
           - pydantic
             - nwb_core
-              - hash_532gn90f
+              - v0_2_0
                 - core.py
                 - ...
-              - hash_fuia082f
+              - v0_2_1
                 - core.py
                 - ...
 
@@ -393,25 +475,6 @@ class SchemaProvider:
 
 
 
-    def generate_linkml(
-            self,
-            schemas:Dict[str, dict],
-            versions: Optional[List[NamespaceVersion]] = None
-    ):
-        """
-        Generate linkml from loaded nwb schemas, either from yaml or from an
-        nwb file's ``/specifications`` group.
-
-        Arguments:
-            schemas (dict): A dictionary of ``{'schema_name': {:schema_definition}}``.
-                The "namespace" schema should have the key ``namespace``, which is used
-                to infer version and schema name. Post-load maps should have already
-                been applied
-            versions (List[NamespaceVersion]): List of specific versions to use
-                for cross-namespace imports. If none is provided, use the most recent version
-                available.
-        """
-
 
 
 
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/tests/test_provider.py b/nwb_linkml/tests/test_provider.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e9d219a..0000000
--- a/nwb_linkml/tests/test_provider.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-import pytest
-
-from nwb_linkml.providers.schema import LinkMLProvider
-
-def test_linkml_provider():
-
-    provider = LinkMLProvider()
-    core = provider.get('core')
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/__init__.py b/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/tests/test_io/test_io_git.py b/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/test_provider_git.py
similarity index 100%
rename from nwb_linkml/tests/test_io/test_io_git.py
rename to nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/test_provider_git.py
diff --git a/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/test_provider_schema.py b/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/test_provider_schema.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8895539
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nwb_linkml/tests/test_providers/test_provider_schema.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import pdb
+
+import pytest
+
+from nwb_linkml.providers.schema import LinkMLProvider, PydanticProvider
+
+def test_linkml_provider():
+
+    provider = LinkMLProvider()
+    core = provider.get('core')
+
+@pytest.mark.depends(on=['test_linkml_provider'])
+def test_pydantic_provider():
+    provider = PydanticProvider()
+
+    core = provider.get('core')
+