diff --git a/pokemongo_bot/plugin_loader.py b/pokemongo_bot/plugin_loader.py
index 9362197bc8..8666b53254 100644
--- a/pokemongo_bot/plugin_loader.py
+++ b/pokemongo_bot/plugin_loader.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import os
 import sys
 import importlib
+import re
+import requests
 
 class PluginLoader(object):
   folder_cache = []
@@ -15,8 +17,8 @@ def _get_correct_path(self, path):
 
     return correct_path
 
-  def load_plugin(self, path):
-    correct_path = self._get_correct_path(path)
+  def load_plugin(self, plugin):
+    correct_path = self._get_correct_path(plugin)
 
     if correct_path not in self.folder_cache:
       self.folder_cache.append(correct_path)
@@ -31,3 +33,54 @@ def get_class(self, namespace_class):
     my_module = importlib.import_module(namespace)
     return getattr(my_module, class_name)
 
+class GithubPlugin(object):
+  def __init__(self, plugin_name):
+    self.plugin_name = plugin_name
+    self.plugin_parts = self.get_github_parts()
+
+  def is_valid_plugin(self):
+    return self.plugin_parts is not None
+
+  def get_github_parts(self):
+    groups = re.match('(.*)\/(.*)#(.*)', self.plugin_name)
+
+    if groups is None:
+      return None
+
+    parts = {}
+    parts['user'] = groups.group(1)
+    parts['repo'] = groups.group(2)
+    parts['sha'] = groups.group(3)
+
+    return parts
+
+  def get_local_destination(self):
+    parts = self.plugin_parts
+    if parts is None:
+      raise Exception('Not a valid github plugin')
+
+    file_name = '{}_{}_{}.zip'.format(parts['user'], parts['repo'], parts['sha'])
+    full_path = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), 'plugins', file_name)
+    return full_path
+
+  def get_github_download_url(self):
+    parts = self.plugin_parts
+    if parts is None:
+      raise Exception('Not a valid github plugin')
+
+    github_url = 'https://github.com/{}/{}/archive/{}.zip'.format(parts['user'], parts['repo'], parts['sha'])
+    return github_url
+
+  def download(self):
+    url = self.get_github_download_url()
+    dest = self.get_local_destination()
+
+    r = requests.get(url, stream=True)
+    r.raise_for_status()
+
+    with open(dest, 'wb') as f:
+      for chunk in r.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
+        if chunk:
+          f.write(chunk)
+    r.close()
+    return dest
diff --git a/pokemongo_bot/plugins/.keep b/pokemongo_bot/plugins/.keep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d848b8301
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pokemongo_bot/plugins/.keep
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+keep this so we can install plugins into this folder
diff --git a/pokemongo_bot/test/plugin_loader_test.py b/pokemongo_bot/test/plugin_loader_test.py
index 38a566b35c..ecf50888e6 100644
--- a/pokemongo_bot/test/plugin_loader_test.py
+++ b/pokemongo_bot/test/plugin_loader_test.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import os
 from datetime import timedelta, datetime
 from mock import patch, MagicMock
-from pokemongo_bot.plugin_loader import PluginLoader
+from pokemongo_bot.plugin_loader import PluginLoader, GithubPlugin
 from pokemongo_bot.test.resources.plugin_fixture import FakeTask
 
 class PluginLoaderTest(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -26,3 +26,27 @@ def test_load_zip(self):
         loaded_class = self.plugin_loader.get_class('plugin_fixture_test.FakeTask')
         self.assertEqual(loaded_class({}, {}).work(), 'FakeTask')
         self.plugin_loader.remove_path(package_path)
+
+    def test_get_github_parts_for_valid_github(self):
+        github_plugin = GithubPlugin('org/repo#sha')
+        self.assertTrue(github_plugin.is_valid_plugin())
+        self.assertEqual(github_plugin.plugin_parts['user'], 'org')
+        self.assertEqual(github_plugin.plugin_parts['repo'], 'repo')
+        self.assertEqual(github_plugin.plugin_parts['sha'], 'sha')
+
+    def test_get_github_parts_for_invalid_github(self):
+        self.assertFalse(GithubPlugin('org/repo').is_valid_plugin())
+        self.assertFalse(GithubPlugin('foo').is_valid_plugin())
+        self.assertFalse(GithubPlugin('/Users/foo/bar.zip').is_valid_plugin())
+
+    def test_get_local_destination(self):
+        github_plugin = GithubPlugin('org/repo#sha')
+        path = github_plugin.get_local_destination()
+        expected = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), '..', 'plugins', 'org_repo_sha.zip'))
+        self.assertEqual(path, expected)
+
+    def test_get_github_download_url(self):
+        github_plugin = GithubPlugin('org/repo#sha')
+        url = github_plugin.get_github_download_url()
+        expected = 'https://github.com/org/repo/archive/sha.zip'
+        self.assertEqual(url, expected)