diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..fb4c240
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+function error() {
+  echo " ! $@"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+function clone() {
+  git clone https://github.com/$1 $2 \
+    || error "Failed to clone $2"
+}
+
+function checkdep() {
+  command -v $1 >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+    || error "$1 not found! $2"
+}
+
+echo " * Testing for dependencies..."
+
+
+command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1 || command -v yarn >/dev/null 2>&1 || error "NPM or yarn is needed to set up webui"
+checkdep git "Git is required to clone individual subrepos"
+
+echo " * Cloning repositories..."
+
+test -e chatoverflow || clone codeoverflow-org/chatoverflow chatoverflow
+# todo: make the clones parallel?
+test -e chatoverflow/api || clone codeoverflow-org/chatoverflow-api chatoverflow/api
+test -e chatoverflow/gui || clone codeoverflow-org/chatoverflow-gui chatoverflow/gui
+test -e chatoverflow/plugins-public || clone codeoverflow-org/chatoverflow-plugins chatoverflow/plugins-public
+
+# switching to chatoverflow dir
+cd chatoverflow
+
+
+echo " * Refreshing using sbt..."
+
+function sbterr() {
+    echo " ! We would love to set the project up for you, but it seems like you don't have sbt installed."
+    echo " ! Please install sbt and execute $ sbt ';update;fetch;update'"
+    echo " ! Or follow the guide at https://github.com/codeoverflow-org/chatoverflow/wiki/Installation"
+}
+
+command -v sbt >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+  && sbt ";update;fetch;update" \
+  || sbterr
+
+# update project first, then fetch plugins; then update the whole thing again
+# (including plugins this time)
+
+echo " * Setting up GUI..."
+
+cd gui
+
+function finished() {
+  # done?
+  echo " * Success! You can now open the project in IntelliJ (or whatever IDE you prefer)"
+  exit
+}
+
+# don't install the project twice, lol
+# prefer yarn cause yarn is better, lol
+command -v yarn >/dev/null 2>&1 && yarn && finished
+command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1 && npm install && finished