diff --git a/pkg/importer/importer.go b/pkg/importer/importer.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a826b8c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/importer/importer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2013 Google Inc.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package importer imports content from third-party websites.
+//
+// TODO(bradfitz): Finish this. Barely started.
+package importer
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+
+	"camlistore.org/pkg/blobserver"
+)
+
+// An Importer imports content from third-party websites into a Camlistore repo.
+type Importer struct {
+	// Target is the blobserver to populate.
+	Target blobserver.StatReceiver
+
+	// TODO: SearchClient?
+
+	// ProgressChan optionally specifies a channel to receive
+	// progress messages of various types.  The types sent may be:
+	//   - *ProgressMessage
+	//   - *NewPermanodeMessage
+	ProgressChan chan<- interface{}
+
+	// Client optionally specifies how to fetch external network
+	// resources.  If nil, http.DefaultClient is used.
+	Client *http.Client
+}
+
+func (im *Importer) client() *http.Client {
+	if im.Client == nil {
+		return http.DefaultClient
+	}
+	return im.Client
+}
+
+type ProgressMessage struct {
+	ItemsDone, ItemsTotal int
+	BytesDone, BytesTotal int64
+}
+
+func (im *Importer) Fetch(url string) error {
+	res, err := im.client().Get(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return im.ImportResponse(res)
+}
+
+func (im *Importer) ImportResponse(res *http.Response) error {
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+	panic("TODO(bradfitz): implement")
+}
+
+var parsers = make(map[string]Parser)
+
+func RegisterParser(name string, p Parser) {
+	if _, dup := parsers[name]; dup {
+		panic("Dup registration of parser " + name)
+	}
+	parsers[name] = p
+}
+
+// YesNoMaybe is a tri-state of "yes", "no", and "maybe".
+type YesNoMaybe int
+
+const (
+	No YesNoMaybe = iota
+	Yes
+	Maybe
+)
+
+// A Parser
+type Parser interface {
+	CanHandleURL(url string) YesNoMaybe
+	CanHandleResponse(res *http.Response) bool
+	Import(im *Importer) error
+}