diff --git a/cmd/micro/lua/lua.go b/cmd/micro/lua/lua.go
index 7fa44a80..853f10fa 100644
--- a/cmd/micro/lua/lua.go
+++ b/cmd/micro/lua/lua.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package lua
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -28,10 +29,10 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 // LoadFile loads a lua file
-func LoadFile(module string, file string, data string) error {
-	pluginDef := "local P = {};" + module + " = P;setmetatable(" + module + ", {__index = _G});setfenv(1, P);"
+func LoadFile(module string, file string, data []byte) error {
+	pluginDef := []byte("module(\"" + module + "\", package.seeall)")
 
-	if fn, err := L.Load(strings.NewReader(pluginDef+data), file); err != nil {
+	if fn, err := L.Load(bytes.NewReader(append(pluginDef, data...)), file); err != nil {
 		return err
 	} else {
 		L.Push(fn)
diff --git a/cmd/micro/lua/plugin.go b/cmd/micro/lua/plugin.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d68003c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/micro/lua/plugin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package lua
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"strings"
+
+	lua "github.com/yuin/gopher-lua"
+)
+
+var ErrNoSuchFunction = errors.New("No such function exists")
+
+type Plugin struct {
+	name  string
+	files []string
+}
+
+func NewPluginFromDir(name string, dir string) (*Plugin, error) {
+	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	p := new(Plugin)
+	p.name = name
+
+	for _, f := range files {
+		if strings.HasSuffix(f.Name(), ".lua") {
+			p.files = append(p.files, dir+f.Name())
+		}
+	}
+
+	return p, nil
+}
+
+func (p *Plugin) Load() error {
+	for _, f := range p.files {
+		dat, err := ioutil.ReadFile(f)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		err = LoadFile(p.name, f, dat)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (p *Plugin) Call(fn string, args ...lua.LValue) (lua.LValue, error) {
+	plug := L.GetGlobal(p.name)
+	luafn := L.GetField(plug, fn)
+	if luafn == lua.LNil {
+		return nil, ErrNoSuchFunction
+	}
+	err := L.CallByParam(lua.P{
+		Fn:      luafn,
+		NRet:    1,
+		Protect: true,
+	}, args...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ret := L.Get(-1)
+	L.Pop(1)
+	return ret, nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/micro/manager/fetch.go b/cmd/micro/manager/fetch.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..97245676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/micro/manager/fetch.go
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package manager
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"path"
+
+	"github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro/config"
+	git "gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4"
+)
+
+// NewPluginInfoFromUrl creates a new PluginInfo from a URL by fetching
+// the data at that URL and parsing the JSON (running a GET request at
+// the URL should return the JSON for a plugin info)
+func NewPluginInfoFromUrl(url string) (*PluginInfo, error) {
+	resp, err := http.Get(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	dat, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return NewPluginInfo(dat)
+}
+
+// FetchRepo downloads this plugin's git repository
+func (i *PluginInfo) FetchRepo() error {
+	_, err := git.PlainClone(path.Join(config.ConfigDir, "plugin", i.Name), false, &git.CloneOptions{
+		URL:      i.Repo,
+		Progress: nil,
+	})
+
+	return err
+}
+
+func (i *PluginInfo) FetchDeps() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (i *PluginInfo) PostInstallHooks() error {
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/micro/manager/manager_test.go b/cmd/micro/manager/manager_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d39e1f12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/micro/manager/manager_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package manager
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro/config"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	config.InitConfigDir("./")
+}
+
+var sampleJson = []byte(`{
+    "name": "comment",
+    "description": "Plugin to auto comment or uncomment lines",
+    "website": "https://github.com/micro-editor/comment-plugin",
+	"repository": "https://github.com/micro-editor/comment-plugin",
+    "versions": [
+        {
+            "version": "1.0.6",
+            "tag": "v1.0.6",
+            "require": {
+                "micro": ">=1.1.0"
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "version": "1.0.5",
+            "tag": "v1.0.5",
+            "require": {
+                "micro": ">=1.0.0"
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "version": "1.0.6-dev",
+            "tag": "nightly",
+            "require": {
+                "micro": ">=1.3.1"
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+}`)
+
+func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := NewPluginInfo(sampleJson)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+}
+
+// func TestFetch(t *testing.T) {
+// 	i, err := NewPluginInfoFromUrl("http://zbyedidia.webfactional.com/micro/test.json")
+// 	if err != nil {
+// 		t.Error(err)
+// 	}
+//
+// 	err = i.FetchRepo()
+// 	if err != nil {
+// 		t.Error(err)
+// 	}
+// }
+
+func TestList(t *testing.T) {
+	is, err := ListInstalledPlugins()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	for _, i := range is {
+		fmt.Println(i.Name)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/micro/manager/parser.go b/cmd/micro/manager/parser.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d4eb63b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/micro/manager/parser.go
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+package manager
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"path"
+
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
+	"github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro/config"
+	git "gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4"
+)
+
+var (
+	ErrMissingName     = errors.New("Missing or empty name field")
+	ErrMissingDesc     = errors.New("Missing or empty description field")
+	ErrMissingSite     = errors.New("Missing or empty website field")
+	ErrMissingRepo     = errors.New("Missing or empty repository field")
+	ErrMissingVersions = errors.New("Missing or empty versions field")
+	ErrMissingTag      = errors.New("Missing or empty tag field")
+	ErrMissingRequire  = errors.New("Missing or empty require field")
+)
+
+type Plugin struct {
+	info *PluginInfo
+	dir  string
+	repo *git.Repository
+	// Index into info.Versions showing the current version of this plugin
+	Version int
+}
+
+// PluginVersion describes a version for a plugin as well as any dependencies that
+// version might have
+// This marks a tag that corresponds to the version in the git repo
+type PluginVersion struct {
+	Vers    semver.Version
+	Vstr    string            `json:"version"`
+	Tag     string            `json:"tag"`
+	Require map[string]string `json:"require"`
+}
+
+// PluginInfo contains all the needed info about a plugin
+type PluginInfo struct {
+	Name     string          `json:"name"`
+	Desc     string          `json:"description"`
+	Site     string          `json:"website"`
+	Repo     string          `json:"repository"`
+	Versions []PluginVersion `json:"versions"`
+}
+
+// NewPluginInfo parses a JSON input into a valid PluginInfo struct
+// Returns an error if there are any missing fields or any invalid fields
+// There are no optional fields in a plugin info json file
+func NewPluginInfo(data []byte) (*PluginInfo, error) {
+	var info PluginInfo
+
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(data))
+	dec.DisallowUnknownFields() // Force errors
+
+	if err := dec.Decode(&info); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if len(info.Name) == 0 {
+		return nil, ErrMissingName
+	} else if len(info.Desc) == 0 {
+		return nil, ErrMissingDesc
+	} else if len(info.Site) == 0 {
+		return nil, ErrMissingSite
+	} else if len(info.Repo) == 0 {
+		return nil, ErrMissingRepo
+	} else if err := info.makeVersions(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &info, nil
+}
+
+func (i *PluginInfo) makeVersions() error {
+	if len(i.Versions) == 0 {
+		return ErrMissingVersions
+	}
+
+	for _, v := range i.Versions {
+		sv, err := semver.Make(v.Vstr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		v.Vers = sv
+		if len(v.Tag) == 0 {
+			return ErrMissingTag
+		} else if v.Require == nil {
+			return ErrMissingRequire
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// InstalledPlugins searches the config directory for all installed plugins
+// and returns the list of plugin infos corresponding to them
+func ListInstalledPlugins() ([]*Plugin, error) {
+	pdir := path.Join(config.ConfigDir, "plugin")
+
+	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(pdir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var plugins []*Plugin
+
+	for _, dir := range files {
+		if dir.IsDir() {
+			files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(path.Join(pdir, dir.Name()))
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+
+			for _, f := range files {
+				if f.Name() == "repo.json" {
+					dat, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path.Join(pdir, dir.Name(), "repo.json"))
+					if err != nil {
+						return nil, err
+					}
+					info, err := NewPluginInfo(dat)
+					if err != nil {
+						return nil, err
+					}
+
+					dirname := path.Join(pdir, dir.Name())
+					r, err := git.PlainOpen(dirname)
+					if err != nil {
+						return nil, err
+					}
+
+					p := &Plugin{
+						info: info,
+						dir:  dirname,
+						repo: r,
+					}
+
+					plugins = append(plugins, p)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return plugins, nil
+}