diff --git a/scripts/file_unpacker.sh b/scripts/file_unpacker.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42cb8bcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/file_unpacker.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+## only needs to have the file with a file passed into it to get the filetype.
+## only supports tar.gz/xz and zip currently for unpacking.
+## The value for ${DOWNLOAD_LINK##*/} is 
+
+FILETYPE=$(file -F ',' ${DOWNLOAD_LINK##*/} | cut -d',' -f2 | cut -d' ' -f2)
+if [ "$FILETYPE" == "gzip" ]; then
+    tar xzvf ${DOWNLOAD_LINK##*/}
+elif [ "$FILETYPE" == "Zip" ]; then
+    unzip ${DOWNLOAD_LINK##*/}
+elif [ "$FILETYPE" == "XZ" ]; then
+    tar xvf ${DOWNLOAD_LINK##*/}
+else
+    echo -e "unknown filetype. Exeting"
+    exit 2 
+fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/github_release_grabber.sh b/scripts/github_release_grabber.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d05120c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/github_release_grabber.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+## this is a simple script to use the github API for release versions.
+## this requires the egg has a variable for GITHUB_PACKAGE, VERSION and MATCH (match is to match the filename in some way)
+## this supports using oauth/personal access tokens via GITHUB_USER and GITHUB_OAUTH_TOKEN (both are required.)
+## if you are getting hit with GitHub API limit issues then you need to have the user and token set.
+
+
+if [ -z "$GITHUB_USER" ] && [ -z "$GITHUB_OAUTH_TOKEN" ] ; then
+    echo -e "using anon api call"
+else
+    echo -e "user and oauth token set"
+    alias curl='curl -u $GITHUB_USER:$GITHUB_OAUTH_TOKEN '
+fi
+
+## get release info and download links
+LATEST_JSON=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/$GITHUB_PACKAGE/releases/latest")
+RELEASES=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/$GITHUB_PACKAGE/releases")
+
+if [ -z "$VERSION" ] || [ "$VERSION" == "latest" ]; then
+    DOWNLOAD_LINK=$(echo $LATEST_JSON | jq .assets | jq -r .[].browser_download_url | grep -i ${MATCH})
+else
+    VERSION_CHECK=$(echo $RELEASES | jq -r --arg VERSION "$VERSION" '.[] | select(.tag_name==$VERSION) | .tag_name')
+    if [ "$VERSION" == "$VERSION_CHECK" ]; then
+        DOWNLOAD_LINK=$(echo $RELEASES | jq -r --arg VERSION "$VERSION" '.[] | select(.tag_name==$VERSION) | .assets[].browser_download_url' | grep -i ${MATCH})
+    else
+        echo -e "defaulting to latest release"
+        DOWNLOAD_LINK=$(echo $LATEST_JSON | jq .assets | jq -r .[].browser_download_url)
+    fi
+fi
\ No newline at end of file