diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..87d79f4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# 2015 Steven Armstrong (steven-cdist at armstrong.cc)
+#
+# This file is part of cdist.
+#
+# cdist is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# cdist is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with cdist. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+#set -x
+
+destination="$__object_id"
+source="$(cat "$__object/parameter/source")"
+cksum="$(cat "$__object/parameter/cksum")"
+stage_dir="$(cat "$__object/parameter/stage-dir")"
+state="$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")"
+fetch_command="$(cat "$__object/parameter/fetch-command")"
+stage_file="${stage_dir}/${destination}"
+stage_file_dir="${stage_file%/*}"
+source_file_name="${source##*/}"
+
+if [ "$state" = "absent" ]; then
+   # nothing to do
+   exit 0
+fi
+
+#printf 'set -x\n'
+
+if [ ! -d "$stage_dir" ]; then
+   printf 'mkdir -p "%s"\n' "$stage_dir"
+   printf 'chmod 700 "%s"\n' "$stage_dir"
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d "$stage_file_dir" ]; then
+   printf 'mkdir -p "%s"\n' "$stage_file_dir"
+fi
+
+
+get_file() {
+   if [ -f "$__object/parameter/prepare-command" ]; then
+      fetch_and_prepare_file
+   else
+      fetch_file
+   fi
+}
+
+fetch_file() {
+   printf "$fetch_command" "$source"
+   printf ' > "%s"\n' "$stage_file"
+}
+
+fetch_and_prepare_file() {
+   printf 'tmpdir="$(mktemp -d --tmpdir="/tmp" "%s")"\n' "${__type##*/}.XXXXXXXXXX"
+   printf 'cd "$tmpdir"\n'
+   printf "$fetch_command > \"%s\"\n" "$source" "$source_file_name"
+   prepare_command="$(cat "$__object/parameter/prepare-command")"
+   printf "$prepare_command > \"%s\"\n" "$source_file_name" "$stage_file"
+   printf 'cd - >/dev/null\n'
+   printf 'rm -rf "$tmpdir"\n'
+}
+
+cat << DONE
+verify_cksum() {
+   cksum_is="\$(cksum "$stage_file" | cut -d' ' -f1,2)"
+   cksum_should="$(cat "$__object/parameter/cksum" | cut -d' ' -f1,2)"
+   if [ "\$cksum_is" == "\$cksum_should" ]; then
+      return 0
+   else
+      return 1
+   fi
+}
+DONE
+
+if [ ! -f "$stage_file" ]; then
+   get_file
+else
+   printf 'verify_cksum || {\n'
+   get_file
+   printf '}\n'
+fi
+
+cat << DONE
+verify_cksum || {
+   echo "Failed to verify checksum for $__object_name" >&2
+   exit 1
+}
+DONE
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/man.text b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/man.text
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e94e491d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/man.text
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+cdist-type__staged_file(7)
+==========================
+Steven Armstrong <steven-cdist--@--armstrong.cc>
+
+
+NAME
+----
+cdist-type__staged_file - manage staged files
+
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+Manages a staged file that is downloaded on the server (the machine running
+cdist) and then deployed to the target host using the __file type.
+
+
+REQUIRED PARAMETERS
+-------------------
+source::
+   the URL from which to retreive the source file.
+   e.g.
+      https://dl.bintray.com/mitchellh/consul/0.4.1_linux_amd64.zip
+      file:///path/to/local/file
+cksum::
+   the output of running the command: `cksum $source-file`
+   e.g.
+      $ echo foobar > /tmp/foobar
+      $ cksum /tmp/foobar
+      857691210 7 /tmp/foobar
+   If either checksum or file size has changed the file will be
+   (re)fetched from the --source. The file name can be omitted and is
+   ignored if given.
+
+
+OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
+-------------------
+fetch-command::
+   the command used to fetch the staged file using printf formatting.
+   Where a single %s will be replaced with the value of the given --source
+   parameter. The --fetch-command is expected to output the fetched file to
+   stdout.
+   Defaults to 'curl -s -L "%s"'.
+group::
+   see cdist-type__file
+owner::
+   see cdist-type__file
+mode::
+   see cdist-type__file
+prepare-command::
+   the optional command used to prepare or preprocess the staged file for later
+   use by the file type.
+   If given, it must be a string in printf formatting where a single %s will
+   be replaced with the last segment (filename) of the value of the given
+   --source parameter.
+   It is executed in the same directory into which the fetched file has been
+   saved. The --prepare-command is expected to output the final file to stdout.
+
+   So for example given a --source of https://example.com/my-zip.zip, and a
+   --prepare-command of 'unzip -p "%s"', the code `unzip -p "my-zip.zip"` will
+   be executed in the folder containing the downloaded file my-zip.zip.
+   A more complex example might be --prepare-command 'tar -xz "%s"; cat path/from/archive'
+stage-dir::
+   the directory in which to store downloaded and prepared files.
+   Defaults to '/var/tmp/cdist/__staged_file'
+state::
+   see cdist-type__file
+
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+__staged_file /usr/local/bin/consul \
+   --source file:///path/to/local/copy/consul \
+   --cksum '428915666 15738724' \
+   --state present \
+   --group root \
+   --owner root \
+   --mode 755
+
+__staged_file /usr/local/bin/consul \
+   --source https://dl.bintray.com/mitchellh/consul/0.4.1_linux_amd64.zip \
+   --cksum '428915666 15738724' \
+   --fetch-command 'curl -s -L "%s"' \
+   --prepare-command 'unzip -p "%s"' \
+   --state present \
+   --group root \
+   --owner root \
+   --mode 755
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+- cdist-type(7)
+- cdist-type__file(7)
+
+
+COPYING
+-------
+Copyright \(C) 2015 Steven Armstrong. Free use of this software is
+granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3).
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/manifest b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/manifest
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..454948b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/manifest
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# 2015 Steven Armstrong (steven-cdist at armstrong.cc)
+#
+# This file is part of cdist.
+#
+# cdist is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# cdist is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with cdist. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+destination="$__object_id"
+source="$(cat "$__object/parameter/source")"
+cksum="$(cat "$__object/parameter/cksum")"
+stage_dir="$(cat "$__object/parameter/stage-dir")"
+state="$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")"
+fetch_command="$(cat "$__object/parameter/fetch-command")"
+stage_file="${stage_dir}/${destination}"
+
+set -- "/${destination}"
+for param in owner group mode state; do
+   if [ -f "$__object/parameter/$param" ]; then
+      set -- "$@" "--${param}" "$(cat "$__object/parameter/$param")"
+   fi
+done
+set -- "$@" --source "$stage_file"
+
+require="$__object_name" \
+   __file "$@"
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/fetch-command b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/fetch-command
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4dc1211
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/fetch-command
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+curl -s -L "%s"
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/stage-dir b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/stage-dir
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9420b510
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/stage-dir
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/var/tmp/cdist/__staged_file
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/state b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/state
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7f6134f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/default/state
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+present
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/optional b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/optional
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18f4e87a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/optional
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+fetch-command
+group
+owner
+mode
+prepare-command
+stage-dir
+state
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/required b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/required
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bfb1d5bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/parameter/required
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+cksum
+source
diff --git a/docs/changelog b/docs/changelog
index 62095c27..9017f526 100644
--- a/docs/changelog
+++ b/docs/changelog
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Changelog
 	* Exception: No braces means author == Nico Schottelius
 
 next:
+	* New type __staged_file: Manage staged files
 	* New type __config_file: Manage configuration files and run code on change
 
 3.1.11: