diff --git a/.didntcomefromthenpmregistry b/.didntcomefromthenpmregistry
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
index b3d2f9d9d..50b42bb8c 100644
--- a/.npmignore
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@
 /examples/
 /generate/
 /test/
-/vendor/libgit2/
-/vendor/libssh2/
-/vendor/http_parser/
 /vendor/Release/
 
 .astylerc
@@ -15,6 +12,7 @@
 .jshintrc
 .travis.yml
 .appveyor.yml
+.didntcomefromthenpmregistry
 
 *.vcxproj
 *.filters
diff --git a/generate/index.js b/generate/index.js
index 9eea74ecf..5ca590172 100644
--- a/generate/index.js
+++ b/generate/index.js
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
-require("./scripts/generateJson");
-require("./scripts/generateNativeCode");
-require("./scripts/generateMissingTests");
+var generateJson = require("./scripts/generateJson");
+var generateNativeCode = require("./scripts/generateNativeCode");
+var generateMissingTests = require("./scripts/generateMissingTests");
+
+module.exports = function generate() {
+  generateJson();
+  generateNativeCode();
+  generateMissingTests();
+}
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/generate/scripts/generateJson.js b/generate/scripts/generateJson.js
index 35430bff4..4ef0b75dd 100644
--- a/generate/scripts/generateJson.js
+++ b/generate/scripts/generateJson.js
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 const fs = require("fs");
 const path = require("path");
-const helpers = require("./helpers");
 const utils = require("./utils");
-const _ = require("lodash");
+var _;
 
 var version = require("../../package.json").libgit2.version;
 var libgit2 = require("../input/v" + version + ".json");
 var descriptor = require("../input/descriptor.json");
-  var supplement = require("../input/libgit2-supplement.json");
+var supplement = require("../input/libgit2-supplement.json");
+
+module.exports = function generateJson() {
+  var helpers = require("./helpers");
+  _ = require("lodash");
 
-module.exports = (function generateJson() {
   libgit2.types.forEach(function(type) {
     if (supplement.types[type[0]]){
       _.merge(type[1], supplement.types[type[0]]);
@@ -219,4 +221,8 @@ module.exports = (function generateJson() {
 
   utils.writeFile("output/idefs.json", output);
 
-}());
+};
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/generate/scripts/generateMissingTests.js b/generate/scripts/generateMissingTests.js
index 1b6c7aae2..0a89c7bd8 100644
--- a/generate/scripts/generateMissingTests.js
+++ b/generate/scripts/generateMissingTests.js
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@ const fse = promisify(require("fs-extra"));
 const utils = require("./utils");
 
 const testFilesPath = "../test/tests";
-const idefs = require("../output/idefs");
 const missingFileIgnores = require("../input/ignored-missing-tests");
 
-module.exports = (function generateMissingTests() {
+module.exports = function generateMissingTests() {
   var output = {};
 
   function findMissingTest(idef) {
@@ -55,10 +54,9 @@ module.exports = (function generateMissingTests() {
     });
   };
 
-  var promises = [];
-
-  idefs.forEach(function(idef) {
-    promises.push(findMissingTest(idef));
+  const idefs = require("../output/idefs");
+  var promises = idefs.map(function(idef) {
+    return findMissingTest(idef);
   });
 
   Promise.all(promises).then(
@@ -66,9 +64,12 @@ module.exports = (function generateMissingTests() {
       utils.writeFile("output/missing-tests.json", output);
     },
     function(fail) {
-      console.log(fail);
+      console.error(fail);
     }
   );
 
-}());
+};
 
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/generate/scripts/generateNativeCode.js b/generate/scripts/generateNativeCode.js
index c277e0e9f..0944ffca5 100644
--- a/generate/scripts/generateNativeCode.js
+++ b/generate/scripts/generateNativeCode.js
@@ -1,26 +1,25 @@
 const path = require("path");
-const combyne = require("combyne");
 const promisify = require("promisify-node");
 const fse = promisify(require("fs-extra"));
-const js_beautify = require("js-beautify").js_beautify;
-const beautify = function (input) {
-  return js_beautify(input, {
-    "brace_style": "end-expand",
-    "max_preserve_newlines": 2,
-    "preserve_newlines": true,
-    "indent_size": 2,
-    "indent_char": " "
-  });
-}
 const exec = promisify(function(command, opts, callback) {
   return require("child_process").exec(command, opts, callback);
 });
 
-
 const utils = require("./utils");
-const idefs = require("../output/idefs");
 
-module.exports = (function generateNativeCode() {
+module.exports = function generateNativeCode() {
+  const combyne = require("combyne");
+  const js_beautify = require("js-beautify").js_beautify;
+  const beautify = function (input) {
+    return js_beautify(input, {
+      "brace_style": "end-expand",
+      "max_preserve_newlines": 2,
+      "preserve_newlines": true,
+      "indent_size": 2,
+      "indent_char": " "
+    });
+  };
+
   // Customize the delimiters so as to not process `{{{` or `}}}`.
   combyne.settings.delimiters = {
     START_RAW: "{{=",
@@ -91,6 +90,7 @@ module.exports = (function generateNativeCode() {
 
   // Determine which definitions to actually include in the source code.
   // This might not be needed anymore but to be frank I'm not totally positive
+  const idefs = require("../output/idefs");
   var enabled = idefs.filter(function(idef) {
     return !idef.ignore;
   });
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ module.exports = (function generateNativeCode() {
       }
       catch (e) {
         if (process.env.BUILD_ONLY) {
-          console.log(e);
+          console.error(e);
         }
       }
     });
@@ -143,4 +143,8 @@ module.exports = (function generateNativeCode() {
     })
   });
 
-}());
+};
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/install.js b/install.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d270f9de8..000000000
--- a/install.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,269 +0,0 @@
-var os = require("os");
-var path = require("path");
-var zlib = require("zlib");
-var tar;
-var request;
-
-var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
-var promisify = require("promisify-node");
-var fse = promisify(require("fs-extra"));
-var findParentDir = promisify(require('find-parent-dir'));
-
-var exec = promisify(function(command, opts, callback) {
-  return require("child_process").exec(command, opts, callback);
-});
-
-
-var NODE_VERSION = Number(process.version.match(/^v(\d+\.\d+)/)[1]);
-
-// If the build only flag is set.
-var buildOnly = process.env.BUILD_ONLY;
-var nodeWebkit = false;
-
-// This will take in an object and find any matching keys in the environment
-// to use as overrides.
-//
-// ENV variables:
-//
-// PKG: Location of `package.json` sans `.json`.
-// LIBGIT2: Location of libgit2 source.
-// BUILD: Location of nodegit build directory.
-function envOverride(obj) {
-  // Look through all keys.
-  return Object.keys(obj).reduce(function(obj, key) {
-    var normalize = key.toUpperCase();
-
-    // Check for process environment existence.
-    if (normalize in process.env) {
-      obj[key] = process.env[normalize];
-    }
-
-    return obj;
-  }, obj);
-}
-
-// Convert to the correct system path.
-function systemPath(parts) {
-  return parts.join(path.sep);
-}
-
-// Will be used near the end to configure `node-gyp`.
-var pythonPath = "";
-
-var local = path.join.bind(path, __dirname);
-
-// Common reusable paths that can be overwritten by environment variables.
-var paths = envOverride({
-  pkg: local("package"),
-  libgit2: local("vendor/libgit2/"),
-  libssh2: local("vendor/libssh2/"),
-  http_parser: local("vendor/http_parser/"),
-  release: local("build/Release/"),
-});
-
-// Load the package.json.
-var pkg = require(paths.pkg);
-
-if (NODE_VERSION === 0.1) {
-  pkg.http_parser = pkg.http_parser["0.10"];
-}
-
-// ensureDir doesn't promisify correctly so right now just use the callback
-fse.ensureDir(path.resolve(__dirname, paths.release), function(err) {
-  if (err) {
-    console.log(err);
-  }
-  else {
-    detectNodeWebkit.call(null, __dirname)
-    .then(fetch)
-    .then(finish, compile);
-  }
-});
-
-function fetch() {
-  console.info("[nodegit] Fetching binary from S3.");
-
-  if (nodeWebkit) {
-    throw new Error("Must build for node-webkit");
-  }
-
-  if (buildOnly) {
-    throw new Error("BUILD_ONLY is set to true, no fetching allowed.");
-  }
-
-  // Using the node-pre-gyp module, attempt to fetch a compatible build.
-  return exec("node-pre-gyp install");
-}
-
-function compile(err) {
-  if (buildOnly || nodeWebkit) {
-    console.info("[nodegit] " + err.message);
-  }
-  else  {
-    console.info("[nodegit] Failed to install prebuilt, attempting compile.");
-  }
-
-  tar = require("tar");
-  request = require("request");
-
-  console.info("[nodegit] Installing all devDependencies");
-  return exec("npm install --ignore-scripts --dont-prepublish")
-    .then(function() {
-      console.info("[nodegit] Determining source dependencies.");
-      return Promise.all([
-        python(),
-        getVendorLib("libgit2", "https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/tarball/" + pkg.libgit2.sha),
-        getVendorLib("libssh2", pkg.libssh2.url),
-        getVendorLib("http_parser", pkg.http_parser.url),
-        guardGenerated()
-      ]);
-    })
-    .then(buildNative)
-    .then(finish, fail);
-}
-
-function python() {
-  var pathFinderCommand = process.platform === "win32" ? "where" : "which";
-
-  return exec(pathFinderCommand + " python2")
-    .then(function(which){
-      return which;
-    }, function(err) {
-      return null;
-    })
-    .then(function(path) {
-      return path || exec(pathFinderCommand + " python");
-    })
-    .then(function(path) {
-      return path;
-    }, function(err) {
-      return null;
-    })
-    .then(function(path) {
-      if (!path) {
-        throw new Error("Python is required to build libgit2.");
-      }
-      return path.trim();
-    }, function(err) {
-      throw new Error("Error finding python.");
-    })
-    .then(function(path) {
-      pythonPath = path;
-      return exec(path + " -V 2>&1");
-    })
-    .then(function(version) {
-      if (version.trim().indexOf("Python 3") === 0) {
-        throw new Error("Incorrect version of Python, gyp requires < 3.");
-      }
-    });
-}
-
-function getVendorLib(name, url) {
-  var version = pkg[name].sha || pkg[name].version;
-  console.info("[nodegit] Detecting vendor/" + name + ".");
-  if (fse.existsSync(paths[name] + version)) {
-    console.info("[nodegit] vendor/" + name + " already exists.");
-    return Promise.resolve();
-  }
-  else {
-    console.info("[nodegit] Removing outdated vendor/" + name + ".");
-    return fse.remove(paths[name])
-      .then(function() {
-        return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
-
-          console.info("[nodegit] Fetching vendor/" + name + ".");
-
-          var extract = tar.Extract({
-            path: paths[name],
-            strip: true
-          });
-
-          request.get(url).pipe(zlib.createUnzip()).pipe(extract)
-            .on("error", reject)
-            .on("end", resolve);
-        });
-      }).then(function() {
-        return fse.writeFile(paths[name] + version, "");
-      }).then(function() {
-        if ((name == "libssh2") && (process.platform !== "win32")) {
-          return exec(paths[name] + "configure", {cwd: paths[name]});
-        }
-      });
-  }
-}
-
-function guardGenerated() {
-  return Promise.all([
-    fse.stat(path.resolve(__dirname, "src/")),
-    fse.stat(path.resolve(__dirname, "include/"))
-  ]).then(function() {
-    return Promise.resolve();
-  }, function() {
-    console.info("[nodegit] C++ files not found, generating now.");
-    return exec("node generate");
-  });
-}
-
-function buildNative() {
-  return exec("cd " + __dirname).then(function() {
-    if (nodeWebkit) {
-      console.info("[nodegit] Building native node-webkit module.");
-    }
-    else {
-      console.info("[nodegit] Building native node module.");
-    }
-
-    var builder = nodeWebkit ? "nw-gyp" : "node-gyp";
-
-    var cmd = path.resolve(".", "node_modules", ".bin", builder)
-      + " clean configure "
-      + (nodeWebkit ? "--target=\"" + nodeWebkit + "\"": "")
-      + " build --python \"" + pythonPath + "\""
-
-    var opts = {
-      cwd: __dirname,
-      maxBuffer: Number.MAX_VALUE
-    };
-    return exec(cmd, opts);
-  })
-}
-
-function detectNodeWebkit(directory) {
-  if (directory) {
-    var pkg = require(path.resolve(directory, "package.json"));
-
-    nodeWebkit = pkg.engines && pkg.engines["node-webkit"];
-
-    return findParentDir(path.resolve(directory, ".."), "package.json")
-        .then(detectNodeWebkit);
-  }
-  else {
-    return Promise.resolve();
-  }
-}
-
-function finish() {
-  console.info("[nodegit] Completed installation successfully.");
-  if (!buildOnly) {
-    console.info("[nodegit] Cleaning up");
-    return Promise.all([
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, "src")),
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, "include")),
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, "generate/output")),
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, paths.libgit2)),
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, paths.libssh2)),
-      fse.remove(path.resolve(__dirname, paths.http_parser))
-      // exec("npm prune --production")
-    ]).done();
-  }
-  else {
-    return Promise.resolve().done();
-  }
-}
-
-function fail(message) {
-  console.info("[nodegit] Failed to build and install nodegit.");
-  console.info(message.message);
-
-  return Promise.resolve().done();
-}
diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/checkPrepared.js b/lifecycleScripts/checkPrepared.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ffb1a5c28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/checkPrepared.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
+var path = require("path");
+var fs = require("fs");
+var rooted = path.join.bind(path, __dirname, "..");
+var pkg = require(rooted("package"));
+
+var NODE_VERSION = Number(process.version.match(/^v(\d+\.\d+)/)[1]);
+
+module.exports.checkAll = function checkAll() {
+  return Promise.all([
+    checkVendor("libgit2"),
+    checkVendor("libssh2"),
+    checkVendor("http_parser"),
+
+    checkExists("lib/nodegit.js"),
+    checkExists("lib/enums.js"),
+    checkExists("src"),
+    checkExists("include")
+  ]).then(function(checks) {
+    return checks.reduce(function(soFar, currentCheck) {
+      return soFar && currentCheck;
+    }, true);
+  });
+};
+
+function checkExists(name) {
+  return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+    fs.exists(rooted(name), function(exists) {
+      resolve(exists);
+    });
+  });
+}
+module.exports.checkExists = checkExists;
+
+function checkVendor(name, skipVersion) {
+  var version = "";
+  if (!skipVersion) {
+    var vendorPackage = pkg[name];
+    if (NODE_VERSION === 0.1 && vendorPackage["0.10"]) {
+      vendorPackage = vendorPackage["0.10"];
+    }
+    version = vendorPackage.sha || vendorPackage.version;
+  }
+
+  var vendorPath = "vendor/" + name + "/" + version;
+  return checkExists(vendorPath);
+}
+module.exports.checkVendor = checkVendor;
+
+function checkGenerated() {
+  return Promise.all([
+    checkExists("lib/nodegit.js"),
+    checkExists("lib/enums.js"),
+    checkExists("src"),
+    checkExists("include")
+  ]).then(function(checks) {
+    return checks.reduce(function(soFar, currentCheck) {
+      return soFar && currentCheck;
+    }, true);
+  });
+}
+module.exports.checkGenerated = checkGenerated;
+
+// Called on the command line
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports.checkAll();
+}
diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/clean.js b/lifecycleScripts/clean.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3a21c001
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/clean.js
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+var fse = require("fs-extra");
+var path = require("path");
+var npm = require("npm");
+var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
+
+var rooted = path.join.bind(path, __dirname, "..");
+if (fse.existsSync(rooted(".didntcomefromthenpmregistry"))) {
+  console.error("[nodegit] We only clean when downloaded from the npm " +
+    "registry. Skipping clean.");
+  return;
+}
+
+npm.load({
+  "production": true
+}, function() {
+
+  var filesToDelete = [
+    "build/Makefile",
+    "build/binding.Makefile",
+    "build/config.gypi",
+    "build/gyp-mac-tool",
+    "build/nodegit.target.mk",
+    "build/vendor",
+
+    "build/Release/git2.a",
+    "build/Release/http_parser.a",
+    "build/Release/linker.lock",
+    "build/Release/obj.target",
+    "build/Release/openssl.a",
+    "build/Release/ssh2.a",
+    "build/Release/zlib.a",
+
+    "build/Debug/git2.a",
+    "build/Debug/http_parser.a",
+    "build/Debug/linker.lock",
+    "build/Debug/obj.target",
+    "build/Debug/openssl.a",
+    "build/Debug/ssh2.a",
+    "build/Debug/zlib.a",
+
+    "example",
+    "generate",
+    "include",
+    "lifecycleScripts",
+    "src",
+    "test",
+    "vendor",
+
+    ".astylerc",
+    ".editorconfig",
+    ".gitingore",
+    ".gitmodules",
+    ".jshintrc",
+    ".npmignore",
+    ".travis.yml",
+    "appveyor.yml",
+    "binding.gyp",
+    "TESTING.md"
+  ];
+
+  var modulesToPrune = [
+    "for-node-webkit",
+    "fs-extra",
+    "node-pre-gyp",
+    "npm"
+  ];
+
+  console.info("[nodegit] Cleaning up after ourselves.");
+
+  Promise.all([
+    cleanFiles(),
+    pruneDevDependencies(),
+    pruneOtherDependencies()
+  ]).then(
+    function success() {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Done cleaning, enjoy!");
+    },
+    function failure() {
+      console.error("[nodegit] Couldn't finish cleaning.");
+    }
+  );
+
+  function cleanFiles() {
+    console.info("[nodegit] Deleting unneeded files.");
+    return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+      var failures = filesToDelete.some(function(deletable) {
+        try {
+          fse.removeSync(rooted(deletable));
+          return false;
+        }
+        catch (e) {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Error deleting files. Errored on " +
+            rooted(deletable) + ".");
+          console.error(e);
+
+          reject(e);
+          return true;
+        }
+      });
+
+      if (!failures) {
+        console.info("[nodegit] Finished deleting files.");
+        resolve();
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
+  function pruneDevDependencies() {
+    console.info("[nodegit] Pruning devdependencies.");
+    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
+      npm.commands.prune(function(err) {
+        if (err) {
+          console.error("[nodegit] Failed pruning devdependencies.");
+          reject(err);
+        }
+        else {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Successfully pruned devdependencies.");
+          resolve();
+        }
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
+  function pruneOtherDependencies() {
+    console.info("[nodegit] Cleaning unneeded dependencies.");
+    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
+      npm.commands.uninstall(modulesToPrune, function(err) {
+        if (err) {
+          console.drror("[nodegit] Failed cleaning unneeded dependencies.");
+          reject(err);
+        }
+        else {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Successfully cleaned unneeded dependencies.");
+          resolve();
+        }
+      });
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/install.js b/lifecycleScripts/install.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5451b3c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/install.js
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
+var promisify = require("promisify-node");
+var path = require("path");
+var fs = require("fs");
+
+var local = path.join.bind(path, __dirname);
+
+var checkPrepared = require(local("checkPrepared"));
+var forNodeWebkit = require("for-node-webkit");
+var prepareForBuild = require(local("prepareForBuild"));
+
+var exec = promisify(function(command, opts, callback) {
+  return require("child_process").exec(command, opts, callback);
+});
+
+return forNodeWebkit(local(".."))
+  .then(function(results) {
+    return results.nwVersion;
+  })
+  .then(function(nodeWebkitVersion) {
+    if (nodeWebkitVersion) {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Must build for node-webkit");
+      return checkAndBuild(nodeWebkitVersion);
+    }
+    if (fs.existsSync(local("../.didntcomefromthenpmregistry"))) {
+      return checkAndBuild();
+    }
+    if (process.env.BUILD_DEBUG) {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Doing a debug build, no fetching allowed.");
+      return checkAndBuild();
+    }
+    if (process.env.BUILD_ONLY) {
+      console.info("[nodegit] BUILD_ONLY is set to true, no fetching allowed.");
+      return checkAndBuild();
+    }
+    console.info("[nodegit] Fetching binary from S3.");
+    return exec("node-pre-gyp build")
+      .then(
+        function() {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Completed installation successfully.");
+        },
+        function() {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Failed to install prebuilt binary, " +
+            "building manually.");
+          return checkAndBuild();
+        }
+      );
+  });
+
+
+function checkAndBuild(nwVersion) {
+  console.info("[nodegit] Making sure dependencies are available and native " +
+    "code is generated");
+
+  return checkPrepared.checkAll()
+    .then(function(allGood) {
+      if (allGood) {
+        return Promise.resolve();
+      }
+      else {
+        console.info("[nodegit] Something is missing, retrieving " +
+        "dependencies and regenerating code");
+        return prepareForBuild();
+      }
+    })
+    .then(function() {
+      return build(nwVersion);
+    });
+}
+
+function build(nwVersion) {
+  console.info("[nodegit] Everything is ready to go, attempting compilation");
+  if (nwVersion) {
+    console.info("[nodegit] Building native node-webkit module.");
+  }
+  else {
+    console.info("[nodegit] Building native node module.");
+  }
+
+  var opts = {
+    cwd: local(".."),
+    maxBuffer: Number.MAX_VALUE
+  };
+
+  var builder = nwVersion ? "nw-gyp" : "node-gyp";
+  var target = (nwVersion ? "--target=\"" + nwVersion + "\"": "");
+  var debug = (process.env.BUILD_DEBUG ? " --debug" : "");
+  var cmd = path.resolve(".", "node_modules", ".bin", builder) +
+    " clean configure" +
+    debug +
+    target +
+    " build";
+
+  return exec(cmd, opts)
+    .then(function() {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Compilation complete.");
+      console.info("[nodegit] Completed installation successfully.");
+    },
+    function(err, stderr) {
+      console.error(err);
+      console.error(stderr);
+    });
+}
diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/prepareForBuild.js b/lifecycleScripts/prepareForBuild.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e32653157
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/prepareForBuild.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
+var cp = require("child_process");
+var path = require("path");
+
+var local = path.join.bind(path, __dirname);
+
+var check = require(local("checkPrepared")).checkGenerated;
+var retrieve = require(local("retrieveExternalDependencies"));
+var generate = require(local("../generate"));
+
+module.exports = function prepareForBuild() {
+
+  return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+    cp.exec("npm install --ignore-scripts", function(err, stdout, stderr) {
+      if (err) {
+        console.error(stderr);
+        reject(err, stderr);
+      }
+      else {
+        resolve();
+        console.info(stdout);
+      }
+    });
+  }).then(function() {
+    return Promise.all([
+      retrieve(),
+      doGenerate()
+    ]);
+  });
+};
+
+function doGenerate() {
+  console.info("[nodegit] Detecting generated code.");
+  return check().then(function(allThere) {
+    if (allThere) {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Generated code is intact.");
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    }
+    else {
+      console.info("[nodegit] Generated code is missing or incomplete, " +
+        "regenerating now.");
+
+      return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+        try {
+          generate();
+          console.info("[nodegit] Code regenerated.");
+          resolve();
+        }
+        catch (e) {
+          console.info("[nodegit] Error generating code.");
+          console.info(e);
+          //console.info(stderr);
+          reject(e);
+        }
+      });
+    }
+  });
+}
+// Called on the command line
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/retrieveExternalDependencies.js b/lifecycleScripts/retrieveExternalDependencies.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30bbf4e98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/retrieveExternalDependencies.js
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+var Promise = require("nodegit-promise");
+var promisify = require("promisify-node");
+var fse = promisify("fs-extra");
+var zlib = require("zlib");
+var cp = require("child_process");
+var path = require("path");
+
+var local = path.join.bind(path, __dirname);
+var rooted = path.join.bind(path, __dirname, "..");
+
+var check = require(local("checkPrepared")).checkVendor;
+var pkg = require(rooted("package"));
+var tar;
+var request;
+
+var NODE_VERSION = Number(process.version.match(/^v(\d+\.\d+)/)[1]);
+
+module.exports = function retrieveExternalDependencies() {
+  tar = require("tar");
+  request = require("request");
+  return Promise.all([
+    getVendorLib("libgit2"),
+    getVendorLib("libssh2"),
+    getVendorLib("http_parser")
+  ]);
+};
+
+
+function getVendorLib(name) {
+  var vendorPath = "vendor/" + name + "/";
+  var vendorPackage = pkg[name];
+  if (NODE_VERSION === 0.1 && vendorPackage["0.10"]) {
+    vendorPackage = vendorPackage["0.10"];
+  }
+
+  var version = vendorPackage.sha || vendorPackage.version;
+
+  console.info("[nodegit] Detecting " + vendorPath + version + ".");
+  return check(name)
+    .then(function(exists) {
+      if (exists) {
+        console.info("[nodegit] " + vendorPath + version + " already exists.");
+        return Promise.resolve();
+      }
+      else {
+        return check(name, true)
+          .then(function(exists) {
+            if (exists) {
+              console.info("[nodegit] Removing outdated " + vendorPath + ".");
+              return fse.remove(rooted(vendorPath));
+            }
+            else {
+              console.info("[nodegit] " + vendorPath + " not found.");
+              return Promise.resolve();
+            }
+          })
+          .then(function() {
+            return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
+              console.info("[nodegit] Retrieving " + vendorPath + ".");
+
+              var extract = tar.Extract({
+                path: rooted("vendor/" + name + "/"),
+                strip: true
+              });
+
+              request.get(vendorPackage.url)
+                .pipe(zlib.createUnzip())
+                .pipe(extract)
+                .on("error", reject)
+                .on("end", resolve);
+            });
+
+          })
+          .then(function() {
+            return fse.writeFile(rooted(vendorPath + version), "");
+          })
+          .then(function() {
+            if ((name == "libssh2") && (process.platform !== "win32")) {
+              return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+                console.info("[nodegit] Configuring libssh2.");
+                cp.exec(
+                  rooted(vendorPath) + "configure",
+                  {cwd: rooted(vendorPath)},
+                  function(err, stdout, stderr) {
+                    if (err) {
+                      console.error(err);
+                      console.error(stderr);
+                      reject(err, stderr);
+                    }
+                    else {
+                      resolve(stdout);
+                    }
+                  }
+                );
+              });
+            }
+            else {
+              return Promise.resolve();
+            }
+          })
+          .then(function() {
+            console.info("[nodegit] Successfully updated " + vendorPath +
+              version + ".");
+          });
+      }
+    });
+
+}
+
+// Called on the command line
+if (require.main === module) {
+  module.exports();
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 66dec164d..204f21325 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   "description": "Node.js libgit2 asynchronous native bindings",
   "version": "0.2.4",
   "libgit2": {
+    "url": "https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/tarball/4af08d9f69f151f6362df51d7d7f41527e2af05c",
     "sha": "4af08d9f69f151f6362df51d7d7f41527e2af05c",
     "version": "0.21.2"
   },
@@ -60,10 +61,11 @@
     "node-pre-gyp"
   ],
   "dependencies": {
-    "find-parent-dir": "^0.3.0",
+    "for-node-webkit": "0.0.2",
     "fs-extra": "~0.14.0",
     "node-pre-gyp": "~0.6.1",
     "nodegit-promise": "~1.0.0",
+    "npm": "^2.1.18",
     "promisify-node": "~0.1.2"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@
     "host": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/nodegit/nodegit/"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "lint": "jshint lib test/tests examples",
+    "lint": "jshint lib test/tests examples lifecycleScripts",
     "cov": "node test",
     "mocha": "mocha test/runner test/tests",
     "mochaDebug": "mocha --debug-brk test/runner test/tests",
@@ -93,10 +95,12 @@
     "generateJson": "node generate/scripts/generateJson",
     "generateNativeCode": "node generate/scripts/generateNativeCode",
     "generateMissingTests": "node generate/scripts/generateMissingTests",
-    "prepublish": "node prepublish",
     "publish": "node-pre-gyp package && node-pre-gyp publish",
-    "install": "node install",
+    "install": "node lifecycleScripts/install",
+    "postinstall": "node lifecycleScripts/clean",
     "recompile": "BUILD_ONLY=true npm install",
-    "rebuild": "BUILD_ONLY=true node generate && node-gyp configure build"
+    "rebuild": "BUILD_ONLY=true node generate && node-gyp configure build",
+    "buildDebug": "node generate && BUILD_DEBUG=true npm install",
+    "prepublish": "node lifecycleScripts/prepareForBuild.js"
   }
 }
diff --git a/prepublish.js b/prepublish.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 7fddbecdd..000000000
--- a/prepublish.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-var exec = require('child_process').exec;
-try {
-  require("./build/Release/nodegit");
-  console.info("[nodegit] Nothing to do.")
-}
-catch (e) {
-  exec("node generate");
-}