diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo.go b/cmd/helm/repo.go
index fe093a385..86909c11e 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 
@@ -44,11 +45,16 @@ func runRepoAdd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err := checkArgsLength(2, len(args), "name for the chart repository", "the url of the chart repository"); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	name, url := args[0], args[1]
 
-	err := insertRepoLine(args[0], args[1])
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := downloadCacheFile(name, url); err != nil {
+		return errors.New("Oops! Looks like " + url + " is not a valid chart repository or cannot be reached\n")
+	}
+
+	if err := insertRepoLine(name, url); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
 	fmt.Println(args[0] + " has been added to your repositories")
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/helm/update.go b/cmd/helm/update.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4528d8f09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/update.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
+
+	"github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/repo"
+)
+
+var verboseUpdate bool
+
+var updateCommand = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "update",
+	Short: "Update information on available charts in the chart repositories.",
+	RunE:  runUpdate,
+}
+
+func init() {
+	updateCommand.Flags().BoolVar(&verboseUpdate, "verbose", false, "verbose error messages")
+	RootCommand.AddCommand(updateCommand)
+}
+
+func runUpdate(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+
+	f, err := repo.LoadRepositoriesFile(repositoriesFile())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	updateCharts(f.Repositories, verboseUpdate)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func updateCharts(repos map[string]string, verbose bool) {
+	fmt.Println("Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...")
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	for name, url := range repos {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func(n, u string) {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			err := downloadCacheFile(n, u)
+			if err != nil {
+				updateErr := "...Unable to get an update from the " + n + " chart repository"
+				if verbose {
+					updateErr = updateErr + ": " + err.Error()
+				}
+				fmt.Println(updateErr)
+			} else {
+				fmt.Println("...Successfully got an update from the " + n + " chart repository")
+			}
+		}(name, url)
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+	fmt.Println("Update Complete. Happy Helming!")
+}
+
+func downloadCacheFile(name, url string) error {
+	var cacheURL string
+
+	cacheURL = strings.TrimSuffix(url, "/") + "/cache.yaml"
+	resp, err := http.Get(cacheURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	var cacheFile *os.File
+	var r repo.RepoFile
+
+	b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(b, &r); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cacheFile, err = os.Create(cacheDirectory(name + "-cache.yaml"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if _, err := io.Copy(cacheFile, resp.Body); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}