diff --git a/pkg/chart/chart.go b/pkg/chart/chart.go
index 73b948e26..b64823ced 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/chart.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/chart.go
@@ -98,6 +98,23 @@ func (c *Chart) LoadValues() (Values, error) {
 	return ReadValuesFile(filepath.Join(c.loader.dir(), preValues))
 }
 
+// ChartDepNames returns the list of chart names found in ChartsDir.
+func (c *Chart) ChartDepNames() ([]string, error) {
+	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(c.ChartsDir())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var deps []string
+	for _, file := range files {
+		if file.IsDir() {
+			deps = append(deps, filepath.Join(c.ChartsDir(), file.Name()))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return deps, nil
+}
+
 // chartLoader provides load, close, and save implementations for a chart.
 type chartLoader interface {
 	// Chartfile resturns a *Chartfile for this chart.
@@ -238,6 +255,32 @@ func LoadDir(chart string) (*Chart, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// LoadChart loads an entire chart archive.
+//
+// The following are valid values for 'chfi':
+//
+//		- relative path to the chart archive
+//		- absolute path to the chart archive
+// 		- name of the chart directory
+//
+func LoadChart(chfi string) (*Chart, error) {
+	path, err := filepath.Abs(chfi)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	fi, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if fi.IsDir() {
+		return LoadDir(path)
+	}
+
+	return Load(path)
+}
+
 // LoadData loads a chart from data, where data is a []byte containing a gzipped tar file.
 func LoadData(data []byte) (*Chart, error) {
 	return LoadDataFromReader(bytes.NewBuffer(data))
diff --git a/pkg/helm/convert.go b/pkg/helm/convert.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd4ff4306
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/helm/convert.go
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package helm
+
+import (
+	chartutil "github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/chart"
+	chartpbs "github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/chart"
+)
+
+func ChartToProto(ch *chartutil.Chart) (chpb *chartpbs.Chart, err error) {
+	chpb = new(chartpbs.Chart)
+
+	chpb.Metadata, err = MetadataToProto(ch)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	chpb.Templates, err = TemplatesToProto(ch)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	chs, err := WalkChartFile(ch)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	for _, dep := range chs.deps {
+		chdep, err := ChartToProto(dep.File())
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		chpb.Dependencies = append(chpb.Dependencies, chdep)
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+func MetadataToProto(ch *chartutil.Chart) (*chartpbs.Metadata, error) {
+	if ch == nil {
+		return nil, ErrMissingChart
+	}
+
+	chfi := ch.Chartfile()
+
+	md := &chartpbs.Metadata{
+		Name:        chfi.Name,
+		Home:        chfi.Home,
+		Version:     chfi.Version,
+		Description: chfi.Description,
+	}
+
+	md.Sources = make([]string, len(chfi.Source))
+	copy(md.Sources, chfi.Source)
+
+	md.Keywords = make([]string, len(chfi.Keywords))
+	copy(md.Keywords, chfi.Keywords)
+
+	for _, maintainer := range chfi.Maintainers {
+		md.Maintainers = append(md.Maintainers, &chartpbs.Maintainer{
+			Name:  maintainer.Name,
+			Email: maintainer.Email,
+		})
+	}
+
+	return md, nil
+}
+
+func TemplatesToProto(ch *chartutil.Chart) (tpls []*chartpbs.Template, err error) {
+	if ch == nil {
+		return nil, ErrMissingChart
+	}
+
+	members, err := ch.LoadTemplates()
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	var tpl *chartpbs.Template
+
+	for _, member := range members {
+		tpl = &chartpbs.Template{
+			Name: member.Path,
+			Data: make([]byte, len(member.Content)),
+		}
+
+		copy(tpl.Data, member.Content)
+
+		tpls = append(tpls, tpl)
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+func ValuesToProto(ch *chartutil.Chart) (*chartpbs.Config, error) {
+	vals, err := ch.LoadValues()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, ErrMissingValues
+	}
+
+	_ = vals
+
+	return nil, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/helm/error.go b/pkg/helm/error.go
index b8d72a2c4..781b670b8 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/error.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/error.go
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 package helm
 
 const (
-	errNotImplemented = Error("helm api not implemented")
-	errMissingSrvAddr = Error("missing tiller address")
-	errMissingTpls    = Error("missing chart templates")
-	errMissingChart   = Error("missing chart metadata")
-	errMissingValues  = Error("missing chart values")
+	ErrNotImplemented = Error("helm api not implemented")
+	ErrInvalidSrvAddr = Error("invalid tiller address")
+	ErrMissingTpls    = Error("missing chart templates")
+	ErrMissingChart   = Error("missing chart metadata")
+	ErrMissingValues  = Error("missing chart values")
 )
 
 // Error represents a Helm client error.
diff --git a/pkg/helm/traverse.go b/pkg/helm/traverse.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4edcb409f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/helm/traverse.go
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+package helm
+
+import (
+	chartutil "github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/chart"
+)
+
+//
+// TODO - we should probably consolidate
+// most of the code in this package, that
+// is specific to charts, into chartutil.
+//
+
+// Walk a chart's dependency tree, returning
+// a pointer to the root chart.
+//
+// The following is an example chart dependency
+// hierarchy and the structure of a chartObj
+// post traversal. (note some chart files are
+// omitted for brevity),
+//
+// mychart/
+//   charts/
+//      chart_A/
+//        charts/
+//           chart_B/
+//           chart_C/
+//             charts/
+//                chart_F/
+//       chart_D/
+//         charts/
+//            chart_E/
+//            chart_F/
+//
+//
+// chart: mychart (deps = 2)
+//      |
+//      |----> chart_A (deps = 2)
+//          |
+//          |--------> chart_B (deps = 0)
+//          |
+//          |--------> chart_C (deps = 1)
+//              |
+//              |------------> chart_F (deps = 0)
+//      |
+//      |----> chart_D (deps = 2)
+//          |
+//          |--------> chart_E (deps = 0)
+//          |
+//          |--------> chart_F (deps = 0)
+//
+//
+
+func WalkChartFile(chfi *chartutil.Chart) (*chartObj, error) {
+	root := &chartObj{file: chfi}
+	err := root.walkChartDeps(chfi)
+
+	return root, err
+}
+
+type chartObj struct {
+	file *chartutil.Chart
+	deps []*chartObj
+}
+
+func (chd *chartObj) File() *chartutil.Chart {
+	return chd.file
+}
+
+func (chs *chartObj) walkChartDeps(chfi *chartutil.Chart) error {
+	if hasDeps(chfi) {
+		names, err := chfi.ChartDepNames()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if len(names) > 0 {
+			chs.deps = append(chs.deps, resolveChartDeps(names)...)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func resolveChartDeps(names []string) (deps []*chartObj) {
+	for _, name := range names {
+		chfi, err := chartutil.LoadDir(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		chs := &chartObj{file: chfi}
+		err = chs.walkChartDeps(chfi)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		deps = append(deps, chs)
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+func hasDeps(chfi *chartutil.Chart) bool {
+	names, err := chfi.ChartDepNames()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return chfi.ChartsDir() != "" && len(names) > 0
+}