diff --git a/external/.gitignore b/external/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd9cb3af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+hpc_cdm
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/external/action.yml b/external/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa02569a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+name: 'Setup External Repos'
+description: 'Clone repositories specified in manifest file'
+author: 'Sam Lanning <sam@samlanning.com>'
+runs:
+  using: 'node16'
+  main: 'setup.js'
+branding:
+  icon: 'download-cloud'
+  color: 'purple'
diff --git a/external/manifest.json b/external/manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea678787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[
+  {
+    "path": "hpc_cdm",
+    "url": "https://github.com/UN-OCHA/hpc-cdm.git",
+    "ref": "develop"
+  }
+]
diff --git a/external/setup.js b/external/setup.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53d7cf55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/setup.js
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+const child_process = require('child_process');
+const path = require('path');
+const { promises: { stat }} = require('fs');
+const { promisify } = require('util');
+
+const manifest = require('./manifest.json');
+
+const exec = promisify(child_process.exec);
+
+(async () => {
+
+  for (const entry of manifest) {
+    const p = path.resolve(__dirname, entry.path);
+    console.log(`Setting up external repo ${p}`);
+
+    const exists = await stat(p).then(() => true).catch(() => false);
+    if (!exists) {
+      // Clone repository
+      const clone = await exec(`git clone "${entry.url}" "${p}"`);
+      console.log(clone.stderr);
+      console.log(clone.stdout);
+    }
+
+    // Fetch desired commit
+    const fetch = await exec(
+      `git fetch origin ${entry.ref}`,
+      {
+        cwd: p
+      }
+    );
+    console.log(fetch.stderr);
+    console.log(fetch.stdout);
+
+    // Fetch desired commit
+    const checkout = await exec(
+      `git checkout ${entry.ref}`,
+      {
+        cwd: p
+      }
+    );
+    console.log(checkout.stderr);
+    console.log(checkout.stdout);
+  }
+
+})();
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 4170157e..16376fa4 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
     "esModuleInterop": true,
     "skipLibCheck": true,
     "strictPropertyInitialization": false,
-    "strict": true
+    "strict": true,
+    "baseUrl": "external/hpc_cdm",
+    "paths": {
+      "@unocha/hpc-data": ["libs/hpc-data/src/"],
+    }
   },
   "include": ["src/**/*.ts", "src/**/*.js", "start.js", "bin"],
   "exclude": ["node_modules"]