diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 071d25fdc..8e2178906 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -137,6 +137,10 @@ Supported:
 * [yarn](#yarn)
 * [bundler](#bundler)
 
+Experimental:
+
+* [generic fetcher](#generic-fetcher)
+
 Planned:
 
 * dnf
@@ -237,6 +241,18 @@ Both files must be present in the source repository so you should check them int
 
 See [docs/bundler.md](docs/bundler.md) for more details.
 
+### generic fetcher
+
+Generic fetcher is a way for Cachi2 to support pre-fetching arbitrary files that don't fit into other package managers.
+With the generic fetcher, you can easily fetch those files with Cachi2 along with your other language-specific dependencies,
+satisfy the hermetic build condition and have them recorded in the SBOM.
+
+Cachi2 uses a simple custom lockfile named `generic_lockfile.yaml` that is expected to be present in the repository. The
+lockfile describes the urls, checksums and target locations for the downloaded files. The generic fetcher is currently an
+experimental feature, so cachi2 has to be run with `--dev-package-managers` flag. 
+
+See [docs/usage.md](docs/usage.md#pre-fetch-dependencies-generic-fetcher) for more details.
+
 ## Project status
 
 Cachi2 was derived (but is not a direct fork) from [Cachito](https://github.com/containerbuildsystem/cachito) and is
diff --git a/docs/adr/0001-add-generic-fetcher.md b/docs/adr/0001-add-generic-fetcher.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aceffc8f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/adr/0001-add-generic-fetcher.md
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# Add generic fetcher
+
+- Status: proposed
+- Date: 2024-10-30
+
+## Context
+
+The main motivation for this change is to cover use cases of users that need to download arbitrary files that don't fit
+within an established package ecosystem cachi2 could potentially otherwise support. The target audience is users that
+want to use cachi2 to achieve hermetic builds and want an easy way to also include these arbitrary files, that cachi2
+will account for in the SBOM it produces.
+
+## Decision
+
+This change introduces a generic fetcher, an additional cachi2 package manager. This package manager utilizes a custom
+lockfile that is located in the input repository. Based on that lockfile, it will download files, save them into a requested
+location, and verify checksums. Below is a more detailed overview of the implementation.
+
+### Lockfile format
+
+Cachi2 expects the lockfile to be named `generic_lockfile.yaml`.
+In order to account for possible future breaking changes, the lockfile will contain a `metadata` section with a `version`
+field that will indicate the version of the lockfile format. It will also contain a list of artifacts (files) to download,
+each of the artifacts to have a URL, list of checksums, and optionally target location specified.
+
+```yaml
+metadata:
+  # uses X.Y semantic versioning
+  version: "1.0"
+artifacts:
+  - download_url: https://huggingface.co/instructlab/granite-7b-lab/resolve/main/model-00001-of-00003.safetensors?download=true
+    target: granite-model-1.safetensors
+    checksums:
+        sha256: d16bf783cb6670f7f692ad7d6885ab957c63cfc1b9649bc4a3ba1cfbdfd5230c
+```
+
+#### Lockfile properties
+
+Below is an explanation of individual properties of the lockfile.
+
+##### download_url (required)
+
+Specified as a string containing the download url of the artifact.
+
+##### checksums (required)
+
+Specified as a dictionary of checksum algorithms and their values. At least one cachi2-verifiable checksum must be provided
+to ensure at least some degree of confidence in the identity of the artifact.
+
+#### target (optional)
+
+This key is provided mainly for the users convenience, so the files end up in expected locations. It is optional and if
+not specified, it will be derived from the download_url. Target here means a specific subdirectory inside cachi2's output
+directory for the generic fetcher (`{cachi2-output-dir}/deps/generic`). Cachi2 will verify that the target locations,
+including those derived from download urls do not overlap.
+
+### SBOM components
+
+Artifacts fetched with the generic fetcher will all be recorded in the SBOM cachi2 produces. Given the inability to derive
+any extra information about these files beyond a download location and a filename, these files will always be recorded
+as SBOM components with purl of type generic.
+
+Additionally, the SBOM component will contain [externalReferences] of type `distribution` to indicate the url used to download
+the file to allow for easier handling for tools that might process the SBOM.
+
+Here's an example SBOM generated for above file.
+
+```json
+{
+  "bomFormat": "CycloneDX",
+  "components": [
+    {
+      "name": "granite-model-1.safetensors",
+      "purl": "pkg:generic/granite-model-1.safetensors?checksums=sha256:d16bf783cb6670f7f692ad7d6885ab957c63cfc1b9649bc4a3ba1cfbdfd5230c&download_url=https://huggingface.co/instructlab/granite-7b-lab/resolve/main/model-00001-of-00003.safetensors",
+      "properties": [
+        {
+          "name": "cachi2:found_by",
+          "value": "cachi2"
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "file",
+      "externalReferences": [
+        {
+          "url": "https://huggingface.co/instructlab/granite-7b-lab/resolve/main/model-00001-of-00003.safetensors",
+          "type": "distribution"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
+  "metadata": {
+    "tools": [
+      {
+        "vendor": "red hat",
+        "name": "cachi2"
+      }
+    ]
+  },
+  "specVersion": "1.4",
+  "version": 1
+}
+```
+
+## Consequences
+
+As mentioned before, this package manager enables users to fetch arbitrary files with cachi2 and have them accounted for
+in the SBOM. Possible downside could be maintaining the lockfile format, as it is specific to cachi2 (which should be
+partially mitigated by versioning it).
+
+[externalReferences]: https://cyclonedx.org/docs/1.6/json/#components_items_externalReferences
diff --git a/docs/usage.md b/docs/usage.md
index 52ba56e26..976099671 100644
--- a/docs/usage.md
+++ b/docs/usage.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ The second section goes through each of these steps for the supported package ma
   * [Example with pip](#example-pip)
   * [Example with npm](#example-npm)
   * [Example with yarn](#example-yarn)
+  * [Example with generic fetcher](#example-generic-fetcher)
 
 ## General Process
 
@@ -598,3 +599,64 @@ podman build . \
   --network none \
   --tag sample-nodejs-app
 ```
+
+
+### Example: generic fetcher
+
+Generic fetcher is a package manager that can fetch arbitrary files. Let's build a sample container image that would be
+inconvenient to build hermetically otherwise. This image will provide [OWASP Dependency check](https://github.com/jeremylong/DependencyCheck)
+tool, which is available to install from GitHub releases page. Get the repo if you want to try for yourself:
+
+```
+git clone -b sample-app https://github.com/cachito-testing/cachi2-generic.git
+```
+
+#### Pre-fetch dependencies (generic fetcher)
+In order to retrieve the archive with the tool, a `generic_lockfile.yaml` needs to be present
+in the repository. Here's how that is going to look like. It simply defines url and the checksums
+to verify identity of the file.
+
+```
+---
+metadata:
+  version: "1.0"
+artifacts:
+  - download_url: "https://github.com/jeremylong/DependencyCheck/releases/download/v11.1.0/dependency-check-11.1.0-release.zip"
+    checksums:
+      sha256: "c5b5b9e592682b700e17c28f489fe50644ef54370edeb2c53d18b70824de1e22"
+
+```
+
+As with other examples, the command to fetch dependencies is very similar. The default path
+is assumed to be `.`. Since generic fetcher is still an experimental feature, it needs to be
+enabled with the `--dev-package-managers` flag.
+
+```
+cachi2 fetch-deps --source ./cachi2-generic --output ./cachi2-output '{"type": "generic"}' --dev-package-managers
+```
+
+#### Build the application image (generic fetcher)
+We'll use the `ibmjava:11-jdk` as base image because it already has java pre-installed.
+During the build, the downloaded release will be extracted and modified to have execute rights.
+
+```Containerfile
+FROM ibmjava:11-jdk
+
+WORKDIR /tmp
+
+# use jar to unzip file in order to avoid having to install more depependencies
+RUN jar -xvf cachi2-output/deps/generic/dependency-check-11.1.0-release.zip
+
+RUN chmod +x dependency-check/bin/dependency-check.sh
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/tmp/dependency-check/bin/dependency-check.sh", "--version"]
+```
+
+We can then build the image as before while mounting the required Cachi2 data.
+
+```
+podman build . \
+  --volume "$(realpath ./cachi2-output)":/tmp/cachi2-output:Z \
+  --network none \
+  --tag sample-generic-app
+```