diff --git a/appslib/get_apps_repo.py b/appslib/get_apps_repo.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7579c0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appslib/get_apps_repo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import os
+import argparse
+import tempfile
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional
+from git import Repo
+from .utils import set_apps_path
+
+
+DEFAULT_GIT_REPO = "https://github.com/YunoHost/apps"
+
+# This provides a reference to the tempfile, thus keeping it alive until sys.exit
+APPS_REPO_TMPDIR: Optional[tempfile.TemporaryDirectory] = None
+
+# This is the actual value returned by from_args()
+APPS_REPO_PATH: Optional[Path] = None
+
+APPS_CACHE_PATH: Optional[Path] = None
+
+
+def add_args(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser, allow_temp: bool = True) -> None:
+    env_apps_dir_str = os.environ.get("YNH_APPS_DIR")
+    env_apps_dir = Path(env_apps_dir_str) if env_apps_dir_str is not None else None
+
+    repo_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=False)
+    repo_group.add_argument(
+        "-l",
+        "--apps-dir",
+        type=Path,
+        default=env_apps_dir,
+        help="Path to a local 'apps' repository",
+    )
+    if allow_temp:
+        repo_group.add_argument(
+            "-r",
+            "--apps-repo",
+            type=str,
+            default=DEFAULT_GIT_REPO,
+            help="Git url to clone the remote 'apps' repository",
+        )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "-c",
+        "--apps-cache",
+        type=Path,
+        help="Path to the apps cache directory (default=<apps repo>/.apps_cache)",
+    )
+
+
+def from_args(args: Optional[argparse.Namespace]) -> Path:
+    global APPS_REPO_PATH
+    global APPS_REPO_TMPDIR
+
+    if APPS_REPO_PATH is not None:
+        return APPS_REPO_PATH
+
+    assert args is not None
+    if args.apps_dir is not None:
+        APPS_REPO_PATH = args.apps_dir
+    elif args.apps_repo is not None:
+        APPS_REPO_TMPDIR = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="yunohost_apps_")
+        APPS_REPO_PATH = Path(APPS_REPO_TMPDIR.name)
+        logging.info("Cloning the 'apps' repository...")
+        repo = Repo.clone_from(args.apps_repo, to_path=APPS_REPO_PATH)
+        assert repo.working_tree_dir is not None
+    else:
+        raise RuntimeError("You need to pass either --apps-repo or --apps-dir!")
+
+    assert APPS_REPO_PATH is not None
+    set_apps_path(APPS_REPO_PATH)
+    return APPS_REPO_PATH
+
+
+def cache_path(args: Optional[argparse.Namespace]) -> Path:
+    global APPS_CACHE_PATH
+
+    if APPS_CACHE_PATH is not None:
+        return APPS_CACHE_PATH
+
+    assert args is not None
+    if args.apps_cache is not None:
+        APPS_CACHE_PATH = args.apps_cache
+    else:
+        if APPS_REPO_PATH is None:
+            from_args(args)
+        assert APPS_REPO_PATH is not None
+        APPS_CACHE_PATH = APPS_REPO_PATH / ".apps_cache"
+
+    assert APPS_CACHE_PATH is not None
+    return APPS_CACHE_PATH
diff --git a/appslib/utils.py b/appslib/utils.py
index 5560e75..5f677d8 100644
--- a/appslib/utils.py
+++ b/appslib/utils.py
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ import toml
 REPO_APPS_ROOT = Path(Repo(__file__, search_parent_directories=True).working_dir)
 
 
+def set_apps_path(apps_path: Path) -> None:
+    global REPO_APPS_ROOT
+    REPO_APPS_ROOT = apps_path
+
+
 def git(cmd: list[str], cwd: Optional[Path] = None) -> str:
     full_cmd = ["git"]
     if cwd: