diff --git a/js/components/fatal_error.js b/js/components/fatal_error.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/js/utils/fetch.js b/js/utils/fetch.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37626a71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/utils/fetch.js
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+import { default as _fetch } from 'isomorphic-fetch';
+import FetchApiUtils from '../utils/fetch_api_utils';
+
+
+class UrlMapError extends Error {};
+class ServerError extends Error {};
+class APIError extends Error {};
+
+
+class Fetch {
+    _merge(defaults, options) {
+        let merged = {};
+        for (let key in defaults) {
+            merged[key] = defaults[key];
+        }
+        for (let key in options) {
+            merged[key] = options[key];
+        }
+        return merged;
+    }
+
+    unpackResponse(response) {
+        if (response.status >= 500) {
+            throw new ServerError();
+        }
+        return response.text();
+    }
+
+    handleFatalError(err) {
+        this.fatalErrorHandler(err);
+        throw new ServerError(err);
+    }
+
+    handleAPIError(json) {
+        if (!json['success']) {
+            let error = new APIError();
+            error.json = json;
+            throw error;
+        }
+        return json;
+    }
+
+    getUrl(url) {
+        let name = url;
+        if (!url.match(/^http/)) {
+            url = this.urlMap[url];
+            if (!url) {
+                throw new UrlMapError(`Cannot find a mapping for "${name}"`);
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return url;
+    }
+
+    prepareUrl(url, params, attachParamsToQuery) {
+        let newUrl = this.getUrl(url);
+        let re = /\${(\w+)}/g;
+
+        newUrl = newUrl.replace(re, (match, key) => {
+            let val = params[key]
+            if (!val) {
+                throw new Error(`Cannot find param ${key}`);
+            }
+            delete params[key];
+            return val;
+        });
+
+        if (attachParamsToQuery && params && Object.keys(params).length > 0) {
+            newUrl += FetchApiUtils.argsToQueryParams(params);
+        }
+
+        return newUrl;
+    }
+
+    request(verb, url, options) {
+        options = options || {};
+        let merged = this._merge(this.httpOptions, options);
+        merged['method'] = verb;
+        return _fetch(url, merged)
+                    .then(this.unpackResponse)
+                    .then(JSON.parse)
+                    .catch(this.handleFatalError.bind(this))
+                    .then(this.handleAPIError);
+    }
+
+    get(url, params) {
+        let paramsCopy = this._merge(params);
+        let newUrl = this.prepareUrl(url, params);
+        return this.request('get', newUrl, true);
+    }
+
+    post(url, params) {
+        let paramsCopy = this._merge(params);
+        let newUrl = this.prepareUrl(url, params);
+        let body = null;
+
+        if (params['body']) {
+            body = JSON.stringify(params['body'])
+        }
+        return this.request('post', url, { body });
+    }
+
+    defaults(options) {
+        this.httpOptions = options.http || {};
+        this.urlMap = options.urlMap || {};
+        this.fatalErrorHandler = options.fatalErrorHandler || (() => {});
+    }
+}
+
+
+let fetch = new Fetch();
+
+export default fetch;
diff --git a/js/utils/lang_utils.js b/js/utils/lang_utils.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a936294e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/utils/lang_utils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import languages from '../constants/languages';
+import template from 'lodash.template';
+
+let getText = function(s, ...args) {
+    let lang = navigator.language || navigator.userLanguage;
+    try {
+        if(lang in languages) {
+            return languages[lang][s];
+        } else {
+            // just use the english language
+            return languages['en-US'][s];
+        }
+    } catch(err) {
+        console.error(err);
+    }
+};
+
+export default getText;
\ No newline at end of file