diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 35cde48..8070918 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ add_executable(kappa
   src/tools/format.cpp
   src/tools/doctor.cpp
   src/resolve/plan.cpp
+  src/fetch/fetch.cpp
 )
 target_include_directories(kappa PRIVATE include)
diff --git a/examples/foo.kap b/examples/foo.kap
index b268465..8975e79 100644
--- a/examples/foo.kap
+++ b/examples/foo.kap
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package "foo" {
     const version = "1.2.3"
     const source  = "https://example.com/foo-${version}.tar.gz"
+    sha256 = "e127a709cba24c76de8936cb7083dd768f28cd37eb010492e2f19b71eb1294e4"
     license = "MIT"
 
     provides = ["libfoo.so.1", "foo"]
diff --git a/include/kappa/dsl/ast.hpp b/include/kappa/dsl/ast.hpp
index fdf62ef..b2dbd54 100644
--- a/include/kappa/dsl/ast.hpp
+++ b/include/kappa/dsl/ast.hpp
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ struct PackageDef {
     std::string name;
     std::string version;
     std::string source;
+    std::string sha256;
+    std::string sha512;
+    std::string md5;
     std::string license;
     std::vector<Dependency> depends;
     std::vector<std::string> provides;
diff --git a/src/dsl/parser.cpp b/src/dsl/parser.cpp
index be236d5..c52b67b 100644
--- a/src/dsl/parser.cpp
+++ b/src/dsl/parser.cpp
@@ -123,6 +123,22 @@ void Parser::parse_body(PackageDef& pkg) {
             pkg.license = consume(TokenType::String).lexeme;
             break;
 
+        case TokenType::Ident:
+            if (current_.lexeme == "sha256") {
+                advance(); consume(TokenType::Equals);
+                pkg.sha256 = consume(TokenType::String).lexeme;
+            } else if (current_.lexeme == "sha512") {
+                advance(); consume(TokenType::Equals);
+                pkg.sha512 = consume(TokenType::String).lexeme;
+            } else if (current_.lexeme == "md5") {
+                advance(); consume(TokenType::Equals);
+                pkg.md5 = consume(TokenType::String).lexeme;
+            } else {
+                throw ParseError(current_.line, current_.col,
+                               msg_unknown_decl(current_.lexeme));
+            }
+            break;
+
         case TokenType::KwProvides:
             consume(TokenType::KwProvides);
             consume(TokenType::Equals);
diff --git a/src/fetch/fetch.cpp b/src/fetch/fetch.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8ba1f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/fetch/fetch.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+#include "kappa/fetch/fetch.hpp"
+#include "kappa/paths.hpp"
+
+#include <array>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <format>
+#include <string>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace kappa::fetch {
+
+namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+using namespace std::string_view_literals;
+
+static int exec_cmd(const std::vector<std::string>& argv) {
+    if (argv.empty()) { return -1; }
+    std::vector<char*> cargs;
+    for (auto& a : argv) { cargs.push_back(const_cast<char*>(a.c_str())); }
+    cargs.push_back(nullptr);
+
+    pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        execvp(cargs[0], cargs.data());
+        _exit(127);
+    }
+    if (pid < 0) { return -1; }
+    int status = 0;
+    waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
+    return WIFEXITED(status) ? WEXITSTATUS(status) : -1;
+}
+
+static std::string exec_capture(const std::vector<std::string>& argv) {
+    int pipefd[2];
+    if (pipe(pipefd) != 0) { return ""; }
+
+    pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        close(pipefd[0]);
+        dup2(pipefd[1], STDOUT_FILENO);
+        close(pipefd[1]);
+
+        std::vector<char*> cargs;
+        for (auto& a : argv) { cargs.push_back(const_cast<char*>(a.c_str())); }
+        cargs.push_back(nullptr);
+        execvp(cargs[0], cargs.data());
+        _exit(127);
+    }
+
+    if (pid < 0) { close(pipefd[0]); close(pipefd[1]); return ""; }
+
+    close(pipefd[1]);
+    std::array<char, 256> buf;
+    std::string result;
+    ssize_t n;
+    while ((n = read(pipefd[0], buf.data(), buf.size() - 1)) > 0) {
+        buf[static_cast<std::size_t>(n)] = '\0';
+        result += buf.data();
+    }
+    close(pipefd[0]);
+    waitpid(pid, nullptr, 0);
+
+    if (!result.empty() && result.back() == '\n') { result.pop_back(); }
+    return result;
+}
+
+static std::string interpret_url(const dsl::PackageDef& pkg) {
+    auto url = pkg.source;
+    for (auto& [from, to] : {
+             std::pair{"${name}"sv, std::string_view(pkg.name)},
+             std::pair{"${version}"sv, std::string_view(pkg.version)}}) {
+        std::size_t pos = 0;
+        while ((pos = url.find(from, pos)) != std::string::npos) {
+            url.replace(pos, from.size(), to);
+            pos += to.size();
+        }
+    }
+    return url;
+}
+
+static bool verify_hash(const fs::path& file, std::string_view algo,
+                        std::string_view expected) {
+    if (expected.empty()) { return true; }
+    std::string tool;
+    if (algo == "sha256") { tool = "sha256sum"; }
+    else if (algo == "sha512") { tool = "sha512sum"; }
+    else if (algo == "md5") { tool = "md5sum"; }
+    else { return false; }
+
+    auto output = exec_capture({tool, file.string()});
+    if (output.empty()) { return false; }
+
+    auto space = output.find(' ');
+    auto computed = (space != std::string::npos)
+                        ? output.substr(0, space)
+                        : output;
+    return computed == expected;
+}
+
+FetchResult fetch(const dsl::PackageDef& pkg) {
+    FetchResult result;
+
+    auto url = interpret_url(pkg);
+    if (url.empty()) {
+        result.error = "empty source URL";
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    auto ext_pos = url.rfind('.');
+    auto ext = (ext_pos != std::string::npos)
+                   ? url.substr(ext_pos + 1)
+                   : std::string{};
+    if (ext == "gz" || ext == "xz" || ext == "zst") {
+        auto prev = url.rfind('.', ext_pos - 1);
+        if (prev != std::string::npos) {
+            std::string compound{url.substr(prev + 1,
+                                ext_pos - prev - 1)};
+            ext = compound + "." + ext;
+        }
+    }
+
+    auto dest_name = pkg.name + "-" + pkg.version;
+    auto dest_file = fs::path(paths::temp_dir) / (dest_name + "." + ext);
+    result.work_dir = fs::path(paths::temp_dir) / dest_name;
+
+    if (ext == "git") {
+        int rc = exec_cmd({"git", "clone", url, result.work_dir.string()});
+        if (rc != 0) { result.error = "git clone failed"; return result; }
+    } else {
+        fs::create_directories(paths::temp_dir);
+        int rc = exec_cmd({"curl", "-L", "-o", dest_file.string(), url});
+        if (rc != 0) { result.error = "download failed"; return result; }
+
+        bool verified = false;
+        for (auto algo : {"sha512", "sha256", "md5"}) {
+            std::string_view expected;
+            if (std::string_view(algo) == "sha512") { expected = pkg.sha512; }
+            else if (std::string_view(algo) == "sha256") { expected = pkg.sha256; }
+            else { expected = pkg.md5; }
+
+            if (!expected.empty()) {
+                if (verify_hash(dest_file, algo, expected)) {
+                    verified = true;
+                } else {
+                    result.error = std::format("{} mismatch", algo);
+                    return result;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if (!verified && !pkg.sha256.empty()) {
+            result.error = "hash verification failed";
+            return result;
+        }
+
+        auto extract_cmd = std::string{"tar"};
+        if (ext == "zip") {
+            int rc2 = exec_cmd({"unzip", "-o", dest_file.string(),
+                               "-d", result.work_dir.string()});
+            if (rc2 != 0) { result.error = "extraction failed"; return result; }
+        } else {
+            int rc2 = exec_cmd({"tar", "xf", dest_file.string(),
+                               "-C", paths::temp_dir.string(),
+                               "--no-same-owner", "--no-same-permissions"});
+            if (rc2 != 0) { result.error = "extraction failed"; return result; }
+        }
+
+        fs::remove(dest_file);
+    }
+
+    for (auto& patch : pkg.patches) {
+        auto patch_path = patch.url;
+        auto patch_file = patch_path;
+        if (patch_path.starts_with("http")) {
+            auto local = fs::path(paths::temp_dir)
+                       / fs::path(patch_path).filename();
+            int rc = exec_cmd({"curl", "-L", "-o", local.string(),
+                              patch_path});
+            if (rc != 0) { continue; }
+            patch_file = local.string();
+        }
+
+        if (!patch.sha256.empty()) {
+            if (!verify_hash(patch_file, "sha256", patch.sha256)) {
+                result.error = "patch hash mismatch: " + patch.url;
+                return result;
+            }
+        }
+
+        exec_cmd({"patch", "-p" + std::to_string(patch.level),
+                  "-d", result.work_dir.string(), "-i", patch_file});
+    }
+
+    return result;
+}
+
+} // namespace kappa::fetch
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 42b4e9f..2fb77d7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "kappa/config/eval.hpp"
 #include "kappa/dsl/parser.hpp"
 #include "kappa/dsl/system.hpp"
+#include "kappa/fetch/fetch.hpp"
 #include "kappa/resolve/plan.hpp"
 #include "kappa/tools/doctor.hpp"
 #include "kappa/tools/format.hpp"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ Subcommands:
   format        <file>    Format a .kap file to canonical style (printed to stdout)
   doctor        <file>    Check a .kap file for issues and warnings
   resolve       <config>  Resolve a build plan from a system config
+  fetch         <package> Download and verify source for a package
 
 Options:
   -h, --help              Show this help message
@@ -99,7 +101,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
                          || (subcommand == "validate")
                          || (subcommand == "format")
                          || (subcommand == "doctor")
-                         || (subcommand == "resolve");
+                         || (subcommand == "resolve")
+                         || (subcommand == "fetch");
 
     if (!valid_subcommand) {
         std::cerr << "error: unknown subcommand '" << subcommand << "'\n\n";
@@ -107,9 +110,18 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
         return 1;
     }
 
-    // Find the file argument (skip flags)
     const char* file_arg = nullptr;
     for (int i = 2; i < argc; ++i) {
+        if (std::string_view(argv[i]) == "-h"
+            || std::string_view(argv[i]) == "--help") {
+            print_usage();
+            return 0;
+        }
+        if (std::string_view(argv[i]) == "-V"
+            || std::string_view(argv[i]) == "--version") {
+            std::cout << version << '\n';
+            return 0;
+        }
         if (!is_flag(argv[i])) {
             file_arg = argv[i];
             break;
@@ -287,5 +299,21 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
         }
     }
 
+    if (subcommand == "fetch") {
+        try {
+            auto pkg = dsl::parse(source);
+            auto result = fetch::fetch(pkg);
+            if (result.ok()) {
+                std::cout << "fetched to " << result.work_dir << "\n";
+                return 0;
+            }
+            std::cerr << "fetch failed: " << result.error << "\n";
+            return 1;
+        } catch (const std::runtime_error& e) {
+            handle_parse_error(file_arg, source, e);
+            return 1;
+        }
+    }
+
     return 1; // unreachable
 }