diff --git a/bots/.gitignore b/bots/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..307a6a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bots/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bot_dependencies
diff --git a/bots/thesaurus/requirements.txt b/bots/thesaurus/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d02d986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bots/thesaurus/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+PyDictionary
diff --git a/bots/thesaurus/thesaurus.py b/bots/thesaurus/thesaurus.py
index 0638566..79cb720 100644
--- a/bots/thesaurus/thesaurus.py
+++ b/bots/thesaurus/thesaurus.py
@@ -2,11 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 import sys
 import logging
-try:
-    from PyDictionary import PyDictionary as Dictionary
-except ImportError:
-    logging.error("Dependency Missing!")
-    sys.exit(0)
+from PyDictionary import PyDictionary as Dictionary
 
 #Uses Python's Dictionary module
 #  pip install PyDictionary
diff --git a/bots_api/provision.py b/bots_api/provision.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e265a29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bots_api/provision.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import sys
+import pip
+
+def provision_bot(path_to_bot, force):
+    # type: (str, bool) -> None
+    req_path = os.path.join(path_to_bot, 'requirements.txt')
+    install_path = os.path.join(path_to_bot, 'bot_dependencies')
+    if os.path.isfile(req_path):
+        print('Installing dependencies...')
+        if not os.path.isdir(install_path):
+            os.makedirs(install_path)
+        # pip install -r $BASEDIR/requirements.txt -t $BASEDIR/bot_dependencies --quiet
+        rcode = pip.main(['install', '-r', req_path, '-t', install_path, '--quiet'])
+        if not rcode == 0:
+            print('Error. Check output of `pip install` above for details.')
+            if not force:
+                print('Use --force to try running anyway.')
+                sys.exit(rcode)  # Use pip's exit code
+        else:
+            print('Installed.')
+        sys.path.insert(0, install_path)
+
+def dir_join(dir1, dir2):
+    # type: (str, str) -> str
+    return os.path.abspath(os.path.join(dir1, dir2))
+
+def run():
+    # type: () -> None
+    usage = '''
+        Installs dependencies of bots in api/bots directory. Add a
+        reuirements.txt file in a bot's folder before provisioning.
+
+        To provision all bots, use:
+        ./provision.py
+
+        To provision specific bots, use:
+        ./provision.py [names of bots]
+        Example: ./provision.py helloworld xkcd wikipedia
+
+        '''
+
+    bots_dir = dir_join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), '../bots')
+    available_bots = [b for b in os.listdir(bots_dir) if os.path.isdir(dir_join(bots_dir, b))]
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(usage=usage)
+    parser.add_argument('bots_to_provision',
+                        metavar='bots',
+                        nargs='*',
+                        default=available_bots,
+                        help='specific bots to provision (default is all)')
+    parser.add_argument('--force',
+                        default=False,
+                        action="store_true",
+                        help='Continue installation despite pip errors.')
+    options = parser.parse_args()
+    for bot in options.bots_to_provision:
+        provision_bot(os.path.join(dir_join(bots_dir, bot)), options.force)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    run()
diff --git a/bots_api/run.py b/bots_api/run.py
index f6e2f5a..afa95de 100755
--- a/bots_api/run.py
+++ b/bots_api/run.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import logging
 import optparse
 import os
 import sys
+import provision
 from types import ModuleType
 
 our_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
@@ -14,8 +15,8 @@ sys.path.insert(0, our_dir)
 
 from bot_lib import run_message_handler_for_bot
 
-def get_lib_module(bots_fn):
-    # type: (str) -> ModuleType
+def validate_path(bots_fn):
+    # type: (str) -> None
     bots_fn = os.path.realpath(bots_fn)
     if not os.path.dirname(bots_fn).startswith(os.path.normpath(os.path.join(our_dir, "../bots"))):
         print('Sorry, we will only import code from api/bots.')
@@ -24,6 +25,9 @@ def get_lib_module(bots_fn):
     if not bots_fn.endswith('.py'):
         print('Please use a .py extension for library files.')
         sys.exit(1)
+
+def get_lib_module(bots_fn):
+    # type: (str) -> ModuleType
     base_bots_fn = os.path.basename(os.path.splitext(bots_fn)[0])
     sys.path.insert(1, os.path.dirname(bots_fn))
     module_name = base_bots_fn
@@ -51,14 +55,24 @@ def run():
     parser.add_option('--config-file',
                       action='store',
                       help='(alternate config file to ~/.zuliprc)')
+    parser.add_option('--provision',
+                      action='store_true',
+                      help='Install dependencies for the bot')
+    parser.add_option('--force',
+                      action='store_true',
+                      help='Try running the bot even if dependencies install fails.')
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
     if len(args) == 0:
         print('You must specify a library!')
         sys.exit(1)
+    bots_fn = args[0]
 
-    lib_module = get_lib_module(bots_fn=args[0])
-
+    validate_path(bots_fn)
+    if options.provision:
+        print("Provisioning")
+        provision.provision_bot(os.path.dirname(bots_fn), options.force)
+    lib_module = get_lib_module(bots_fn)
     if not options.quiet:
         logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.INFO)
 
diff --git a/bots_api/test-bots b/bots_api/test-bots
index 21d2f7a..8761625 100755
--- a/bots_api/test-bots
+++ b/bots_api/test-bots
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 
     suites = []
     for bot_to_test in args.bots_to_test:
+        dep_path = os.path.join(bots_test_dir, bot_to_test, 'bot_dependencies')
+        sys.path.insert(0, dep_path)
         try:
             suites.append(loader.discover(start_dir = dir_join(bots_test_dir, bot_to_test),
                                           top_level_dir = root_dir))