diff --git a/remote-branch.sh b/remote-branch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..8e26a9d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remote-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/bash
+
+# if $1 is user:branch, split it into $USER and $BRANCH at the :
+if [[ $1 == *:* ]]; then
+	echo "Splitting $1 into user and branch"
+	USER=$(echo $1 | cut -d: -f1)
+	BRANCH=$(echo $1 | cut -d: -f2)
+else
+	# if $1 and $2 are not both specified, fail
+	if [ -z "$1" ] || [ -z "$2" ]; then
+		echo "Usage: $0 <username> <branch>"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	# provide defaults for $1 and $2 for safety anyway
+	USER=${1:-ripmeapp}
+	BRANCH=${2:-main}
+fi
+
+# Check that USER and BRANCH are not empty
+if [ -z "$USER" ] || [ -z "$BRANCH" ]; then
+	echo "Usage: $0 <username> <branch>"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+LOCAL_BRANCH=$USER-$BRANCH
+REMOTE_BRANCH=$USER/$BRANCH
+
+git remote add $USER https://github.com/$USER/ripme.git
+git fetch $USER $BRANCH
+git checkout -B $LOCAL_BRANCH $USER/$BRANCH
diff --git a/remote-merge.sh b/remote-merge.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..755ccde7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remote-merge.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/bash
+
+# if $1 is user:branch, split it into $USER and $BRANCH at the :
+if [[ $1 == *:* ]]; then
+	USER=$(echo $1 | cut -d: -f1)
+	BRANCH=$(echo $1 | cut -d: -f2)
+else
+	# if $1 and $2 are not both specified, fail
+	if [ -z "$1" ] || [ -z "$2" ]; then
+		echo "Usage: $0 <username> <branch>"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	# provide defaults for $1 and $2 for safety anyway
+	USER=${1:-ripmeapp}
+	BRANCH=${2:-main}
+fi
+
+# Check that USER and BRANCH are not empty
+if [ -z "$USER" ] || [ -z "$BRANCH" ]; then
+	echo "Usage: $0 <username> <branch>"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+LOCAL_BRANCH=$USER-$BRANCH
+REMOTE_BRANCH=$USER/$BRANCH
+
+git remote add $USER https://github.com/$USER/ripme.git
+git fetch $USER $BRANCH
+git checkout -B $LOCAL_BRANCH origin/main
+git merge $REMOTE_BRANCH