diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8babb11a..578c315e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "path_abs",
  "predicates",
  "regex",
+ "rlua",
  "semver",
  "serde",
  "serde_yaml",
@@ -916,6 +917,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytemuck",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rlua"
+version = "0.19.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "627ae78424400009e889c43b0c188d0b7af3fe7301b68c03d9cfacb29115408a"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "bstr",
+ "libc",
+ "num-traits",
+ "rlua-lua54-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rlua-lua54-sys"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b4e1fdfc6a5f7acfa1b1fe26c5076b54f5ebd6818b5982460c39844c8b859370"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+ "pkg-config",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustversion"
 version = "1.0.6"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index deac2b5d..4d2a6a44 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ minimal-application = [
     "paging",
     "regex-onig",
     "wild",
+    "rlua"
 ]
 git = ["git2"] # Support indicating git modifications
 paging = ["shell-words", "grep-cli"] # Support applying a pager on the output
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ grep-cli = { version = "0.1.6", optional = true }
 regex = { version = "1.5.5", optional = true }
 walkdir = { version = "2.0", optional = true }
 bytesize = { version = "1.1.0" }
+rlua = { version = "0.19", optional = true }
 
 [dependencies.git2]
 version = "0.14"
diff --git a/plugins/uncompress.lua b/plugins/uncompress.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..303781f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/uncompress.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+function tempdir()
+    local stream = assert(io.popen('mktemp --directory'))
+    local output = stream:read('*all')
+    stream:close()
+    return string.gsub(output, "\n", "")
+end
+
+function preprocess(path)
+    prefix = string.match(path, '^(.*)%.gz$')
+    if prefix then
+        local temp_directory = tempdir()
+        local new_path = temp_directory .. "/" .. prefix
+
+        -- TODO: how to prevent shell injection bugs?
+        os.execute("gunzip < '" .. path .. "' > '" .. new_path .. "'")
+
+        return new_path
+    else
+        return path
+    end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/bin/bat/app.rs b/src/bin/bat/app.rs
index 78a0df69..242d27f1 100644
--- a/src/bin/bat/app.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bat/app.rs
@@ -241,6 +241,11 @@ impl App {
                 .map(HighlightedLineRanges)
                 .unwrap_or_default(),
             use_custom_assets: !self.matches.is_present("no-custom-assets"),
+            plugins: self
+                .matches
+                .values_of_os("load-plugin")
+                .unwrap_or_default()
+                .collect(),
         })
     }
 
diff --git a/src/bin/bat/clap_app.rs b/src/bin/bat/clap_app.rs
index c2cdb23f..f786ab11 100644
--- a/src/bin/bat/clap_app.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bat/clap_app.rs
@@ -474,6 +474,14 @@ pub fn build_app(interactive_output: bool) -> ClapApp<'static, 'static> {
                 .help("Display all supported languages.")
                 .long_help("Display a list of supported languages for syntax highlighting."),
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("load-plugin")
+            .long("load-plugin")
+            .takes_value(true)
+            .value_name("name")
+            .help("Load plugin with specified name.")
+            .hidden_short_help(true)
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("unbuffered")
                 .short("u")
diff --git a/src/bin/bat/main.rs b/src/bin/bat/main.rs
index 6b2daa2b..b7aaaf86 100644
--- a/src/bin/bat/main.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bat/main.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ mod directories;
 mod input;
 
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
 use std::io;
 use std::io::{BufReader, Write};
 use std::path::Path;
@@ -218,7 +219,51 @@ pub fn list_themes(cfg: &Config) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn run_controller(inputs: Vec<Input>, config: &Config) -> Result<bool> {
+fn load_and_run_preprocess_plugins(plugins: &[&OsStr], inputs: &mut Vec<Input>) -> Result<()> {
+    use bat::input::InputKind;
+    use rlua::{Function, Lua, Result as LuaResult};
+    use std::fs;
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+    let lua = Lua::new();
+
+    for plugin_name in plugins {
+        // TODO: how to handle plugin priority?
+        let mut plugin_path = PathBuf::from("plugins");
+        plugin_path.push(plugin_name);
+
+        let plugin_source_code = fs::read_to_string(&plugin_path).unwrap(); // TODO: proper error handling
+
+        lua.context::<_, LuaResult<()>>(|lua_ctx| {
+            let globals = lua_ctx.globals();
+
+            lua_ctx.load(&plugin_source_code).exec()?;
+
+            let preprocess: Function = globals.get("preprocess")?;
+
+            for input in inputs.iter_mut() {
+                if let InputKind::OrdinaryFile(ref mut path) = &mut input.kind {
+                    let path_str: String = path.to_string_lossy().into();
+                    let new_path = preprocess.call::<_, String>(path_str)?;
+
+                    *path = PathBuf::from(new_path);
+
+                    input.metadata.user_provided_name =
+                        Some(PathBuf::from(path.file_name().unwrap())); // TODO
+                }
+            }
+
+            Ok(())
+        })
+        .map_err(|e| format!("Error while executing Lua code: {}", e))?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn run_controller(mut inputs: Vec<Input>, config: &Config) -> Result<bool> {
+    load_and_run_preprocess_plugins(&config.plugins, &mut inputs)?;
+
     let assets = assets_from_cache_or_binary(config.use_custom_assets)?;
     let controller = Controller::new(config, &assets);
     controller.run(inputs)
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 76eb3990..e5f15a3e 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ use crate::style::StyleComponents;
 use crate::syntax_mapping::SyntaxMapping;
 use crate::wrapping::WrappingMode;
 
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub enum VisibleLines {
     /// Show all lines which are included in the line ranges
@@ -86,6 +88,9 @@ pub struct Config<'a> {
     /// Whether or not to allow custom assets. If this is false or if custom assets (a.k.a.
     /// cached assets) are not available, assets from the binary will be used instead.
     pub use_custom_assets: bool,
+
+    /// List of bat plugins to be loaded
+    pub plugins: Vec<&'a OsStr>,
 }
 
 #[cfg(all(feature = "minimal-application", feature = "paging"))]
diff --git a/src/input.rs b/src/input.rs
index 23e21506..6fad2282 100644
--- a/src/input.rs
+++ b/src/input.rs
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ impl InputDescription {
     }
 }
 
-pub(crate) enum InputKind<'a> {
+pub enum InputKind<'a> {
+    // TODO
     OrdinaryFile(PathBuf),
     StdIn,
     CustomReader(Box<dyn Read + 'a>),
@@ -86,14 +87,15 @@ impl<'a> InputKind<'a> {
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Default)]
-pub(crate) struct InputMetadata {
-    pub(crate) user_provided_name: Option<PathBuf>,
+pub struct InputMetadata {
+    // TODO
+    pub user_provided_name: Option<PathBuf>,
     pub(crate) size: Option<u64>,
 }
 
 pub struct Input<'a> {
-    pub(crate) kind: InputKind<'a>,
-    pub(crate) metadata: InputMetadata,
+    pub kind: InputKind<'a>,     // TODO
+    pub metadata: InputMetadata, // TODO
     pub(crate) description: InputDescription,
 }