diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ef4ae82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "commonlib"]
+	path = commonlib
+	url = git://git.mysociety.org/commonlib
diff --git a/commonlib b/commonlib
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..d12b251e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commonlib
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit d12b251ee5bba920b8b084a95ef9b4e287f0f23a