diff --git a/poolmgr/api.go b/poolmgr/api.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7c0e4f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poolmgr/api.go
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2016 The Fission Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package poolmgr
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/platform9/fission"
+	"github.com/platform9/fission/cache"
+	controllerclient "github.com/platform9/fission/controller/client"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
+)
+
+type funcSvc struct {
+	function    *fission.Metadata    // function this thing is for
+	environment *fission.Environment // env it was obtained from
+	serviceName string               // name of k8s svc
+
+	ctime time.Time
+	atime time.Time
+}
+
+type API struct {
+	poolMgr         *GenericPoolManager
+	functionEnv     *cache.Cache // map[fission.Metadata]fission.Environment
+	functionService *cache.Cache // map[fission.Metadata]funcSvc
+	controller      *controllerclient.Client
+}
+
+func (api *API) lookupApi(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		http.Error(w, "Failed to read request", 500)
+		return
+	}
+
+	// get function metadata
+	m := fission.Metadata{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &m)
+	if err != nil {
+		http.Error(w, "Failed to parse request", 400)
+		return
+	}
+
+	serviceUrl, err := api.lookup(&m)
+	if err != nil {
+		code, msg := fission.GetHTTPError(err)
+		log.Printf("Error: %v: %v", code, msg)
+		http.Error(w, msg, code)
+	}
+
+	// return serviceUrl
+	w.Write([]byte(serviceUrl))
+}
+
+func (api *API) getFunctionEnv(m *fission.Metadata) (*fission.Environment, error) {
+	var env *fission.Environment
+
+	// Cached ?
+	result, err := api.functionEnv.Get(m)
+	if err == nil {
+		env = result.(*fission.Environment)
+		return env, nil
+	}
+
+	// Cache miss -- get func from controller
+	f, err := api.controller.FunctionGet(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Get env from metadata
+	env, err = api.controller.EnvironmentGet(&f.Environment)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// cache for future
+	api.functionEnv.Set(m, env)
+
+	return env, nil
+}
+
+func (api *API) lookup(m *fission.Metadata) (string, error) {
+	// Check function -> svc map
+	result, err := api.functionService.Get(m)
+	if err == nil {
+		//    Ok:     return svc name
+		svc := result.(*funcSvc)
+		return svc.serviceName, nil
+	}
+
+	//    None exists, so create a new funcSvc:
+
+	//      from Func -> get Env
+	env, err := api.getFunctionEnv(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	//      from Env -> get GenericPool
+	pool, err := api.poolMgr.GetPool(env)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	//      from GenericPool -> get one function container
+	funcSvc, err := pool.GetFuncSvc(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	// add to cache
+	err = api.functionService.Set(m, funcSvc)
+	if err != nil {
+		// log and ignore error
+		log.Printf("Error saving function service: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return funcSvc.serviceName, nil
+}
diff --git a/poolmgr/gp.go b/poolmgr/gp.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59bfa1c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poolmgr/gp.go
@@ -0,0 +1,372 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2016 The Fission Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package poolmgr
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"math/rand"
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/platform9/fission"
+
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	apiUnversioned "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/unversioned"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/extensions"
+	clientUnversioned "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
+)
+
+type (
+	GenericPool struct {
+		env                *fission.Environment
+		replicas           int                    // num containers
+		deployment         *extensions.Deployment // kubernetes deployment
+		namespace          string                 // namespace to keep our resources
+		podReadyTimeout    time.Duration          // timeout for generic pods to become ready
+		controllerHostName string
+
+		kubernetesClient *clientUnversioned.Client
+		requestChannel   chan *choosePodRequest
+	}
+
+	// serialize the choosing of pods so that choices don't conflict
+	choosePodRequest struct {
+		newLabels       map[string]string
+		responseChannel chan *choosePodResponse
+	}
+	choosePodResponse struct {
+		pod *api.Pod
+		error
+	}
+)
+
+func MakeGenericPool(
+	kubernetesClient *clientUnversioned.Client,
+	env *fission.Environment,
+	initialReplicas int,
+	namespace string) (*GenericPool, error) {
+
+	gp := &GenericPool{
+		env:                env,
+		replicas:           initialReplicas,
+		requestChannel:     make(chan *choosePodRequest),
+		kubernetesClient:   kubernetesClient,
+		namespace:          namespace,
+		podReadyTimeout:    5 * time.Minute,
+		controllerHostName: "controller",
+	}
+
+	// create the pool
+	err := gp.createPool()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// wait for at least one pod to be ready
+	err = gp.waitForReadyPod()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	go gp.choosePodService()
+	return gp, nil
+}
+
+// choosePodService serializes the choosing of pods
+func (gp *GenericPool) choosePodService() {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case req := <-gp.requestChannel:
+			pod, err := gp._choosePod(req.newLabels)
+			if err != nil {
+				req.responseChannel <- &choosePodResponse{error: err}
+				continue
+			}
+			req.responseChannel <- &choosePodResponse{pod: pod}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// choosePod picks a ready pod from the pool and relabels it, waiting if necessary.
+// returns the pod API object.
+func (gp *GenericPool) choosePod(newLabels map[string]string) (*api.Pod, error) {
+	req := &choosePodRequest{
+		newLabels:       newLabels,
+		responseChannel: make(chan *choosePodResponse),
+	}
+	gp.requestChannel <- req
+	resp := <-req.responseChannel
+	return resp.pod, resp.error
+}
+
+// _choosePod is called serially by choosePodService
+func (gp *GenericPool) _choosePod(newLabels map[string]string) (*api.Pod, error) {
+	startTime := time.Now()
+	for {
+		// Retries took too long, error out.
+		if time.Now().Sub(startTime) > gp.podReadyTimeout {
+			return nil, errors.New("timeout: waited too long to get a ready pod")
+		}
+
+		// Get pods; filter the ones that are ready
+		podList, err := gp.kubernetesClient.Pods(gp.namespace).List(
+			api.ListOptions{
+				LabelSelector: labels.Set(
+					gp.deployment.Spec.Selector.MatchLabels).AsSelector(),
+			})
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		readyPods := make([]api.Pod, len(podList.Items))
+		for _, pod := range podList.Items {
+			podReady := true
+			for _, cs := range pod.Status.ContainerStatuses {
+				podReady = podReady && cs.Ready
+			}
+			if podReady {
+				readyPods = append(readyPods, pod)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// If there are no ready pods, wait and retry.
+		if len(readyPods) == 0 {
+			err = gp.waitForReadyPod()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Pick a ready pod.  For now just choose randomly;
+		// ideally we'd care about which node it's running on,
+		// and make a good scheduling decision.
+		chosenPod := readyPods[rand.Intn(len(readyPods))]
+
+		// Relabel.  If the pod already got picked and
+		// modified, this should fail; in that case just
+		// retry.
+		chosenPod.ObjectMeta.Labels = newLabels
+		_, err = gp.kubernetesClient.Pods(gp.namespace).Update(&chosenPod)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("failed to relabel pod: %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		log.Printf("Chose a pod: %v", chosenPod.ObjectMeta.Name)
+		return &chosenPod, nil
+	}
+}
+
+func labelsForMetadata(metadata *fission.Metadata) map[string]string {
+	return map[string]string{
+		"functionName": metadata.Name,
+		"functionUid":  metadata.Uid,
+	}
+}
+
+// specializePod chooses a pod, copies the required user-defined function to that pod
+// (via fetcher), and calls the function-run container to load it, resulting in a
+// specialized pod.
+func (gp *GenericPool) specializePod(metadata *fission.Metadata) (*api.Pod, error) {
+	newLabels := labelsForMetadata(metadata)
+
+	pod, err := gp.choosePod(newLabels)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// for fetcher we don't need to create a service, just talk to the pod directly
+	podIP := pod.Status.PodIP
+	if len(podIP) == 0 {
+		return nil, errors.New("Pod has no IP")
+	}
+
+	// tell fetcher to get the function
+	fetcherUrl := fmt.Sprintf("http://%v:8000/", podIP)
+	functionUrl := fmt.Sprintf("http://%v/v1/functions/%v?uid=%v&raw=1",
+		gp.controllerHostName, metadata.Name, metadata.Uid)
+	fetcherRequest := fmt.Sprintf("{\"url\": \"%v\", \"filename\": \"user\"}", functionUrl)
+
+	resp, err := http.Post(fetcherUrl, "application/json", bytes.NewReader([]byte(fetcherRequest)))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
+		return nil, errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Error from fetcher: %v", resp.Status))
+	}
+
+	// get function run container to specialize
+	specializeUrl := fmt.Sprintf("http://%v:8888/specialize", podIP)
+	resp2, err := http.Post(specializeUrl, "", bytes.NewReader([]byte{}))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	resp2.Body.Close()
+	return pod, nil
+}
+
+// A pool is a deployment of generic containers for an env.  This
+// creates the pool but doesn't wait for any pods to be ready.
+func (gp *GenericPool) createPool() error {
+	poolDeploymentName := fmt.Sprintf("deployment-%v-%v-0",
+		gp.env.Metadata.Name, gp.env.Metadata.Uid)
+
+	podLabels := map[string]string{
+		"pool": poolDeploymentName,
+	}
+
+	sharedMountPath := "/userfunc"
+	deployment := &extensions.Deployment{
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: poolDeploymentName,
+			Labels: map[string]string{
+				"environmentName": gp.env.Metadata.Name,
+				"environmentUid":  gp.env.Metadata.Uid,
+			},
+		},
+		Spec: extensions.DeploymentSpec{
+			Replicas: int32(gp.replicas),
+			Selector: &apiUnversioned.LabelSelector{
+				MatchLabels: podLabels,
+			},
+			Template: api.PodTemplateSpec{
+				ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+					Labels: podLabels,
+				},
+				Spec: api.PodSpec{
+					Volumes: []api.Volume{
+						api.Volume{
+							Name: "userfunc",
+							VolumeSource: api.VolumeSource{
+								EmptyDir: &api.EmptyDirVolumeSource{},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []api.Container{
+						api.Container{
+							Name:                   gp.env.Metadata.Name,
+							Image:                  gp.env.RunContainerImageUrl,
+							ImagePullPolicy:        api.PullIfNotPresent,
+							TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
+							VolumeMounts: []api.VolumeMount{
+								api.VolumeMount{
+									Name:      "userfunc",
+									MountPath: sharedMountPath,
+								},
+							},
+						},
+						api.Container{
+							Name:                   "fetcher",
+							Image:                  "fission/fetcher",
+							ImagePullPolicy:        api.PullIfNotPresent,
+							TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
+							VolumeMounts: []api.VolumeMount{
+								api.VolumeMount{
+									Name:      "userfunc",
+									MountPath: sharedMountPath,
+								},
+							},
+							Command: []string{"/fetcher", sharedMountPath},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	depl, err := gp.kubernetesClient.ExtensionsClient.Deployments(gp.namespace).Create(deployment)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	gp.deployment = depl
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (gp *GenericPool) waitForReadyPod() error {
+	startTime := time.Now()
+	for {
+		// TODO: for now we just poll; use a watch instead
+		depl, err := gp.kubernetesClient.ExtensionsClient.Deployments(gp.namespace).Get(gp.deployment.ObjectMeta.Name)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("err: %v", err)
+			return err
+		}
+		gp.deployment = depl
+		if gp.deployment.Status.AvailableReplicas > 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		if time.Now().Sub(startTime) > gp.podReadyTimeout {
+			return errors.New("timeout: waited too long for pod to be ready")
+		}
+		time.Sleep(1000 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+}
+
+func (gp *GenericPool) createSvc(name string, labels map[string]string) (*api.Service, error) {
+	service := api.Service{
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: name,
+		},
+		Spec: api.ServiceSpec{
+			Type: api.ServiceTypeClusterIP,
+			Ports: []api.ServicePort{
+				api.ServicePort{
+					Protocol: api.ProtocolTCP,
+					Port:     8888,
+				},
+			},
+			Selector: labels,
+		},
+	}
+	svc, err := gp.kubernetesClient.Services(gp.namespace).Create(&service)
+	return svc, err
+}
+
+func (gp *GenericPool) GetFuncSvc(m *fission.Metadata) (*funcSvc, error) {
+	pod, err := gp.specializePod(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	log.Printf("Specialized pod: %v", pod.ObjectMeta.Name)
+
+	svcName := fmt.Sprintf("svc-%v", m.Name)
+	if len(m.Uid) > 0 {
+		svcName += ("-" + m.Uid)
+	}
+
+	labels := labelsForMetadata(m)
+	svc, err := gp.createSvc(svcName, labels)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if svc.ObjectMeta.Name != svcName {
+		return nil, errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("sanity check failed for svc %v", svc.ObjectMeta.Name))
+	}
+
+	fsvc := &funcSvc{
+		function:    m,
+		environment: gp.env,
+		serviceName: svcName,
+		ctime:       time.Now(),
+		atime:       time.Now(),
+	}
+	return fsvc, nil
+}
diff --git a/poolmgr/gp_test.go b/poolmgr/gp_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..90b1c478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poolmgr/gp_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package poolmgr
+
+import (
+	"github.com/platform9/fission"
+
+	"fmt"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func getKubeClient() *unversioned.Client {
+	loadingRules := clientcmd.NewDefaultClientConfigLoadingRules()
+	configOverrides := &clientcmd.ConfigOverrides{}
+	kubeConfig := clientcmd.NewNonInteractiveDeferredLoadingClientConfig(loadingRules, configOverrides)
+	config, err := kubeConfig.ClientConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("failed loading client config")
+	}
+	client := unversioned.NewOrDie(config)
+	return client
+}
+
+type staticHandler struct {
+	resp string
+}
+
+func (s *staticHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	w.Write([]byte(s.resp))
+}
+
+// staticHttpServer starts an http server at port and responds to any
+// request with the given response.  Use this to mock the controller
+// raw function fetch HTTP endpoint.
+func staticHttpServer(port int, response string) {
+	s := &staticHandler{resp: response}
+	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(fmt.Sprintf(":%v", port), s))
+}
+
+func TestGenericPool(t *testing.T) {
+	namespace := "fission-test"
+
+	client := getKubeClient()
+
+	_, err := client.Namespaces().Create(&api.Namespace{
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:   namespace,
+			Labels: map[string]string{},
+		},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Panicf("failed to create namespace: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// destroys everything in the namespace
+	defer client.Namespaces().Delete(namespace)
+
+	env := &fission.Environment{
+		Metadata: fission.Metadata{
+			Name: "test-env",
+			Uid:  "",
+		},
+		RunContainerImageUrl: "fission/testing",
+	}
+
+	gp, err := MakeGenericPool(client, env, 3, namespace)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Panicf("failed to make generic pool: %v", err)
+	}
+	log.Printf("Pool created")
+
+	// test specialization
+
+	testFunc := `
+module.exports = function (context, callback) {
+    callback(200, "Hello, world!");
+}
+`
+	go staticHttpServer(2222, testFunc)
+
+	m := fission.Metadata{
+		Name: "foo",
+		Uid:  "xxx-yyy",
+	}
+	fsvc, err := gp.GetFuncSvc(&m)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error getting function svc: %v", err)
+	}
+	log.Printf("fsvc: %v", fsvc)
+}
diff --git a/poolmgr/gpm.go b/poolmgr/gpm.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..49799bcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poolmgr/gpm.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2016 The Fission Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package poolmgr
+
+import (
+	"github.com/platform9/fission"
+	clientUnversioned "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned"
+)
+
+type (
+	GenericPoolManager struct {
+		pools            map[fission.Environment]*GenericPool
+		kubernetesClient *clientUnversioned.Client
+		namespace        string
+
+		requestChannel chan *request
+	}
+	request struct {
+		env             *fission.Environment
+		responseChannel chan *response
+	}
+	response struct {
+		error
+		pool *GenericPool
+	}
+)
+
+func MakeGenericPoolManager(client *clientUnversioned.Client, namespace string) *GenericPoolManager {
+	gpm := &GenericPoolManager{
+		pools:            make(map[fission.Environment]*GenericPool),
+		kubernetesClient: client,
+		namespace:        namespace,
+		requestChannel:   make(chan *request),
+	}
+	go gpm.service()
+	return gpm
+}
+
+func (gpm *GenericPoolManager) service() {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case req := <-gpm.requestChannel:
+			pool, ok := gpm.pools[*req.env]
+			if !ok {
+				pool, err := MakeGenericPool(gpm.kubernetesClient, req.env, 3, gpm.namespace)
+				if err != nil {
+					req.responseChannel <- &response{error: err}
+					continue
+				}
+				gpm.pools[*req.env] = pool
+				req.responseChannel <- &response{pool: pool}
+			}
+			req.responseChannel <- &response{pool: pool}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (gpm *GenericPoolManager) GetPool(env *fission.Environment) (*GenericPool, error) {
+	c := make(chan *response)
+	gpm.requestChannel <- &request{env: env, responseChannel: c}
+	resp := <-c
+	return resp.pool, resp.error
+}