diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ed86a4d012..f01f040332 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ help:
 	@echo "    help:               Print this usage information."
 	@echo "    man:                Generate all man-pages"
 	@echo
+	@echo "    go:                 Generate all go stages"
+	@echo
 	@echo "    coverity-download:  Force a new download of the coverity tool"
 	@echo "    coverity-check:     Run the coverity test suite"
 	@echo "    coverity-submit:    Run coverity and submit the results"
@@ -121,6 +123,19 @@ $(MANPAGES_TROFF): $(BUILDDIR)/docs/%: $(SRCDIR)/docs/%.rst | $(BUILDDIR)/docs/
 .PHONY: man
 man: $(MANPAGES_TROFF)
 
+#
+## Go stages
+#
+GO_STAGES_IN = $(wildcard $(SRCDIR)/stages/go/*/*.go)
+GO_STAGES_OUT = $(patsubst %/,%, $(subst /go/,/,$(dir $(GO_STAGES_IN))))
+$(GO_STAGES_OUT): $(GO_STAGES_IN)
+	go build -o "$@" "$<"
+.PHONY: go go-clean
+go: $(GO_STAGES_OUT)
+
+go-clean:
+	rm -f $(GO_STAGES_OUT)
+
 #
 # Coverity
 #
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df68d1332c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module github.com/osbuild/osbuild
+
+go 1.18
diff --git a/osbuild/meta.py b/osbuild/meta.py
index 12cecb0278..6b6091e645 100644
--- a/osbuild/meta.py
+++ b/osbuild/meta.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import json
 import os
 import pkgutil
+import subprocess
 import sys
 from collections import deque
 from typing import (Any, Deque, Dict, List, Optional, Sequence, Set, Tuple,
@@ -410,6 +411,35 @@ def _parse_caps(cls, _klass, _name, node):
 
     @classmethod
     def load(cls, root, klass, name) -> Optional["ModuleInfo"]:
+        base = cls.MODULES.get(klass)
+        if not base:
+            raise ValueError(f"Unsupported type: {klass}")
+        path = os.path.join(root, base, name)
+
+        try:
+            return cls._load_py(path, klass, name)
+        except (SyntaxError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+            pass
+        return cls._load_generic(path, klass, name)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _load_generic(cls, path, klass, name) -> Optional["ModuleInfo"]:
+        output = subprocess.check_output([path, "--all"])
+        p = json.loads(output)
+        doclist = p.get("doc", "").split("\n")
+        info = {
+            "schema": {
+                "1": json.loads(p.get("schema", "{}")),
+                "2": json.loads(p.get("schema_2", "{}")),
+            },
+            'desc': doclist[0],
+            'info': "\n".join(doclist[1:]),
+            'caps': p.get("capabilities", set()),
+        }
+        return cls(klass, name, path, info)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _load_py(cls, path, klass, name) -> Optional["ModuleInfo"]:
         names = ["SCHEMA", "SCHEMA_2", "CAPABILITIES"]
 
         def filter_type(lst, target):
@@ -418,11 +448,6 @@ def filter_type(lst, target):
         def targets(a):
             return [t.id for t in filter_type(a.targets, ast.Name)]
 
-        base = cls.MODULES.get(klass)
-        if not base:
-            raise ValueError(f"Unsupported type: {klass}")
-
-        path = os.path.join(root, base, name)
         try:
             with open(path, encoding="utf8") as f:
                 data = f.read()
diff --git a/stages/go/org.osbuild.staticgzip/main.go b/stages/go/org.osbuild.staticgzip/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ee817c317
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stages/go/org.osbuild.staticgzip/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+)
+
+var info = map[string]string{
+	"schema_2": `
+{
+  "inputs": {
+    "type": "object",
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "required": ["file"],
+    "properties": {
+      "file": {
+	"type": "object",
+	"additionalProperties": true
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "options": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "required": ["filename"],
+    "properties": {
+      "filename": {
+	"description": "Filename to use for the compressed file",
+	"type": "string"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}`,
+	"doc": `
+Compress a file using gzip
+
+No external dependencies.`,
+}
+
+var apiArgumentsPath = "/run/osbuild/api/arguments"
+
+func parseInputs(inputs map[string]interface{}) (string, error) {
+	image := inputs["file"].(map[string]interface{})
+	files := image["data"].(map[string]interface{})["files"].(map[string]interface{})
+	if len(files) != 1 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unexpected amount of destination files %q", files)
+	}
+	// XXX: fugly
+	var file string
+	for k, _ := range files {
+		file = k
+	}
+
+	path := filepath.Join(image["path"].(string), file)
+	return path, nil
+}
+
+func apiArguments() (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	f, err := os.Open(apiArgumentsPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+
+	var data = make(map[string]interface{})
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(f)
+	if err := dec.Decode(&data); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return data, nil
+}
+
+func run() error {
+	args, err := apiArguments()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// XXX: use proper structs
+	inputs := args["inputs"].(map[string]interface{})
+	output := args["tree"].(string)
+	options := args["options"].(map[string]interface{})
+
+	filename := options["filename"].(string)
+	source, err := parseInputs(inputs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	target := filepath.Join(output, filename)
+
+	inf, err := os.Open(source)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer inf.Close()
+	outf, err := os.Create(target)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	w := gzip.NewWriter(outf)
+	if _, err := io.Copy(w, inf); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func main() {
+	if len(os.Args) == 2 && os.Args[1] == "--all" {
+		enc := json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout)
+		if err := enc.Encode(&info); err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error: %v\n", err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
+	if err := run(); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/data/stages/gzip/b.json b/test/data/stages/gzip/b.json
index 8c61990c8c..3d44bcb214 100644
--- a/test/data/stages/gzip/b.json
+++ b/test/data/stages/gzip/b.json
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@
       "build": "name:build",
       "stages": [
         {
-          "type": "org.osbuild.gzip",
+          "type": "org.osbuild.staticgzip",
           "inputs": {
             "file": {
               "type": "org.osbuild.files",