diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index aa77fc690..eee17a39d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -49,6 +49,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "alloc-no-stdlib"
+version = "2.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cc7bb162ec39d46ab1ca8c77bf72e890535becd1751bb45f64c597edb4c8c6b3"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "alloc-stdlib"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "94fb8275041c72129eb51b7d0322c29b8387a0386127718b096429201a5d6ece"
+dependencies = [
+ "alloc-no-stdlib",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "allocator-api2"
 version = "0.2.16"
@@ -279,6 +294,20 @@ version = "1.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9b34d609dfbaf33d6889b2b7106d3ca345eacad44200913df5ba02bfd31d2ba9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "async-compression"
+version = "0.4.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f658e2baef915ba0f26f1f7c42bfb8e12f532a01f449a090ded75ae7a07e9ba2"
+dependencies = [
+ "brotli",
+ "flate2",
+ "futures-core",
+ "memchr",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "async-trait"
 version = "0.1.74"
@@ -372,6 +401,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustc-demangle",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "base64"
+version = "0.21.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9ba43ea6f343b788c8764558649e08df62f86c6ef251fdaeb1ffd010a9ae50a2"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bincode"
 version = "2.0.0-rc.3"
@@ -429,6 +464,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "generic-array",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "brotli"
+version = "3.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "516074a47ef4bce09577a3b379392300159ce5b1ba2e501ff1c819950066100f"
+dependencies = [
+ "alloc-no-stdlib",
+ "alloc-stdlib",
+ "brotli-decompressor",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "brotli-decompressor"
+version = "2.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "da74e2b81409b1b743f8f0c62cc6254afefb8b8e50bbfe3735550f7aeefa3448"
+dependencies = [
+ "alloc-no-stdlib",
+ "alloc-stdlib",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bstr"
 version = "0.2.17"
@@ -1745,6 +1801,21 @@ version = "1.0.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3f9eec918d3f24069decb9af1554cad7c880e2da24a9afd88aca000531ab82c1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "foreign-types"
+version = "0.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f6f339eb8adc052cd2ca78910fda869aefa38d22d5cb648e6485e4d3fc06f3b1"
+dependencies = [
+ "foreign-types-shared",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "foreign-types-shared"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "00b0228411908ca8685dba7fc2cdd70ec9990a6e753e89b6ac91a84c40fbaf4b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "form_urlencoded"
 version = "1.2.0"
@@ -2886,6 +2957,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "want",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper-tls"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d6183ddfa99b85da61a140bea0efc93fdf56ceaa041b37d553518030827f9905"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes",
+ "hyper",
+ "native-tls",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-native-tls",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "id-arena"
 version = "2.2.1"
@@ -3037,6 +3121,12 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4b3f7cef34251886990511df1c61443aa928499d598a9473929ab5a90a527304"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ipnet"
+version = "2.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "28b29a3cd74f0f4598934efe3aeba42bae0eb4680554128851ebbecb02af14e6"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "is-terminal"
 version = "0.4.9"
@@ -3325,6 +3415,24 @@ version = "0.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4519a88847ba2d5ead3dc53f1060ec6a571de93f325d9c5c4968147382b1cbc3"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "native-tls"
+version = "0.2.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "07226173c32f2926027b63cce4bcd8076c3552846cbe7925f3aaffeac0a3b92e"
+dependencies = [
+ "lazy_static",
+ "libc",
+ "log",
+ "openssl",
+ "openssl-probe",
+ "openssl-sys",
+ "schannel",
+ "security-framework",
+ "security-framework-sys",
+ "tempfile",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ndarray"
 version = "0.13.1"
@@ -3527,6 +3635,50 @@ version = "11.1.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0ab1bc2a289d34bd04a330323ac98a1b4bc82c9d9fcb1e66b63caa84da26b575"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "openssl"
+version = "0.10.57"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bac25ee399abb46215765b1cb35bc0212377e58a061560d8b29b024fd0430e7c"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.4.0",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "foreign-types",
+ "libc",
+ "once_cell",
+ "openssl-macros",
+ "openssl-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "openssl-macros"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a948666b637a0f465e8564c73e89d4dde00d72d4d473cc972f390fc3dcee7d9c"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "openssl-probe"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ff011a302c396a5197692431fc1948019154afc178baf7d8e37367442a4601cf"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "openssl-sys"
+version = "0.9.93"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "db4d56a4c0478783083cfafcc42493dd4a981d41669da64b4572a2a089b51b1d"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+ "pkg-config",
+ "vcpkg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "option-ext"
 version = "0.2.0"
@@ -3990,6 +4142,47 @@ version = "1.9.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c707298afce11da2efef2f600116fa93ffa7a032b5d7b628aa17711ec81383ca"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "reqwest"
+version = "0.11.22"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "046cd98826c46c2ac8ddecae268eb5c2e58628688a5fc7a2643704a73faba95b"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-compression",
+ "base64",
+ "bytes",
+ "encoding_rs",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-util",
+ "h2",
+ "http",
+ "http-body",
+ "hyper",
+ "hyper-tls",
+ "ipnet",
+ "js-sys",
+ "log",
+ "mime",
+ "native-tls",
+ "once_cell",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_urlencoded",
+ "system-configuration",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-native-tls",
+ "tokio-util",
+ "tower-service",
+ "url",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "wasm-bindgen-futures",
+ "wasm-streams",
+ "web-sys",
+ "winreg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rfc6979"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -4126,6 +4319,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "pathdiff",
  "petgraph",
  "predicates",
+ "reqwest",
  "scarb-build-metadata",
  "scarb-metadata 1.8.0",
  "scarb-test-support",
@@ -4288,6 +4482,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde_json",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "schannel"
+version = "0.1.22"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0c3733bf4cf7ea0880754e19cb5a462007c4a8c1914bff372ccc95b464f1df88"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "schemars"
 version = "0.8.13"
@@ -4319,6 +4522,29 @@ version = "1.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "94143f37725109f92c262ed2cf5e59bce7498c01bcc1502d7b9afe439a4e9f49"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "security-framework"
+version = "2.9.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "05b64fb303737d99b81884b2c63433e9ae28abebe5eb5045dcdd175dc2ecf4de"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "core-foundation",
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+ "security-framework-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "security-framework-sys"
+version = "2.9.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e932934257d3b408ed8f30db49d85ea163bfe74961f017f405b025af298f0c7a"
+dependencies = [
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "semver"
 version = "1.0.20"
@@ -4729,6 +4955,27 @@ version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2047c6ded9c721764247e62cd3b03c09ffc529b2ba5b10ec482ae507a4a70160"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration"
+version = "0.5.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ba3a3adc5c275d719af8cb4272ea1c4a6d668a777f37e115f6d11ddbc1c8e0e7"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "core-foundation",
+ "system-configuration-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration-sys"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a75fb188eb626b924683e3b95e3a48e63551fcfb51949de2f06a9d91dbee93c9"
+dependencies = [
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tap"
 version = "1.0.1"
@@ -4965,6 +5212,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-native-tls"
+version = "0.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbae76ab933c85776efabc971569dd6119c580d8f5d448769dec1764bf796ef2"
+dependencies = [
+ "native-tls",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-util"
 version = "0.7.8"
@@ -5316,6 +5573,12 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "830b7e5d4d90034032940e4ace0d9a9a057e7a45cd94e6c007832e39edb82f6d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "vcpkg"
+version = "0.2.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "accd4ea62f7bb7a82fe23066fb0957d48ef677f6eeb8215f372f52e48bb32426"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "version_check"
 version = "0.9.4"
@@ -5381,6 +5644,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-bindgen-futures"
+version = "0.4.37"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c02dbc21516f9f1f04f187958890d7e6026df8d16540b7ad9492bc34a67cea03"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "web-sys",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen-macro"
 version = "0.2.87"
@@ -5410,6 +5685,29 @@ version = "0.2.87"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ca6ad05a4870b2bf5fe995117d3728437bd27d7cd5f06f13c17443ef369775a1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-streams"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b4609d447824375f43e1ffbc051b50ad8f4b3ae8219680c94452ea05eb240ac7"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-util",
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "wasm-bindgen-futures",
+ "web-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "web-sys"
+version = "0.3.64"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9b85cbef8c220a6abc02aefd892dfc0fc23afb1c6a426316ec33253a3877249b"
+dependencies = [
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "which"
 version = "4.4.2"
@@ -5603,6 +5901,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "winreg"
+version = "0.50.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "524e57b2c537c0f9b1e69f1965311ec12182b4122e45035b1508cd24d2adadb1"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wyz"
 version = "0.5.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2700abe9f..9dd65b1b3 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ petgraph = "0.6"
 predicates = "3"
 proc-macro2 = "1"
 quote = "1"
+reqwest = { version = "0.11.22", features = ["gzip", "brotli", "deflate", "json", "stream"] }
 semver = { version = "1", features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["serde_derive"] }
 serde-untagged = "0.1"
diff --git a/scarb/Cargo.toml b/scarb/Cargo.toml
index ae325137c..9849da192 100644
--- a/scarb/Cargo.toml
+++ b/scarb/Cargo.toml
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ itertools.workspace = true
 once_cell.workspace = true
 pathdiff.workspace = true
 petgraph.workspace = true
+reqwest.workspace = true
 scarb-build-metadata = { path = "../utils/scarb-build-metadata" }
 scarb-metadata = { path = "../scarb-metadata", default-features = false, features = ["builder"] }
 scarb-ui = { path = "../utils/scarb-ui" }
diff --git a/scarb/src/core/config.rs b/scarb/src/core/config.rs
index 8d2914c15..acf671702 100644
--- a/scarb/src/core/config.rs
+++ b/scarb/src/core/config.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ use crate::SCARB_ENV;
 
 use super::ManifestDependency;
 
+const USER_AGENT: &str = concat!(env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"), "/", env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"));
+
 pub struct Config {
     manifest_path: Utf8PathBuf,
     dirs: Arc<AppDirs>,
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ pub struct Config {
     tokio_runtime: OnceCell<Runtime>,
     tokio_handle: OnceCell<Handle>,
     profile: Profile,
+    http_client: OnceCell<reqwest::Client>,
 }
 
 impl Config {
@@ -91,6 +94,7 @@ impl Config {
             tokio_runtime: OnceCell::new(),
             tokio_handle,
             profile,
+            http_client: OnceCell::new(),
         })
     }
 
@@ -233,6 +237,23 @@ impl Config {
     pub fn profile(&self) -> Profile {
         self.profile.clone()
     }
+
+    /// Returns handle to global HTTP client.
+    ///
+    /// The global client maintains an internal connection pool, and is preconfigured with known
+    /// user agent etc.
+    ///
+    /// It is fine to clone the returned instance, because it contains [`Arc`] inside.
+    pub fn http(&self) -> Result<reqwest::Client> {
+        self.http_client
+            .get_or_try_init(|| {
+                reqwest::Client::builder()
+                    .user_agent(USER_AGENT)
+                    .build()
+                    .context("failed to create HTTP client")
+            })
+            .cloned()
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]