diff --git a/lua/chai/config.lua b/lua/chai/config.lua
index 7fd97cc..2b81039 100644
--- a/lua/chai/config.lua
+++ b/lua/chai/config.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 local M = {}
 
 M.defaults = {
-    servers = {},
+    providers = {},
 }
 
 M.options = {}
diff --git a/lua/chai/providers.lua b/lua/chai/providers.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27b7b5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lua/chai/providers.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+local M = {}
+
+local config = require('chai.config')
+
+local provider_instances = {}
+
+-- lazy loads providers of course
+function M.get_provider(name)
+    if provider_instances[name] ~= nil then
+        return provider_instances[name]
+    end
+
+    if config.options.providers[name] == nil then
+        error('unknown provider')
+    end
+
+    local provider_config = config.options.providers[name]
+
+    local provider = require('chai.providers.' .. provider_config.type)
+
+    local provider_instance = provider.init(provider_config)
+    provider_instances[name] = provider_instance
+    return provider_instance
+end
+
+return M
diff --git a/lua/chai/providers/gitea/init.lua b/lua/chai/providers/gitea/init.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b20486d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lua/chai/providers/gitea/init.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+local M
+
+local GiteaProvider = {}
+
+function M.init(config)
+    local provider = vim.deepcopy(GiteaProvider)
+    provider.config = config
+
+    return provider
+end
+
+return M
diff --git a/lua/chai/providers/github/init.lua b/lua/chai/providers/github/init.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5694f6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lua/chai/providers/github/init.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+local M
+
+local GithubProvider = {}
+
+function M.init(config)
+    local provider = vim.deepcopy(GithubProvider)
+    provider.config = config
+
+    return provider
+end
+
+return M