diff --git a/cmd/pm/main.go b/cmd/pm/main.go
index 5e380d1..8b3a0a5 100644
--- a/cmd/pm/main.go
+++ b/cmd/pm/main.go
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ const usage = `pm: simple, cross-platform system package manager
 subcommands:
   environ    (env) -- print environment information
   keyring    (key) -- interact with pm's OpenPGP keyring
-  remote           -- configure remote pmd servers
   package    (pkg) -- create packages
+  pull             -- fetch all available packages from all configured remotes
+  remote           -- configure remote pmd servers
 `
 
 const keyUsage = `pm keyring: interact with pm's OpenPGP keyring
@@ -209,6 +210,10 @@ func main() {
 		default:
 			fatalf("unknown package subcommand: %q\n\nusage: %v", sub, remoteUsage)
 		}
+	case "pull":
+		if err := remote.Pull(root); err != nil {
+			fatalf("pulling available packages: %v\n", err)
+		}
 	default:
 		fatalf("uknown subcommand %q\n\nusage: %v", cmd, usage)
 	}
diff --git a/remote/pull.go b/remote/pull.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5204052
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remote/pull.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package remote
+
+import "github.com/pkg/errors"
+
+// Pull updates the available package database.
+func Pull(root string) error {
+	return errors.New("NYI")
+}