diff --git a/.github/workflows/environment.yaml b/.github/workflows/environment.yaml
index 2759ccd..c7a9846 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/environment.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/environment.yaml
@@ -4,14 +4,15 @@ name:
     elf-dev
 dependencies:
     - affogato
-    - imageio
     - h5py
+    - imageio
+    - intern
     - mrcfile
     - nifty >=1.1
     - numba
     - pandas
-    - python
     - pip
+    - python
     - scikit-image
     - skan
     - tqdm
diff --git a/elf/io/extensions.py b/elf/io/extensions.py
index 30081a4..eba23b4 100644
--- a/elf/io/extensions.py
+++ b/elf/io/extensions.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from .image_stack_wrapper import ImageStackFile, ImageStackDataset
 from .knossos_wrapper import KnossosFile, KnossosDataset
 from .mrc_wrapper import MRCFile, MRCDataset
+from .intern_wrapper import InternFile, InternDataset
 
 
 __all__ = [
@@ -72,6 +73,12 @@ def register_filetype(constructor, extensions=(), groups=(), datasets=()):
 except ImportError:
     mrcfile = None
 
+# add bossdb extensions if we have intern
+try:
+    import intern
+    register_filetype(InternFile, ["bossdb://"], InternFile, InternDataset)
+except ImportError:
+    pass
 
 def identity(arg):
     return arg
diff --git a/elf/io/files.py b/elf/io/files.py
index 24974f2..81d16fc 100644
--- a/elf/io/files.py
+++ b/elf/io/files.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 )
 from .knossos_wrapper import KnossosFile, KnossosDataset
 from .mrc_wrapper import MRCFile, MRCDataset
+from .intern_wrapper import InternFile, InternDataset
 
 
 def supported_extensions():
@@ -26,6 +27,11 @@ def open_file(path, mode='a', ext=None):
         ext [str] - file extension. This can be used to force an extension
             if it cannot be inferred from the filename. (default: None)
     """
+    # Before checking the extension suffix, check for "protocol-style"
+    # cloud provider prefixes.
+    if "://" in path:
+        ext = path.split("://")[0] + "://"
+    
     ext = os.path.splitext(path)[1] if ext is None else ext
     try:
         constructor = FILE_CONSTRUCTORS[ext.lower()]
@@ -81,3 +87,8 @@ def is_mrc(node):
     """ Check if this is a MRCWrapper object.
     """
     return isinstance(node, (MRCFile, MRCDataset))
+
+def is_intern(node):
+    """ Check if this is a Intern wrapper object.
+    """
+    return isinstance(node, (InternFile, InternDataset))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/elf/io/intern_wrapper.py b/elf/io/intern_wrapper.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8da2ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elf/io/intern_wrapper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+from collections.abc import Mapping
+import numpy as np
+
+try:
+    from intern import array
+
+    intern_imported = True
+except ImportError:
+    intern_imported = False
+
+
+def _check_intern_importable():
+    if not intern_imported:
+        raise ImportError(
+            "Could not import the `intern` library. This means you cannot "
+            "download or upload cloud datasets. To fix this, you can install "
+            "intern with: \n\n\t"
+            "pip install intern"
+        )
+    return True
+
+
+class InternDataset:
+    def __init__(self, cloud_path):
+        _check_intern_importable()
+        self._data = array(cloud_path)
+
+    @property
+    def dtype(self):
+        return np.dtype(self._data.dtype)
+
+    @property
+    def ndim(self):
+        return 3  # todo: this COULD be 4 etc...
+
+    # TODO chunks are arbitrary, how do we handle this?
+    @property
+    def chunks(self):
+        return None
+
+    @property
+    def shape(self):
+        return self._data.shape
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        return self._data[key]
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        self._data[key] = value
+
+    @property
+    def size(self):
+        shape = self._data.shape
+        return shape[0] * shape[1] * shape[2]
+
+    # dummy attrs to be compatible with h5py/z5py/zarr API
+    @property
+    def attrs(self):
+        return {}
+
+
+class InternFile(Mapping):
+    """ Wrapper for an intern dataset
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, path, mode="r"):
+        _check_intern_importable()
+        self.path = path
+        self.mode = mode
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        return InternDataset(self.path)
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        yield "data"
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return 1
+
+    def __contains__(self, name):
+        return name == "data"
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
+        self._f.close()
+
+    # dummy attrs to be compatible with h5py/z5py/zarr API
+    @property
+    def attrs(self):
+        return {}
diff --git a/environment.yaml b/environment.yaml
index 3ae84c9..f72c3ab 100644
--- a/environment.yaml
+++ b/environment.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ name:
     elf-dev
 dependencies:
     - affogato
-    - imageio
     - h5py
+    - imageio
+    - intern
     - mrcfile
     - nifty
     - numba
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 56671f3..2ce5216 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -16,12 +16,13 @@
 extras = {
     "hdf5": "h5py",
     "zarr": "zarr",
-    "n5": "pyn5"
+    "n5": "pyn5",
+    "cloud": "intern"
 }
 
 # dependencies only available via conda,
 # we still collect them here, because the conda recipe
-# gets it's requirements from setuptools.
+# gets its requirements from setuptools.
 conda_only = ["vigra", "nifty", "z5py"]
 
 # collect all dependencies for conda
diff --git a/test/io_tests/test_intern_wrapper.py b/test/io_tests/test_intern_wrapper.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3db40fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/io_tests/test_intern_wrapper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import os
+import unittest
+from shutil import rmtree
+
+import numpy as np
+
+try:
+    from intern import array
+except ImportError:
+    array = None
+
+
+@unittest.skipIf(array is None, "Needs intern (pip install intern)")
+class TestInternWrapper(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_can_access_dataset(self):
+        from elf.io.intern_wrapper import InternDataset
+
+        # Choosing a dataset at random to make sure we can access shape and dtype
+        ds = InternDataset("bossdb://witvliet2020/Dataset_1/em")
+        self.assertEqual(ds.shape, (300, 26000, 22000))
+        self.assertEqual(ds.dtype, np.uint8)
+        self.assertEqual(ds.size, 300 * 26000 * 22000)
+        self.assertEqual(ds.ndim, 3)
+
+    def test_can_download_dataset(self):
+        from elf.io.intern_wrapper import InternDataset
+
+        ds = InternDataset("bossdb://witvliet2020/Dataset_1/em")
+        cutout = ds[210:212, 7000:7064, 7000:7064]
+        self.assertEqual(cutout.shape, (2, 64, 64))
+        # Pick a few random points to verify. (This is a static dataset so
+        # this won't fail unless the internet connection is broken.)
+        # These are known "magic numbers" from a known-working intern install.
+        self.assertEqual(cutout[0, 0, 0], 127)
+        self.assertEqual(cutout[0, 0, 42], 142)
+        self.assertEqual(cutout[0, 42, 1], 122)
+        self.assertEqual(cutout[1, 4, 7], 134)
+
+    def test_file(self):
+        from elf.io.intern_wrapper import InternFile, InternDataset
+
+        f = InternFile("bossdb://witvliet2020/Dataset_1/em")
+        ds = f["data"]
+        self.assertIsInstance(ds, InternDataset)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()