diff --git a/website/source/assets/stylesheets/_docs.scss b/website/source/assets/stylesheets/_docs.scss
index d417f2369c0b..35e5bc6813be 100755
--- a/website/source/assets/stylesheets/_docs.scss
+++ b/website/source/assets/stylesheets/_docs.scss
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ body.layout-dme,
body.layout-dnsimple,
body.layout-docker,
body.layout-dyn,
+body.layout-external,
body.layout-github,
body.layout-grafana,
body.layout-fastly,
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/external/data_source.html.md b/website/source/docs/providers/external/data_source.html.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..889731bb9005
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/external/data_source.html.md
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+---
+layout: "external"
+page_title: "External Data Source"
+sidebar_current: "docs-external-data-source"
+description: |-
+ Executes an external program that implements a data source.
+---
+
+# External Data Source
+
+The `external` data source allows an external program implementing a specific
+protocol (defined below) to act as a data source, exposing arbitrary
+data for use elsewhere in the Terraform configuration.
+
+~> **Warning** This mechanism is provided as an "escape hatch" for exceptional
+situations where a first-class Terraform provider is not more appropriate.
+Its capabilities are limited in comparison to a true data source, and
+implementing a data source via an external program is likely to hurt the
+portability of your Terraform configuration by creating dependencies on
+external programs and libraries that may not be available (or may need to
+be used differently) on different operating systems.
+
+## Example Usage
+
+```
+data "external" "example" {
+ program = ["python", "${path.module}/example-data-source.py"]
+
+ query = {
+ # arbitrary map from strings to strings, passed
+ # to the external program as the data query.
+ id = "abc123"
+ }
+}
+```
+
+## External Program Protocol
+
+The external program described by the `program` attribute must implement a
+specific protocol for interacting with Terraform, as follows.
+
+The program must read all of the data passed to it on `stdin`, and parse
+it as a JSON object. The JSON object contains the contents of the `query`
+argument and its values will always be strings.
+
+The program must then produce a valid JSON object on `stdout`, which will
+be used to populate the `result` attribute exported to the rest of the
+Terraform configuration. This JSON object must again have all of its
+values as strings. On successful completion it must exit with status zero.
+
+If the program encounters an error and is unable to produce a result, it
+must print a human-readable error message (ideally a single line) to `stderr`
+and exit with a non-zero status. Any data on `stdout` is ignored if the
+program returns a non-zero status.
+
+All environment variables visible to the Terraform process are passed through
+to the child program.
+
+Terraform expects a data source to have *no observable side-effects*, and will
+re-run the program each time the state is refreshed.
+
+## Argument Reference
+
+The following arguments are supported:
+
+* `program` - (Required) A list of strings, whose first element is the program
+ to run and whose subsequent elements are optional command line arguments
+ to the program. Terraform does not execute the program through a shell, so
+ it is not necessary to escape shell metacharacters nor add quotes around
+ arguments containing spaces.
+
+* `query` - (Optional) A map of string values to pass to the external program
+ as the query arguments. If not supplied, the program will recieve an empty
+ object as its input.
+
+## Attributes Reference
+
+The following attributes are exported:
+
+* `result` - A map of string values returned from the external program.
+
+## Processing JSON in shell scripts
+
+Since the external data source protocol uses JSON, it is recommended to use
+the utility [`jq`](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/) to translate to and from
+JSON in a robust way when implementing a data source in a shell scripting
+language.
+
+The following example shows some input/output boilerplate code for a
+data source implemented in bash:
+
+```
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Exit if any of the intermediate steps fail
+set -e
+
+# Extract "foo" and "baz" arguments from the input into
+# FOO and BAZ shell variables.
+# jq will ensure that the values are properly quoted
+# and escaped for consumption by the shell.
+eval "$(jq -r '@sh "FOO=\(.foo) BAZ=\(.baz)"')"
+
+# Placeholder for whatever data-fetching logic your script implements
+FOOBAZ="$FOO BAZ"
+
+# Safely produce a JSON object containing the result value.
+# jq will ensure that the value is properly quoted
+# and escaped to produce a valid JSON string.
+jq -n --arg foobaz "$FOOBAZ" '{"foobaz":$foobaz}'
+```
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/external/index.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/external/index.html.markdown
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7824a0b62c1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/external/index.html.markdown
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+layout: "external"
+page_title: "Provider: External"
+sidebar_current: "docs-external-index"
+description: |-
+ The external provider allows external scripts to be integrated with Terraform.
+---
+
+# External Provider
+
+`external` is a special provider that exists to provide an interface
+between Terraform and external programs.
+
+Using this provider it is possible to write separate programs that can
+participate in the Terraform workflow by implementing a specific protocol.
+
+This provider is intended to be used for simple situations where you wish
+to integrate Terraform with a system for which a first-class provider
+doesn't exist. It is not as powerful as a first-class Terraform provider,
+so users of this interface should carefully consider the implications
+described on each of the child documentation pages (available from the
+navigation bar) for each type of object this provider supports.
+
diff --git a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
index fbcf6c879ba6..338d6d063c63 100644
--- a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
+++ b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
@@ -222,6 +222,10 @@
Dyn
+ >
+ External
+
+
>
GitHub
diff --git a/website/source/layouts/external.erb b/website/source/layouts/external.erb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..57f86ad793b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/source/layouts/external.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<% wrap_layout :inner do %>
+ <% content_for :sidebar do %>
+
+ <% end %>
+
+ <%= yield %>
+<% end %>