diff --git a/app/network/network.js b/app/network/network.js
index f11f78730..62e208d60 100644
--- a/app/network/network.js
+++ b/app/network/network.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import * as querystring from '../common/querystring';
 import * as util from '../common/misc.js';
 import {AUTH_AWS_IAM, AUTH_BASIC, AUTH_DIGEST, AUTH_NETRC, AUTH_NTLM, CONTENT_TYPE_FORM_DATA, CONTENT_TYPE_FORM_URLENCODED, getAppVersion, STATUS_CODE_PLUGIN_ERROR} from '../common/constants';
 import {describeByteSize, hasAuthHeader, hasContentTypeHeader, hasUserAgentHeader, setDefaultProtocol} from '../common/misc';
-import {getRenderedRequest} from '../common/render';
+import {getRenderedRequest, getRenderContext} from '../common/render';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import * as db from '../common/database';
 import * as CACerts from './cacert';
@@ -634,10 +634,11 @@ export async function send (requestId: string, environmentId: string) {
   }
 
   const renderedRequestBeforePlugins = await getRenderedRequest(request, environmentId);
+  const renderedContextBeforePlugins = await getRenderContext(request, environmentId, ancestors);
 
   let renderedRequest: RenderedRequest;
   try {
-    renderedRequest = await _applyRequestPluginHooks(renderedRequestBeforePlugins);
+    renderedRequest = await _applyRequestPluginHooks(renderedRequestBeforePlugins, renderedContextBeforePlugins);
   } catch (err) {
     return {
       response: {
@@ -661,14 +662,14 @@ export async function send (requestId: string, environmentId: string) {
   return _actuallySend(renderedRequest, workspace, settings);
 }
 
-async function _applyRequestPluginHooks (renderedRequest: RenderedRequest): Promise<RenderedRequest> {
+async function _applyRequestPluginHooks (renderedRequest: RenderedRequest, renderedContext: Object): Promise<RenderedRequest> {
   let newRenderedRequest = renderedRequest;
   for (const {plugin, hook} of await plugins.getRequestHooks()) {
     newRenderedRequest = clone(newRenderedRequest);
 
     const context = {
       ...pluginContexts.app.init(plugin),
-      ...pluginContexts.request.init(plugin, newRenderedRequest)
+      ...pluginContexts.request.init(plugin, newRenderedRequest, renderedContext)
     };
 
     try {
diff --git a/app/plugins/context/__tests__/request.test.js b/app/plugins/context/__tests__/request.test.js
index f334af4fb..e292fa3e5 100644
--- a/app/plugins/context/__tests__/request.test.js
+++ b/app/plugins/context/__tests__/request.test.js
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@ const PLUGIN = {
   module: {}
 };
 
+const CONTEXT = {
+  user_key: 'my_user_key',
+  hello: 'world',
+  array_test: ['a', 'b'],
+  object_test: {a: 'A', b: 'B'},
+  null_test: null
+};
+
 describe('init()', () => {
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await globalBeforeEach();
@@ -17,7 +25,7 @@ describe('init()', () => {
   });
 
   it('initializes correctly', async () => {
-    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'));
+    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'), CONTEXT);
     expect(Object.keys(result)).toEqual(['request']);
     expect(Object.keys(result.request)).toEqual([
       'getId',
@@ -25,11 +33,14 @@ describe('init()', () => {
       'getUrl',
       'getMethod',
       'getHeader',
+      'getHeaders',
       'hasHeader',
       'removeHeader',
       'setHeader',
       'addHeader',
-      'setCookie'
+      'setCookie',
+      'getEnvironmentVariable',
+      'getEnvironment'
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -55,7 +66,7 @@ describe('request.*', () => {
   });
 
   it('works for basic getters', async () => {
-    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'));
+    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'), CONTEXT);
     expect(result.request.getId()).toBe('req_1');
     expect(result.request.getName()).toBe('My Request');
     expect(result.request.getUrl()).toBe('');
@@ -63,7 +74,13 @@ describe('request.*', () => {
   });
 
   it('works for headers', async () => {
-    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'));
+    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, await models.request.getById('req_1'), CONTEXT);
+
+    // getHeaders()
+    expect(result.request.getHeaders()).toEqual([
+      {name: 'hello', value: 'world'},
+      {name: 'Content-Type', value: 'application/json'}
+    ]);
 
     // getHeader()
     expect(result.request.getHeader('content-type')).toBe('application/json');
@@ -91,10 +108,33 @@ describe('request.*', () => {
     const request = await models.request.getById('req_1');
     request.cookies = []; // Because the plugin technically needs a RenderedRequest
 
-    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, request);
+    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, request, CONTEXT);
 
     result.request.setCookie('foo', 'bar');
     result.request.setCookie('foo', 'baz');
     expect(request.cookies).toEqual([{name: 'foo', value: 'baz'}]);
   });
+
+  it('works for environment', async () => {
+    const request = await models.request.getById('req_1');
+    request.cookies = []; // Because the plugin technically needs a RenderedRequest
+
+    const result = plugin.init(PLUGIN, request, CONTEXT);
+
+    // getEnvironment
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironment()).toEqual({
+      user_key: 'my_user_key',
+      hello: 'world',
+      array_test: ['a', 'b'],
+      object_test: {a: 'A', b: 'B'},
+      null_test: null
+    });
+
+    // getEnvironmentVariable
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironmentVariable('user_key')).toBe('my_user_key');
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironmentVariable('hello')).toBe('world');
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironmentVariable('array_test')).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironmentVariable('object_test')).toEqual({a: 'A', b: 'B'});
+    expect(result.request.getEnvironmentVariable('null_test')).toBe(null);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/app/plugins/context/request.js b/app/plugins/context/request.js
index c6b4cec47..dedf4b9e7 100644
--- a/app/plugins/context/request.js
+++ b/app/plugins/context/request.js
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@ import type {Plugin} from '../';
 import type {RenderedRequest} from '../../common/render';
 import * as misc from '../../common/misc';
 
-export function init (plugin: Plugin, renderedRequest: RenderedRequest): {request: Object} {
+export function init (
+  plugin: Plugin,
+  renderedRequest: RenderedRequest,
+  renderedContext: Object
+): {request: Object} {
   if (!renderedRequest) {
     throw new Error('contexts.request initialized without request');
   }
@@ -33,6 +37,9 @@ export function init (plugin: Plugin, renderedRequest: RenderedRequest): {reques
           return null;
         }
       },
+      getHeaders (): Array<{name: string, value: string}> {
+        return renderedRequest.headers.map(h => ({ name: h.name, value: h.value }));
+      },
       hasHeader (name: string): boolean {
         return this.getHeader(name) !== null;
       },
@@ -63,6 +70,12 @@ export function init (plugin: Plugin, renderedRequest: RenderedRequest): {reques
         } else {
           renderedRequest.cookies.push({name, value});
         }
+      },
+      getEnvironmentVariable (name: string): string | number | boolean | Object | Array<any> | null {
+        return renderedContext[name];
+      },
+      getEnvironment (): string | number | boolean | Object | Array<any> | null {
+        return renderedContext;
       }
 
       // NOTE: For these to make sense, we'd need to account for cookies in the jar as well
diff --git a/app/plugins/install.js b/app/plugins/install.js
index f4d6b52b0..6c1a6647f 100644
--- a/app/plugins/install.js
+++ b/app/plugins/install.js
@@ -71,21 +71,13 @@ export default async function (moduleName: string): Promise<void> {
 async function _isInsomniaPlugin (moduleName: string): Promise<Object> {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     childProcess.exec(
-      `npm show ${moduleName} insomnia version name dist.shasum dist.tarball`,
-      (err, stdout, stderr) => {
+      `npm show ${moduleName} --json`, (err, stdout, stderr) => {
         if (err && stderr.includes('E404')) {
           reject(new Error(`${moduleName} not found on npm`));
           return;
         }
 
-        const lines = stdout.split('\n').filter(l => !!l);
-        const info = {};
-        for (const line of lines) {
-          const match = line.match(/(.*) = '(.*)'/);
-
-          // Strip quotes off of the value
-          info[match[1]] = match[2];
-        }
+        const info = JSON.parse(stdout);
 
         if (!info.hasOwnProperty('insomnia')) {
           reject(new Error(`"${moduleName}" not a plugin! Package missing "insomnia" attribute`));
@@ -97,8 +89,8 @@ async function _isInsomniaPlugin (moduleName: string): Promise<Object> {
           name: info.name,
           version: info.version,
           dist: {
-            shasum: info['dist.shasum'],
-            tarball: info['dist.tarball']
+            shasum: info.dist.shasum,
+            tarball: info.dist.tarball
           }
         });
       }