diff --git a/bin/lp2gh-export-and-import b/bin/lp2gh-export-and-import
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a47ced3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/lp2gh-export-and-import
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import tempfile
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+
+BINDIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(__file__, os.pardir))
+POSSIBLE_TOPDIR = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(os.path.abspath(sys.argv[0]),
+                                   os.pardir,
+                                   os.pardir))
+if os.path.exists(os.path.join(POSSIBLE_TOPDIR, 'lp2gh', '__init__.py')):
+    sys.path.insert(0, POSSIBLE_TOPDIR)
+
+import gflags
+from github3 import client
+
+from lp2gh import bugs, milestones
+FLAGS = gflags.FLAGS
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+  argv = FLAGS(sys.argv)
+  if not FLAGS.project:
+      FLAGS.project = sys.argv[1]
+
+  c = client.Client(FLAGS.username, FLAGS.password)
+  repo = c.repo(FLAGS.repo_user, FLAGS.repo_name)
+  bugs.import_(
+      repo,
+      bugs.export(FLAGS.project),
+      milestones_map=milestones.import_(
+          repo,
+          milestones.export(FLAGS.project),
+          milestones_map={}
+      )
+  )
+
+  if FLAGS.project:
+      sys.argv[1] = FLAGS.project
+  exec open(os.path.join(BINDIR, "lp2gh-export-branches")).read()
diff --git a/lp2gh/bugs.py b/lp2gh/bugs.py
index 9bf9d0d..0a0f5e0 100644
--- a/lp2gh/bugs.py
+++ b/lp2gh/bugs.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import re
 import urllib2
+import time
+import json
 
 import gflags
 import jsontemplate
@@ -39,6 +41,33 @@
                   'Undecided']
 
 
+MAX_RETRIES = 30
+def limit_retry(e, repo, try_block, catch_block=None, give_up_block=None):
+  retries = 0
+  while True:
+    try:
+      return try_block()
+    except urllib2.HTTPError as err:
+      if catch_block:
+        catch_block(err)
+      else:
+        e.emit('exception: %s' % err.read())
+      if retries >= MAX_RETRIES:
+        if give_up_block: give_up_block(err)
+        break
+      else:
+        retries = retries + 1
+        resp = repo.client.get("https://api.github.com/rate_limit")
+        d = json.loads(resp.read())
+        limits = (d["resources"]["core"]["remaining"], d["resources"]["core"]["reset"])
+        e.emit('current rate limits: %s' % str(limits))
+        if limits[0] > 0:
+          e.emit('sleeping quietly for %d minutes ...' % retries)
+          time.sleep(60 * retries)
+        else:
+          offset = limits[1] - int(time.time()) + 10
+          e.emit('rate limit reached - have to sleep for %d seconds' % offset)
+          time.sleep(offset)
 
 bug_matcher_re = re.compile(r'bug (\d+)')
 
@@ -191,12 +220,7 @@ def import_(repo, bugs, milestones_map=None):
       [labels.translate_label(tags_map[x.lower()]) for x in params['labels']]))
 
     e.emit('with params: %s' % params)
-    try:
-      rv = issues.append(**params)
-    except urllib2.HTTPError as err:
-      e.emit('exception: %s' % err.read())
-      raise
-
+    rv = limit_retry(e, repo, lambda: issues.append(**params))
     mapping[bug['id']] = rv['number']
 
   # second pass
@@ -212,11 +236,7 @@ def import_(repo, bugs, milestones_map=None):
     for msg in bug['comments']:
       # TODO(termie): username mapping
       by_line = '(by %s)' % msg['owner']
-      try:
-        comments.append(body='%s\n%s' % (by_line, msg['content']))
-      except urllib2.HTTPError as err:
-        e.emit('exception: %s' % err.read())
-        raise
+      limit_retry(e, repo, lambda: comments.append(body='%s\n%s' % (by_line, msg['content'])))
 
     # update the issue
     params = {'body': bug['description']}
@@ -228,11 +248,6 @@ def import_(repo, bugs, milestones_map=None):
     #               but does allow editing an existing bug
     if bug['milestone']:
       params['milestone'] = milestones_map[bug['milestone']]
-    try:
-      issue.update(params)
-    except urllib2.HTTPError as err:
-      e.emit('exception: %s' % err.read())
-      raise
-
+    limit_retry(e, repo, lambda: issue.update(params))
 
   return mapping