diff --git a/external_curl.sh b/external_curl.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..75a7265
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external_curl.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Exit if any of the intermediate steps fail
+set -e
+
+export BODY=`curl -s --retry $2 --connect-timeout $3 $1 || echo -n noresponse`
+# Safely produce a JSON object containing the result value.
+# jq will ensure that the value is properly quoted
+# and escaped to produce a valid JSON string.
+jq -n --arg BODY "$BODY" '{"body":$BODY}'
\ No newline at end of file