diff --git a/gateway/Dockerfile.multistage b/gateway/Dockerfile.multistage
index bde2f876..8aaae79c 100644
--- a/gateway/Dockerfile.multistage
+++ b/gateway/Dockerfile.multistage
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ COPY requests       requests
 COPY tests          tests
 COPY server.go      .
 COPY types          types
+COPY plugin  plugin
 
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -a -installsuffix cgo -o gateway .
 
diff --git a/gateway/handlers/alerthandler.go b/gateway/handlers/alerthandler.go
index 31763797..6d0f77bb 100644
--- a/gateway/handlers/alerthandler.go
+++ b/gateway/handlers/alerthandler.go
@@ -115,16 +115,16 @@ func MakeAlertHandler(sq ServiceQuery) http.HandlerFunc {
 		errors := handleAlerts(&req, sq)
 		if len(errors) > 0 {
 			log.Println(errors)
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-
 			var errorOutput string
 			for d, err := range errors {
 				errorOutput += fmt.Sprintf("[%d] %s\n", d, err)
 			}
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
 			w.Write([]byte(errorOutput))
-		} else {
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+			return
 		}
+
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/gateway/plugin/external.go b/gateway/plugin/external.go
index ded64c81..bce193cd 100644
--- a/gateway/plugin/external.go
+++ b/gateway/plugin/external.go
@@ -1,31 +1,114 @@
 package plugin
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"log"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"time"
+
+	"fmt"
+
+	"io/ioutil"
 
 	"github.com/alexellis/faas/gateway/handlers"
+	"github.com/alexellis/faas/gateway/requests"
 )
 
+// NewExternalServiceQuery proxies service queries to external plugin via HTTP
 func NewExternalServiceQuery(externalURL url.URL) handlers.ServiceQuery {
+	proxyClient := http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{
+			Proxy: http.ProxyFromEnvironment,
+			DialContext: (&net.Dialer{
+				Timeout:   3 * time.Second,
+				KeepAlive: 0,
+			}).DialContext,
+			MaxIdleConns:          1,
+			DisableKeepAlives:     true,
+			IdleConnTimeout:       120 * time.Millisecond,
+			ExpectContinueTimeout: 1500 * time.Millisecond,
+		},
+	}
+
 	return ExternalServiceQuery{
-		URL: externalURL,
+		URL:         externalURL,
+		ProxyClient: proxyClient,
 	}
 }
 
+// ExternalServiceQuery proxies service queries to external plugin via HTTP
 type ExternalServiceQuery struct {
-	URL url.URL
+	URL         url.URL
+	ProxyClient http.Client
 }
 
+const maxReplicas = 40
+
 // GetReplicas replica count for function
 func (s ExternalServiceQuery) GetReplicas(serviceName string) (uint64, uint64, error) {
 	var err error
+	function := requests.Function{}
 
-	return 0, 0, err
+	urlPath := fmt.Sprintf("%ssystem/function/%s", s.URL.String(), serviceName)
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", urlPath, nil)
+	res, err := s.ProxyClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println(urlPath, err)
+	}
+
+	if res.StatusCode == 200 {
+		if res.Body != nil {
+			defer res.Body.Close()
+			bytesOut, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)
+			err = json.Unmarshal(bytesOut, &function)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Println(urlPath, err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	max := uint64(maxReplicas)
+
+	return function.Replicas, max, err
+}
+
+// ScaleServiceRequest request scaling of replica
+type ScaleServiceRequest struct {
+	ServiceName string `json:"serviceName"`
+	Replicas    uint64 `json:"replicas"`
 }
 
 // SetReplicas update the replica count
 func (s ExternalServiceQuery) SetReplicas(serviceName string, count uint64) error {
 	var err error
 
+	scaleReq := ScaleServiceRequest{
+		ServiceName: serviceName,
+		Replicas:    count,
+	}
+
+	requestBody, err := json.Marshal(scaleReq)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	urlPath := fmt.Sprintf("%ssystem/scale-function/%s", s.URL.String(), serviceName)
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", urlPath, bytes.NewReader(requestBody))
+	defer req.Body.Close()
+	res, err := s.ProxyClient.Do(req)
+
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println(urlPath, err)
+	}
+
+	if res.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("error scaling HTTP code %d, %s", res.StatusCode, urlPath)
+	}
+
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/gateway/requests/requests.go b/gateway/requests/requests.go
index ae9d3449..8f75342d 100644
--- a/gateway/requests/requests.go
+++ b/gateway/requests/requests.go
@@ -73,6 +73,6 @@ type PrometheusAlert struct {
 type Function struct {
 	Name            string  `json:"name"`
 	Image           string  `json:"image"`
-	InvocationCount float64 `json:"invocationCount"`
+	InvocationCount float64 `json:"invocationCount"` // TODO: shouldn't this be int64?
 	Replicas        uint64  `json:"replicas"`
 }
diff --git a/gateway/server.go b/gateway/server.go
index 4817cc67..c3cde85f 100644
--- a/gateway/server.go
+++ b/gateway/server.go
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ func makeHandler(proxy *httputil.ReverseProxy, metrics *metrics.MetricOptions) h
 			metrics.GatewayFunctionsHistogram.WithLabelValues(service).Observe(seconds)
 			code := writeAdapter.GetHeaderCode()
 			metrics.GatewayFunctionInvocation.With(prometheus.Labels{"function_name": service, "code": strconv.Itoa(code)}).Inc()
-
 		}
 	}
 }