diff --git a/src/app/api/github/download/route.ts b/src/app/api/github/download/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1578c778
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/github/download/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// src/app/api/github/download/route.ts
+'use server';
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+import { getToken } from 'next-auth/jwt';
+import { GITHUB_API_URL } from '@/types/const';
+import { getGitHubUsername } from '@/utils/github';
+
+const UPSTREAM_REPO_NAME = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TAXONOMY_REPO!;
+
+export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
+  const token = await getToken({ req, secret: process.env.NEXTAUTH_SECRET! });
+
+  if (!token || !token.accessToken) {
+    console.error('Unauthorized: Missing or invalid access token');
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Unauthorized' }, { status: 401 });
+  }
+
+  const githubToken = token.accessToken as string;
+  const headers = {
+    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+    Authorization: `Bearer ${githubToken}`,
+    Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
+    'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28'
+  };
+
+  const githubUsername = await getGitHubUsername(headers);
+  try {
+    const { branchName } = await req.json();
+
+    if (!branchName || typeof branchName !== 'string') {
+      return NextResponse.json({ error: 'contribution branch does not exist on remote taxonomy.' }, { status: 400 });
+    }
+
+    const tarballUrl = `${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${githubUsername}/${UPSTREAM_REPO_NAME}/tarball/${branchName}`;
+    const tarballRes = await fetch(tarballUrl, {
+      headers: headers
+    });
+
+    if (!tarballRes.ok) {
+      return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to download taxonomy for the contribution.' }, { status: 500 });
+    }
+
+    return new NextResponse(tarballRes.body, {
+      headers: {
+        'Content-Type': 'application/gzip',
+        'Content-Disposition': `attachment`,
+        'Cache-Control': 'no-store'
+      }
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('failed to download taxonomy for the contribution:', error);
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: error }, { status: 500 });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/app/api/download/route.ts b/src/app/api/native/download/route.ts
similarity index 61%
rename from src/app/api/download/route.ts
rename to src/app/api/native/download/route.ts
index 667abd58..e22587c2 100644
--- a/src/app/api/download/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/native/download/route.ts
@@ -1,31 +1,37 @@
-// src/app/api/download/route.ts
+// src/app/api/native/download/route.ts
 'use server';
-import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { spawn } from 'child_process';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
+import * as git from 'isomorphic-git';
 
-// GET handler now takes the Request so we can watch for aborts
-export async function GET(request: Request) {
-  const rootDir = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TAXONOMY_ROOT_DIR;
+const LOCAL_TAXONOMY_ROOT_DIR = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_LOCAL_TAXONOMY_ROOT_DIR || `${process.env.HOME}/.instructlab-ui`;
+
+export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
+  const rootDir = LOCAL_TAXONOMY_ROOT_DIR;
   if (!rootDir) {
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'NEXT_PUBLIC_TAXONOMY_ROOT_DIR is not configured' }, { status: 500 });
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to find the local taxonomy that contains the contribution.' }, { status: 500 });
   }
+  const { branchName } = await req.json();
 
   const taxonomyDir = path.join(rootDir, 'taxonomy');
   try {
     await fs.promises.access(taxonomyDir, fs.constants.R_OK);
   } catch {
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Taxonomy directory not found or not readable' }, { status: 404 });
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Taxonomy directory not found or not readable' }, { status: 500 });
   }
 
+  // Checkout the new branch
+  await git.checkout({ fs, dir: taxonomyDir, ref: branchName });
+
   // Spawn tar to write gzipped archive to stdout
   const tar = spawn('tar', ['-czf', '-', '-C', rootDir, 'taxonomy'], {
     stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'inherit']
   });
 
   // If the client aborts, make sure to kill the tar process
-  request.signal.addEventListener('abort', () => {
+  req.signal.addEventListener('abort', () => {
     tar.kill('SIGTERM');
   });
 
@@ -51,7 +57,7 @@ export async function GET(request: Request) {
     status: 200,
     headers: {
       'Content-Type': 'application/gzip',
-      'Content-Disposition': 'attachment; filename="taxonomy.tar.gz"',
+      'Content-Disposition': `attachment`,
       'Cache-Control': 'no-store'
     }
   });
diff --git a/src/components/Dashboard/Github/dashboard.tsx b/src/components/Dashboard/Github/dashboard.tsx
index 2050aaca..81155e52 100644
--- a/src/components/Dashboard/Github/dashboard.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Dashboard/Github/dashboard.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import * as React from 'react';
 import { useSession } from 'next-auth/react';
 import Image from 'next/image';
 import { useRouter } from 'next/navigation';
-import { fetchPullRequests, getGitHubUsername } from '../../../utils/github';
 import { DraftEditFormInfo, PullRequest } from '@/types';
 import { useState } from 'react';
 import {
@@ -40,6 +39,8 @@ import {
 } from '@patternfly/react-core';
 import { ExternalLinkAltIcon, OutlinedQuestionCircleIcon, GithubIcon, EllipsisVIcon, PficonTemplateIcon } from '@patternfly/react-icons';
 import { deleteDraftData, fetchDraftContributions } from '@/components/Contribute/Utils/autoSaveUtils';
+import { handleTaxonomyDownload } from '@/utils/taxonomy';
+import { fetchPullRequests, getGitHubUsername } from '@/utils/github';
 
 const InstructLabLogo: React.FC = () => <Image src="/InstructLab-LogoFile-RGB-FullColor.svg" alt="InstructLab Logo" width={256} height={256} />;
 
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ const DashboardGithub: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
   const [pullRequests, setPullRequests] = React.useState<PullRequest[]>([]);
   const [draftContributions, setDraftContributions] = React.useState<DraftEditFormInfo[]>([]);
   const [isFirstPullDone, setIsFirstPullDone] = React.useState<boolean>(false);
+  const [isDownloadDone, setIsDownloadDone] = React.useState<boolean>(true);
   const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState<boolean>(true);
   //const [error, setError] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
   const [isActionMenuOpen, setIsActionMenuOpen] = React.useState<{ [key: number | string]: boolean }>({});
@@ -195,6 +197,16 @@ const DashboardGithub: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
             </ModalBody>
           </Modal>
         )}
+        {!isDownloadDone && (
+          <Modal variant={ModalVariant.small} title="Retrieving taxonomy tar file" isOpen onClose={() => setIsDownloadDone(true)}>
+            <ModalBody>
+              <div>
+                <Spinner size="md" />
+                Retrieving the taxonomy compressed file with the contributed data.
+              </div>
+            </ModalBody>
+          </Modal>
+        )}
         {isFirstPullDone && pullRequests.length === 0 && draftContributions.length === 0 ? (
           <EmptyState titleText="Welcome to InstructLab" headingLevel="h4" icon={InstructLabLogo}>
             <EmptyStateBody>
@@ -347,6 +359,15 @@ const DashboardGithub: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
                               </DropdownItem>
                             )}
                           </DropdownList>
+                          <DropdownItem
+                            key="download-taxonomy"
+                            onClick={() => {
+                              setIsDownloadDone(false);
+                              handleTaxonomyDownload({ branchName: pr.head.ref, isGithubMode: true, setIsDownloadDone });
+                            }}
+                          >
+                            Download taxonomy
+                          </DropdownItem>
                         </Dropdown>
                       )
                     }}
diff --git a/src/components/Dashboard/Native/dashboard.tsx b/src/components/Dashboard/Native/dashboard.tsx
index db46a786..0bad08a1 100644
--- a/src/components/Dashboard/Native/dashboard.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Dashboard/Native/dashboard.tsx
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import { ExpandableSection } from '@patternfly/react-core/dist/esm/components/Ex
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid';
 import { DraftEditFormInfo } from '@/types';
 import { deleteDraftData, fetchDraftContributions } from '@/components/Contribute/Utils/autoSaveUtils';
+import { handleTaxonomyDownload } from '@/utils/taxonomy';
 
 const InstructLabLogo: React.FC = () => <Image src="/InstructLab-LogoFile-RGB-FullColor.svg" alt="InstructLab Logo" width={256} height={256} />;
 
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ const DashboardNative: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
   const [selectedDraftContribution, setSelectedDraftContribution] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
   const [isPublishing, setIsPublishing] = React.useState(false);
   const [expandedFiles, setExpandedFiles] = React.useState<Record<string, boolean>>({});
+  const [isDownloadDone, setIsDownloadDone] = React.useState<boolean>(true);
 
   const router = useRouter();
 
@@ -393,6 +395,17 @@ const DashboardNative: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
           ))}
         </AlertGroup>
 
+        {!isDownloadDone && (
+          <Modal variant={ModalVariant.small} title="Retrieving taxonomy tar file" isOpen onClose={() => setIsDownloadDone(true)}>
+            <ModalBody>
+              <div>
+                <Spinner size="md" />
+                Retrieving the taxonomy compressed file with the contributed data.
+              </div>
+            </ModalBody>
+          </Modal>
+        )}
+
         {isLoading ? (
           <Spinner size="lg" />
         ) : branches.length === 0 && draftContributions.length === 0 ? (
@@ -546,8 +559,8 @@ const DashboardNative: React.FunctionComponent = () => {
                             <DropdownItem
                               key="download-taxonomy"
                               onClick={() => {
-                                // this will trigger the browser download
-                                window.location.href = '/api/download';
+                                setIsDownloadDone(false);
+                                handleTaxonomyDownload({ branchName: branch.name, isGithubMode: false, setIsDownloadDone });
                               }}
                             >
                               Download taxonomy
diff --git a/src/utils/taxonomy.ts b/src/utils/taxonomy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af6b9df5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/taxonomy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// src/utils/taxonomy.ts
+const GITHUB_TAXONOMY_DOWNLOAD_URL = '/api/github/download';
+const NATIVE_TAXONOMY_DOWNLOAD_URL = '/api/native/download';
+
+interface TaxonomyDownloadProp {
+  branchName: string;
+  isGithubMode: boolean;
+  setIsDownloadDone: (isDownloadDone: boolean) => void;
+}
+export async function handleTaxonomyDownload({ branchName, isGithubMode, setIsDownloadDone }: TaxonomyDownloadProp) {
+  const res = await fetch(isGithubMode ? GITHUB_TAXONOMY_DOWNLOAD_URL : NATIVE_TAXONOMY_DOWNLOAD_URL, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify({
+      branchName: branchName
+    })
+  });
+
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    alert('Failed to download the taxonomy');
+    return { message: res.statusText, status: res.status };
+  }
+
+  setIsDownloadDone(true);
+
+  const blob = await res.blob();
+  const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+  const a = document.createElement('a');
+  a.href = url;
+  a.download = `taxonomy-${branchName}.tar.gz`;
+  a.click();
+  window.URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
+}