diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index 698ad414..35424034 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ import { clearRegisteredTutorials, getOpenAtStartupSetting,
 	clearOutputChannels, registerTutorialWithJSON, getAutoInstallDefaultTutorialsSetting,
 	addNewTutorialWithNameAndCategoryForDidactUri, 
 	removeTutorialByNameAndCategory, 
-	registerEmbeddedTutorials} from './utils';
+	registerEmbeddedTutorials,
+	appendAdditionalTutorialsFromEnv} from './utils';
 import { DidactUriCompletionItemProvider } from './didactUriCompletionItemProvider';
 import { DidactPanelSerializer } from './didactPanelSerializer';
 import { didactManager, VIEW_TYPE } from './didactManager';
@@ -116,6 +117,9 @@ export async function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext): Promise<any> {
 		await registerEmbeddedTutorials(context, 'Writing Your First Didact Tutorial', './demos/markdown/tutorial/tutorial.didact.md');
 	}
 
+	// append any additional tutorials if we have them
+	await appendAdditionalTutorialsFromEnv();
+
 	// create the view
 	createIntegrationsView();
 
diff --git a/src/test/suite/registry.test.ts b/src/test/suite/registry.test.ts
index 90562519..9dd195ef 100644
--- a/src/test/suite/registry.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/suite/registry.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import * as assert from 'assert';
-import {getRegisteredTutorials, getDidactCategories, getTutorialsForCategory, getUriForDidactNameAndCategory, registerTutorialWithCategory, clearRegisteredTutorials, registerTutorialWithArgs} from '../../utils';
+import {getRegisteredTutorials, getDidactCategories, getTutorialsForCategory, getUriForDidactNameAndCategory, registerTutorialWithCategory, clearRegisteredTutorials, registerTutorialWithArgs, DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING, getAppendRegisteredSettingFromEnv, appendAdditionalTutorialsFromEnv} from '../../utils';
 import {before} from 'mocha';
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import { ADD_TUTORIAL_TO_REGISTRY, getContext, REGISTER_TUTORIAL } from '../../extensionFunctions';
@@ -115,6 +115,24 @@ suite('Didact registry test suite', () => {
 		assert.ok(foundTutorial, `Did not find new-tutorial-4 registered via JSON`);
 	});
 
+	test('append registry from environment variable', async() => {
+		const tutsToAppend : String = '[{"name":"AppendMe2","category":"AppendedCat2","sourceUri":"https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2Fredhat-developer%2Fvscode-didact%2Fmaster%2Fexamples%2Fregistry.example.didact.md"}]';
+		process.env[DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING] = tutsToAppend.toString();
+
+		const envVarJson = getAppendRegisteredSettingFromEnv();
+		console.log(`envVar = ` + envVarJson);
+		assert.ok(envVarJson, `Did not find envVarJson`);
+
+		const registry = getRegisteredTutorials();
+		assert.notStrictEqual(registry, undefined);
+
+		const tutName = `AppendMe2`;
+		await appendAdditionalTutorialsFromEnv();
+		const foundTutorial = verifyTutorialInRegistry(tutName);
+		delete process.env.DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING;
+		assert.ok(foundTutorial, `Did not find ${tutName} registered after appending to tutorial list from settings`);
+	});
+
 	test('Clear all the tutorials', async() => {
 		const registry = getRegisteredTutorials();
 		assert.notStrictEqual(registry, undefined);
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index b38937e9..09b11a96 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export const DIDACT_OPEN_AT_STARTUP = 'didact.openDefaultTutorialAtStartup';
 export const DIDACT_AUTO_INSTALL_DEFAULT_TUTORIALS = 'didact.autoAddDefaultTutorials';
 export const DIDACT_CLI_LINK_LF_SETTING = 'didact.edit.cliLinkLF';
 export const DIDACT_CLI_LINK_TEXT_SETTING = 'didact.edit.cliLinkText';
+export const DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING = 'DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTRY';
 
 const CACHED_OUTPUT_CHANNELS: OutputChannel[] = new Array<OutputChannel>();
 
@@ -500,3 +501,28 @@ export function getFileExtension(pathAsString: string) : string | undefined {
 	}
 	return undefined;
 }
+
+export function getAppendRegisteredSettingFromEnv() : string | undefined {
+	const envVar = process.env[DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING];
+	if (!envVar || (typeof envVar !== 'string')) {
+		return;
+	}
+	return envVar as string;
+}
+
+export async function appendAdditionalTutorialsFromEnv() : Promise<void> {
+	try {
+		const appendTutorialsAtStartup: string | undefined = getAppendRegisteredSettingFromEnv();
+		if (appendTutorialsAtStartup) {
+			await extensionFunctions.sendTextToOutputChannel(`Didact tutorials appended at startup via ${DIDACT_APPEND_REGISTERED_SETTING}`);
+			const jsonTutorials = JSON.parse(appendTutorialsAtStartup);
+			for (const jsonTutorial of jsonTutorials) {
+				await extensionFunctions.sendTextToOutputChannel(`--Adding tutorial ${jsonTutorial.sourceUri} as ${jsonTutorial.name}/${jsonTutorial.category}`);
+				await registerTutorialWithCategory(jsonTutorial.name, jsonTutorial.sourceUri, jsonTutorial.category);
+			}
+		}
+	} catch (ex) {
+		await extensionFunctions.sendTextToOutputChannel(ex);
+		return Promise.reject(ex);
+	}	
+}