diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c4f37f69..3acef4ed 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ log = "0.4.14"
 env_logger = "0.9.0"
 simple-error = "0.3.0"
 anyhow = "1.0.75"
+zip = "0.6"
+tempfile = "3.8"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 assert_cmd = "2.0.4"
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ca04ffa5..199b47e7 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,8 +8,12 @@ use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, BufWriter, Write};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
+use zip::read::ZipArchive;
+use tempfile::tempdir;
+
 use std::sync::atomic;
 use std::sync::atomic::AtomicUsize;
+use std::io::Read;
 
 use std::collections::BinaryHeap;
 
@@ -17,6 +21,7 @@ use std::cmp::{PartialOrd, Ordering};
 
 use anyhow::{Result, anyhow};
 
+
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate simple_error;
 
@@ -759,6 +764,30 @@ fn build_template(ksize: u8, scaled: usize) -> Sketch {
     Sketch::MinHash(template_mh)
 }
 
+fn read_signatures_from_zip<P: AsRef<Path>>(
+    zip_path: P,
+) -> Result<(Vec<PathBuf>, tempfile::TempDir), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let mut signature_paths = Vec::new();
+    let temp_dir = tempdir()?;
+    let zip_file = File::open(&zip_path)?;
+    let mut zip_archive = ZipArchive::new(zip_file)?;
+
+    for i in 0..zip_archive.len() {
+        let mut file = zip_archive.by_index(i)?;
+        let mut sig = Vec::new();
+        file.read_to_end(&mut sig)?;
+
+        let file_name = Path::new(file.name()).file_name().unwrap().to_str().unwrap();
+        if file_name.ends_with(".sig") || file_name.ends_with(".sig.gz") {
+            let new_path = temp_dir.path().join(file_name);
+            let mut new_file = File::create(&new_path)?;
+            new_file.write_all(&sig)?;
+            signature_paths.push(new_path);
+        }
+    }
+    println!("wrote {} signatures to temp dir", signature_paths.len());
+    Ok((signature_paths, temp_dir))
+}
 
 fn index<P: AsRef<Path>>(
     siglist: P,
@@ -766,11 +795,22 @@ fn index<P: AsRef<Path>>(
     output: P,
     save_paths: bool,
     colors: bool,
-    ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
-
+) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let mut temp_dir = None;
     info!("Loading siglist");
-    let index_sigs = load_sketchlist_filenames(&siglist)?;
+
+    let index_sigs: Vec<PathBuf>;
+
+    if siglist.as_ref().extension().map(|ext| ext == "zip").unwrap_or(false) {
+        let (paths, tempdir) = read_signatures_from_zip(&siglist)?;
+        temp_dir = Some(tempdir);
+        index_sigs = paths;
+    } else {
+        index_sigs = load_sketchlist_filenames(&siglist)?;
+    }
+
     info!("Loaded {} sig paths in siglist", index_sigs.len());
+    println!("Loaded {} sig paths in siglist", index_sigs.len());
 
     // Create or open the RevIndex database with the provided output path and colors flag
     let db = RevIndex::create(output.as_ref(), colors);
@@ -778,10 +818,13 @@ fn index<P: AsRef<Path>>(
     // Index the signatures using the loaded template, threshold, and save_paths option
     db.index(index_sigs, &template, 0.0, save_paths);
 
+    if let Some(temp_dir) = temp_dir {
+        temp_dir.close()?;
+    }
+
     Ok(())
 }
 
-
 fn check<P: AsRef<Path>>(index: P, quick: bool) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     info!("Opening DB");
     let db = RevIndex::open(index.as_ref(), true);
diff --git a/src/python/pyo3_branchwater/__init__.py b/src/python/pyo3_branchwater/__init__.py
index 3a96a4d6..f36c2577 100755
--- a/src/python/pyo3_branchwater/__init__.py
+++ b/src/python/pyo3_branchwater/__init__.py
@@ -173,7 +173,8 @@ def main(self, args):
 
         num_threads = set_thread_pool(args.cores)
 
-        notify(f"indexing all sketches in '{args.siglist}' using {num_threads} threads")
+        notify(f"indexing all sketches in '{args.siglist}'")
+
         super().main(args)
         status = pyo3_branchwater.do_index(args.siglist,
                                                 args.ksize,
@@ -221,13 +222,12 @@ def main(self, args):
 #                        help='scaled factor at which to do comparisons')
 #         p.add_argument('--save-paths', action='store_true',
 #                         help='save paths to signatures into index. Default: save full sig into index')
-        # p.add_argument('-c', '--cores', default=0, type=int,
-        #         help='number of cores to use (default is all available)')
+#        p.add_argument('-c', '--cores', default=0, type=int,
+#                         help='number of cores to use (default is all available)')
 
 #     def main(self, args):
 #         notify(f"ksize: {args.ksize} / scaled: {args.scaled} / threshold: {args.threshold}")
 #         num_threads = set_thread_pool(args.cores)
-
 #         notify(f"updating index with all sketches in '{args.siglist}'")
 #         super().main(args)
 #         status = pyo3_branchwater.do_update(args.siglist,