diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/clients/clients.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/clients/clients.go
index aca2fa3..0207a5f 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/clients/clients.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/clients/clients.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/plugin"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/types"
 	"net/url"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 )
 
@@ -155,6 +156,30 @@ func (c *Clients) newClient(config types.ClientConfig) (*matrix.Client, error) {
 		plugin.OnMessage(plugins, client, event)
 	})
 
+	client.Worker.OnEventType("m.room.bot.options", func(event *matrix.Event) {
+		// see if these options are for us. The state key is the user ID with a leading _
+		// to get around restrictions in the HS about having user IDs as state keys.
+		targetUserID := strings.TrimPrefix(event.StateKey, "_")
+		if targetUserID != client.UserID {
+			return
+		}
+		// these options fully clobber what was there previously.
+		opts := types.BotOptions{
+			UserID:      client.UserID,
+			RoomID:      event.RoomID,
+			SetByUserID: event.Sender,
+			Options:     event.Content,
+		}
+		if _, err := c.db.StoreBotOptions(opts); err != nil {
+			log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+				log.ErrorKey:     err,
+				"room_id":        event.RoomID,
+				"bot_user_id":    client.UserID,
+				"set_by_user_id": event.Sender,
+			}).Error("Failed to persist bot options")
+		}
+	})
+
 	if config.AutoJoinRooms {
 		client.Worker.OnEventType("m.room.member", func(event *matrix.Event) {
 			if event.StateKey != config.UserID {
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/db.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/db.go
index 07a29b8..e650471 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/db.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/db.go
@@ -194,6 +194,33 @@ func (d *ServiceDB) LoadAuthSessionByID(realmID, sessionID string) (session type
 	return
 }
 
+// LoadBotOptions loads bot options from the database.
+// Returns sql.ErrNoRows if the bot options isn't in the database.
+func (d *ServiceDB) LoadBotOptions(userID, roomID string) (opts types.BotOptions, err error) {
+	err = runTransaction(d.db, func(txn *sql.Tx) error {
+		opts, err = selectBotOptionsTxn(txn, userID, roomID)
+		return err
+	})
+	return
+}
+
+// StoreBotOptions stores a BotOptions into the database either by inserting a new
+// bot options or updating an existing bot options. Returns the old bot options if there
+// was one.
+func (d *ServiceDB) StoreBotOptions(opts types.BotOptions) (oldOpts types.BotOptions, err error) {
+	err = runTransaction(d.db, func(txn *sql.Tx) error {
+		oldOpts, err = selectBotOptionsTxn(txn, opts.UserID, opts.RoomID)
+		if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+			return insertBotOptionsTxn(txn, time.Now(), opts)
+		} else if err != nil {
+			return err
+		} else {
+			return updateBotOptionsTxn(txn, time.Now(), opts)
+		}
+	})
+	return
+}
+
 func runTransaction(db *sql.DB, fn func(txn *sql.Tx) error) (err error) {
 	txn, err := db.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/schema.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/schema.go
index 6b48eb0..f17db68 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/schema.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/database/schema.go
@@ -48,6 +48,16 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS auth_sessions (
 	UNIQUE(realm_id, user_id),
 	UNIQUE(realm_id, session_id)
 );
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS bot_options (
+	user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+	room_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+	set_by_user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+	bot_options_json TEXT NOT NULL,
+	time_added_ms BIGINT NOT NULL,
+	time_updated_ms BIGINT NOT NULL,
+	UNIQUE(user_id, room_id)
+);
 `
 
 const selectMatrixClientConfigSQL = `
@@ -370,3 +380,48 @@ func updateAuthSessionTxn(txn *sql.Tx, now time.Time, session types.AuthSession)
 	)
 	return err
 }
+
+const selectBotOptionsSQL = `
+SELECT bot_options_json, set_by_user_id FROM bot_options WHERE user_id = $1 AND room_id = $2
+`
+
+func selectBotOptionsTxn(txn *sql.Tx, userID, roomID string) (opts types.BotOptions, err error) {
+	var optionsJSON []byte
+	err = txn.QueryRow(selectBotOptionsSQL, userID, roomID).Scan(&optionsJSON, &opts.SetByUserID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(optionsJSON, &opts.Options)
+	return
+}
+
+const insertBotOptionsSQL = `
+INSERT INTO bot_options(
+	user_id, room_id, bot_options_json, set_by_user_id, time_added_ms, time_updated_ms
+) VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6)
+`
+
+func insertBotOptionsTxn(txn *sql.Tx, now time.Time, opts types.BotOptions) error {
+	t := now.UnixNano() / 1000000
+	optsJSON, err := json.Marshal(&opts.Options)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = txn.Exec(insertBotOptionsSQL, opts.UserID, opts.RoomID, optsJSON, opts.SetByUserID, t, t)
+	return err
+}
+
+const updateBotOptionsSQL = `
+UPDATE bot_options SET bot_options_json = $1, set_by_user_id = $2, time_updated_ms = $3
+	WHERE user_id = $4 AND room_id = $5
+`
+
+func updateBotOptionsTxn(txn *sql.Tx, now time.Time, opts types.BotOptions) error {
+	t := now.UnixNano() / 1000000
+	optsJSON, err := json.Marshal(&opts.Options)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = txn.Exec(updateBotOptionsSQL, optsJSON, opts.SetByUserID, t, opts.UserID, opts.RoomID)
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/github/github.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/github/github.go
index 6bbac29..b038174 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/github/github.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/services/github/github.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package services
 
 import (
+	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/google/go-github/github"
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 // Matches alphanumeric then a /, then more alphanumeric then a #, then a number.
 // E.g. owner/repo#11 (issue/PR numbers) - Captured groups for owner/repo/number
-var ownerRepoIssueRegex = regexp.MustCompile("([A-z0-9-_]+)/([A-z0-9-_]+)#([0-9]+)")
+var ownerRepoIssueRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(([A-z0-9-_]+)/([A-z0-9-_]+))?#([0-9]+)`)
 
 type githubService struct {
 	id                 string
@@ -62,9 +63,19 @@ func (s *githubService) cmdGithubCreate(roomID, userID string, args []string) (i
 		}, nil
 	}
 
-	if len(args) < 2 {
-		return &matrix.TextMessage{"m.notice",
-			`Usage: !github create owner/repo "issue title" "description"`}, nil
+	// We expect the args to look like:
+	// [ "owner/repo", "title text", "desc text" ]
+	// They can omit the owner/repo if there is a default one set.
+
+	if len(args) < 2 || strings.Count(args[0], "/") != 1 {
+		// look for a default repo
+		defaultRepo := s.defaultRepo(roomID)
+		if defaultRepo == "" {
+			return &matrix.TextMessage{"m.notice",
+				`Usage: !github create owner/repo "issue title" "description"`}, nil
+		}
+		// insert the default as the first arg to reuse the same code path
+		args = append([]string{defaultRepo}, args...)
 	}
 
 	var (
@@ -101,31 +112,15 @@ func (s *githubService) cmdGithubCreate(roomID, userID string, args []string) (i
 	return matrix.TextMessage{"m.notice", fmt.Sprintf("Created issue: %s", *issue.HTMLURL)}, nil
 }
 
-func (s *githubService) expandIssue(roomID, userID string, matchingGroups []string) interface{} {
-	if !s.HandleExpansions {
-		return nil
-	}
-	// matchingGroups => ["foo/bar#11", "foo", "bar", "11"]
-	if len(matchingGroups) != 4 {
-		log.WithField("groups", matchingGroups).Print("Unexpected number of groups")
-		return nil
-	}
-	num, err := strconv.Atoi(matchingGroups[3])
-	if err != nil {
-		log.WithField("issue_number", matchingGroups[3]).Print("Bad issue number")
-		return nil
-	}
-	owner := matchingGroups[1]
-	repo := matchingGroups[2]
-
+func (s *githubService) expandIssue(roomID, userID, owner, repo string, issueNum int) interface{} {
 	cli := s.githubClientFor(userID, true)
 
-	i, _, err := cli.Issues.Get(owner, repo, num)
+	i, _, err := cli.Issues.Get(owner, repo, issueNum)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.WithError(err).WithFields(log.Fields{
 			"owner":  owner,
 			"repo":   repo,
-			"number": num,
+			"number": issueNum,
 		}).Print("Failed to fetch issue")
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -150,7 +145,47 @@ func (s *githubService) Plugin(roomID string) plugin.Plugin {
 			plugin.Expansion{
 				Regexp: ownerRepoIssueRegex,
 				Expand: func(roomID, userID string, matchingGroups []string) interface{} {
-					return s.expandIssue(roomID, userID, matchingGroups)
+					if !s.HandleExpansions {
+						return nil
+					}
+					// There's an optional group in the regex so matchingGroups can look like:
+					// [foo/bar#55 foo/bar foo bar 55]
+					// [#55                        55]
+					if len(matchingGroups) != 5 {
+						log.WithField("groups", matchingGroups).WithField("len", len(matchingGroups)).Print(
+							"Unexpected number of groups",
+						)
+						return nil
+					}
+					if matchingGroups[1] == "" && matchingGroups[2] == "" && matchingGroups[3] == "" {
+						// issue only match, this only works if there is a default repo
+						defaultRepo := s.defaultRepo(roomID)
+						if defaultRepo == "" {
+							return nil
+						}
+						segs := strings.Split(defaultRepo, "/")
+						if len(segs) != 2 {
+							log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+								"room_id":      roomID,
+								"default_repo": defaultRepo,
+							}).Error("Default repo is malformed")
+							return nil
+						}
+						// Fill in the missing fields in matching groups and fall through into ["foo/bar#11", "foo", "bar", "11"]
+						matchingGroups = []string{
+							defaultRepo + matchingGroups[0],
+							defaultRepo,
+							segs[0],
+							segs[1],
+							matchingGroups[4],
+						}
+					}
+					num, err := strconv.Atoi(matchingGroups[4])
+					if err != nil {
+						log.WithField("issue_number", matchingGroups[4]).Print("Bad issue number")
+						return nil
+					}
+					return s.expandIssue(roomID, userID, matchingGroups[2], matchingGroups[3], num)
 				},
 			},
 		},
@@ -285,6 +320,36 @@ func (s *githubService) Register(oldService types.Service, client *matrix.Client
 	return nil
 }
 
+// defaultRepo returns the default repo for the given room, or an empty string.
+func (s *githubService) defaultRepo(roomID string) string {
+	logger := log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+		"room_id":     roomID,
+		"bot_user_id": s.serviceUserID,
+	})
+	opts, err := database.GetServiceDB().LoadBotOptions(s.serviceUserID, roomID)
+	if err != nil {
+		if err != sql.ErrNoRows {
+			logger.WithError(err).Error("Failed to load bot options")
+		}
+		return ""
+	}
+	// Expect opts to look like:
+	// { github: { default_repo: $OWNER_REPO } }
+	ghOpts, ok := opts.Options["github"].(map[string]interface{})
+	if !ok {
+		logger.WithField("options", opts.Options).Error("Failed to cast bot options as github options")
+		return ""
+	}
+	defaultRepo, ok := ghOpts["default_repo"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		logger.WithField("default_repo", ghOpts["default_repo"]).Error(
+			"Failed to cast default repo as a string",
+		)
+		return ""
+	}
+	return defaultRepo
+}
+
 func (s *githubService) joinWebhookRooms(client *matrix.Client) error {
 	for roomID := range s.Rooms {
 		if _, err := client.JoinRoom(roomID, "", ""); err != nil {
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/types/types.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/types/types.go
index 2f36ce6..3640543 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/types/types.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/go-neb/types/types.go
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ func (c *ClientConfig) Check() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// BotOptions for a given bot user in a given room
+type BotOptions struct {
+	RoomID      string
+	UserID      string
+	SetByUserID string
+	Options     map[string]interface{}
+}
+
 // A Service is the configuration for a bot service.
 type Service interface {
 	ServiceUserID() string