diff --git a/hack/bats/tests/url-github.bats b/hack/bats/tests/url-github.bats
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b7b3163f9e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/bats/tests/url-github.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The Lima Authors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+load "../helpers/load"
+
+# The jandubois/jandubois GitHub repo has been especially constructed to test
+# various features of the github URL scheme:
+#
+# * repo defaults to org when not specified
+# * filename defaults to .lima.yaml when only a path is specified
+# * .yaml default extension
+# * .lima.yaml files may be treated as symlinks
+# * default branch lookup when not specified
+#
+# The repo files are:
+#
+# ├── .lima.yaml -> templates/demo.yaml
+# ├── docs
+# │   └── .lima.yaml -> ../templates/demo.yaml
+# └── templates
+#     └── demo.yaml
+#
+# Both the `main` branch and the `v0.0.0` tag have this layout.
+
+# All these URLs should redirect to the same template URL (either on "main" or at "v0.0.0"):
+# "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jandubois/jandubois/${tag}/templates/demo.yaml"
+URLS=(
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/templates/demo.yaml@main
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/templates/demo.yaml
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/templates/demo
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/.lima.yaml
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/@v0.0.0
+	github:jandubois/jandubois
+	github:jandubois//templates/demo.yaml@main
+	github:jandubois//templates/demo.yaml
+	github:jandubois//templates/demo
+	github:jandubois//.lima.yaml
+	github:jandubois//@v0.0.0
+	github:jandubois//
+	github:jandubois/
+	github:jandubois@v0.0.0
+	github:jandubois
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/docs/.lima.yaml@main
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/docs/.lima.yaml
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/docs/.lima
+	github:jandubois/jandubois/docs/
+	github:jandubois//docs/.lima.yaml@v0.0.0
+	github:jandubois//docs/.lima.yaml
+	github:jandubois//docs/.lima
+	github:jandubois//docs/@v0.0.0
+	github:jandubois//docs/
+)
+
+url() {
+	run_e "$1" limactl template url "$2"
+}
+
+test_jandubois_url() {
+	local url=$1
+	local tag="main"
+	if [[ $url == *v0.0.0* ]]; then
+		tag="v0.0.0"
+	fi
+
+	url -0 "$url"
+	assert_output "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jandubois/jandubois/${tag}/templates/demo.yaml"
+}
+
+# Dynamically register a @test for each URL in the list
+for url in "${URLS[@]}"; do
+	bats_test_function --description "$url" -- test_jandubois_url "$url"
+done
+
+@test '.lima.yaml is retained when it is not a symlink' {
+	url -0 'github:jandubois//test/'
+	assert_output 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jandubois/jandubois/main/test/.lima.yaml'
+}
+
+@test 'hidden files without an extension get a .yaml extension' {
+	url -0 'github:jandubois//test/.hidden'
+	assert_output 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jandubois/jandubois/main/test/.hidden.yaml'
+}
+
+@test 'files that have an extension do not get a .yaml extension' {
+	url -0 'github:jandubois//test/.script.sh'
+	assert_output 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jandubois/jandubois/main/test/.script.sh'
+}
+
+@test 'github: URLs are EXPERIMENTAL' {
+	url -0 'github:jandubois'
+	assert_stderr --regexp 'warning.+GitHub locator .* replaced with .* EXPERIMENTAL'
+}
+
+@test 'Empty github: url returns an error' {
+	url -1 'github:'
+	assert_fatal 'github: URL must contain at least an ORG, got ""'
+}
+
+@test 'Missing org returns an error' {
+	url -1 'github:/jandubois'
+	assert_fatal 'github: URL must contain at least an ORG, got ""'
+}
diff --git a/pkg/limatmpl/github.go b/pkg/limatmpl/github.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1a3191dc739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/limatmpl/github.go
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The Lima Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package limatmpl
+
+import (
+	"cmp"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// transformGitHubURL transforms a github: URL to a raw.githubusercontent.com URL.
+// Input format: ORG/REPO[/PATH][@BRANCH]
+//
+// If REPO is missing, it will be set the same as ORG.
+// If BRANCH is missing, it will be queried from GitHub.
+// If PATH filename has no extension, it will get .yaml.
+// If PATH is just a directory (trailing slash), it will be set to .lima.yaml
+// IF FILE is .lima.yaml and contents looks like a symlink, it will be replaced by the symlink target.
+func transformGitHubURL(ctx context.Context, input string) (string, error) {
+	// Check for explicit branch specification with @ at the end
+	var branch string
+	if idx := strings.LastIndex(input, "@"); idx != -1 {
+		branch = input[idx+1:]
+		input = input[:idx]
+	}
+
+	parts := strings.Split(input, "/")
+	for len(parts) < 2 {
+		parts = append(parts, "")
+	}
+
+	org := parts[0]
+	if org == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("github: URL must contain at least an ORG, got %q", input)
+	}
+
+	// If REPO is omitted (github:ORG or github:ORG//PATH), default it to ORG
+	repo := cmp.Or(parts[1], org)
+	pathPart := strings.Join(parts[2:], "/")
+
+	if pathPart == "" {
+		pathPart = ".lima.yaml"
+	} else {
+		// If path ends with /, it's a directory, so append .lima
+		if strings.HasSuffix(pathPart, "/") {
+			pathPart += ".lima"
+		}
+
+		// If the filename (excluding first char for hidden files) has no extension, add .yaml
+		filename := path.Base(pathPart)
+		if !strings.Contains(filename[1:], ".") {
+			pathPart += ".yaml"
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Query default branch if no branch was specified
+	if branch == "" {
+		var err error
+		branch, err = getGitHubDefaultBranch(ctx, org, repo)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get default branch for %s/%s: %w", org, repo, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// If filename is .lima.yaml, check if it's a symlink/redirect to another file
+	if path.Base(pathPart) == ".lima.yaml" {
+		if redirectPath, err := resolveGitHubSymlink(ctx, org, repo, branch, pathPart); err == nil {
+			pathPart = redirectPath
+		}
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/%s/%s/%s/%s", org, repo, branch, pathPart), nil
+}
+
+// getGitHubDefaultBranch queries the GitHub API to get the default branch for a repository.
+func getGitHubDefaultBranch(ctx context.Context, org, repo string) (string, error) {
+	apiURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://api.github.com/repos/%s/%s", org, repo)
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, apiURL, http.NoBody)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create request: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "lima")
+	req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/vnd.github.v3+json")
+
+	// Check for GitHub token in environment for authenticated requests (higher rate limit)
+	token := cmp.Or(os.Getenv("GH_TOKEN"), os.Getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN"))
+	if token != "" {
+		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "token "+token)
+	}
+
+	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to query GitHub API: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to read GitHub API response: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("GitHub API returned status %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
+	}
+
+	var repoData struct {
+		DefaultBranch string `json:"default_branch"`
+	}
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &repoData); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to parse GitHub API response: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if repoData.DefaultBranch == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("repository %s/%s has no default branch", org, repo)
+	}
+
+	return repoData.DefaultBranch, nil
+}
+
+// resolveGitHubSymlink checks if a file at the given path is a symlink/redirect to another file.
+// If the file contains a single line without YAML content, it's treated as a path to the actual file.
+// Returns the redirect path if found, or the original path otherwise.
+func resolveGitHubSymlink(ctx context.Context, org, repo, branch, filePath string) (string, error) {
+	url := fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/%s/%s/%s/%s", org, repo, branch, filePath)
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, url, http.NoBody)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create request: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "lima")
+
+	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("file not found or inaccessible: status %d", resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+
+	// Read first 1KB to check the file content
+	buf := make([]byte, 1024)
+	n, err := resp.Body.Read(buf)
+	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to read file content: %w", err)
+	}
+	content := string(buf[:n])
+
+	// A symlink must be a single line (without trailing newline), no spaces, no colons
+	if !(content == "" || strings.ContainsAny(content, "\n :")) {
+		// symlink is relative to the directory of filePath
+		return path.Join(path.Dir(filePath), content), nil
+	}
+	return filePath, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/limatmpl/locator.go b/pkg/limatmpl/locator.go
index 5627b087dfd..d9a4e19f595 100644
--- a/pkg/limatmpl/locator.go
+++ b/pkg/limatmpl/locator.go
@@ -312,6 +312,15 @@ func TransformCustomURL(ctx context.Context, locator string) (string, error) {
 		return newLocator, nil
 	}
 
+	if u.Scheme == "github" {
+		newLocator, err := transformGitHubURL(ctx, u.Opaque)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		logrus.Warnf("GitHub locator %q replaced with %q is still EXPERIMENTAL", locator, newLocator)
+		return newLocator, nil
+	}
+
 	plugin, err := plugins.Find("url-" + u.Scheme)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err