The fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes is an obligatory step in the self-eating process of autophagy. In this issue, Kumar et al. (2018. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201708039) identify a protein complex, the autophagosome recognition particle (ARP), that chaperones a key SNARE, syntaxin 17, to the autophagosome membrane. Intriguingly, this protein complex coordinates both delivery and membrane insertion as a prelude to fusion.