diff --git a/src/botservice.js b/src/botservice.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1672ea2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/botservice.js
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+const continueThread = require('./openai-thread-completion').continueThread
+const { Log } = require('debug-level')
+
+require('babel-polyfill');
+require('isomorphic-fetch');
+const { mmClient, wsClient } = require('./mm-client')
+
+// the mattermost library uses FormData - so here is a polyfill
+if (!global.FormData) {
+    global.FormData = require('form-data');
+}
+
+Log.options({ json: true, colors: true })
+Log.wrapConsole('bot-ws', { level4log: 'INFO' })
+const log = new Log('bot')
+
+let meId = null;
+mmClient.getMe().then(me => meId = me.id)
+
+const name = process.env['MATTERMOST_BOTNAME'] || '@dall-e'
+
+wsClient.addMessageListener(async function (event) {
+    if (['posted'].includes(event.event) && meId) {
+        const post = JSON.parse(event.data.post);
+        if (post.root_id === "" && (!event.data.mentions || (!JSON.parse(event.data.mentions).includes(meId)))) {
+            // we're not in a thread and we are not mentioned - ignore the message
+        } else {
+            if (post.user_id !== meId) {
+                const chatmessages = [
+                    {
+                        "role": "system",
+                        "content": `You are a helpful assistant named ${name} who provides succinct answers in Markdown format.`
+                    },
+                ]
+
+                let appendDiagramInstructions = false
+
+                const thread = await mmClient.getPostThread(post.id, true, false, true)
+
+                const posts = [...new Set(thread.order)].map(id => thread.posts[id])
+                    .filter(a => a.create_at > Date.now() - 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 1)
+                    .sort((a, b) => a.create_at - b.create_at)
+
+                let assistantCount = 0;
+                posts.forEach(threadPost => {
+                    log.trace({msg: threadPost})
+                    if (threadPost.user_id === meId) {
+                        chatmessages.push({role: "assistant", content: threadPost.props.originalMessage ?? threadPost.message})
+                        assistantCount++
+                    } else {
+                        if (threadPost.message.includes(name)){
+                            assistantCount++;
+                        }
+                        chatmessages.push({role: "user", content: threadPost.message})
+                    }
+                })
+
+                // see if we are actually part of the conversation -
+                // ignore conversations where we were never mentioned or participated.
+                if (assistantCount > 0){
+                    wsClient.userTyping(post.channel_id, post.id ?? "")
+                    log.trace({chatmessages})
+                    const answer = await continueThread(chatmessages)
+                    log.trace({answer})
+                    wsClient.userTyping(post.channel_id, post.id  ?? "")
+                    const newPost = await mmClient.createPost({
+                        message: message,
+                        channel_id: post.channel_id,
+                        props,
+                        root_id: post.root_id || post.id,
+                        file_ids: fileId ? [fileId] : undefined
+                    })
+                    log.trace({msg: newPost})
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    } else {
+        log.debug({msg: event})
+    }
+});
+
+
+
diff --git a/src/mm-client.js b/src/mm-client.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abb3820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mm-client.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+const Client4 = require('@mattermost/client').Client4
+const WebSocketClient = require('@mattermost/client').WebSocketClient
+const { Log } = require('debug-level')
+const log = new Log('bot')
+
+if (!global.WebSocket) {
+  global.WebSocket = require('ws');
+}
+
+const mattermostToken = process.env['MATTERMOST_TOKEN']
+const matterMostURLString = process.env['MATTERMOST_URL']
+
+const client = new Client4()
+client.setUrl(matterMostURLString)
+client.setToken(mattermostToken)
+
+const wsClient = new WebSocketClient();
+let matterMostURL = new URL(matterMostURLString);
+const wsUrl = `${matterMostURL.protocol === 'https:' ? 'wss' : 'ws'}://${matterMostURL.host}/api/v4/websocket`
+
+new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+  wsClient.addCloseListener(connectFailCount => reject())
+  wsClient.addErrorListener(event => { reject(event) })
+}).then(() => process.exit(0)).catch(reason => { log.error(reason); process.exit(-1)})
+
+wsClient.initialize(wsUrl, mattermostToken)
+
+module.exports = {
+  mmClient: client,
+  wsClient
+}
diff --git a/src/openai-thread-completion.js b/src/openai-thread-completion.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98b4b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/openai-thread-completion.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+const { Configuration, OpenAIApi } = require("openai");
+const configuration = new Configuration({
+    apiKey: process.env["OPENAI_API_KEY"]
+});
+const openai = new OpenAIApi(configuration);
+
+const model = process.env["OPENAI_MODEL_NAME"] ?? 'image-alpha-001'
+const max_tokens = Number(process.env["OPENAI_MAX_TOKENS"] ?? 2000)
+
+async function continueThread(messages) {
+    const response = await openai.generateImage({
+        prompt: messages,
+        model,
+        n: 1,
+		size: "512x512",
+		response_format: "b64_json",
+    });
+    return response.json?.data?.choices?.[0]?.message?.content
+}
+
+module.exports = { continueThread }