diff --git a/src/async.lua b/src/async.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..302de62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/async.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+local function register_controller_handler(workspace, target, controller, handler, delay)
+	local async = vim.loop.new_async(function()
+		while true do
+			local success, event = pcall(controller.try_recv, controller)
+			if success then
+				if event == nil then break end
+				vim.schedule(function()
+					local ok, res = pcall(handler, event)
+					if not ok then
+						print(" !! error running callback handler: " .. res)
+					end
+				end)
+			else
+				print("error receiving: deadlocked?")
+			end
+		end
+	end)
+	-- TODO controller can't be passed to the uvloop new_thread: when sent to the new 
+	--  Lua runtime it "loses" its methods defined with mlua, making the userdata object 
+	--  completely useless. We can circumvent this by requiring codemp again in the new 
+	--  thread and requesting a new reference to the same controller from che global instance
+	-- NOTE variables prefixed with underscore live in another Lua runtime
+	vim.loop.new_thread({}, function(_async, _workspace, _target, _delay)
+		local _codemp = require("codemp.loader")() -- TODO maybe make a native.load() idk
+		local _ws = _codemp.get_workspace(_workspace)
+		local _controller = _target ~= nil and _ws:get_buffer(_target) or _ws.cursor
+		while true do
+			local success, _ = pcall(_controller.poll, _controller)
+			if success then
+				_async:send()
+				if _delay ~= nil then vim.loop.sleep(_delay) end
+			else
+				local my_name = "cursor"
+				if _target ~= nil then
+					my_name = "buffer(" .. _target .. ")"
+				end
+				print(" -- stopping " .. my_name .. " controller poller")
+				break
+			end
+		end
+	end, async, workspace, target, delay)
+end
+
+return {
+	handler = register_controller_handler,
+}
diff --git a/src/buffer.lua b/src/buffer.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1d166b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/buffer.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+local native = require('codemp.loader')()
+
+local utils = require('codemp.utils')
+local async = require('codemp.async')
+
+local id_buffer_map = {}
+local buffer_id_map = {}
+local ticks = {}
+
+local function create(workspace, name, content)
+	native.get_workspace(workspace):create_buffer(name, content)
+	print(" ++ created buffer '" .. name .. "' on " .. workspace)
+end
+
+local function attach(workspace, name, force)
+	local buffer = nil
+	if force then
+		buffer = vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf()
+		utils.buffer.set_content(buffer, "")
+	else
+		buffer = vim.api.nvim_create_buf(true, true)
+		vim.api.nvim_buf_set_option(buffer, 'fileformat', 'unix')
+		-- vim.api.nvim_buf_set_option(buffer, 'filetype', 'codemp') -- TODO get from codemp?
+		vim.api.nvim_buf_set_name(buffer, "codemp::" .. name)
+		vim.api.nvim_set_current_buf(buffer)
+	end
+	local controller = native.get_workspace(workspace):attach_buffer(name)
+
+	-- TODO map name to uuid
+
+	id_buffer_map[buffer] = name
+	buffer_id_map[name] = buffer
+	ticks[buffer] = 0
+
+	-- hook serverbound callbacks
+	-- TODO breaks when deleting whole lines at buffer end
+	vim.api.nvim_buf_attach(buffer, false, {
+		on_bytes = function(_, buf, tick, start_row, start_col, start_offset, old_end_row, old_end_col, old_end_byte_len, new_end_row, new_end_col, new_byte_len)
+			if tick <= ticks[buf] then return end
+			if id_buffer_map[buf] == nil then return true end -- unregister callback handler
+			-- local content = table.concat(
+			-- 	vim.api.nvim_buf_get_text(buf, start_row, start_col, start_row + new_end_row, start_col + new_end_col, {}),
+			-- 	'\n'
+			-- )
+			-- print(string.format("%s %s %s %s -- '%s'", start_row, start_col, start_row + new_end_row, start_col + new_end_col, content))
+			-- controller:send(start_offset, start_offset + old_end_byte_len, content)
+			controller:send_diff(utils.buffer.get_content(buf))
+		end,
+	})
+
+	-- This is an ugly as hell fix: basically we receive all operations real fast at the start
+	--  so the buffer changes rapidly and it messes up tracking our delta/diff state and we 
+	--  get borked translated TextChanges (the underlying CRDT is fine)
+	-- basically delay a bit so that it has time to sync and we can then get "normal slow" changes
+	-- vim.loop.sleep(200) -- moved inside poller thread to at least not block ui
+
+	-- hook clientbound callbacks
+	async.handler(workspace, name, controller, function(event)
+		ticks[buffer] = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_changedtick(buffer)
+		local before = utils.buffer.get_content(buffer)
+		local after = event:apply(before)
+		utils.buffer.set_content(buffer, after)
+		-- buffer_set_content(buffer, event.content, event.first, event.last)
+		-- buffer_replace_content(buffer, event.first, event.last, event.content)
+	end, 20) -- wait 20ms before polling again because it overwhelms libuv?
+
+	print(" ++ attached to buffer " .. name)
+end
+
+local function detach(workspace, name)
+	local buffer = buffer_id_map[name]
+	id_buffer_map[buffer] = nil
+	buffer_id_map[name] = nil
+	native.get_workspace(workspace):disconnect_buffer(name)
+	vim.api.nvim_buf_delete(buffer, {})
+
+	print(" -- detached from buffer " .. name)
+end
+
+local function sync(workspace)
+	local buffer = vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf()
+	local name = id_buffer_map[buffer]
+	if name ~= nil then
+		local controller = native.get_workspace(workspace):get_buffer(name)
+		ticks[buffer] = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_changedtick(buffer)
+		utils.buffer.set_content(buffer, controller.content)
+		print(" :: synched buffer " .. name)
+	else
+		print(" !! buffer not managed")
+	end
+end
+
+
+return {
+	create = create,
+	sync = sync,
+	attach = attach,
+	detach = detach,
+	map = id_buffer_map,
+	map_rev = buffer_id_map,
+	ticks = ticks,
+}
diff --git a/src/client.lua b/src/client.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a908b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+local native = require('codemp.loader')()
+
+
+local function login(username, password, workspace)
+	native.login(username, password, workspace)
+	print(" ++ logged in as '" .. username .. "' on " .. workspace)
+end
+
+return {
+	login = login,
+}
diff --git a/src/init.lua b/src/init.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3323580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/init.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+local native = require('codemp.loader')() -- make sure we can load the native library correctly, otherwise no point going forward
+
+local client = require('codemp.client')
+local buffers = require('codemp.buffer')
+local workspace = require('codemp.workspace')
+
+-- TODO nvim docs say that we should stop all threads before exiting nvim
+--  but we like to live dangerously (:
+vim.loop.new_thread({}, function()
+	vim.loop.sleep(500) -- sleep a bit leaving user config time to override logger opts
+	local _codemp = require('codemp.loader')()
+	local logger = _codemp.setup_tracing()
+	while true do
+		print(logger:recv())
+	end
+end)
+
+local active_workspace = nil -- TODO dont use a single global one!!!
+
+local function filter(needle, haystack)
+	local hints = {}
+	for _, opt in pairs(haystack) do
+		if vim.startswith(opt, needle) then
+			table.insert(hints, opt)
+		end
+	end
+	return hints
+end
+
+vim.api.nvim_create_user_command(
+	"MP",
+	function (args)
+		if args.fargs[1] == "login" then
+			client.login(args.fargs[2], args.fargs[3], args.fargs[4])
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "create" then
+			if #args.fargs < 2 then error("missing buffer name") end
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			buffers.create(active_workspace, args.fargs[2])
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "join" then
+			if #args.fargs < 2 then error("missing workspace name") end
+			active_workspace = args.fargs[2]
+			workspace.join(active_workspace)
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "attach" then
+			if #args.fargs < 2 then error("missing buffer name") end
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			buffers.attach(active_workspace, args.fargs[2], args.bang)
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "sync" then
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			buffers.sync(active_workspace)
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "buffers" then
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			workspace.buffers(active_workspace)
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "users" then
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			workspace.users(active_workspace)
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "detach" then
+			if #args.fargs < 2 then error("missing buffer name") end
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			buffers.detach(active_workspace, args.fargs[2])
+		elseif args.fargs[1] == "leave" then
+			if active_workspace == nil then error("connect to a workspace first") end
+			workspace.leave()
+			active_workspace = nil
+		end
+	end,
+	{
+		nargs = "+",
+		complete = function (lead, cmd, _pos)
+			local args = vim.split(cmd, " ", { plain = true, trimempty = false })
+			local stage = #args
+			if stage == 1 then
+				return { "MP" }
+			elseif stage == 2 then
+				return filter(lead, {'login', 'create', 'join', 'attach', 'sync', 'buffers', 'users', 'detach', 'leave'})
+			elseif stage == 3 then
+				if args[#args-1] == 'attach' or args[#args-1] == 'detach' then
+					if active_workspace ~= nil then
+						local ws = native.get_workspace(active_workspace)
+						if ws ~= nil then
+							return filter(lead, ws.filetree)
+						end
+					end
+				end
+
+				return {}
+			end
+		end,
+	}
+)
+
+return {
+	native = native,
+	client = client,
+	buffers = buffers,
+	workspace = workspace,
+	utils = require('codemp.utils'),
+	async = require('codemp.async'),
+}
diff --git a/src/loader.lua b/src/loader.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fb3f54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/loader.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+-- TODO check for platform? download it? check for updates?
+local function loader()
+	return require("libcodemp")
+end
+
+return loader
diff --git a/src/utils.lua b/src/utils.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96ac014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+local function split_without_trim(str, sep)
+	local res = vim.fn.split(str, sep)
+	if str:sub(1,1) == "\n" then
+		table.insert(res, 1, '')
+	end
+	if str:sub(-1) == "\n" then
+		table.insert(res, '')
+	end
+	return res
+end
+
+local function order_tuples(x) -- TODO send help...
+	if x[1][1] < x[2][1] then
+		return { { x[1][1], x[1][2] }, { x[2][1], x[2][2] } }
+	elseif x[1][1] > x[2][1] then
+		return { { x[2][1], x[2][2] }, { x[1][1], x[1][2] } }
+	elseif x[1][2] < x[2][2] then
+		return { { x[1][1], x[1][2] }, { x[2][1], x[2][2] } }
+	else
+		return { { x[2][1], x[2][2] }, { x[1][1], x[1][2] } }
+	end
+end
+
+local function cursor_position()
+	local mode = vim.api.nvim_get_mode().mode
+	if mode == "v" then
+		local _, ls, cs = unpack(vim.fn.getpos('v'))
+		local _, le, ce = unpack(vim.fn.getpos('.'))
+		return order_tuples({ { ls-1, cs-1 }, { le-1, ce } })
+	elseif mode == "V" then
+		local _, ls, _ = unpack(vim.fn.getpos('v'))
+		local _, le, _ = unpack(vim.fn.getpos('.'))
+		if le > ls then
+			local ce = vim.fn.strlen(vim.fn.getline(le))
+			return { { ls-1, 0 }, { le-1, ce } }
+		else
+			local ce = vim.fn.strlen(vim.fn.getline(ls))
+			return { { le-1, 0 }, { ls-1, ce } }
+		end
+	else
+		local win = vim.api.nvim_get_current_win()
+		local cur = vim.api.nvim_win_get_cursor(win)
+		return order_tuples({ { cur[1]-1, cur[2] }, { cur[1]-1, cur[2]+1 } })
+	end
+end
+
+local function buffer_get_content(buf)
+	if buf == nil then
+		buf = vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf()
+	end
+	local lines = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_lines(buf, 0, -1, false)
+	return table.concat(lines, '\n')
+end
+
+local function buffer_set_content(buf, content, first, last)
+	if first == nil and last == nil then
+		local lines = split_without_trim(content, "\n")
+		vim.api.nvim_buf_set_lines(buf, 0, -1, false, lines)
+	else
+		-- TODO there is no api equivalent of byte2line afaik!
+		--      this is theoretically a big deal because we can only
+		--      operate on current buffer, but in practice we may only
+		--      really change the currently active buffer so this
+		--      may not matter
+		local first_row = vim.fn.byte2line(first + 1) - 1
+		local first_col = first - vim.api.nvim_buf_get_offset(buf, first_row)
+		local last_row = vim.fn.byte2line(last + 1) - 1
+		local last_col = last - vim.api.nvim_buf_get_offset(buf, last_row)
+		vim.api.nvim_buf_set_text(
+			buf, first_row, first_col, last_row, last_col,
+			split_without_trim(content, "\n")
+		)
+	end
+end
+
+local function buffer_replace_content(buffer, first, last, content)
+	-- TODO send help it works but why is lost knowledge
+	local start_row = vim.fn.byte2line(first + 1) - 1
+	if start_row < 0 then start_row = 0 end
+	local start_row_byte = vim.fn.line2byte(start_row + 1) - 1
+	if start_row_byte < 0 then start_row_byte = 0 end
+	local end_row = vim.fn.byte2line(last + 1) - 1
+	if end_row < 0 then end_row = 0 end
+	local end_row_byte = vim.fn.line2byte(end_row + 1) - 1
+	if end_row_byte < 0 then end_row_byte = 0 end
+	vim.api.nvim_buf_set_text(
+		buffer,
+		start_row,
+		first - start_row_byte,
+		end_row,
+		last - end_row_byte,
+		vim.fn.split(content, '\n', true)
+	)
+end
+
+local function multiline_highlight(buf, ns, group, start, fini)
+	for i=start.row,fini.row do
+		if i == start.row and i == fini.row then
+			local fini_col = fini.col
+			if start.col == fini.col then fini_col = fini_col + 1 end
+			vim.api.nvim_buf_add_highlight(buf, ns, group, i, start.col, fini_col)
+		elseif i == start.row then
+			vim.api.nvim_buf_add_highlight(buf, ns, group, i, start.col, -1)
+		elseif i == fini.row then
+			vim.api.nvim_buf_add_highlight(buf, ns, group, i, 0, fini.col)
+		else
+			vim.api.nvim_buf_add_highlight(buf, ns, group, i, 0, -1)
+		end
+	end
+end
+
+
+return {
+	split_without_trim = split_without_trim,
+	order_tuples = order_tuples,
+	multiline_highlight = multiline_highlight,
+	cursor = {
+		position = cursor_position,
+	},
+	buffer = {
+		get_content = buffer_get_content,
+		set_content = buffer_set_content,
+		replace_content = buffer_replace_content,
+	},
+}
diff --git a/src/workspace.lua b/src/workspace.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de2642a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/workspace.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+local native = require('codemp.loader')()
+
+local utils = require('codemp.utils')
+local buffers = require('codemp.buffer')
+local async = require('codemp.async')
+
+local user_hl = {}
+local available_colors = { -- TODO these are definitely not portable!
+	"ErrorMsg",
+	"WarningMsg",
+	"MatchParen",
+	"SpecialMode",
+	"CmpItemKindFunction",
+	"CmpItemKindValue",
+	"CmpItemKindInterface",
+}
+
+local function register_cursor_callback(controller, workspace, buffer)
+	vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({"CursorMoved", "CursorMovedI", "ModeChanged"}, {
+		group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup("codemp-workspace-" .. workspace, { clear = true }),
+		callback = function (_)
+			local cur = utils.cursor.position()
+			local buf = buffer or vim.api.nvim_get_current_buf()
+			if buffers.map[buf] ~= nil then
+				controller:send(buffers.map[buf], cur[1][1], cur[1][2], cur[2][1], cur[2][2])
+			end
+		end
+	})
+end
+
+local function register_cursor_handler(controller, workspace)
+	async.handler(workspace, nil, controller, function(event)
+		if user_hl[event.user] == nil then
+			user_hl[event.user] = {
+				ns = vim.api.nvim_create_namespace("codemp-cursor-" .. event.user),
+				hi = available_colors[ math.random( #available_colors ) ],
+			}
+		end
+		local buffer = buffers.map_rev[event.position.buffer]
+		if buffer ~= nil then
+			vim.api.nvim_buf_clear_namespace(buffer, user_hl[event.user].ns, 0, -1)
+			utils.multiline_highlight(
+				buffer,
+				user_hl[event.user].ns,
+				user_hl[event.user].hi,
+				event.position.start,
+				event.position.finish
+			)
+		end
+	end, 20)
+end
+
+local function join(workspace)
+	local controller = native.join_workspace(workspace)
+	register_cursor_callback(controller, workspace)
+	register_cursor_handler(controller, workspace)
+	print(" ++ joined workspace " .. workspace)
+end
+
+local function leave()
+	native.leave_workspace()
+	print(" -- left workspace")
+end
+
+local function list_users(workspace)
+	local workspace = native.get_workspace(workspace)
+	for _, buffer in ipairs(workspace.users) do
+		print(" - " .. buffer)
+	end
+end
+
+local function list_buffers(workspace)
+	local workspace = native.get_workspace(workspace)
+	for _, buffer in ipairs(workspace.filetree) do
+		print(" > " .. buffer)
+	end
+end
+
+return {
+	join = join,
+	leave = leave,
+	buffers = list_buffers,
+	users = list_users,
+	map = user_hl,
+	colors = available_colors,
+}