diff --git a/config.example.json b/config.example.json
index 196cea9..2646613 100644
--- a/config.example.json
+++ b/config.example.json
@@ -3,5 +3,7 @@
     "port": 6697,
     "nick": "chatgpt",
     "channels": ["#chatgpt"],
-    "openaiApiKey": "[redacted]"
+    "openaiApiKey": "[redacted]",
+    "initialSystemMessage": "You are a helpful assistant.",
+    "alwaysRemember": false
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 44fc318..d211187 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -4,12 +4,17 @@ const irc = require('irc');
 const axios = require('axios');
 const config = require('./config.json');
 
+const seed_messages = [{role: 'system', content: config.initialSystemMessage}];
+
 // context is a list of strings that are used to seed the chatgpt api and it's responses
 class Context {
-    messages = [];
-    currentLine = '';
+
     currentResponse = '';
 
+    constructor(messages = seed_messages) {
+        this.messages = messages;
+    }
+
     add_user_prompt(message) {
         this.messages.push({ role: 'user', content: message });
     }
@@ -18,41 +23,41 @@ class Context {
         this.messages.push({ role: 'assistant', content: message });
     }
 
-    append_to_line(message) {
-        this.currentLine += message;
-    }
-
-    end_line() {
-	const the_line = this.currentLine;
-        this.currentResponse += `${the_line}\n\n`;
-	this.currentLine = '';
-        return the_line;
+    end_line(line) {
+        this.currentResponse += `${line}\n\n`;
+        return line;
     }
 
     finish_current_response() {
         this.add_assistant_message(this.currentResponse);
-	const theLine = this.currentLine;
+        const theLine = this.currentLine;
         this.currentResponse = '';
-	this.currentLine = '';
+        this.save_history();
         return theLine;
     }
 
-    is_response_in_progress() {
-        return this.currentResponse !== '' || this.currentLine !== '';
+    save_history() {
+        const prettyData = JSON.stringify(this.messages, null, 2);
+        fs.writeFileSync('./messages.json', prettyData);
     }
 
-    peek_line() {
-	    return this.currentLine;
+    is_response_in_progress() {
+        return this.currentResponse !== '';
     }
 
     clear() {
         this.messages = [];
         this.currentResponse = '';
-	this.currentLine = '';
     }
 }
 
-const context = new Context();
+let context = new Context(savedMessages);
+if (fs.existsSync('./messages.json')) {
+    savedMessages = require('./messages.json');
+    context = new Context(savedMessages);
+} else {
+    context = new Context(seed_messages);
+}
 
 const client = new irc.Client(config.server, config.nick, {
     channels: config.channels,
@@ -60,101 +65,114 @@ const client = new irc.Client(config.server, config.nick, {
 
 // listen for messages that start with !chat and call the chatgpt api with a callback that prints the response line by line
 client.addListener('message', async (from, to, message) => {
-    is_chat_cmd = message.startsWith('!chat');
-    is_cont_cmd = message.startsWith('!cont');
+    let is_chat_cmd = message.startsWith('!chat');
+    let is_cont_cmd = message.startsWith('!cont');
+
     if (is_chat_cmd || is_cont_cmd) {
-        if(context.is_response_in_progress()) { return; }
-        if(is_chat_cmd) {
+        if (context.is_response_in_progress()) {
+            message(`(chat from ${from} ignored, response in progress)`)
+            return;
+        }
+        if(is_chat_cmd && !config.alwaysRemember) {
             context.clear();
         }
+        context.add_user_prompt(query);
         const query = message.slice(6);
-        chatgpt(query, (line) => {
-            client.say(to, line);
-        });
+        try {
+            await chatgpt(query, context.messages, handleChatGPTResponseLine);
+            context.finish_current_response();
+        } catch (e) {
+            console.log(e);
+            client.say(to, 'Error: ' + e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    function handleChatGPTResponseLine(line) {
+        context.end_line(line);
+        client.say(to, line);
     }
 });
 
 // function that calls the chatgpt streaming api (with server send events) and calls the callback function for each line
-async function chatgpt(query, callback) {
-    // a very primitive mutex to prevent multiple calls to the api at once
-    if(context.is_response_in_progress()) { return; }
-    context.add_user_prompt(query);
+function chatgpt(query, messages, callback) {
     const apiUrl = 'https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions';
-    let response = null;
-    try {
-	    response = await axios.post(apiUrl, {
-		    messages: context.messages,
-		    model: 'gpt-3.5-turbo',
-		    stream: true,
-	    }, {
-		    headers: {
-			    Authorization: `Bearer ${config.openaiApiKey}`,
-			    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-		    },
-		    responseType: 'stream',
-	    });
-    } catch(error) {
-	    if (error.response) {
-		    // The request was made and the server responded with a status code
-		    // that falls out of the range of 2xx
-		    console.log(error.toJSON());
-	    } else if (error.request) {
-		    // The request was made but no response was received
-		    // `error.request` is an instance of XMLHttpRequest in the browser and an instance of
-		    // http.ClientRequest in node.js
-		    console.log(error.request);
-	    } else {
-		    // Something happened in setting up the request that triggered an Error
-		    console.log('Error', error.message);
-	    }
-	    return;
-    }
+    let currentLine = '';
 
-    response.data.on('data', (event) => {
-        let data = event.toString();
-        let parts = data.split('\n');
-        // parse if starts with data:
-        for(part of parts) {
-            console.log(part);
-            if(part === 'data: [DONE]') {
-                callback(context.finish_current_response());
-            } else if(part.startsWith('data: ')) {
-                let jsonString = part.slice(part.indexOf('{'), part.lastIndexOf('}') + 1);
-                try {
-                    let json = JSON.parse(jsonString);
-                    let chunk = json.choices[0].delta.content;
-                    if (!chunk) {
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    //split the chunk into lines leaving the delimiter in the array
-                    const lines = chunk.split(/\r?\n/); // split by new lines
-
-                    let hasStartNewline = chunk.startsWith("\n");
-                    let hasEndNewline = chunk.endsWith("\n");
-
-                    if(hasStartNewline) {
-                        callback(context.end_line())
-                    }
-                    
-                    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length - 1; i++) {
-                        context.append_to_line(lines[i]);
-                        callback(context.end_line());
-                    }
-
-                    context.append_to_line(lines[lines.length - 1]);
-
-                    if(hasEndNewline) {
-                        callback(context.end_line());
-                    }
-
-                    if (context.peek_line().length > 400) {
-                        callback(context.end_line());
-                    }
-                } catch (e) {
-                    console.log(e);
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        axios.post(apiUrl, {
+            messages: messages,
+            model: 'gpt-3.5-turbo',
+            stream: true,
+        }, {
+            headers: {
+                Authorization: `Bearer ${config.openaiApiKey}`,
+                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+            },
+            responseType: 'stream',
+        }).then(response => {
+            response.data.on('data', (event) => {
+                let data = event.toString();
+                let parts = data.split('\n');
+                // parse if starts with data:
+                for (let part of parts) {
                     console.log(part);
+
+                    if (part === 'data: [DONE]') {
+                        callback(currentLine);
+                        resolve();
+                    } else if (part.startsWith('data: ')) {
+                        let jsonString = part.slice(part.indexOf('{'), part.lastIndexOf('}') + 1);
+
+                        try {
+                            let json = JSON.parse(jsonString);
+                            let chunk = json.choices[0].delta.content;
+
+                            if (!chunk) {
+                                continue;
+                            }
+
+                            const lines = chunk.split(/\r?\n/);
+                            let hasStartNewline = chunk.startsWith("\n");
+                            let hasEndNewline = chunk.endsWith("\n");
+
+                            if (hasStartNewline) {
+                                callback(currentLine);
+                                currentLine = '';
+                            }
+
+                            for (let i = 0; i < lines.length - 1; i++) {
+                                currentLine += lines[i];
+                                callback(currentLine);
+                                currentLine = '';
+                            }
+
+                            currentLine += lines[lines.length - 1];
+
+                            if (hasEndNewline) {
+                                callback(currentLine);
+                                currentLine = '';
+                            }
+
+                            if (currentLine.length > 400) {
+                                callback(currentLine);
+                                currentLine = '';
+                            }
+                        } catch (e) {
+                            console.log(e);
+                            console.log(part);
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
+            });
+        }).catch(error => {
+            if (error.response) {
+                console.log(error.toJSON());
+            } else if (error.request) {
+                console.log(error.request);
+            } else {
+                console.log('Error', error.message);
             }
-        }
+            reject(error);
+        });
     });
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file