diff --git a/clients/nntp_client.py b/clients/nntp_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cd4883
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clients/nntp_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,643 @@
+from urllib.error import URLError
+import urllib.request as url
+from hashlib import sha256
+from time import time
+import json
+
+
+class BBJ(object):
+    # this module isnt exactly complete. The below description claims
+    # `all of its endpoints are mapped to native methods` though this
+    # is not yet true. The documentation for the API is not yet
+    # complete, and neither is this client. Currently this module is
+    # being adapted to fit the needs of the urwid client. As it evolves,
+    # and the rest of the project evolves, this client will be completed
+    # and well documented.
+    """
+    A python implementation to the BBJ api: all of its endpoints are
+    mapped to native methods, it maps error responses to exceptions, and
+    it includes helper functions for several common patterns.
+
+    It should be noted that endpoints utilizing usermaps are returned as
+    tuples, where [0] is the value and [1] is the usermap dictionary.
+    Methods who do this will mention it in their documentation.
+    You can call them like `threads, usermap = bbj.thread_index()`
+
+    __init__ can take a host string and a port value (which can be
+    either int or str). It defaults to "127.0.0.1" and 7099, expanding
+    out to http://127.0.0.1:7099/.
+
+    Standard library exceptions are used, but several new attributes are
+    attached to them before raising: .code, .description, and .body.
+    code and description map the same values returned by the api. body
+    is the raw error object. Classes are mapped as follows:
+
+      0, 1, 2: ChildProcessError
+      3: ValueError
+      4: UserWarning
+      5: ConnectionRefusedError
+
+    attributes can be accessed as follows:
+
+    try:
+        response = bbj.endpoint():
+    except UserWarning as e:
+        assert e.code == 4
+        print(e.description)
+        # want the raw error object? thats weird, but whatever.
+        return e.body
+
+    See the offical API error documentation for more details.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, host="127.0.0.1", port=7099, https=False):
+        """
+        Optionally takes port and host as kwargs. It will immediately
+        try to resolve a connection to the server, if its down, it
+        raises a URLError.
+
+        Important attributes:
+          .base is a string url for which all requests go to. It is
+          constructed on instantiation and the standalone host/port
+          are not stored.
+
+          .user_{name,auth} can be None, or strings of the username
+          and the authorization hash, respectively. When both values
+          are present (ie both resolve to True in a boolean context),
+          the request method sends this info with all its requests
+          and the user is effectively "logged in".
+
+          .send_auth, defaulting to True, determines whether to send
+          authorization information when it is available (see above).
+          If you set this to False, anonymous network usage is
+          guaranteed.
+        """
+        self.base = "http{}://{}:{}/api/%s".format("s" if https else "", host, port)
+        self.user_name = self.user_auth = None
+        self.send_auth = True
+        try:
+            self.user = self("get_me")["data"]
+            self.update_instance_info()
+        except URLError:
+            raise URLError("Cannot connect to %s (is the server down?)" % self.base[0:-2])
+
+
+    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Calling the network object itself is exactly the same as calling
+        it's .request() method.
+        """
+        return self.request(*args, **kwargs)
+
+
+    def _hash(self, string):
+        """
+        Handy function to hash a password and return it.
+        """
+        return sha256(bytes(string, "utf8")).hexdigest()
+
+
+    def request(self, endpoint, **params):
+        """
+        Takes the string endpoint, and a variable number of kwargs
+        to pass into the request body. The parameters required will
+        vary by endpoint, and if they are wrong, ValueError will be
+        raised.
+
+        However, one kwarg is magical here: no_auth. If you include
+        this, its not sent with the request, it just disables the
+        sending of auth info when it is available (for more info,
+        read __init__'s documentation).
+
+        You don't have to use this method yourself, the other methods
+        must use this as a base though.
+
+        See raise_exception() for details on how this function reacts
+        to various failure conditions.
+        """
+        headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
+        if params.get("no_auth"):
+            params.pop("no_auth")
+
+        elif all([self.send_auth, self.user_name, self.user_auth]):
+            headers.update({"User": self.user_name, "Auth": self.user_auth})
+
+        data = bytes(json.dumps(params), "utf8")
+        request = url.Request(
+            self.base % endpoint,
+            data=data,
+            headers=headers)
+
+        try:
+            with url.urlopen(request) as _r:
+                response = _r.read()
+        except url.HTTPError as e:
+            response = e.file.read()
+        value = json.loads(str(response, "utf8"))
+
+        if value and value.get("error"):
+            self.raise_exception(value["error"])
+
+        return value
+
+
+    def raise_exception(self, error_object):
+        """
+        Takes an API error object and raises the appropriate exception,
+        attaching the code and description to the object. The classes
+        are mapped to the codes as follows:
+
+        0, 1, 2: ChildProcessError (internal server, http, and json errors)
+        3: ValueError (invalid endpoint arguments)
+        4: UserWarning (illegal values provided by user, not a real "error")
+        5: ConnectionRefusedError (authorizations declined)
+
+        To capture a code and description in your client:
+
+        try:
+            response = bbj.endpoint():
+        except UserWarning as e:
+            assert e.code == 4
+            print(e.description)
+            # want the raw error object? thats weird, but whatever.
+            return e.body
+        """
+        description = error_object["description"]
+        code = error_object["code"]
+        if code in [0, 1, 2]:
+            e = ChildProcessError(description)
+
+        elif code == 3:
+            e = ValueError(description)
+
+        elif code == 4:
+            e = UserWarning(description)
+
+        elif code == 5:
+            e = ConnectionRefusedError(description)
+
+        e.code, e.description, e.body = code, description, error_object
+        raise e
+
+
+    def update_instance_info(self):
+        """
+        Stores configuration info for the connected BBJ server.
+
+        {
+            "instance_name": (string), // a title set by the server owner
+            "allow_anon": (bool), // whether anonymous participation is allowed
+            "admins": (list) // usernames of those who have admin rights on the server
+        }
+        """
+        response = self("instance_info")
+        self.instance_info = response["data"]
+
+
+    def validate(self, key, value, exception=AssertionError):
+        """
+        Uses the server's db_validate method to verify the validty
+        of `value` by `key`. If it is invalid, kwarg exception (default
+        AssertionError) is raised with the exception containing the
+        attribute .description as the server's reason. Exception can
+        be a False value to just return boolean False.
+
+        Examples:
+
+        # this will fail bacause the server wont allow newlines in usernames.
+          try:
+              bbj.validate("user_name", "des\nvox")
+          except AssertionError as e:
+              print(e.description)
+
+        # or you can handle it as a boolean like this:
+        is_okay = bbj.validate("title", "teacups and roses <3", exception=None)
+        """
+        response = self(
+            "db_validate",
+            no_auth=True,
+            key=key,
+            value=value
+        )
+
+        if not response["data"]["bool"]:
+            if not exception:
+                return False
+            description = response["data"]["description"]
+            error = exception(description)
+            error.description = description
+            raise error
+
+        return True
+
+
+    def validate_all(self, keys_and_values, exception=AssertionError):
+        """
+        Takes a single iterable object as its argument, containing
+        assertions to make, and applies `validate` to each pair.
+        See `validate` for full details. This method also takes
+        the kwarg `exception`, and passes it to validate.
+
+        Returns a list containing each response from validate. Under
+        successful circumstances, each element will be True. If you
+        specify exception=None, then the elements can contain false
+        as well.
+
+        Example:
+          values = [
+            ("title", "the wea\nther sucks"),
+            ("body", "rain is gross lmao")
+          ]
+
+          try:
+              bbj.validate_all(values)
+          except AssertionError as e:
+              print(e.description)
+
+          # as booleans:
+          validated = bbj.validate_all(values, exception=None)
+          # => [False, True]
+          assert all(validated)
+
+        """
+        return [
+            self.validate(key, value, exception) for key, value in keys_and_values
+        ]
+
+
+    def set_credentials(self, user_name, user_auth, hash_auth=True, check_validity=True):
+        """
+        Internalizes user_name and user_auth. Unless hash_auth=False is
+        specified, user_auth is assumed to be an unhashed password
+        string and it gets hashed with sha256. If you want to handle
+        hashing yourself, make sure to disable that.
+
+        Unless check_validity is set to false, the new credentials are
+        sent to the server and a ConnectionRefusedError is raised if
+        they do not match server authentication data. ValueError is
+        raised if the credentials contain illegal values, or the
+        specified user is not registered. If you need to differentiate
+        the two, using the method `user_is_registered` might be more
+        your speed.
+
+        On success, True is returned and the values are set. Subsequent
+        requests will now be authorized for the user (see request()'s
+        documentation for details on how to override this behavior
+        when necessary)
+
+        Examples:
+          try:
+              bbj.set_credentials("desvox", "i am sandvich")
+          except ConnectionRefusedError:
+              # bad auth info
+          except ValueError:
+              # paramter validation failed or the user is not registered
+
+          # you can handle hashing yourself if you want
+          password = input("Enter your password:")
+          bbj.set_credentials(
+              "desvox",
+              sha256(bytes(password, "utf8")).hexdigest(),
+              hash_auth=False
+          )
+        """
+        if hash_auth:
+            user_auth = self._hash(user_auth)
+
+        if check_validity and not self.validate_credentials(user_name, user_auth):
+            self.user_auth = self.user_name = None
+            raise ConnectionRefusedError("Auth and User do not match")
+
+        self.user_auth = user_auth
+        self.user_name = user_name
+        self.user = self("get_me")["data"]
+        return True
+
+
+    def validate_credentials(self, user_name, user_auth, exception=True):
+        """
+        Pings the server to check that user_name can be authenticated with
+        user_auth. Raises ConnectionRefusedError if they cannot. Raises
+        ValueError if the credentials contain illegal values.
+
+        Alternatively, you can specify exception=False to just return a
+        boolean False if the credentials are incorrect. Will still raise
+        a ValueError if the parameters are illegal.
+
+        Example:
+          # this method DOES NOT take a password string. it must be hashed.
+          try: validate_credentials("desvox", hashed_password)
+          except ConnectionRefusedError:
+              ...
+          except ValueError:
+              ...
+
+          # as a boolean:
+          is_okay = bbj.validate_credentials("desvox", hashed_password, exception=False)
+        """
+        self.validate_all([
+                ("user_name", user_name),
+                ("auth_hash", user_auth)
+            ], ValueError)
+        try:
+            response = self("check_auth",
+                no_auth=True,
+                target_user=user_name,
+                target_hash=user_auth
+            )
+            return response["data"]
+
+        except ConnectionRefusedError as e:
+            if exception:
+                raise e
+            return False
+
+
+    def user_is_registered(self, user_name):
+        """
+        Returns True or False whether user_name is registered
+        into the system.
+        """
+        response = self(
+            "user_is_registered",
+            no_auth=True,
+            target_user=user_name
+        )
+
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def user_register(self, user_name, user_auth, hash_auth=True, set_as_user=True):
+        """
+        Register user_name into the system with user_auth. Unless hash_auth
+        is set to false, user_auth should be a password string.
+
+        When set_as_user is True, the newly registered user is internalized
+        and subsequent uses of the object will be authorized for them.
+
+        Example:
+
+          try:
+              bbj.user_register("desvox", "sandvich")
+          except UserWarning as e:
+              # show this to users. always.
+              print(e.description)
+
+          # the object is now also set for this user...
+          assert bbj.get_me()["user_name"] == "desvox"
+          # ...unless you call it like this:
+          # bbj.user_register("desvox", "sandvich", set_as_user=False)
+        """
+        if hash_auth:
+            user_auth = sha256(bytes(user_auth, "utf8")).hexdigest()
+
+        response = self("user_register",
+            no_auth=True,
+            user_name=user_name,
+            auth_hash=user_auth
+        )["data"]
+
+        assert all([
+            user_auth == response["auth_hash"],
+            user_name == response["user_name"]
+        ])
+
+        if set_as_user:
+            self.set_credentials(user_name, user_auth, False)
+
+        return response
+
+
+    def user_update(self, **params):
+        """
+        Update the user's data on the server. The new parameters
+        may be any of `user_name`, `auth_hash`, `quip`, `bio`,
+        `color`. On success, the newly updated user object is
+        returned and is also internalized as self.user.
+        """
+        response = self("user_update", **params)
+        if params.get("user_name"):
+            self.user_name = params["user_name"]
+        if params.get("auth_hash"):
+            self.user_auth = params["auth_hash"]
+        self.user = self("get_me")["data"]
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def user_get(self, user_id_or_name):
+        """
+        Return a full user object by their id or username.
+        Note that this isn't required when using thread_load
+        or thread_index, because they return a usermap which
+        is a dictionary with keys of the ids connected to these
+        same objects. You shouldn't use this method when a usermap
+        is provided.
+
+        If the user element isnt found, ValueError is raised.
+        See also `user_is_registered`
+        """
+        response = self("user_get", target_user=user_id_or_name)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def thread_index(self, include_op=False):
+        """
+        Returns a tuple where [0] is a list of all threads ordered by
+        most recently interacted, and [1] is a usermap object.
+
+        Example:
+          threads, usermap = bbj.thread_index()
+          for thread in threads:
+              author_id = thread["author"]
+              print(usermap[author_id]["user_name"])
+        """
+        response = self("thread_index", include_op=include_op)
+        return response["data"], response["usermap"]
+
+
+    def thread_load(self, thread_id, format=None, op_only=False):
+        """
+        Returns a tuple where [0] is a thread object and [1] is a usermap object.
+
+        Example:
+          thread, usermap = bbj.thread_load(some_id)
+          for message in thread["messages"]:
+              author_id = message["author"]
+              print(usermap[author_id]["user_name"])
+              print(message["body"])
+        """
+        response = self("thread_load",
+            format=format, thread_id=thread_id, op_only=op_only)
+        return response["data"], response["usermap"]
+
+
+    def thread_create(self, title, body):
+        """
+        Submit a new thread, and return its new object. Requires the
+        string arguments `title` and `body`. Title must be under
+        120 chars in length, else UserWarning is raised. Body must
+        also not be empty.
+        """
+        response = self("thread_create", title=title, body=body)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def thread_reply(self, thread_id, body):
+        """
+        Submits a new reply to a thread and returns the new object.
+        Requires the thread's id and a non-empty body string.
+        """
+        response = self("thread_reply", thread_id=thread_id, body=body)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def fake_message(self, body="!!", format="sequential", author=None, post_id=0):
+        """
+        Produce a a valid message object with `body`. Useful for
+        testing and can also be used mimic server messages in a
+        client.
+        """
+        return {
+            "body": self.format_message(body, format),
+            "author": author or self.user["user_id"],
+            "post_id": post_id,
+            "created": time(),
+            "edited": False,
+            "send_raw": False,
+            "thread_id": "gibberish"
+        }
+
+
+    def format_message(self, body, format="sequential"):
+        """
+        Send `body` to the server to be formatted according to `format`,
+        defaulting to the sequential parser. Returns the body object.
+        """
+        response = self("format_message", body=body, format=format)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def message_delete(self, thread_id, post_id):
+        """
+        Delete message `post_id` from `thread_id`. The same rules apply
+        to deletions as they do for edits. The same exceptions are raised
+        with the same descriptions. If post_id is 0, this will also delete
+        the entire thread. Returns True on success.
+        """
+        response = self("delete_post", thread_id=thread_id, post_id=post_id)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def edit_query(self, thread_id, post_id):
+        """
+        Queries ther server database to see if a post can
+        be edited by the logged in user. thread_id and
+        post_id are required.
+
+        Returns a message object on success, or raises
+        a UserWarning describing why it failed.
+        """
+        response = self("edit_query", thread_id=thread_id, post_id=int(post_id))
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def can_edit(self, thread_id, post_id):
+        """
+        Return bool True/False that the post at thread_id | post_id
+        can be edited by the logged in user. Will not raise UserWarning.
+        """
+        try:
+            result = bool(self.edit_query(thread_id, post_id))
+        except UserWarning:
+            result = False
+        return result
+
+
+    def edit_message(self, thread_id, post_id, new_body):
+        """
+        Requires the thread_id and post_id. The edit flag is then
+        set on the message, new_body is set on the server, and the
+        newly edited message object is returned on success.
+
+        Will raise UserWarning if server editing rules are violated.
+        See also `can_edit` and `edit_query`
+        """
+        response = self(
+            "edit_post", thread_id=thread_id,
+            post_id=post_id, body=new_body)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def set_post_raw(self, thread_id, post_id, value):
+        """
+        This is a subset of `edit_message` that retains the old
+        body and just sets its `send_raw` to your supplied `value`.
+        The `edited` parameter of the message on the server is not
+        modified.
+        """
+        response = self(
+            "set_post_raw",
+            thread_id=thread_id,
+            post_id=post_id,
+            value=bool(value))
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def user_is_admin(self, user_name_or_id):
+        """
+        Return boolean True or False whether the given user identifier
+        is an admin on the server. Will raise ValueError if this user
+        is not registered.
+        """
+        response = self("is_admin", target_user=user_name_or_id)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def thread_set_pin(self, thread_id, new_status):
+        """
+        Set whether a thread should be pinned or not. new_status
+        is evaluated as a boolean, and given that the logged in
+        user is an admin, the thread is set to this status on
+        the server, and the boolean is returned.
+        """
+        response = self("thread_set_pin", thread_id=thread_id, value=new_status)
+        return response["data"]
+
+
+    def message_feed(self, time, format=None):
+        """
+        Returns a special object representing all activity on the board since
+        the argument `time`, a unix/epoch timestamp.
+
+        {
+            "threads": {
+                "thread_id": {
+                    ...thread object
+                },
+                ...more thread_id/object pairs
+            },
+            "messages": [...standard message object array sorted by date],
+            "usermap": {
+                ...standard user_id mapping object
+            }
+        }
+
+        The message objects in "messages" are the same objects returned
+        in threads normally. They each have a thread_id parameter, and
+        you can access metadata for these threads by the "threads" object
+        which is also provided. All user_ids can be resolved into full user
+        objects from the usermap object.
+
+        The "messages" array is already sorted by submission time, newest
+        first. The order in the threads object is undefined and you should
+        instead use their `last_mod` attribute if you intend to list them
+        out visually.
+
+        the optional argument `format` can be given and bahaves the same
+        as `thread_load`.
+        """
+        response = self("message_feed", time=time, format=format)
+        return {
+            "usermap": response["usermap"],
+            "threads": response["data"]["threads"],
+            "messages": response["data"]["messages"]
+        }