diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a399bad..4d7edc6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -154,3 +154,6 @@ out/
 
 # nix
 result
+
+# for local dev might dump cred stuff here
+cred/
diff --git a/config.toml b/config.toml
index 6993c35..927899d 100644
--- a/config.toml
+++ b/config.toml
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
 [general_config]
+backend_base_url = "http://localhost:8080"
+backend_user = "test@example.com"
+backend_pw = "test"
diff --git a/scripts/simple_create_user.sh b/scripts/simple_create_user.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..120b58e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/simple_create_user.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -Eeuox pipefail
+
+banner() {
+  echo "========================================================"
+  echo "  $*"
+  echo "========================================================"
+}
+
+# utility script for easy testing
+
+uv run taco register --display-name "Display Test" --email "test@example.com" --password "test"
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/__init__.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/__init__.py
index 483642f..16d5072 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/__init__.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ def parse_args():
 	trygo_py_cliclient.cli.register.setup_parser(subparsers)
 	trygo_py_cliclient.cli.login.setup_parser(subparsers)
 
-
 	args = parser.parse_args()
 	return args
 
@@ -38,4 +37,6 @@ def main():
 	_logger.info(f"Got args {args=}")
 	_logger.info(f"Loaded config {config=}")
 
-	args.func(args)
+	# TODO is there a clean way to hang on to a session for a bit when the cli command has run?
+	# i guess realistically we don't want that
+	args.func(config, args)
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/login.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/login.py
index 509d274..866d6ae 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/login.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/login.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import argparse
 import logging
 import typing
 
+import trygo_py_cliclient.config
 import trygo_py_cliclient.client
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -16,13 +17,13 @@ else:
 def setup_parser(subparsers: _SubparserType) -> None:
 	parser = subparsers.add_parser("login")
 
-	parser.add_argument("--email", type=str, help="config file location", default="")
-	parser.add_argument("--password", type=str, help="config file location", default="")
+	parser.add_argument("--email", type=str, help="The email to log in with ", default="")
+	parser.add_argument("--password", type=str, help="Password", default="")
 	parser.set_defaults(func=run)
 
-def run(args):
-	
-	clnt = trygo_py_cliclient.client.TryGoAPIClient("http://localhost:8080/")
-	
+
+def run(config: trygo_py_cliclient.config.Config, args):
+	clnt = trygo_py_cliclient.client.BackendService(config)
+
 	response = clnt.login(args.email, args.password)
 	_logger.info(response)
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/register.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/register.py
index 9cc528a..a348840 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/register.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/cli/register.py
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ def setup_parser(subparsers: _SubparserType) -> None:
 	parser.add_argument("--password", type=str, help="config file location", default="")
 	parser.set_defaults(func=run)
 
+
 def run(args):
-	
 	clnt = trygo_py_cliclient.client.TryGoAPIClient("http://localhost:8080/")
 	response = clnt.register(args.email, args.password, args.display_name)
 	_logger.info(response)
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/client.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/client.py
index 6b275ca..ff8583f 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/client.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/client.py
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import requests
 import logging
 from typing import Optional, Dict, Any
 from dataclasses import asdict
+from pathlib import Path
 
-from trygo_py_cliclient.models import User, RegisterRequest, LoginRequest, AuthResponse
+from trygo_py_cliclient.models import RegisterRequest, LoginRequest, AuthResponse
+from trygo_py_cliclient.config import Config
 from trygo_py_cliclient.exceptions import (
 	TryGoAPIError,
 	AuthenticationError,
@@ -15,17 +17,14 @@ from trygo_py_cliclient.exceptions import (
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class TryGoAPIClient:
-	"""HTTP client for TryGo webapp REST API"""
-
-	def __init__(self, base_url: str, timeout: int = 30):
-		self.base_url = base_url.rstrip("/")
-		self.timeout = timeout
+class BackendService:
+	def __init__(self, config: Config):
+		self.base_url = config.general_config.backend_base_url.rstrip("/")
+		self.timeout = 30
 		self.session = requests.Session()
 		self.session.headers.update(
 			{"Content-Type": "application/json", "User-Agent": "trygo-py-client/0.1.0"}
 		)
-		self._auth_token: Optional[str] = None
 
 	def _make_request(
 		self, method: str, endpoint: str, data: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
@@ -82,6 +81,7 @@ class TryGoAPIClient:
 			except ValueError as e:
 				raise TryGoAPIError(f"Invalid JSON response: {e}")
 
+		# claude really fucked this
 		except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
 			raise NetworkError("Request timeout")
 		except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
@@ -92,18 +92,6 @@ class TryGoAPIClient:
 	def register(self, email: str, password: str, display_name: str) -> AuthResponse:
 		"""
 		Register a new user account
-
-		Args:
-			email: User's email address
-			password: User's password
-			display_name: User's display name
-
-		Returns:
-			AuthResponse with registration result
-
-		Raises:
-			ValidationError: If registration data is invalid
-			TryGoAPIError: If registration fails
 		"""
 		request_data = RegisterRequest(
 			email=email, password=password, display_name=display_name
@@ -117,42 +105,16 @@ class TryGoAPIClient:
 
 		# Parse response and create AuthResponse
 		auth_response = AuthResponse(
-			success=response_data.get("success", False),
 			message=response_data.get("message", ""),
-			token=response_data.get("token"),
-			user=None,
+			email=response_data.get("email", ""),
+			id=response_data.get("id", ""),
 		)
 
-		# Parse user data if present
-		if "user" in response_data and response_data["user"]:
-			user_data = response_data["user"]
-			auth_response.user = User(
-				email=user_data.get("email", ""),
-				password="",  # Never store password in response
-				display_name=user_data.get("display_name", ""),
-				id=user_data.get("id"),
-			)
-
-		# Store auth token on successful registration
-		if auth_response.success and auth_response.token:
-			self.set_auth_token(auth_response.token)
-
 		return auth_response
 
-	def login(self, email: str, password: str) -> AuthResponse:
+	def login(self, email: str, password: str) -> str:
 		"""
 		Authenticate user and get auth token
-
-		Args:
-			email: User's email address
-			password: User's password
-
-		Returns:
-			AuthResponse with login result and token
-
-		Raises:
-			AuthenticationError: If login credentials are invalid
-			TryGoAPIError: If login fails
 		"""
 		request_data = LoginRequest(email=email, password=password)
 
@@ -162,39 +124,10 @@ class TryGoAPIClient:
 		_logger.info(response_data)
 
 		# Parse response and create AuthResponse
-		auth_response = AuthResponse(
-			success=response_data.get("success", False),
-			message=response_data.get("message", ""),
-			token=response_data.get("token"),
-			user=None,
-		)
+		token = response_data.get("token", "")
+		self._store_credential(token)
 
-		# Parse user data if present
-		if "user" in response_data and response_data["user"]:
-			user_data = response_data["user"]
-			auth_response.user = User(
-				email=user_data.get("email", ""),
-				password="",  # Never store password in response
-				display_name=user_data.get("display_name", ""),
-				id=user_data.get("id"),
-			)
-
-		# Store auth token on successful login
-		if auth_response.success and auth_response.token:
-			self.set_auth_token(auth_response.token)
-
-		return auth_response
-
-	def set_auth_token(self, token: str) -> None:
-		"""
-		Set authentication token for subsequent requests
-
-		Args:
-			token: JWT or session token for authentication
-		"""
-		self._auth_token = token
-		self.session.headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {token}"
-		_logger.debug("Authentication token set")
+		return token
 
 	def logout(self) -> None:
 		"""
@@ -205,16 +138,12 @@ class TryGoAPIClient:
 		_logger.info("Logging out user")
 
 		# Try to call logout endpoint if we have a token
-		if self._auth_token:
-			try:
-				self._make_request("POST", "/auth/logout")
-				_logger.debug("Server logout successful")
-			except Exception as e:
-				_logger.warning(f"Server logout failed (continuing anyway): {e}")
-
-		# Clear local auth state
-		self._auth_token = None
-		if "Authorization" in self.session.headers:
-			del self.session.headers["Authorization"]
 
 		_logger.debug("Local authentication cleared")
+
+	def _store_credential(self, token: str) -> None:
+
+		token_path = Path("cred/token")
+		token_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True,exist_ok=True)
+		with token_path.open(mode="w") as tokenf:
+			tokenf.write(token)
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config.py
index a03341b..f65103e 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config.py
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ class GeneralConfig:
 	log_pattern: str = "%(asctime)s | %(process)d | %(levelname)-7s | %(name)s:%(lineno)d | %(message)s"
 	log_file: Optional[str] = None
 	log_stream: bool = True
+	backend_base_url: str = ""
+	# obviously bad, but for now just keep it
+	backend_user: str = ""
+	backend_pw: str = ""
 
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config_reader.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config_reader.py
index ee2d853..d8fe740 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config_reader.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/config/config_reader.py
@@ -42,31 +42,7 @@ def serialize_config(config_dict: dict) -> Config:
 	Converts a dictionary to a Config object
 
 	Makes assumptions about structure of the config_dict, so validation should happen here too if needed.
-
-	:param config_dict: dictionary containing config values
-	:return: Config object
 	"""
-	# generation_config = GenerationConfig(**config_dict["generation_config"])
-
-	# general_config_dict = config_dict["general_config"]
-	# general_config = GeneralConfig(
-	# 	root_directory=general_config_dict["root_directory"],
-	# 	out_dir_name=general_config_dict["out_dir_name"],
-	# 	dots_json_name=general_config_dict["dots_json_name"],
-	# 	mega_merged_name=general_config_dict["mega_merged_name"],
-	# 	mega_merged_inferenced_name=general_config_dict["mega_merged_inferenced_name"],
-	# 	skip_to_stage=general_config_dict["skip_to_stage"],
-	# 	measurement_type=MeasurementTypeEnum(general_config_dict["measurement_type"]),
-	# 	indexes_json_name=general_config_dict["indexes_json_name"],
-	# 	log_pattern=general_config_dict["log_pattern"],
-	# )
-
-	# deepdog_config = DeepdogConfig(**config_dict["deepdog_config"])
-	# config = Config(
-	# 	generation_config=generation_config,
-	# 	general_config=general_config,
-	# 	deepdog_config=deepdog_config,
-	# )
 	config = dacite.from_dict(
 		data_class=Config,
 		data=config_dict,
diff --git a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/models.py b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/models.py
index 142a2fe..ee1085f 100644
--- a/src/trygo_py_cliclient/models.py
+++ b/src/trygo_py_cliclient/models.py
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ class LoginRequest:
 class AuthResponse:
 	"""Response from authentication endpoints"""
 
-	success: bool
 	message: str
-	user: Optional[User] = None
-	token: Optional[str] = None
+	email: Optional[str] = None
+	id: Optional[str] = None