diff --git a/src/hyprman.nim b/src/hyprman.nim
index b7facd5..d2c269f 100644
--- a/src/hyprman.nim
+++ b/src/hyprman.nim
@@ -1,28 +1,13 @@
-import std/[os,net, json, sugar, strformat, strutils, tables]
-
-
-const icons = {
-        "[Running] - Oracle VM VirtualBox": "",
-        "Visual Studio Code": "",
-        "vivaldi-stable": "󰖟",
-        "LibreOffice": "",
-        "Geneious Prime": "󰚄",
-        "Firefox": "",
-        "- NVIM": "",
-        "Alacritty": "",
-        "- Wezterm": "",
-        "org.wezfurlong.wezterm":""
-}.toTable
-
+import std/[
+  asyncdispatch, asyncnet, json,
+  net, os, osproc,
+  strformat, strutils, sugar,
+  tables
+]
 
 type
   HyprlandDefect* = Defect
 
-  # Workspace = object
-  #   id, monitorID, windows: int
-  #   name, monitor, lastwindow, lastwindowtitle: string
-  #   hasfullscreen: bool
-
   WorkspaceIcon = object
     id: int
     icon, class: string
@@ -39,10 +24,15 @@ type
     workspace: ActiveWorkspace
     class, title: string
 
+  Context = object
+    icons: Table[string, string]
+    delay = 500
+
+var ctx = Context()
+let his = getenv("HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE")
 
 proc getData(data: string): string =
   let
-    his = getenv("HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE")
     socketPath = "/tmp/hypr" / his / ".socket.sock"
 
   let socket = newSocket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP)
@@ -63,9 +53,10 @@ proc getData(data: string): string =
 
 proc getDefaultWorkspaces(): seq[WorkspaceIcon] =
   let clients = parseJson(getData("[-j]/clients")).to(seq[Client])
-  result = collect(for i in 1..9: WorkspaceIcon(id: i, icon:"",class:fmt"ws-button-{i - 1}"))
+  result = collect(for i in 1..9: WorkspaceIcon(id: i, icon: "",
+      class: fmt"ws-button-{i - 1}"))
   for client in clients:
-    let match = icons.getOrDefault($(client.class),"")
+    let match = ctx.icons.getOrDefault($(client.class), "")
     if client.workspace.id < 0: continue
     result[client.workspace.id - 1].icon &= match
   for ws in result.mitems:
@@ -83,10 +74,115 @@ proc getState(): seq[seq[WorkspaceIcon]] =
     result[m.id][getActive(m) - 1].class &=
       " " & "ws-button-open"
 
-when isMainModule:
+proc workspaceMonitor() =
   while true:
-    sleep 500
+    sleep ctx.delay
     try:
-      echo (%* getState())
+      echo ( %* getState())
     except JsonParsingError as e:
       writeLine(stderr, e.msg)
+
+
+proc parseEvent(line: string): (string, string) {.inline.} =
+  let s = line.split(">>", 1)
+  return (s[0], s[1])
+
+proc reactEvent(line: string) =
+  let (event, _) = parseEvent(line)
+  case event
+  of "monitorremoved":
+    echo "monitor removed"
+    discard execCmd "eww close bar1"
+  of "monitoradded":
+    echo "monitor added"
+    discard execCmd "eww open bar1"
+    sleep 1000
+    discard execCmd "eww reload"
+  else: discard
+
+proc watchHyprlandEvents() {.async.} =
+  let
+    socketPath = "/tmp/hypr" / his / ".socket2.sock"
+    socket = newAsyncSocket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP)
+  try:
+    socket.connectUnix(socketPath)
+  except OSError:
+    raise newException(HyprlandDefect, "Could not connect to Hyprland IPC UNIX path; is Hyprland running?")
+
+  while true:
+    let line = await socket.recvLine()
+    if line.len == 0: break
+    reactEvent(line)
+  socket.close()
+
+proc loadIcons(iconPath: string): Table[string, string] =
+  if not fileExists iconPath:
+    echo "icon file: ", iconPath, " not found"
+    quit 1
+  result = parseFile(iconPath).to(Table[string, string])
+
+proc noBlank(key: string, val: string) =
+  const longflags = ["icons", "delay"]
+  const shortflags = ['i', 'd']
+  if (
+      (key in longflags or
+      key[0] in shortflags) and
+      val == ""
+    ):
+    echo "ERROR: expected value for: ", key
+    quit 1
+
+proc loadDefaultIcons() =
+  let
+    configHome = getEnv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME", getEnv("HOME") / ".config")
+    iconPath = configHome / "hyprman" / "icons.json"
+  if fileExists iconPath:
+    ctx.icons = loadIcons(iconPath)
+
+when isMainModule:
+  import std/parseopt
+  const usage = """
+hyprman <cmd> [opts]
+
+commands:
+  workspace (w)
+    watch workspace/client activity and write to stdout
+  monitors (m)
+    reflect monitor changes to eww
+
+options:
+  -h, --help
+    show this help
+  -i, --icons
+    path to icons.json [default: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/hyprman/icons.json]
+  -d, --delay
+    time between socket poll in ms [default: 500]
+"""
+
+  loadDefaultIcons()
+  var cmd: string
+  for kind, key, val in getopt(shortNoVal = {'h'}, longNoVal = @["help"]):
+    case kind
+    of cmdArgument:
+      cmd = key
+    of cmdShortOption, cmdLongOption:
+      noBlank(key, val)
+      case key
+      of "h", "help":
+        echo usage; quit 0;
+      of "i", "icons":
+        ctx.icons = loadIcons(val)
+      of "d", "delay":
+        ctx.delay = parseInt(val)
+    of cmdEnd: discard
+
+  case cmd
+  of "w", "workspace":
+    workspaceMonitor()
+  of "m", "monitors":
+    waitFor watchHyprlandEvents()
+  of "":
+    echo "please specify a command"; quit 1
+  else:
+    echo "unknown cmd: ", cmd; quit 1
+