diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 87c0389..161ad3e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "kuska-ssb"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.1.3"
 authors = ["Dhole <dhole@riseup.net>", "Adria Massanet <adria@codecontext.io>"]
 edition = "2018"
 
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ name = "kuska_ssb"
 
 [dependencies]
 kuska-handshake = { git = "https://github.com/Kuska-ssb/kuska-handshake", branch = "master" , features=["sync","async_std"] }
-
 sodiumoxide = { git = "https://github.com/Dhole/sodiumoxidez", branch = "extra" }
 base64 = "0.11.0"
 hex = "0.4.0"
@@ -22,4 +21,10 @@ serde_json = { version = "1.0.48", features=["preserve_order","arbitrary_precisi
 dirs = "2.0"
 futures = "0.3.4"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
-rand = "0.7.3"
\ No newline at end of file
+rand = "0.7.3"
+
+[[example]]
+name = "ssb-cli"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+structopt = "0.3.9"
diff --git a/examples/ssb-cli.rs b/examples/ssb-cli.rs
index 6df35f2..87b4f5f 100644
--- a/examples/ssb-cli.rs
+++ b/examples/ssb-cli.rs
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ extern crate kuska_ssb;
 
 extern crate base64;
 extern crate crossbeam;
+extern crate structopt;
 
 use std::fmt::Debug;
+use structopt::StructOpt;
 
 use async_std::io::{Read, Write};
 use async_std::net::TcpStream;
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ use kuska_handshake::async_std::{handshake_client, BoxStream};
 use kuska_ssb::api::{
     ApiHelper, CreateHistoryStreamArgs, CreateStreamArgs, LatestUserMessage, WhoAmI,
 };
+use kuska_ssb::crypto::ToSodiumObject;
 use kuska_ssb::discovery::ssb_net_id;
 use kuska_ssb::feed::{is_privatebox, privatebox_decipher, Feed, Message};
 use kuska_ssb::keystore::from_patchwork_local;
@@ -21,6 +24,15 @@ use kuska_ssb::rpc::{RecvMsg, RequestNo, RpcStream};
 
 type AnyResult<T> = std::result::Result<T, Box<dyn std::error::Error>>;
 
+#[derive(Debug, StructOpt)]
+#[structopt(name = "example", about = "An example of StructOpt usage.")]
+struct Opt {
+    /// Connect to server
+    // format is: server:port:<server_id>
+    #[structopt(short, long)]
+    connect: String,
+}
+
 pub fn whoami_res_parse(body: &[u8]) -> AnyResult<WhoAmI> {
     Ok(serde_json::from_slice(body)?)
 }
@@ -120,10 +132,19 @@ async fn main() -> AnyResult<()> {
     env_logger::init();
     log::set_max_level(log::LevelFilter::max());
 
-    let OwnedIdentity { pk, sk, .. } = from_patchwork_local().expect("read local secret");
+    let OwnedIdentity { pk, sk, id } = from_patchwork_local().await.expect("read local secret");
+    println!("connecting with identity {}", id);
 
-    let mut socket = TcpStream::connect("127.0.0.1:8080").await?;
-    let handshake = handshake_client(&mut socket, ssb_net_id(), pk, sk.clone(), pk).await?;
+    let opt = Opt::from_args();
+    let connect: Vec<_> = opt.connect.split(":").collect();
+    if connect.len() != 3 {
+        panic!("connection string should be server:port:id");
+    }
+    let server_pk = connect[2][1..].to_ed25519_pk()?;
+
+    let mut socket = TcpStream::connect(format!("{}:{}", connect[0], connect[1])).await?;
+
+    let handshake = handshake_client(&mut socket, ssb_net_id(), pk, sk.clone(), server_pk).await?;
 
     println!("💃 handshake complete");
 
diff --git a/src/crypto/sodium.rs b/src/crypto/sodium.rs
index 4202e50..590d22f 100644
--- a/src/crypto/sodium.rs
+++ b/src/crypto/sodium.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ impl<'a> ToSsbId for ed25519::PublicKey {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'a> ToSsbId for ed25519::SecretKey {
+    fn to_ssb_id(&self) -> String {
+        format!("{}{}", base64::encode(self), CURVE_ED25519_SUFFIX)
+    }
+}
+
 impl ToSodiumObject for str {
     fn to_ed25519_pk(self: &str) -> Result<ed25519::PublicKey> {
         if !self.ends_with(CURVE_ED25519_SUFFIX) {
diff --git a/src/keystore/error.rs b/src/keystore/error.rs
index 7f71ead..4566904 100644
--- a/src/keystore/error.rs
+++ b/src/keystore/error.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@
 pub enum Error {
     HomeNotFound,
     InvalidConfig,
+    Serde(serde_json::Error),
     CryptoFormat(crate::crypto::Error),
-    Io(std::io::Error),
+    SyncIo(std::io::Error),
 }
 impl From<crate::crypto::Error> for Error {
     fn from(err: crate::crypto::Error) -> Self {
@@ -13,7 +14,13 @@ impl From<crate::crypto::Error> for Error {
 
 impl From<std::io::Error> for Error {
     fn from(err: std::io::Error) -> Self {
-        Error::Io(err)
+        Error::SyncIo(err)
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<serde_json::Error> for Error {
+    fn from(err: serde_json::Error) -> Self {
+        Error::Serde(err)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/keystore/mod.rs b/src/keystore/mod.rs
index 6d3629f..82269ee 100644
--- a/src/keystore/mod.rs
+++ b/src/keystore/mod.rs
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ mod identity;
 pub mod patchwork;
 
 pub use identity::OwnedIdentity;
-pub use patchwork::{from_patchwork_config, from_patchwork_local};
+pub use patchwork::{from_patchwork_local, read_patchwork_config, write_patchwork_config};
diff --git a/src/keystore/patchwork.rs b/src/keystore/patchwork.rs
index 51cac70..780bf17 100644
--- a/src/keystore/patchwork.rs
+++ b/src/keystore/patchwork.rs
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
-use std::io;
-use std::string::ToString;
+use async_std::io::{Read, Write};
+use async_std::prelude::*;
 
-use crate::crypto::ToSodiumObject;
+use std::string::ToString;
 
 use super::error::{Error, Result};
 use super::OwnedIdentity;
+use crate::crypto::{ToSodiumObject, ToSsbId};
+use serde_json::to_vec_pretty;
 
 pub const CURVE_ED25519: &str = "ed25519";
 
-#[derive(Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
 struct JsonSSBSecret {
     id: String,
     curve: String,
@@ -16,28 +18,29 @@ struct JsonSSBSecret {
     private: String,
 }
 
-fn to_ioerr<T: ToString>(err: T) -> io::Error {
-    io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, err.to_string())
+fn to_io_error<T: ToString>(err: T) -> async_std::io::Error {
+    async_std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, err.to_string())
 }
 
-pub fn from_patchwork_local() -> Result<OwnedIdentity> {
+pub async fn from_patchwork_local() -> Result<OwnedIdentity> {
     let home_dir = dirs::home_dir().ok_or(Error::HomeNotFound)?;
     let local_key_file = format!("{}/.ssb/secret", home_dir.to_string_lossy());
-    let content = std::fs::read_to_string(local_key_file)?;
-    Ok(from_patchwork_config(content)?)
+    let mut file = async_std::fs::File::open(local_key_file).await?;
+    read_patchwork_config(&mut file).await
 }
 
-pub fn from_patchwork_config<T: AsRef<str>>(config: T) -> Result<OwnedIdentity> {
-    // strip all comments
-    let json = config
-        .as_ref()
+pub async fn read_patchwork_config<R: Read + Unpin>(reader: &mut R) -> Result<OwnedIdentity> {
+    let mut buf = String::new();
+    reader.read_to_string(&mut buf).await?;
+
+    let json = buf
         .lines()
         .filter(|line| !line.starts_with('#'))
         .collect::<Vec<_>>()
         .join("");
 
     // parse json
-    let secret: JsonSSBSecret = serde_json::from_str(json.as_ref()).map_err(to_ioerr)?;
+    let secret: JsonSSBSecret = serde_json::from_str(json.as_ref()).map_err(to_io_error)?;
 
     if secret.curve != CURVE_ED25519 {
         return Err(Error::InvalidConfig);
@@ -49,3 +52,17 @@ pub fn from_patchwork_config<T: AsRef<str>>(config: T) -> Result<OwnedIdentity>
         sk: secret.private.to_ed25519_sk()?,
     })
 }
+
+pub async fn write_patchwork_config<W: Write + Unpin>(
+    id: &OwnedIdentity,
+    writer: &mut W,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    let json = JsonSSBSecret {
+        id: id.id.clone(),
+        curve: CURVE_ED25519.to_owned(),
+        public: id.pk.to_ssb_id(),
+        private: id.sk.to_ssb_id(),
+    };
+    let encoded = to_vec_pretty(&json)?;
+    Ok(writer.write_all(&encoded).await?)
+}