diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b0534f7..6d712e1 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,106 @@
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
 version = 4
 
+[[package]]
+name = "itoa"
+version = "1.0.17"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "92ecc6618181def0457392ccd0ee51198e065e016d1d527a7ac1b6dc7c1f09d2"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "memchr"
+version = "2.7.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f52b00d39961fc5b2736ea853c9cc86238e165017a493d1d5c8eac6bdc4cc273"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro2"
+version = "1.0.104"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9695f8df41bb4f3d222c95a67532365f569318332d03d5f3f67f37b20e6ebdf0"
+dependencies = [
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "quote"
+version = "1.0.42"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a338cc41d27e6cc6dce6cefc13a0729dfbb81c262b1f519331575dd80ef3067f"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rs-irc"
 version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9a8e94ea7f378bd32cbbd37198a4a91436180c5bb472411e48b5ec2e2124ae9e"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde_core",
+ "serde_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_core"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41d385c7d4ca58e59fc732af25c3983b67ac852c1a25000afe1175de458b67ad"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_derive"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d540f220d3187173da220f885ab66608367b6574e925011a9353e4badda91d79"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_json"
+version = "1.0.148"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3084b546a1dd6289475996f182a22aba973866ea8e8b02c51d9f46b1336a22da"
+dependencies = [
+ "itoa",
+ "memchr",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_core",
+ "zmij",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "syn"
+version = "2.0.113"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "678faa00651c9eb72dd2020cbdf275d92eccb2400d568e419efdd64838145cb4"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "unicode-ident"
+version = "1.0.22"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9312f7c4f6ff9069b165498234ce8be658059c6728633667c526e27dc2cf1df5"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zmij"
+version = "1.0.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "30e0d8dffbae3d840f64bda38e28391faef673a7b5a6017840f2a106c8145868"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7cbe69f..74458bc 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ edition = "2024"
 authors = ["icedragon"]
 
 [dependencies]
+serde = { version = "1.0.228", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1"
diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d60531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+    "nick": "RustBot",
+    "ident": "icedragon",
+    "gecos": "IceDragon's Rust client thingy",
+    "server": "irc.quickfox.net:6667"
+}
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89f8a03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+use std::fs;
+use std::io;
+use serde::Deserialize;
+
+//// Config Example
+// {
+//   "nick": "RustBot",
+//   "ident": "icedragon",
+//   "gecos": "IceDragon's Rust client thingy",
+//   "server": "irc.quickfox.net:6667"
+// }
+
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+pub struct IrcConfig {
+    pub nick: String,    // "RustBot"
+    pub ident: String,   // "icedragon"
+    pub gecos: String,   // "IceDragon's Rust Bot Thing"
+    pub server: String,  // "irc.quickfox.net:6667"
+}
+
+/// Load IRC configuration from a given file:
+/// 
+/// # Examples
+/// 
+/// ```rust,nodoc
+/// let conf = config::load_config("config.json").expect("failed to load config");
+/// 
+/// ```
+pub fn load_config(path: &str) -> io::Result<IrcConfig> {
+    let json_string = fs::read_to_string(path)?;
+    match serde_json::from_str(&json_string) {
+        Ok(conf) => Ok(conf),
+        Err(e) =>  Err(io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::InvalidInput, e.to_string())),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index eef0255..3d5b068 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ use std::net::TcpStream;
 use std::io::{self, Read, Write};
 use std::ops::ControlFlow;
 
+mod config;
+
 #[derive(Debug)]
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 enum IrcClientMessage<'msg> {
@@ -280,7 +282,15 @@ impl Client {
 }
 
 fn main() -> io::Result<()> {
-    let mut client = Client::new("RustBot", "icedragon", "IceDragon's Rust client thingy");
-    client.connect("irc.quickfox.net:6667")?;
+    const CONFIG_FILE: &str = "config.json";
+
+    // load configuration
+    println!("[++] Loading configuration from {CONFIG_FILE}...");
+    let config = config::load_config(CONFIG_FILE)?;
+
+    // create & connect client
+    println!("[++] Creating & connecting bot client (nick: {})", config.nick);
+    let mut client = Client::new(&config.nick, &config.ident, &config.gecos);
+    client.connect(&config.server)?;
     client.serve()
 }