diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81176e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+use at ur own risk lmao
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/const.ml b/const.ml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/coq_ssh.ml b/coq_ssh.ml
index 03a02b9..249d7ec 100644
--- a/coq_ssh.ml
+++ b/coq_ssh.ml
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
+(* ssh rfc: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4253 *)
+
 open Unix
 open Printf
+
 open CoqSSH
+open Message
+module M = Message
 
 let () =
   let addr_str = "10.7.0.4" in
@@ -29,6 +34,28 @@ let () =
 
   (* key exchange *)
 
+  let kex_msg = M.empty () in
+  M.add_byte kex_msg msg_kexinit;
+  (*
+      byte         SSH_MSG_KEXINIT
+      byte[16]     cookie (random bytes)
+      name-list    kex_algorithms
+      name-list    server_host_key_algorithms
+      name-list    encryption_algorithms_client_to_server
+      name-list    encryption_algorithms_server_to_client
+      name-list    mac_algorithms_client_to_server
+      name-list    mac_algorithms_server_to_client
+      name-list    compression_algorithms_client_to_server
+      name-list    compression_algorithms_server_to_client
+      name-list    languages_client_to_server
+      name-list    languages_server_to_client
+      boolean      first_kex_packet_follows
+      uint32       0 (reserved for future extension)
+    *)
+  printf "len %d\n" (M.off kex_msg);
+
+  (* random crap *)
+
   let n : SSH.nat = SSH.O in
   match n with
   | SSH.O -> print_endline "o"
diff --git a/message.ml b/message.ml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c47566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/message.ml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+open Char
+
+(* constants *)
+let msg_kexinit = chr 20
+
+(* Mutable data structure representing a message *)
+module Message = struct
+  type t = Bytes.t * int ref
+
+  let empty () : t = (Bytes.create 40, ref 0)
+
+  let off (m : t) : int = let (_, len) = m in !len
+
+  let add_byte (m : t) (c : char) : unit =
+    let (bytes, len) = m in
+    Bytes.set bytes !len c;
+    len := !len + 1;
+end
\ No newline at end of file