diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 09f7e90..2fa1dca 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,3 +5,9 @@
 - [ ] Runs one-shot TypeScript commands (via NOSE terminal)
 - [x] Has a 960x540 (16:9) virtual screen size that scales to the actual size of the display
 - [x] Runs on a Raspberry Pi 5
+
+## Fonts
+
+Use this to examine what's inside the C64 .woff2 font file in public/vendor:
+
+https://wakamaifondue.com/
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diff --git a/src/components/terminal.tsx b/src/components/terminal.tsx
index 12225ae..4476e0f 100644
--- a/src/components/terminal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/terminal.tsx
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export const Terminal: FC = async () => (
       />
     </div>
 
-    <ul id="command-history">
+    <ul id="scrollback">
       <li class="center">**** NOSE PLUTO V{new Date().getMonth() + 1}.{new Date().getDate()} ****</li>
       <li class="center">VRAM <span id="vram-size">000KB</span></li>
     </ul>
diff --git a/src/css/main.css b/src/css/main.css
index 29cf059..978b269 100644
--- a/src/css/main.css
+++ b/src/css/main.css
@@ -88,9 +88,11 @@ main {
   height: 540px;
   background: var(--c64-dark-blue);
   color: var(--c64-light-blue);
+
   /* nearest-neighbor scaling */
   image-rendering: pixelated;
   transform-origin: center center;
+
 }
 
 body[data-mode=tall] #content {
diff --git a/src/css/terminal.css b/src/css/terminal.css
index eacd127..962c50a 100644
--- a/src/css/terminal.css
+++ b/src/css/terminal.css
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     --cli-margin: 10px 0 0 25px;
     --cli-font-size: 20px;
     --cli-height: 30px;
+    --cli-status-width: 8px;
 }
 
 #command-line {
@@ -71,17 +72,23 @@
     border: none;
 }
 
-#command-history {
+/* The scrollback shows your previous inputs and outputs. */
+
+#scrollback {
     margin: 0;
     padding: 0;
     font-size: var(--cli-font-size);
 }
 
-#command-history li {
+#scrollback li {
     list-style: none;
     margin: 0;
 }
 
-.center {
+#scrollback .center {
     text-align: center;
+}
+
+#scrollback .input .content {
+    margin-left: var(--cli-status-width);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/js/dom.ts b/src/js/dom.ts
index 7bc06af..1df502a 100644
--- a/src/js/dom.ts
+++ b/src/js/dom.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,32 @@
 ////
 // DOM helpers and cached elements
 
-// finds an element by ID
-export const $ = (id: string): HTMLElement | null =>
-    document.getElementById(id)
+// elements we know will be there... right?
+export const cmdLine = $("command-line") as HTMLDivElement
+export const cmdTextbox = $("command-textbox") as HTMLTextAreaElement
+export const scrollback = $("scrollback") as HTMLUListElement
 
-// creates an HTML element
-export const $$ = (tag: string, innerHTML = ""): HTMLElement => {
-    const el = document.createElement(tag)
-    if (innerHTML) el.innerHTML = innerHTML
-    return el
+// finds an element by ID
+export function $(id: string): HTMLElement | null {
+    return document.getElementById(id)
 }
 
-// elements we know will be there... right?
-export const cmdLine = document.getElementById("command-line") as HTMLDivElement
-export const cmdTextbox = document.getElementById("command-textbox") as HTMLTextAreaElement
\ No newline at end of file
+// creates an HTML element, optinally with one or more classes
+// shortcut:
+//   $$("span.input.green") = <span class="input green"></span>
+//   $$(".input.green") = <div class="input green"></div>
+export const $$ = (tag: string, innerHTML = ""): HTMLElement => {
+    let name: string | undefined = tag
+    let classList: string[] = []
+
+    if (tag.startsWith("."))
+        tag = "div" + tag
+
+    if (tag.includes("."))
+        [name, ...classList] = tag.split(".").map(x => x.trim())
+
+    const el = document.createElement(name!)
+    if (innerHTML) el.innerHTML = innerHTML
+    if (classList.length) el.classList.add(...classList)
+    return el
+}
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diff --git a/src/js/input.ts b/src/js/input.ts
index 5d6eaff..7732f66 100644
--- a/src/js/input.ts
+++ b/src/js/input.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,14 @@ function inputHandler(event: KeyboardEvent) {
         cmdTextbox.rows += 1
         cmdLine.dataset.extended = "true"
     } else if (event.key === "Enter") {
-        cmdTextbox.value = ""
-        cmdTextbox.rows = 1
-        cmdLine.dataset.extended = "false"
         event.preventDefault()
-
         runCommand(cmdTextbox.value)
+        clearInput()
     }
+}
+
+function clearInput() {
+    cmdTextbox.value = ""
+    cmdTextbox.rows = 1
+    cmdLine.dataset.extended = "false"
 }
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diff --git a/src/js/scrollback.ts b/src/js/scrollback.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19aa871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/js/scrollback.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+////
+// The scrollback shows your history of interacting with the shell.
+// input, output, etc
+
+import { scrollback, $$ } from "./dom.js"
+
+type InputStatus = "waiting" | "streaming" | "ok" | "error"
+
+export function addInput(id: string, input: string) {
+    const parent = $$("li.input")
+    const status = $$("span.status.yellow", "•")
+    const content = $$("span.content", input)
+    parent.append(status, content)
+    parent.dataset.id = id
+
+    scrollback.append(parent)
+}
+
+export function setStatus(id: string, status: InputStatus) {
+    const statusEl = document.querySelector(`[data-id="${id}"].input .status`)
+    if (!statusEl) return
+
+    statusEl.className = ""
+
+    switch (status) {
+        case "waiting":
+            statusEl.classList.add("yellow")
+            break
+        case "streaming":
+            statusEl.classList.add("purple")
+            break
+        case "ok":
+            statusEl.classList.add("green")
+            break
+        case "error":
+            statusEl.classList.add("red")
+            break
+    }
+}
+
+export function addOutput(id: string, output: string) {
+    const item = $$("li", output)
+    item.classList.add("output")
+    item.dataset.id = id
+
+    scrollback.append(item)
+
+}
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diff --git a/src/js/session.ts b/src/js/session.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7759eb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/js/session.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+////
+// Each browser tab is a shell session. This means you can run multiple sessions
+// in the same browser.
+
+import { randomID } from "../shared/utils.js"
+
+export const sessionID = randomID()
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diff --git a/src/js/shell.ts b/src/js/shell.ts
index d0fe0cb..32cbf9a 100644
--- a/src/js/shell.ts
+++ b/src/js/shell.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,20 @@
 ////
 // The shell runs on the server and processes input, returning output.
 
-import type { Message } from "../shared/message.js"
+import { addInput, setStatus, addOutput } from "./scrollback.js"
+import { send } from "./websocket.js"
+import { randomID } from "../shared/utils.js"
 
 export function runCommand(input: string) {
+    const id = randomID()
+    addInput(id, input)
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+    send({ id, type: "input", data: input })
+}
+
+// message received from server
+export function handleMessage(e: MessageEvent) {
+    const data = JSON.parse(e.data)
+    addOutput(data.id, data.data)
+    setStatus(data.id, "ok")
+}
diff --git a/src/js/websocket.ts b/src/js/websocket.ts
index fe921ef..369b2f3 100644
--- a/src/js/websocket.ts
+++ b/src/js/websocket.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // The terminal communicates with the shell via websockets.
 
 import type { Message } from "../shared/message.js"
+import { sessionID } from "./session.js"
+import { handleMessage } from "./shell.js"
 
 let ws: WebSocket | null = null
 
@@ -12,17 +14,25 @@ export function startConnection() {
     ws = new WebSocket(url)
 
     ws.onopen = () => console.log('WS connected')
-    ws.onmessage = e => console.log('WS message:', e.data)
+    ws.onmessage = handleMessage
     ws.onclose = () => setTimeout(startConnection, 1000) // simple retry
     ws.onerror = () => ws?.close()
 }
 
 // send any message
 export function send(msg: Message) {
+    if (!msg.session) msg.session = sessionID
     ws?.readyState === 1 && ws.send(JSON.stringify(msg))
+    console.log("-> send", msg)
 }
 
 // close it... plz don't do this, though
 export function close() {
     ws?.close(1000, 'bye')
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+// register a local listener
+export function onMessage(callback: (e: MessageEvent) => void) {
+    if (!ws) return
+    ws.onmessage = callback
+}
diff --git a/src/server.tsx b/src/server.tsx
index bc13609..5d9eb22 100644
--- a/src/server.tsx
+++ b/src/server.tsx
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ app.get("/ws", upgradeWebSocket((c) => {
     return {
         onMessage(event, ws) {
             console.log(`Message from client: ${event.data}`)
-            ws.send('Hello from server!')
+            const data = JSON.parse(event.data.toString())
+            ws.send(JSON.stringify({ id: data.id, data: "Hi there!" }))
         },
         onClose: () => {
             console.log('Connection closed')
diff --git a/src/shared/message.ts b/src/shared/message.ts
index f8cfbd4..6d47721 100644
--- a/src/shared/message.ts
+++ b/src/shared/message.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 export type Message = {
-    session: string
+    session?: string
     id: string
-    type: "output"
+    type: "input" | "output"
     data: any
 }
diff --git a/src/shared/utils.ts b/src/shared/utils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..886c02f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/utils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export function randomID(): string {
+    return Math.random().toString(36).slice(7)
+}
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