diff --git a/ProjectLighthouse.sln.DotSettings b/ProjectLighthouse.sln.DotSettings
index 6dab5440..dcd254e2 100644
--- a/ProjectLighthouse.sln.DotSettings
+++ b/ProjectLighthouse.sln.DotSettings
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <wpf:ResourceDictionary xml:space="preserve" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:s="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:ss="urn:shemas-jetbrains-com:settings-storage-xaml" xmlns:wpf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation">
+	<s:String x:Key="/Default/CodeStyle/Naming/CSharpNaming/Abbreviations/=MM/@EntryIndexedValue">MM</s:String>
 	<s:String x:Key="/Default/CodeStyle/Naming/CSharpNaming/PredefinedNamingRules/=Method/@EntryIndexedValue">&lt;Policy Inspect="True" Prefix="" Suffix="" Style="AaBb"&gt;&lt;ExtraRule Prefix="" Suffix="" Style="aaBb" /&gt;&lt;/Policy&gt;</s:String>
 	<s:String x:Key="/Default/CodeStyle/Naming/CSharpNaming/PredefinedNamingRules/=PrivateConstants/@EntryIndexedValue">&lt;Policy Inspect="True" Prefix="" Suffix="" Style="aaBb" /&gt;</s:String>
 	<s:String x:Key="/Default/CodeStyle/Naming/CSharpNaming/PredefinedNamingRules/=PrivateStaticReadonly/@EntryIndexedValue">&lt;Policy Inspect="True" Prefix="" Suffix="" Style="aaBb" /&gt;</s:String>
diff --git a/ProjectLighthouse/Controllers/UserController.cs b/ProjectLighthouse/Controllers/UserController.cs
index 14afc6e2..22e90f79 100644
--- a/ProjectLighthouse/Controllers/UserController.cs
+++ b/ProjectLighthouse/Controllers/UserController.cs
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ namespace ProjectLighthouse.Controllers {
             return this.Ok(user.Serialize());
         }
 
-        [HttpPost("user/{username}")]
-        public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUser(string username) {
-            await new Database().CreateUser(username);
-            return await GetUser(username);
-        }
+//        [HttpPost("user/{username}")]
+//        public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUser(string username) {
+//            await new Database().CreateUser(username);
+//            return await GetUser(username);
+//        }
 
         [HttpPost("updateUser")]
         public async Task<IActionResult> UpdateUser() {
diff --git a/ProjectLighthouse/Database.cs b/ProjectLighthouse/Database.cs
index 204e5e24..a78aadd2 100644
--- a/ProjectLighthouse/Database.cs
+++ b/ProjectLighthouse/Database.cs
@@ -1,38 +1,70 @@
+#nullable enable
+using System;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 using ProjectLighthouse.Types;
 
 namespace ProjectLighthouse {
     public class Database : DbContext {
-        protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder options) => options.UseMySql(
-            ServerSettings.DbConnectionString,
-            MySqlServerVersion.LatestSupportedServerVersion
-        );
-
-        public async Task CreateUser(string username) {
-            await this.Database.ExecuteSqlRawAsync(
-                "INSERT INTO Locations (X, Y) VALUES ({0}, {1})",
-                0, 0);
-
-            Location l = new() {
-                X = 0,
-                Y = 0
-            };
-
-            this.Locations.Add(l);
-            await this.SaveChangesAsync();
-
-            int locationId = l.Id;
-
-            await this.Database.ExecuteSqlRawAsync(
-                "INSERT INTO Users (Username, Biography, Pins, LocationId) VALUES ({0}, {1}, {2}, {3})",
-                username, "No biography provided.", "", locationId);
-            
-        }
-        
         public DbSet<User> Users { get; set; }
         public DbSet<Location> Locations { get; set; }
         public DbSet<Slot> Slots { get; set; }
         public DbSet<Comment> Comments { get; set; }
+        public DbSet<Token> Tokens { get; set; }
+        
+        protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder options) => options.UseMySql(
+            ServerSettings.DbConnectionString,
+            MySqlServerVersion.LatestSupportedServerVersion
+        );
+        
+        public async Task<User> CreateUser(string username) {
+            Location l = new(); // store to get id after submitting
+            this.Locations.Add(l); // add to table
+            await this.SaveChangesAsync(); // saving to the database returns the id and sets it on this entity
+
+            User user = new() {
+                Username = username,
+                LocationId = l.Id,
+                Biography = "No biography provided"
+            };
+            this.Users.Add(user);
+
+            await this.SaveChangesAsync();
+
+            return user;
+
+        }
+
+        // MM_AUTH=psn_name:?:timestamp, potentially a user creation date?:?:user id?:user's IP:?:password? SHA1
+        // just blindly trust the token for now while we get it working
+        public async Task<bool> AuthenticateUser(string mmAuth) {
+            Token token = new() {
+                MMAuth = mmAuth
+            };
+
+            string[] split;
+            try {
+                split = mmAuth.Split(":");
+            }
+            catch(ArgumentOutOfRangeException e) {
+                return false; // Token doesn't contain :, cant be a valid token
+            }
+            
+            // TODO: don't use psn name to authenticate
+            User user = await this.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == split[0]) 
+                        ?? await this.CreateUser(split[0]);
+
+            token.UserId = user.UserId;
+
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        public async Task<bool> IsUserAuthenticated(string mmAuth) => await UserFromMMAuth(mmAuth) != null;
+
+        public async Task<User?> UserFromMMAuth(string mmAuth) {
+            Token? token = await Tokens.FirstOrDefaultAsync(t => t.MMAuth == mmAuth);
+            if(token == null) return null;
+            return await Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.UserId == token.UserId);
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ProjectLighthouse/Types/Token.cs b/ProjectLighthouse/Types/Token.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61455594
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ProjectLighthouse/Types/Token.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+
+namespace ProjectLighthouse.Types {
+    [Keyless]
+    public class Token {
+        public int UserId { get; set; }
+        public string MMAuth { get; set; }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file