diff --git a/packages/desktop/.eslintrc.json b/packages/desktop/.eslintrc.json
index 5d6893b..a115205 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/.eslintrc.json
+++ b/packages/desktop/.eslintrc.json
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     "plugin:import/typescript",
     "plugin:react/recommended",
     "plugin:react-hooks/recommended",
-    "plugin:jsx-a11y"
+    "plugin:jsx-a11y/recommended"
   ],
   "parser": "@typescript-eslint/parser",
   "rules": {
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/app.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/app.tsx
index ab1f10a..4a1e562 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/app.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/app.tsx
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ import './styles/index.css';
 
 import * as React from 'react';
 import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
+import ElectronApp from './tree/electronApp';
 
 function render() {
-  ReactDOM.render(<div>test</div>, document.getElementById('root'));
+  ReactDOM.render(<ElectronApp />, document.getElementById('root'));
 }
 
 render();
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/providers/AuthProvider.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/providers/AuthProvider.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01293e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/providers/AuthProvider.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import React, { useContext, useState, useEffect } from 'react';
+import { User } from '@nirvana/core/models/user.model';
+
+interface IAuthProvider {
+  user: User;
+}
+
+const AuthContext = React.createContext<IAuthProvider>({
+  user: null,
+});
+
+export function AuthProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+  if (true) return <></>;
+
+  return <AuthContext.Provider value={{}}>{children}</AuthContext.Provider>;
+}
+
+export default function useAuth() {
+  return useContext(AuthContext);
+}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/providers/ElectronProvider.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/providers/ElectronProvider.tsx
index bef3f0d..a63044c 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/providers/ElectronProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/providers/ElectronProvider.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import React, { useContext, useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 import Channels, { DEFAULT_APP_PRESET, Dimensions } from '../electron/constants';
 
 interface IElectronProvider {
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ const ElectronContext = React.createContext<IElectronProvider>({
   desktopMode: 'mainApp',
 });
 
-export default function ElectronProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+export function ElectronProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
   const [desktopMode, setDesktopMode] = useState<DesktopMode>('mainApp');
 
   // handle all window resizing logic
@@ -62,3 +62,7 @@ export default function ElectronProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNo
 
   return <ElectronContext.Provider value={{ desktopMode }}>{children}</ElectronContext.Provider>;
 }
+
+export default function useElectron() {
+  return useContext(ElectronContext);
+}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/providers/SocketProvider.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/providers/SocketProvider.tsx
index 30f43b1..dd4dd10 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src/providers/SocketProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/providers/SocketProvider.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,34 @@
-import React from 'react';
+import React, { useState, useEffect, useContext } from 'react';
+import { Socket } from 'socket.io-client';
 
-export default function SocketProvider() {
-  return <div></div>;
+interface ISocketProvider {
+  $ws: Socket;
+}
+
+const SocketContext = React.createContext<ISocketProvider>({
+  $ws: null,
+});
+
+export function SocketProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+  const [$ws, set$ws] = useState<Socket>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const socketConnection = io('http://localhost:5000', {
+      query: { token: jwtToken },
+      transports: ['websocket'],
+      upgrade: false,
+      forceNew: true,
+      reconnection: false, // ! TESTING THE PROBLEM WITH RECONNECTION CLIENT LISTENERS NOT ACTIVATING
+    });
+
+    set$ws(socketConnection);
+  }, [set$ws]);
+
+  if (!$ws) return <span>please wait for a solid connection</span>;
+
+  return <SocketContext.Provider value={{ $ws }}>{children}</SocketContext.Provider>;
+}
+
+export default function useSockets() {
+  return useContext(SocketContext);
 }
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/tree/electronApp.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/tree/electronApp.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3470b70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/tree/electronApp.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import React from 'react';
+
+import { ElectronProvider } from '../providers/ElectronProvider';
+import SocketProvider from '../providers/SocketProvider';
+
+export default function ElectronApp() {
+  return (
+    <ElectronProvider>
+      <SocketProvider>
+        <div> this is the bottom of the tree</div>
+      </SocketProvider>
+    </ElectronProvider>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/ProtectedRoute.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/ProtectedRoute.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0661c2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/ProtectedRoute.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import useAuth from '../../providers/AuthProvider';
+
+export default function ProtectedRoute({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+  const { user } = useAuth();
+
+  if (user) return;
+  return <>hey</>;
+}
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/login/Login.tsx b/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/login/Login.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..251666e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/tree/protected/login/Login.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+import Channels, { STORE_ITEMS } from '../../electron/constants';
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import { useRecoilState, useSetRecoilState } from 'recoil';
+
+import { $jwtToken } from '../../controller/recoil';
+import { FcGoogle } from 'react-icons/fc';
+import Logo from '../../components/Logo';
+import { useLogin } from '../../controller/index';
+
+export default function Login() {
+  const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState<boolean>(false);
+
+  const setJwtToken = useSetRecoilState($jwtToken);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    window.electronAPI.once(
+      Channels.GOOGLE_AUTH_TOKENS,
+      async (tokens: { access_token: string; id_token: string; refresh_token: string }) => {
+        console.log('got tokens', tokens);
+
+        setIsLoading(true);
+        // todo: implement refresh token procedure in api layer by sending refresh_token and such
+
+        const loginResponse = await mutateAsync({
+          accessToken: tokens.access_token,
+          idToken: tokens.id_token,
+        });
+
+        const { jwtToken, userDetails } = loginResponse;
+        setJwtToken(jwtToken);
+      },
+    );
+
+    // todo: figure out how to clean up with the preload api
+    // return () => {
+    //   window.electronAPI.removeAllListeners(Channels.GOOGLE_AUTH_TOKENS);
+    // };
+  }, []);
+
+  const continueAuth = () => {
+    setIsLoading(true);
+
+    // send to main process
+    window.electronAPI.auth.initiateLogin();
+  };
+
+  return (
+    <div
+      className="flex flex-col space-y-5 justify-center items-center 
+    h-screen w-screen
+     bg-zinc-700"
+    >
+      <Logo className="scale-50" />
+
+      {/* ! TESTING PURPOSES */}
+      <div className={'text-white flex flex-col gap-5'}>
+        <button
+          onClick={() =>
+            setJwtToken(
+              'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOiI2MjczYTNjZGVmYzc3MDNhZDg1NWYzMjYiLCJnb29nbGVVc2VySWQiOiIxMTM0NzA3ODY2OTAzNTMxMDkwODYiLCJwaWN0dXJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9saDMuZ29vZ2xldXNlcmNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2EtL0FPaDE0R2ptMjlTZDFXbm04TnZaYlhrb3N2ZjZTb0lENmtCUDVPSFJMVklPQlE9czk2LWMiLCJlbWFpbCI6InBhdGVsLmFyanVuNTBAZ21haWwuY29tIiwibmFtZSI6IkFyanVuIFBhdGVsIiwiaWF0IjoxNjUxOTY2MDg2fQ.bGK4DaUyuHCIRFhX5g3xQxI5SVMKR7hmte1UpmTZaVc',
+            )
+          }
+        >
+          Personal Account
+        </button>
+
+        <button
+          onClick={() =>
+            setJwtToken(
+              'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOiI2MjczYTZmYmVmYzc3MDNhZDg1NWYzMjciLCJnb29nbGVVc2VySWQiOiIxMTE2NzEzNTI4MDkwMTg3NjM4MjYiLCJwaWN0dXJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9saDMuZ29vZ2xldXNlcmNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2EtL0FPaDE0R2dUUmFNaVVUZkNaX1ZOM2M3SFJyYUlZUmpmN1BNSUZjVThJdlZiPXM5Ni1jIiwiZW1haWwiOiJhcmp1bnBhdGVsQGJlcmtlbGV5LmVkdSIsIm5hbWUiOiJBcmp1biBQYXRlbCIsImlhdCI6MTY1MTk2NjA5OH0.53TbuXaHDTivEpqVr-TP5A1vVIFznT3q_HoVxOReZKc',
+            )
+          }
+        >
+          Berkeley Email
+        </button>
+
+        <button
+          onClick={() =>
+            setJwtToken(
+              'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOiI2MjczZTAxNTM1OTg3YWZhMGZjOTA5NzYiLCJnb29nbGVVc2VySWQiOiIxMTQyMTgxMjM0Mzk1OTA4OTU4MjAiLCJwaWN0dXJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9saDMuZ29vZ2xldXNlcmNvbnRlbnQuY29tL29ndy9BRGVhNEk0RUhmY08ycVc1blEtelJXdzdRdTVOMWVQdnU5cHkyQzFPbUVxbj1zNjQtYy1tbyIsImVtYWlsIjoidXNlbmlydmFuYUBnbWFpbC5jb20iLCJuYW1lIjoiTmlydmFuYSBTdXBwb3J0IiwiaWF0IjoxNjUxOTY3MDA2fQ.9AgmMW2LYv4QNqibvopiKAaV0GWNbChujWiY6t0OZeQ',
+            )
+          }
+        >
+          Nirvana Support
+        </button>
+      </div>
+
+      {isLoading ? (
+        <>
+          <span className="text-white">Attempting to log you in</span>
+        </>
+      ) : (
+        <button
+          onClick={continueAuth}
+          className=" text-md text-zinc-200 py-2 px-5 border border-gray-200 transition-all hover:bg-gray-200 hover:text-teal-500 rounded flex flex-row items-center space-x-2"
+        >
+          <FcGoogle className="text-lg" />
+          <span>Continue with Google</span>
+        </button>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}