diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 13b0223..8b63911 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # MQTT Client
 
-WIP
+Bare-bones MQTT CLI for Mac and Linux.
 
 ## Publish to a topic
 ```
@@ -11,3 +11,9 @@ mqtt pub -t hello/topic '{"hello": "world"}'
 ```
 mqtt sub -t hello/topic
 ```
+
+## Related Projects
+
+Here are some real-world MQTT clients to check out:
+
+* [MQTTX](https://mqttx.app/cli)
diff --git a/include/Command.h b/include/Command.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f92550
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/Command.h
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "Context.h"
+#include "Network.h"
+#include "Packet.h"
+#include <memory>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+
+class Command {
+  public:
+    Command(std::shared_ptr<Context> context);
+    void execute();
+
+  private:
+    std::shared_ptr<Context> mContext;
+    PacketBuilder mPacketBuilder;
+    Network mNetwork;
+
+    bool connect();
+};
+} // namespace MqttClient
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/include/Network.h b/include/Network.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00f1c97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/Network.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#pragma once
+#include "Context.h"
+#include <memory>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+
+using Payload = std::vector<char>;
+
+class Network {
+  public:
+    Network(std::shared_ptr<Context> context);
+    ~Network();
+
+    bool netSend(Payload &payload);
+    bool netRecv(Payload &payload, size_t len);
+
+  private:
+    std::shared_ptr<Context> mContext;
+    int mSock;
+    bool mConnected = false;
+
+    bool netConnect();
+    void netClose();
+};
+
+} // namespace MqttClient
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/include/Packet.h b/include/Packet.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7059f06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/Packet.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "Context.h"
+#include "Network.h"
+#include <memory>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+
+class PacketBuilder {
+
+  public:
+    PacketBuilder(std::shared_ptr<Context> context);
+    bool connect(Payload &payload); // TODO more specific error handling?
+
+  private:
+    std::shared_ptr<Context> mContext;
+};
+} // namespace MqttClient
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Command.cpp b/src/Command.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83f5412
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Command.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#include "Command.h"
+#include "Context.h"
+#include "Packet.h"
+#include <cstring>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <memory>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+
+Command::Command(std::shared_ptr<Context> context)
+    : mContext(std::move(context)), mPacketBuilder(mContext),
+      mNetwork(mContext) {}
+
+void Command::execute() {
+    if (mContext->verbose) {
+        std::cout << "Executing " << mContext->command << " command\n";
+    }
+
+    if (!connect()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (mContext->command == "pub") {
+        // TODO
+    }
+
+    if (mContext->command == "sub") {
+        // TODO
+    }
+}
+
+bool Command::connect() {
+    Payload conn;
+    if (!mPacketBuilder.connect(conn)) {
+        std::cerr << "Unable to build CONNECT packet";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (!mNetwork.netSend(conn)) {
+        std::cerr << "unable to send CONNECT: " << strerror(errno) << "\n";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (mContext->verbose) {
+        std::cout << "CONNECT sent\n";
+    }
+
+    Payload connAck;
+    if (!mNetwork.netRecv(connAck, 4) || connAck[0] != 0b00100000) {
+        std::cerr << "CONNACK not received";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    bool sessionPresent = connAck[2];
+    int returnCode = connAck[3];
+
+    if (mContext->verbose) {
+        std::cout << "CONNACK received! return code: " << returnCode
+                  << ", session present: " << sessionPresent << "\n";
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+} // namespace MqttClient
diff --git a/src/Network.cpp b/src/Network.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..939207b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Network.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+#include "Network.h"
+#include "Command.h"
+#include "Context.h"
+#include "Packet.h"
+#include <cstring>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+Network::Network(std::shared_ptr<Context> context)
+    : mContext(std::move(context)) {};
+Network::~Network() { netClose(); }
+
+bool Network::netSend(Payload &payload) {
+    if (!netConnect()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (send(mSock, payload.data(), payload.size(), 0) < 0) {
+        netClose();
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool Network::netRecv(Payload &payload, size_t len) {
+    if (!netConnect()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    payload.reserve(len);
+
+    auto totalReceived = 0;
+    while (totalReceived < len) {
+        auto received =
+            recv(mSock, payload.data() + totalReceived, len - totalReceived, 0);
+        if (received == 0) {
+            netClose();
+            return false;
+        }
+        totalReceived += received;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool Network::netConnect() {
+    if (mConnected) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // TODO support ipv4
+    int sock = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    if (sock < 0) {
+        std::cerr << "unable to create socket: " << strerror(errno) << "\n";
+        return false;
+    }
+    mSock = sock;
+
+    // TODO move this into context
+    std::string host = mContext->address;
+    std::string port = "1883";
+    size_t pos = mContext->address.find_last_of(':');
+    if (pos != std::string::npos) {
+        host = mContext->address.substr(0, pos);
+        port = mContext->address.substr(pos + 1);
+    }
+
+    // TODO resolve localhost, hosts
+    sockaddr_in6 server_addr;
+    std::memset(&server_addr, 0, sizeof(server_addr));
+    server_addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
+    server_addr.sin6_port = htons(std::stoi(port));
+    if (inet_pton(AF_INET6, host.c_str(), &server_addr.sin6_addr) <= 0) {
+        netClose();
+        std::cerr << "unable to create address: " << strerror(errno) << "\n";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (connect(mSock, (sockaddr *)&server_addr, sizeof(server_addr)) < 0) {
+        netClose();
+        std::cerr << "unable to connect to server: " << strerror(errno) << "\n";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    mConnected = true;
+    return true;
+}
+
+void Network::netClose() {
+    if (mSock != 0) {
+        close(mSock);
+        mConnected = false;
+    }
+}
+} // namespace MqttClient
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Packet.cpp b/src/Packet.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e95241
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Packet.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#include "Packet.h"
+#include "Context.h"
+#include <memory>
+
+namespace MqttClient {
+PacketBuilder::PacketBuilder(std::shared_ptr<Context> context)
+    : mContext(std::move(context)) {};
+
+bool PacketBuilder::connect(Payload &payload) {
+    char variableHeaderLength = 10; // TODO const
+
+    // client id length needs to fit in the second byte of the connect
+    // packet (remainingLength)
+    if (mContext->clientId.size() >
+        255 - variableHeaderLength) { // TODO can this just be moved to
+                                      // earlier validation?
+        return false;                 // TODO error handling
+    }
+
+    // supported payload fields: client identifier
+    // TODO will topic, will message, user name, password, clean session
+    // TODO support MQTT5
+
+    // BEGIN FIXED HEADER
+    payload.push_back(0b00010000); // MQTT control packet type (1)
+    payload.push_back(variableHeaderLength + 2 +
+                      mContext->clientId.size()); // remainingLength
+    // BEGIN VARIABLE HEADER
+    payload.push_back(0); // MQTT length MSB
+    payload.push_back(4); // MQTT length LSB
+    payload.push_back('M');
+    payload.push_back('Q');
+    payload.push_back('T');
+    payload.push_back('T');
+    payload.push_back(4); // protocol level (MQTT 3.1.1)
+    payload.push_back(
+        0b00000010);      // connect flags, just cleanSession=true for now
+    payload.push_back(0); // keep alive MSB
+    payload.push_back(0); // keep alive LSB
+    // BEGIN PAYLOAD
+    // client id
+    payload.push_back(0);                         // TODO client id length MSB
+    payload.push_back(mContext->clientId.size()); // client id length LSB
+    for (size_t c = 0; c < mContext->clientId.size(); ++c) {
+        payload.push_back(mContext->clientId[c]);
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+} // namespace MqttClient
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 5839e08..1452d92 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+#include "Command.h"
 #include "Context.h"
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <memory>
 #include <string>
 
 using namespace MqttClient;
@@ -30,7 +32,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                   << ", message=" << context.message << "]\n";
     }
 
-    // TODO implement commands
+    auto command = new Command(std::make_shared<Context>(context));
+    command->execute();
 
     return 0;
 }