diff --git a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index d871d49b..e000d1d7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -2595,6 +2595,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "log",
  "objc",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "tauri",
  "tauri-build",
  "tauri-nspanel",
@@ -3472,9 +3473,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_json"
-version = "1.0.118"
+version = "1.0.120"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d947f6b3163d8857ea16c4fa0dd4840d52f3041039a85decd46867eb1abef2e4"
+checksum = "4e0d21c9a8cae1235ad58a00c11cb40d4b1e5c784f1ef2c537876ed6ffd8b7c5"
 dependencies = [
  "indexmap 2.2.6",
  "itoa 1.0.11",
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 54c80c4d..fbb02daa 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ tauri = { version = "1.6.8", features = [
   "http-all",
 ] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.203", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0.120"
 tokio = { version = "1.38.0", features = [
   "full",
 ] } # Required for asynchronous operations
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/config.rs b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4565e16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde_json::json;
+use tauri::{AppHandle, Manager};
+use tauri_plugin_store::StoreBuilder;
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE")]
+pub enum WindowLayout {
+  Left,
+  Right,
+  Center,
+}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+pub struct Config {
+  pub pin: bool,
+  pub placment: WindowLayout,
+  pub telemetry: bool,
+  pub join_history_notifications: bool,
+  pub show_only_talking_users: bool,
+}
+
+// create a helper function to seed the config with values
+pub fn create_config(app: &AppHandle) {
+  // create the store
+  let mut appdir = app.path_resolver().app_data_dir().unwrap();
+  appdir.push("config_v2.json");
+
+  let mut store = StoreBuilder::new(app.app_handle(), appdir).build();
+  store.insert("pin".to_string(), json!(false));
+  store.insert("placement".to_string(), json!(WindowLayout::Center));
+  store.insert("telemetry".to_string(), json!(true));
+  store.insert("join_history_notifications".to_string(), json!(true));
+  store.insert("show_only_talking_users".to_string(), json!(true));
+
+  store.save();
+  println!("ayo");
+}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 58520988..88a5700c 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@
 extern crate objc;
 
 mod commands;
+mod config;
 mod constants;
 mod tray;
 mod window_custom;
 
 use crate::commands::*;
+use config::create_config;
 use constants::*;
 use log::LevelFilter;
 use log::{debug, info};
@@ -108,6 +110,10 @@ fn main() {
 
       // update the system tray
       Tray::update_tray(&app.app_handle());
+      debug!("Updated the tray/taskbar menu");
+
+      // we should call this to create the config file
+      create_config(&app.app_handle());
 
       info!("Started app");
       Ok(())