diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
index 7b07785..588e846 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
@@ -203,14 +203,14 @@ queryIdLookupLoop cacheSnapshot ns targetID = do
           now <- getPOSIXTime
           newLCache <- foldM (\oldCache resp -> do
             let entriesToInsert = case queryResult <$> payload resp of
-                             Just (FOUND result1) -> [addCacheEntryPure now (RemoteCacheEntry result1 now)]
-                             Just (FORWARD resultset) -> addCacheEntryPure now <$> Set.elems resultset
+                             Just (FOUND result1) -> [RemoteCacheEntry result1 now]
+                             Just (FORWARD resultset) -> Set.elems resultset
                              _ -> []
             -- forward entries to global cache
-            forM_ entriesToInsert $ \entry -> atomically $ writeTQueue (cacheWriteQueue ns) entry
+            queueAddEntries entriesToInsert ns
             -- insert entries into local cache copy
-            pure $ foldl' (
-                \oldLCache insertFunc -> insertFunc oldLCache
+            pure $ foldr' (
+                addCacheEntryPure now
                           ) oldCache entriesToInsert
                             ) cacheSnapshot responses
 
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ sendRequestTo timeoutMillis numAttempts msgIncomplete sock = do
 
 
 -- | enqueue a list of RemoteCacheEntries to be added to the global NodeCache
-queueAddEntries :: [RemoteCacheEntry]
+queueAddEntries :: Foldable c => c RemoteCacheEntry
                 -> LocalNodeState
                 -> IO ()
 queueAddEntries entries ns = do
@@ -334,4 +334,5 @@ mkSendSocket dest destPort = do
     destAddr <- addrAddress <$> resolve (Just dest) (Just destPort)
     sendSock <- socket AF_INET6 Datagram defaultProtocol
     setSocketOption sendSock IPv6Only 1
+    connect sendSock destAddr
     pure sendSock
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
index 540267c..9cce7eb 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ module Hash2Pub.FediChord (
   , bsAsIpAddr
   , FediChordConf(..)
   , fediChordInit
+  , fediChordJoin
+  , fediChordBootstrapJoin
   , nodeStateInit
   , mkServerSocket
   , mkSendSocket
@@ -109,11 +111,13 @@ nodeStateInit conf = do
                                            }
     pure initialState
 
-fediChordJoin :: LocalNodeState              -- ^ the local 'NodeState'
-              -> (String, PortNumber)   -- ^ domain and port of a bootstrapping node
-              -> IO (Either String LocalNodeState) -- ^ the joined 'NodeState' after a
+-- | Join a new node into the DHT, using a provided bootstrap node as initial cache seed
+-- for resolving the new node's position.
+fediChordBootstrapJoin :: LocalNodeState              -- ^ the local 'NodeState'
+                        -> (String, PortNumber)   -- ^ domain and port of a bootstrapping node
+                        -> IO (Either String LocalNodeState) -- ^ the joined 'NodeState' after a
                                             -- successful join, otherwise an error message
-fediChordJoin ns (joinHost, joinPort) = do
+fediChordBootstrapJoin ns (joinHost, joinPort) = do
     -- can be invoked multiple times with all known bootstrapping nodes until successfully joined
     sock <- mkSendSocket joinHost joinPort
     -- 1. get routed to placement of own ID until FOUND:
@@ -132,18 +136,24 @@ fediChordJoin ns (joinHost, joinPort) = do
                        Just (FORWARD resultset) -> foldr' (addCacheEntryPure now) cacheAcc resultset
                           )
                        initCache bootstrapResponse
-           -- get routed to the currently responsible node, based on the response
-           -- from the bootstrapping node
-           currentlyResponsible <- queryIdLookupLoop bootstrapCache ns $ getNid ns
-           -- do actual join
-           joinResult <- requestJoin currentlyResponsible ns
-           case joinResult of
-             Nothing -> pure . Left $ "Error joining on " <> show currentlyResponsible
-             Just joinedNS -> pure . Right $ joinedNS
-
+           fediChordJoin bootstrapCache ns
 
+-- | join a node to the DHT, using the provided cache snapshot for resolving the new
+-- node's position.
+fediChordJoin :: NodeCache                          -- ^ a snapshot of the NodeCache to
+                                                    -- use for ID lookup
+              -> LocalNodeState                     -- ^ the local 'NodeState'
+              -> IO (Either String LocalNodeState)  -- ^ the joined 'NodeState' after a
+                                                    -- successful join, otherwise an error message
+fediChordJoin cacheSnapshot ns = do
+    -- get routed to the currently responsible node, based on the response
+    -- from the bootstrapping node
+    currentlyResponsible <- queryIdLookupLoop cacheSnapshot ns $ getNid ns
     -- 2. then send a join to the currently responsible node
-    -- after successful join, finally add own node to the cache
+    joinResult <- requestJoin currentlyResponsible ns
+    case joinResult of
+      Nothing -> pure . Left $ "Error joining on " <> show currentlyResponsible
+      Just joinedNS -> pure . Right $ joinedNS
 
 
 -- | cache updater thread that waits for incoming NodeCache update instructions on
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
index 7ad09a9..7e3565d 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
@@ -419,9 +419,10 @@ byteStringToUInteger bs = sum $ parsedBytes 0 bs
 
 -- | configuration values used for initialising the FediChord DHT
 data FediChordConf = FediChordConf
-    { confDomain  :: String
-    , confIP      :: HostAddress6
-    , confDhtPort :: Int
+    { confDomain         :: String
+    , confIP             :: HostAddress6
+    , confDhtPort        :: Int
+    , confBootstrapNodes :: [(String, PortNumber)]
     }
     deriving (Show, Eq)
 
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/Main.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/Main.hs
index 1956f64..f1e6b29 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/Main.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/Main.hs
@@ -18,15 +18,17 @@ main = do
     -- currently no masking is necessary, as there is nothing to clean up
     cacheWriterThread <- forkIO $ cacheWriter thisNode
     -- idea: list of bootstrapping nodes, try joining within a timeout
+    joinedState <- fediChordBootstrapJoin thisNode $ head . confBootstrapNodes $ conf
     -- stop main thread from terminating during development
     getChar
     pure ()
 
 readConfig :: IO FediChordConf
 readConfig = do
-    confDomainString : ipString : portString : _ <- getArgs
+    confDomainString : ipString : portString : bootstrapHost : bootstrapPortString : _ <- getArgs
     pure $ FediChordConf {
         confDomain = confDomainString
       , confIP = toHostAddress6 . read $ ipString
       , confDhtPort = read portString
+      , confBootstrapNodes = [(bootstrapHost, read bootstrapPortString)]
                            }