diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/build.gradle b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/build.gradle
index 3d5e023..1d68338 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/build.gradle
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/build.gradle
@@ -27,13 +27,22 @@ dependencies {
 	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-rest'
 	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-groovy-templates'
 	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'
+	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf'
+	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa'
 	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-webflux'
-    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator'
+   	implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator'
 	implementation 'org.springframework.shell:spring-shell-starter'
+	implementation 'org.postgresql:postgresql'
 	testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test'
 	testImplementation 'io.projectreactor:reactor-test'
 	testImplementation 'org.springframework.shell:spring-shell-starter-test'
 	testRuntimeOnly 'org.junit.platform:junit-platform-launcher'
+
+    compileOnly 'org.projectlombok:lombok'
+    annotationProcessor 'org.projectlombok:lombok'
+    testCompileOnly 'org.projectlombok:lombok'
+    testAnnotationProcessor 'org.projectlombok:lombok'
+
 }
 
 dependencyManagement {
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/APProperties.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/APProperties.java
index 4951179..4e8dd41 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/APProperties.java
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/APProperties.java
@@ -2,36 +2,29 @@ package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
 
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
+import lombok.AccessLevel;
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.Setter;
 
 /**
- * Object bound to "ap" prefix in {@link org.springframework.core.env.Environment}.
- *
- * @author Yvan Seth
+ * Object bound to "springbot" prefix in {@link org.springframework.core.env.Environment}.
  */
 @Configuration
-@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "ap")
+@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "springbot")
 public class APProperties {
 
     /**
-     * Key File Path
+     * Scheme (i.e. https)
      */
-    private String keyFilePath = "keyfile.pem";
+    @Getter @Setter private String scheme; // = "https";
 
     /**
-     * Server domain
+     * Server domain - i.e. https://<domain>/@username
      */
-    private String serverDomain = "activitypub.bot";
+    @Getter @Setter private String domain; // = "activitypub.bot";
 
-    public String getKeyFilePath() {
-        return keyFilePath;
-    }
-    public void setKeyFilePath(String keyFilePath) {
-        this.keyFilePath = keyFilePath;
-    }
-    public String getServerDomain() {
-        return serverDomain;
-    }
-    public void setServerDomain(String serverDomain) {
-        this.serverDomain = serverDomain;
-    }
+    /*String getScheme() { return this.scheme; }
+    String getDomain() { return this.domain; }
+    void setScheme( String scheme ) { this.scheme = scheme; }
+    void setDomain( String domain ) { this.domain = domain; }*/
 }
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/ActivityPubBotApplication.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/ActivityPubBotApplication.java
index 7a9c1e0..f2ed07f 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/ActivityPubBotApplication.java
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/ActivityPubBotApplication.java
@@ -9,18 +9,21 @@ import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.EnableConfigurationProperties;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
+import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.config.EnableJpaAuditing;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.support.SpringBootServletInitializer;
 
 @SpringBootApplication
+@EnableJpaAuditing
 public class ActivityPubBotApplication extends SpringBootServletInitializer {
 
     //comment below if deploying outside web container -->
-    @Override
+    /*@Override
     protected SpringApplicationBuilder configure(SpringApplicationBuilder builder) {
         return builder.sources(ActivityPubBotApplication.class);
-    }
+    }*/
 
     public static void main(String[] args) {
         SpringApplication.run(ActivityPubBotApplication.class);
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/Bot.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/Bot.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a65ee18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/Bot.java
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
+
+import lombok.AccessLevel;
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.Setter;
+import java.sql.Date;
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.EntityListeners;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.Column;
+import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import jakarta.persistence.GenerationType;
+import org.springframework.data.annotation.CreatedDate;
+import org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.support.AuditingEntityListener;
+import java.time.Instant;
+
+/**
+ * Our core Bot (aka user) data as stored persistently in the database.
+ * This is all the key non-derived data as required by the ActivityPub
+ * specification. NOTE: This is not a comprehensive implementation!
+ */
+@Entity
+@EntityListeners(AuditingEntityListener.class)
+public class Bot {
+
+    // TODO: probably the wrong way to do this, and it isn't really compatible with 'Entity' anyway
+    //private APProperties props;
+    /*public Bot(APProperties props) {
+        this.props = props;
+    }*/
+    // non-data auto-generated primary key, this should never be exposed
+    @Id
+    @GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.AUTO)
+    private Long id;
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    // The next values are user-supplied
+
+    /**
+     * Username of the bot, i.e. the value after the @: @<username>@<domain>
+     * Note that in the Activity Pub spec this is encoded as 'preferredUsername',
+     * we shorten just to username here for clarity and brevity in the code.
+     *
+     * @param username the username value
+     * @return the username value
+     */
+    @Column(nullable=false,unique=true)
+    @Getter @Setter private String username; // "preferredUsername: springbot",
+
+    /**
+     * The "friendly" formatted name of the bot, can have spaces, etc.
+     * 
+     * @param name a presentational name for the bot
+     * @return the presentational name for the bot
+     */
+    @Column(nullable=true,unique=false)
+    @Getter @Setter private String name; // "Spring Bot",
+
+    /**
+     * A bit of text to describe the bot/account, an "about".
+     * 
+     * @param summary Text describing the bot/account
+     * @return the summary string
+     */
+    @Column(nullable=true,unique=false)
+    @Getter @Setter private String summary; // "<p>A bot written using Java/Spring</p>",
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    // The following values will be auto-generated on bot-creation
+
+    @CreatedDate // TODO: is this really the right approach to auto-timestamp, not sure about all this "auditing" stuff, feels like a misuse
+    @Getter private Instant published; // "2025-01-24T00:00:00Z",
+
+    // TODO how and where do we generate this beastie?!?!
+    @Column(nullable=true,unique=false) // FIXME: this isn't true, just easy for now
+    @Getter private String publicKeyPem; // "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\\nMI [...] AB\\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----"
+    
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    // These values can just be constants for the timebeing
+    
+    @Column(nullable=false,unique=false)
+    @Getter private static final String type = "Person";
+
+    @Column(nullable=false,unique=false)
+    @Getter private static final boolean manuallyApproveFollowers = false;
+
+    @Column(nullable=false,unique=false)
+    @Getter private static final boolean indexable = false;
+
+    // TODO: should this class have the functions for generating derived values based on config vals? How does it get the config...
+    
+    /* these are all just derived from (preferred)Username - the scheme and domain-name should come from config
+    private String id; // "https://springbot.seth.id.au/users/springbot",
+    private String url; // "https://springbot.seth.id.au/@springbot",
+    private String inbox; // "https://springbot.seth.id.au/users/springbot/inbox",
+    private String publicKeyId; // "https://springbot.seth.id.au/users/springbot#main-key",
+    */
+    public String getId() {
+        // TODO: is there some sort of 'uribuilder' - probably need our own, lots of uris to build
+		//return props.getScheme() + "://" + props.getDomain() + "/users/" + this.getUsername();
+		return this.getUsername();
+    }
+
+    /* this is just a copy of "id"
+    private String publicKeyOwner; // "https://springap.seth.id.au/users/springbot",
+    */
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return "Bot: " + username;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotController.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotController.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b906d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
+
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.ui.Model;
+import java.util.List;
+
+@Controller
+public class BotController {
+
+    @Autowired
+    private BotRepo botRepo;
+
+    @GetMapping("/viewbot")
+    public String listAll(Model model) {
+        System.out.println("WebHandler::viewbot");
+
+        List<Bot> botlist = botRepo.findAll();
+        model.addAttribute("bots", botlist);
+
+        return "viewbot";
+    }
+
+    @GetMapping("/makebot")
+    public String makebotget(Model model) {
+        System.out.println("WebHandler::makebot");
+
+        Bot bot = new Bot();
+        model.addAttribute("bot", bot);
+
+        return "makebot";
+    }
+
+    @PostMapping("/makebot")
+    public String makebotpost(@ModelAttribute("bot") Bot bot) {
+        System.out.println(bot);
+
+        botRepo.save(bot);
+
+        return "makebot_submitted";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotRepo.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotRepo.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07d6f41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/BotRepo.java
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
+ 
+import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
+ 
+public interface BotRepo extends JpaRepository<Bot, Long> {
+ 
+}
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/RestHandler.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/RestHandler.java
index 8e6662c..1303f38 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/RestHandler.java
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/RestHandler.java
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 
 /**
  * Here we handle any JSON/REST requests.
@@ -12,15 +11,6 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 @RequestMapping( headers = "accept=application/json" )
 public class RestHandler {
 
-    @Autowired
-    public APProperties apProps;
-
-	// FIXME: just playing with working out app properties access here
-	@GetMapping("/key")
-	public String key() {
-		return apProps.getKeyFilePath();
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Really just an alias to /user/springbot
 	 * TODO: how to auto-map @<user> to /users/<user>
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/WebHandler.java b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/WebHandler.java
index ce24321..56a0629 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/WebHandler.java
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/java/dev/activitypub/activitypubbot/WebHandler.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package dev.activitypub.activitypubbot;
  
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 
 /**
  * Here we handle all non-JSON/REST requests - i.e. the normal "web" view
@@ -9,6 +10,9 @@ import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
 @Controller
 public class WebHandler {
     
+    @Autowired
+    private APProperties apProps;
+
      /**
       * handle requests for our "actor" - this presents the web/html view of
       * the bot
@@ -32,7 +36,7 @@ public class WebHandler {
         System.out.println("WebHandler::root");
         return "index";
     }
-
+/*
     // TODO: presumably there is some way to map things like /<string> to capture string and attempt to resolve template
     @RequestMapping("/viewbot")
     public String viewbot() {
@@ -44,4 +48,5 @@ public class WebHandler {
         System.out.println("WebHandler::makebot");
         return "makebot";
     }
+*/
 }
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/application.properties b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/application.properties
index cbcf4e3..1006740 100644
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,8 +1,22 @@
 spring.application.name=activitypubbot
+springbot.domain=springbot.seth.id.au
+springbot.scheme=https
+
 spring.mvc.view.prefix: /WEB-INF/views/
 spring.mvc.view.suffix: .jsp
+
 server.ssl.key-store-type=PKCS12
 server.ssl.key-store=classpath:keys/activitypubbot.p12
 server.ssl.key-store-password=password
 server.ssl.key-alias=activitypubbot
 server.ssl.enabled=true
+
+spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/springbot
+spring.datasource.username=springbot
+spring.datasource.password=spr1ngb0t
+# do not use the following property value in production
+spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
+spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
+spring.jpa.properties.jakarta.persistence.schema-generation.scripts.action=create
+spring.jpa.properties.jakarta.persistence.schema-generation.scripts.create-target=create.sql
+spring.jpa.properties.jakarta.persistence.schema-generation.scripts.create-source=metadata
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/index.jsp b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/index.html
similarity index 100%
rename from Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/index.jsp
rename to Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/index.html
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot.html b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47dab56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot.html
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org">
+<head>
+<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
+<title>Make Bot</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+    label {
+        display: inline-block;
+        width: 200px;
+        margin: 5px;
+        text-align: left;
+    }
+    input[type=text], input[type=password], select {
+        display: inline-block;
+        width: 200px;
+    }
+    input[type=radio] {
+        margin-left: 45px;
+    }
+    input[type=checkbox] {
+        margin-right: 190px;
+    }  
+    button {
+        padding: 5px;
+        margin: 10px;
+    }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<div align="center">
+    <h1>Make A Bot!</h1>
+    <form action="#" th:action="@{/makebot}" method="post" th:object="${bot}">
+        <label>Username:</label>
+        <input type="text" th:field="*{username}" /><br/>
+ 
+        <label>Display Name:</label>
+        <input type="text" th:field="*{name}" /><br/>
+ 
+        <label>Description:</label>
+        <textarea rows="5" cols="25" th:field="*{summary}"></textarea>
+        <br/>
+ 
+        <button type="submit">Register</button>    
+    </form>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot_submitted.html b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot_submitted.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf1f207
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/makebot_submitted.html
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org">
+<head>
+<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
+<title>Made Bot</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+    span {
+        display: inline-block;
+        width: 200px;
+        text-align: left;
+    }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<div align="center">
+    <h2>Made Bot!</h2>
+    <span>Username:</span><span th:text="${bot.username}"></span><br/>
+    <span>Display Name:</span><span th:text="${bot.name}"></span><br/>
+    <span>Description:</span><span th:text="${bot.summary}"></span><br/>
+    <span>Published:</span><span th:text="${bot.published}"></span><br/>
+    <span>Type:</span><span th:text="${bot.type}"></span><br/>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/viewbot.html b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/viewbot.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c6cda7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/resources/templates/viewbot.html
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org">
+<head>
+<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
+<title>View Bot</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+    span {
+        display: inline-block;
+        width: 200px;
+        text-align: left;
+    }
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<div align="center">
+    <h2>Pick-a-Bot!</h2>
+    <ul th:if="${bots.empty}">
+        <li>No Bots!</li>
+    </ul>
+    <ul th:each="bot : ${bots}">
+        <li>Bot: <span th:text="${bot.username}"> Bot </span></li>
+    </ul>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/makebot.jsp b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/makebot.jsp
deleted file mode 100644
index 758de3c..0000000
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/makebot.jsp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
-<head>
-<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
-<title>Make Bot - Spring Bot - an Activity Pub bot using the Spring Boot framework</title>
-</head>
-<body>
-	<h1>Make Yourself a Bot!</h1>
-</body>
-</html>
diff --git a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/viewbot.jsp b/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/viewbot.jsp
deleted file mode 100644
index c78b7e5..0000000
--- a/Java/Spring/activitypubbot/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/views/viewbot.jsp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
-<head>
-<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
-<title>View Bot - Spring Bot - an Activity Pub bot using the Spring Boot framework</title>
-</head>
-<body>
-	<h1>Pick a Bot!</h1>
-</body>
-</html>