diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bc6c934..4495b22 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+appsettings.json
+
+
 # ---> VisualStudioCode
 .vscode/*
 !.vscode/settings.json
diff --git a/Configuration.cs b/Configuration.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3751fbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Configuration.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+namespace newsletter
+{
+    public class Configuration
+    {
+        public string ExportPath { get; set; }
+        public List<Reporter> Reporters { get; set; }
+        public class Reporter
+        {
+            public string Type { get; set; }
+            public string Url { get; set; }
+            public string Username { get; set; }
+            public string Password { get; set; }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Program.cs b/Program.cs
index 818d7ab..ef48af7 100644
--- a/Program.cs
+++ b/Program.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-using System;
+#pragma warning disable CS8618
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Net.Http.Json;
 using Ical.Net;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using System.Xml;
 using HtmlAgilityPack;
 using System.Diagnostics;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace newsletter
 {
@@ -20,7 +23,66 @@ namespace newsletter
     {
         static async Task Main(string[] args)
         {
-            
+            var conf = Configure();
+            if(conf == null) return;
+
+            var reports = await CollectReports(CollectReporters(conf));
+
+            var fullHtml = AssembleHTML(reports.Select(r => r.ReportContent));
+
+            fullHtml.Save(conf.ExportPath);
         }
+
+        static Configuration Configure(string configurationPath = "appsettings.json")
+        {
+            if(!File.Exists(configurationPath))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"could not find configuration at {configurationPath}! copying sample to that spot.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath); //and you know what, if that explodes at the OS level, the OS should give you an error
+                return null;
+            }
+            var fileContents = File.ReadAllText(configurationPath);
+            if(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(fileContents))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
+            }
+            
+            var conf = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Configuration>(fileContents);
+
+            if(conf == null)
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            return conf;
+        }
+    
+        static List<Task<Report>> CollectReporters(Configuration conf)
+        {
+            //TODO
+            throw new NotImplementedException();
+        }
+
+        static async Task<List<Report>> CollectReports(List<Task<Report>>  tasks)
+        {
+            var results = new List<Report>();
+            foreach(var task in tasks)
+            {
+                var rep = await task;
+                results.Add(rep);
+            }
+            return results;
+        }
+
+        static HtmlDocument AssembleHTML(IEnumerable<HtmlNode> reportSections)
+        {
+            //TODO
+            throw new NotImplementedException();
+        }
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/Report.cs b/Report.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b59e49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Report.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#pragma warning disable CS8618
+using HtmlAgilityPack;
+
+namespace newsletter
+{
+    public class Report
+    {
+        ///<summary>
+        ///gets embedded in the web page. reporter should have this be a div, and assembler will add classes and attributes or whatever
+        ///</summary>
+        public HtmlNode ReportContent { get; set; }
+        ///<summary>
+        ///if I ever hook this up to TTS, this is the text that will be spoken
+        ///</summary>
+        public string TextSummary { get; set; }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Reporters/Dummy.cs b/Reporters/Dummy.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a68588a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Reporters/Dummy.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+using HtmlAgilityPack;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace newsletter.Reporters
+{
+    public class Dummy : Reporter
+    {
+        #pragma warning disable CS1998
+        public async Task<Report> Report(Configuration.Reporter config)
+        {
+            return new Report()
+            {
+                ReportContent = HtmlNode.CreateNode($"<div>dummy node for testing purposes. Url: {config.Url}, Username: {config.Username}, Password: {config.Password}.</div>"),
+                TextSummary = "dummy text for testing purposes"
+            };
+        }
+        #pragma warning restore CS1998
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Reporters/Reporter.cs b/Reporters/Reporter.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..412ca4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Reporters/Reporter.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace newsletter.Reporters
+{
+    public interface Reporter
+    {
+        Task<Report> Report(Configuration.Reporter config);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/newsletter.csproj b/newsletter.csproj
index 0e069c8..cbdffdd 100644
--- a/newsletter.csproj
+++ b/newsletter.csproj
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
-    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
+    <Nullable>disable</Nullable>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
 
diff --git a/sample-appsettings.json b/sample-appsettings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97df911
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sample-appsettings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+    "exportPath": "./newsletter.html",
+    "reporters": [
+        {
+            "type":"dummy",
+            "url": "localhost:8080",
+            "username": "guy who didn't configure",
+            "password": "sordph1sh"
+        }
+    ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/template.html b/template.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dca527d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+    <head>
+        <style type="text/css">
+            body{
+                background-color: #202020;
+                color:white;
+            }
+            .report-content{
+                display:block;
+                border-radius: 1em;
+                border: 0.125em solid white;
+                padding: 0.25em 0.5em;
+                margin-top: 1em;
+            }
+
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+        <div class="report-content">sample report</div>
+        <div class="report-content">sample report</div>
+    </body>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file