diff --git a/rowbot b/rowbot
index 7b50e8e..295d5ac 100755
--- a/rowbot
+++ b/rowbot
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ error() {
 # argument parser for parsing arguments
 ##
 
+original_args=("$0" "$@")
 declare -A opts
 
 while (( $# )); do
@@ -80,28 +81,71 @@ else
   port=${opts[port]:-6667}
 fi
 
-level=${opts[log-level]:-info}
-
-if [[ ${opts[log]} ]]; then
-  exec {log}>"${opts[log]}"
-else
-  log=1
-fi
-
 nick=${opts[nick]:-rowbot-dev}
 ident=${opts[ident]:-rowbot}
 realname=${opts[realname]:-rowbot}
 chan=${opts[chan]:-}
 trigger=${opts[trigger]:-\`}
 fact_root=${opts[fact-root]:-.}
+reload=${opts[reload]:-no}
+dev=${opts[dev]:-no}
+
+if [[ -v USER ]]; then
+  owner=${opts[owner]:-"$USER"}
+else
+  owner=${opts[owner]:-uplime}
+fi
+
+level=${opts[log-level]:-info}
+
+if [[ $reload = yes ]]; then
+  log=$LOG_FD
+elif [[ ${opts[log]} ]]; then
+  exec {log}>"${opts[log]}"
+else
+  log=1
+fi
+
+###
+# utilities
+###
+
+cleanup() {
+  exec {in_sock}>&- {out_sock}>&- {log}>&-
+
+  if [[ $tls = yes ]]; then
+    kill "$tls_pid"
+    rm -rf "$sock_dir"
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -v ping_pid ]]; then
+    kill "$ping_pid"
+  fi
+}
+
+trap cleanup EXIT
 
 ###
 # net code
 ###
 
-if [[ $tls = yes ]]; then
-  coproc sock { socat OPENSSL:"$server":"$port" -; }
-  exec {in_sock}<&"${sock[0]}" {out_sock}>&"${sock[1]}"
+if [[ $reload = yes ]]; then
+  in_sock=$IN_SOCK out_sock=$OUT_SOCK
+
+  if [[ $tls = yes ]]; then
+    sock_dir=$SOCK_DIR
+    tls_pid=$tls_pid
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -v PING_PID ]]; then
+    ping_pid=$PING_PID
+  fi
+elif [[ $tls = yes ]]; then
+  sock_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+  mkfifo "$sock_dir"/rb{in,out}
+  socat OPENSSL:"$server":"$port" - <"$sock_dir"/rbin >"$sock_dir"/rbout &
+  tls_pid=$!
+  exec {out_sock}>"$sock_dir"/rbin {in_sock}<"$sock_dir"/rbout
 else
   exec {sock}<>/dev/tcp/"$server"/"$port"
   in_sock=$sock out_sock=$sock
@@ -175,7 +219,7 @@ on_001() {
     sleep 10
   done &
 
-  trap "kill $!" EXIT
+  ping_pid=$!
 }
 
 on_002() {
@@ -291,6 +335,7 @@ pong() {
 
 privmsg() {
   send "PRIVMSG %s :\u200b%s" "$1" "$2"
+  info "<%s/%s> %s" "$nick" "$1" "$2"
 }
 
 user() {
@@ -301,7 +346,7 @@ user() {
 # app hooks
 ##
 
-hook_PRIVMSG_factoids() {
+hook_post_PRIVMSG_factoids() {
   if [[ ${params[0]:0:1} != \# ]]; then
     return 0
   elif [[ ${words[0]} = "$trigger"* ]]; then
@@ -348,12 +393,55 @@ hook_PRIVMSG_factoids() {
   fi
 }
 
+hook_post_PRIVMSG_control_panel() {
+  if [[ ${words[0]} = "$trigger"* ]]; then
+    if [[ $from != $owner && $dev != yes ]]; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+
+    local to=${params[0]}
+
+    if [[ ${params[0]:0:1} != \# ]]; then
+      to=$from
+    fi
+
+    case ${words[0]:${#trigger}} in
+    raw)
+      local cmd
+      cmd=${params[1]#*"$trigger"raw} cmd=${cmd# }
+      info "%s is executing command: %s" "$from" "$cmd"
+      send "$cmd"
+      ;;
+    join)
+      join "${words[1]}"
+      ;;
+    reload)
+      export IN_SOCK=$in_sock OUT_SOCK=$out_sock LOG_FD=$log
+
+      if [[ -v tls_pid ]]; then
+        export SOCK_DIR=$sock_dir
+        export TLS_PID=$tls_pid
+      fi
+
+      if [[ -v ping_pid ]]; then
+        export PING_pid=$ping_pid
+      fi
+
+      privmsg "$to" "reloading..."
+      exec "${original_args[@]}" --reload
+      ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+}
+
 ###
 # driver
 ###
 
-nick "$nick"
-user "$ident" "$realname"
+if [[ $reload != yes ]]; then
+  nick "$nick"
+  user "$ident" "$realname"
+fi
 
 while recv line; do
   params=( )
@@ -389,13 +477,24 @@ while recv line; do
     words=( )
   fi
 
+  skip_handler=0
+
   while IFS= read -r hook; do
     "$hook"
-  done < <(compgen -A function "hook_${cmd^^}_")
+    (( skip_handler |= $? ))
+  done < <(compgen -A function "hook_pre_${cmd^^}_")
 
   if hash "on_${cmd^^}" 2>/dev/null; then
-    "on_${cmd^^}"
+    if (( ! skip_handler )); then
+      "on_${cmd^^}"
+    else
+      debug "handler for %s was skipped" "${cmd^^}"
+    fi
   else
     warn "unhandled line: %s" "$orig_line"
   fi
+
+  while IFS= read -r hook; do
+    "$hook"
+  done < <(compgen -A function "hook_post_${cmd^^}_")
 done