diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6969ff3..876898e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -59,3 +59,4 @@ docs/_build/
 target/
 
 venv/
+account.ini
diff --git a/account.ini.sample b/account.ini.sample
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dcf1af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/account.ini.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[nickserv]
+username = bensbots
+password = my super secret password
+
diff --git a/tracer.py b/tracer.py
index bef3ee0..196bed7 100644
--- a/tracer.py
+++ b/tracer.py
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ config = configparser.ConfigParser(
 config.read("config.ini")
 bot = config["irc"]
 
+# read account info if it exists
+if os.path.isfile("account.ini"):
+    account = configparser.ConfigParser()
+    account.read("account.ini")
+    account = account["nickserv"]
+
 
 def grammar(rules):
     try:
@@ -45,6 +51,7 @@ def populate():
     DB = {}
     for p in glob.glob("/home/*/.tracery/*"):
         name, ext = os.path.splitext(p)
+        name = os.path.basename(name)
         if name.startswith(".") or ext not in (".json", ""):
             continue
         if p in DB:
@@ -159,13 +166,16 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                 rawsend(f"JOIN {chan}")
 
             if "001" in msg:
+                if account is not None:
+                    rawsend(
+                        "SQUERY NickServ IDENTIFY %s %s"
+                        % (account["username"], account["password"])
+                    )
                 for c in bot.getlist("channels"):
                     rawsend(f"JOIN {c}")
                 rawsend("MODE %s +B" % bot["nick"])
 
-            m = re.match(
-                ":(?P<nick>[^ ]+)!.*PRIVMSG #(?P<chan>\w+) :(?P<msg>.*)", msg
-            )
+            m = re.match(":(?P<nick>[^ ]+)!.*PRIVMSG #(?P<chan>\w+) :(?P<msg>.*)", msg)
             if m and m.groupdict():
                 m = m.groupdict()
                 try:
@@ -174,4 +184,3 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                     print("ERROR" + str(m))
                     print(e)
                     traceback.print_exc()
-
diff --git a/tracer.service b/tracer.service
index 1924bd1..5a7e0fa 100644
--- a/tracer.service
+++ b/tracer.service
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ After=tracer.service
 [Service]
 Type=simple
 WorkingDirectory=/home/ben/workspace/tracer
-ExecStart=/home/ben/workspace/tracer/venv/bin/python3 /home/ben/workspace/tracer/tracer.py
+ExecStart=/home/ben/workspace/tracer/venv/bin/python3 tracer.py
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5
 StartLimitInterval=60s