diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index af01bd3..cc8ef0d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1024,7 +1024,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-core",
  "futures-sink",
  "futures-util",
- "http",
+ "http 0.2.12",
+ "indexmap",
+ "slab",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-util",
+ "tracing",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "h2"
+version = "0.4.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "524e8ac6999421f49a846c2d4411f337e53497d8ec55d67753beffa43c5d9205"
+dependencies = [
+ "atomic-waker",
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "fnv",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-sink",
+ "http 1.1.0",
  "indexmap",
  "slab",
  "tokio",
@@ -1147,6 +1166,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "itoa",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "http"
+version = "1.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "21b9ddb458710bc376481b842f5da65cdf31522de232c1ca8146abce2a358258"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "fnv",
+ "itoa",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "http-body"
 version = "0.4.6"
@@ -1154,7 +1184,30 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7ceab25649e9960c0311ea418d17bee82c0dcec1bd053b5f9a66e265a693bed2"
 dependencies = [
  "bytes 1.7.1",
- "http",
+ "http 0.2.12",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "http-body"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1efedce1fb8e6913f23e0c92de8e62cd5b772a67e7b3946df930a62566c93184"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "http-body-util"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "793429d76616a256bcb62c2a2ec2bed781c8307e797e2598c50010f2bee2544f"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "futures-util",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+ "http-body 1.0.1",
  "pin-project-lite",
 ]
 
@@ -1216,9 +1269,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-channel",
  "futures-core",
  "futures-util",
- "h2",
- "http",
- "http-body",
+ "h2 0.3.26",
+ "http 0.2.12",
+ "http-body 0.4.6",
  "httparse",
  "httpdate",
  "itoa",
@@ -1230,6 +1283,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "want",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper"
+version = "1.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbbff0a806a4728c99295b254c8838933b5b082d75e3cb70c8dab21fdfbcfa9a"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-util",
+ "h2 0.4.6",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+ "http-body 1.0.1",
+ "httparse",
+ "itoa",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "smallvec",
+ "tokio",
+ "want",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hyper-rustls"
 version = "0.24.2"
@@ -1237,13 +1310,65 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ec3efd23720e2049821a693cbc7e65ea87c72f1c58ff2f9522ff332b1491e590"
 dependencies = [
  "futures-util",
- "http",
- "hyper",
+ "http 0.2.12",
+ "hyper 0.14.30",
  "rustls 0.21.12",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-rustls 0.24.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper-rustls"
+version = "0.27.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "08afdbb5c31130e3034af566421053ab03787c640246a446327f550d11bcb333"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-util",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+ "hyper 1.5.0",
+ "hyper-util",
+ "rustls 0.23.16",
+ "rustls-pki-types",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-rustls 0.26.0",
+ "tower-service",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper-tls"
+version = "0.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "70206fc6890eaca9fde8a0bf71caa2ddfc9fe045ac9e5c70df101a7dbde866e0"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "http-body-util",
+ "hyper 1.5.0",
+ "hyper-util",
+ "native-tls",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-native-tls",
+ "tower-service",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper-util"
+version = "0.1.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "df2dcfbe0677734ab2f3ffa7fa7bfd4706bfdc1ef393f2ee30184aed67e631b4"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-util",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+ "http-body 1.0.1",
+ "hyper 1.5.0",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "socket2 0.5.7",
+ "tokio",
+ "tower-service",
+ "tracing",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "iana-time-zone"
 version = "0.1.61"
@@ -1330,7 +1455,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "curl-sys",
  "flume 0.9.2",
  "futures-lite 1.13.0",
- "http",
+ "http 0.2.12",
  "log",
  "once_cell",
  "slab",
@@ -2014,11 +2139,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "encoding_rs",
  "futures-core",
  "futures-util",
- "h2",
- "http",
- "http-body",
- "hyper",
- "hyper-rustls",
+ "h2 0.3.26",
+ "http 0.2.12",
+ "http-body 0.4.6",
+ "hyper 0.14.30",
+ "hyper-rustls 0.24.2",
  "ipnet",
  "js-sys",
  "log",
@@ -2028,12 +2153,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "rustls 0.21.12",
- "rustls-pemfile",
+ "rustls-pemfile 1.0.4",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "serde_urlencoded",
- "sync_wrapper",
- "system-configuration",
+ "sync_wrapper 0.1.2",
+ "system-configuration 0.5.1",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-rustls 0.24.1",
  "tokio-util",
@@ -2047,6 +2172,49 @@ dependencies = [
  "winreg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "reqwest"
+version = "0.12.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a77c62af46e79de0a562e1a9849205ffcb7fc1238876e9bd743357570e04046f"
+dependencies = [
+ "base64 0.22.1",
+ "bytes 1.7.1",
+ "encoding_rs",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-util",
+ "h2 0.4.6",
+ "http 1.1.0",
+ "http-body 1.0.1",
+ "http-body-util",
+ "hyper 1.5.0",
+ "hyper-rustls 0.27.3",
+ "hyper-tls",
+ "hyper-util",
+ "ipnet",
+ "js-sys",
+ "log",
+ "mime",
+ "native-tls",
+ "once_cell",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "rustls-pemfile 2.2.0",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_urlencoded",
+ "sync_wrapper 1.0.1",
+ "system-configuration 0.6.1",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-native-tls",
+ "tower-service",
+ "url",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+ "wasm-bindgen-futures",
+ "web-sys",
+ "windows-registry",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ring"
 version = "0.16.20"
@@ -2145,10 +2313,23 @@ checksum = "3f56a14d1f48b391359b22f731fd4bd7e43c97f3c50eee276f3aa09c94784d3e"
 dependencies = [
  "log",
  "ring 0.17.8",
- "rustls-webpki",
+ "rustls-webpki 0.101.7",
  "sct",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustls"
+version = "0.23.16"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eee87ff5d9b36712a58574e12e9f0ea80f915a5b0ac518d322b24a465617925e"
+dependencies = [
+ "once_cell",
+ "rustls-pki-types",
+ "rustls-webpki 0.102.8",
+ "subtle",
+ "zeroize",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls-pemfile"
 version = "1.0.4"
@@ -2158,6 +2339,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "base64 0.21.7",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustls-pemfile"
+version = "2.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dce314e5fee3f39953d46bb63bb8a46d40c2f8fb7cc5a3b6cab2bde9721d6e50"
+dependencies = [
+ "rustls-pki-types",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rustls-pki-types"
+version = "1.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "16f1201b3c9a7ee8039bcadc17b7e605e2945b27eee7631788c1bd2b0643674b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls-webpki"
 version = "0.101.7"
@@ -2168,6 +2364,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "untrusted 0.9.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustls-webpki"
+version = "0.102.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "64ca1bc8749bd4cf37b5ce386cc146580777b4e8572c7b97baf22c83f444bee9"
+dependencies = [
+ "ring 0.17.8",
+ "rustls-pki-types",
+ "untrusted 0.9.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.18"
@@ -2321,7 +2528,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "mime_guess",
  "parking_lot",
  "percent-encoding",
- "reqwest",
+ "reqwest 0.11.27",
  "serde",
  "serde-value",
  "serde_json",
@@ -2399,6 +2606,15 @@ version = "1.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0fda2ff0d084019ba4d7c6f371c95d8fd75ce3524c3cb8fb653a3023f6323e64"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "signal-hook-registry"
+version = "1.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a9e9e0b4211b72e7b8b6e85c807d36c212bdb33ea8587f7569562a84df5465b1"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "signature"
 version = "2.2.0"
@@ -2418,6 +2634,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lettre",
  "maud",
  "rand 0.8.5",
+ "reqwest 0.12.9",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "serenity",
@@ -2835,6 +3052,15 @@ version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2047c6ded9c721764247e62cd3b03c09ffc529b2ba5b10ec482ae507a4a70160"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sync_wrapper"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a7065abeca94b6a8a577f9bd45aa0867a2238b74e8eb67cf10d492bc39351394"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "system-configuration"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -2843,7 +3069,18 @@ checksum = "ba3a3adc5c275d719af8cb4272ea1c4a6d668a777f37e115f6d11ddbc1c8e0e7"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags 1.3.2",
  "core-foundation",
- "system-configuration-sys",
+ "system-configuration-sys 0.5.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration"
+version = "0.6.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3c879d448e9d986b661742763247d3693ed13609438cf3d006f51f5368a5ba6b"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
+ "core-foundation",
+ "system-configuration-sys 0.6.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2856,6 +3093,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration-sys"
+version = "0.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8e1d1b10ced5ca923a1fcb8d03e96b8d3268065d724548c0211415ff6ac6bac4"
+dependencies = [
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tempfile"
 version = "3.12.0"
@@ -2983,7 +3230,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytes 1.7.1",
  "libc",
  "mio",
+ "parking_lot",
  "pin-project-lite",
+ "signal-hook-registry",
  "socket2 0.5.7",
  "tokio-macros",
  "windows-sys 0.52.0",
@@ -3000,6 +3249,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.77",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-native-tls"
+version = "0.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbae76ab933c85776efabc971569dd6119c580d8f5d448769dec1764bf796ef2"
+dependencies = [
+ "native-tls",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-rustls"
 version = "0.23.4"
@@ -3021,6 +3280,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-rustls"
+version = "0.26.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0c7bc40d0e5a97695bb96e27995cd3a08538541b0a846f65bba7a359f36700d4"
+dependencies = [
+ "rustls 0.23.16",
+ "rustls-pki-types",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-stream"
 version = "0.1.16"
@@ -3108,7 +3378,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "base64 0.13.1",
  "byteorder",
  "bytes 1.7.1",
- "http",
+ "http 0.2.12",
  "httparse",
  "log",
  "rand 0.8.5",
@@ -3433,6 +3703,36 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.52.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-registry"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e400001bb720a623c1c69032f8e3e4cf09984deec740f007dd2b03ec864804b0"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-result",
+ "windows-strings",
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-result"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1d1043d8214f791817bab27572aaa8af63732e11bf84aa21a45a78d6c317ae0e"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-strings"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4cd9b125c486025df0eabcb585e62173c6c9eddcec5d117d3b6e8c30e2ee4d10"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-result",
+ "windows-targets 0.52.6",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows-sys"
 version = "0.48.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2128303..c94d0a0 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ name = "update_minecraft"
 [dependencies]
 # discord library
 serenity = { version = "0.11.6", default-features = false, features = ["client", "gateway", "rustls_backend", "model", "cache"] }
-tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread"] }
+tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread", "full"] }
+reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["json"] }
 
 #  to make the http requests
 surf = "2.3.2"
diff --git a/src/commands/link_email.rs b/src/commands/link_email.rs
index 25e0262..daa847c 100644
--- a/src/commands/link_email.rs
+++ b/src/commands/link_email.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use sqlx::{Pool, Sqlite};
 
 pub mod link {
   use super::*;
+  use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
   pub async fn run(command: &ApplicationCommandInteraction, ctx: &Context) -> String {
     let db_lock = {
@@ -61,7 +62,32 @@ pub mod link {
     // check if email exists
     let details = match get_server_member_email(&db, email).await {
       None => {
-        return "Please check it matches (including case) your preferred contact on https://ulwolves.ie/memberships/profile and that you are fully paid up.".to_string()
+        let invalid_user =  "Please check it matches (including case) your preferred contact on https://ulwolves.ie/memberships/profile and that you are fully paid up.".to_string();
+
+        // see if the user actually exists
+        let id = match get_user(&config, email).await {
+          None => {
+            return invalid_user;
+          }
+          Some(x) => x,
+        };
+
+        // save teh user id and email to teh db
+        match save_to_db_user(&db, id, email).await {
+          Ok(x) => x,
+          Err(x) => {
+            dbg!(x);
+            return "Error: unable to save user to teh database, contact Computer Society".to_string();
+          }
+        };
+
+        // pull it back out (technically could do it in previous step but more explicit)
+        match get_server_member_email(&db, email).await {
+          None => {
+            return "Error: failed to read user from database.".to_string();
+          }
+          Some(x) => x,
+        }
       }
       Some(x) => x,
     };
@@ -234,6 +260,59 @@ pub mod link {
     .fetch_optional(db)
     .await
   }
+
+  #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
+  #[serde(untagged)]
+  pub enum WolvesResultUserResult {
+    B(bool),
+    S(String),
+  }
+
+  #[derive(Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+  struct WolvesResultUser {
+    success: i64,
+    result: WolvesResultUserResult,
+  }
+
+  async fn get_user(config: &Config, email: &str) -> Option<i64> {
+    let url = format!("{}/get_id_from_email", &config.wolves_url);
+    match reqwest::Client::new()
+      .post(&url)
+      .form(&[("email", email)])
+      .header("X-AM-Identity", &config.wolves_api)
+      .send()
+      .await
+    {
+      Ok(x) => {
+        if let Ok(y) = x.json::<WolvesResultUser>().await {
+          // this is the only time we will get a positive response, the None at the end catches everything else
+          if let WolvesResultUserResult::S(z) = y.result {
+            if let Ok(id) = z.parse::<i64>() {
+              return Some(id);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      Err(e) => {
+        dbg!(e);
+      }
+    }
+
+    None
+  }
+
+  async fn save_to_db_user(db: &Pool<Sqlite>, id_wolves: i64, email: &str) -> Result<Option<Wolves>, sqlx::Error> {
+    sqlx::query_as::<_, Wolves>(
+      "
+        INSERT INTO wolves (id_wolves, email)
+        VALUES (?1, ?2)
+        ",
+    )
+    .bind(id_wolves)
+    .bind(email)
+    .fetch_optional(db)
+    .await
+  }
 }
 
 pub mod verify {