diff --git a/src/bot.zig b/src/bot.zig
index 8f0827c..b5d2ebd 100644
--- a/src/bot.zig
+++ b/src/bot.zig
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ pub const Parser = struct {
 pub const AdminCommand = union(enum) {
     backlog: struct { history: u16 },
     status: void,
+    join: struct { channel: []const u8 },
+    err: struct { message: []const u8 },
 
     pub fn parse(text: []const u8) ?AdminCommand {
         const original = Parser.init(text);
@@ -63,6 +65,12 @@ pub const AdminCommand = union(enum) {
             if (command.consume_str("status")) |_| {
                 return .status;
             }
+            if (command.consume_str("join").?.consume_char(' ')) |join| {
+                if (join.rest[0] != '#') {
+                    return .{ .err = .{ .message = "channels must start with \"#\"" } };
+                }
+                return .{ .join = .{ .channel = join.rest } };
+            }
             if (command.consume_str("backlog")) |backlog| {
                 const history = std.fmt.parseInt(u16, backlog.rest, 10) catch |err| {
                     std.debug.print("failed to parse int ('{s}') with error: {}\n", .{ backlog.rest, err });
@@ -209,6 +217,10 @@ pub const Bot = struct {
                 );
                 return .{ .PRIVMSG = .{ .targets = targets, .prefix = prefix, .text = msg } };
             },
+            .join => |msg| {
+                std.log.debug("received join request: channel \"{s}\"", .{msg.channel});
+                return .{ .JOIN = .{ .prefix = prefix, .channels = msg.channel } };
+            },
             .backlog => |backlog| {
                 if (self.top == self.bottom) {
                     return Error.NoMessage;
@@ -229,6 +241,9 @@ pub const Bot = struct {
                     };
                 } else return Error.NoMessage;
             },
+            .err => |err| {
+                return .{ .PRIVMSG = .{ .targets = targets, .prefix = prefix, .text = err.message } };
+            },
         }
     }