diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8f2fdfe9..3508e5d0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2272,10 +2272,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "native-dialog",
  "once_cell",
  "poll-promise",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_yaml",
  "smol 2.0.0",
+ "smol-timeout",
  "smol_str",
  "smolscale",
  "tap",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/Cargo.toml b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/Cargo.toml
index c1e44e86..a17dc151 100644
--- a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/Cargo.toml
+++ b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,4 +22,9 @@ poll-promise = "0.3.0"
 smolscale = "0.4.4"
 futures-util = "0.3.30"
 smol = "2.0.0"
-geph5-broker-protocol={path="../../libraries/geph5-broker-protocol"}
\ No newline at end of file
+geph5-broker-protocol={path="../../libraries/geph5-broker-protocol"}
+serde_yaml = "0.9.34"
+smol-timeout = "0.6.0"
+tracing = "0.1.40"
+tracing-subscriber = "0.3.18"
+serde_json = "1.0.115"
diff --git a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/dashboard.rs b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/dashboard.rs
index 0b500a1f..d04b7561 100644
--- a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/dashboard.rs
+++ b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/dashboard.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+use anyhow::Context as _;
 use futures_util::{future::Shared, FutureExt};
-use geph5_broker_protocol::ExitList;
-use poll_promise::Promise;
+use geph5_broker_protocol::{BrokerClient, ExitList};
+
 use smol::Task;
+use smol_timeout::TimeoutExt as _;
 
-use crate::l10n::l10n;
+use crate::{l10n::l10n, settings::get_config};
 
 pub struct Dashboard {
     selected_server: Option<(String, String)>,
@@ -43,5 +47,35 @@ fn render_exit_selection(selection: &Option<(String, String)>) -> String {
 }
 
 async fn get_server_list() -> ExitList {
-    smol::future::pending().await
+    loop {
+        let fallible = async {
+            let broker_client = get_broker_client()
+                .await?
+                .context("no broker client available")?;
+            let exits = broker_client
+                .get_exits()
+                .timeout(Duration::from_secs(10))
+                .await
+                .context("timeout")??
+                .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!(e))?
+                .inner;
+            anyhow::Ok(exits)
+        };
+        match fallible.await {
+            Ok(res) => return res,
+            Err(err) => {
+                tracing::warn!(err = debug(err), "error getting server list");
+                smol::Timer::after(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+async fn get_broker_client() -> anyhow::Result<Option<BrokerClient>> {
+    let config = get_config()?;
+    if let Some(src) = config.broker {
+        Ok(Some(BrokerClient::from(src.rpc_transport())))
+    } else {
+        Ok(None)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/main.rs b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/main.rs
index 7802235f..eb96008c 100644
--- a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/main.rs
+++ b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 mod dashboard;
 mod l10n;
 mod prefs;
+mod settings;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use dashboard::Dashboard;
@@ -9,9 +10,23 @@ use egui::{Color32, FontData, FontDefinitions, FontFamily, Visuals};
 use l10n::l10n;
 use native_dialog::MessageType;
 use prefs::{pref_read, pref_write};
+use settings::render_settings;
 use tap::Tap as _;
+use tracing_subscriber::{layer::SubscriberExt as _, util::SubscriberInitExt, EnvFilter};
 
 fn main() {
+    tracing_subscriber::registry()
+        .with(
+            tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
+                .compact()
+                .with_writer(std::io::stderr),
+        )
+        .with(
+            EnvFilter::builder()
+                .with_default_directive("geph5=debug".parse().unwrap())
+                .from_env_lossy(),
+        )
+        .init();
     // default prefs
     for (key, value) in [("lang", "en")] {
         if pref_read(key).is_err() {
@@ -98,7 +113,7 @@ impl eframe::App for App {
         let result = egui::CentralPanel::default().show(ctx, |ui| match self.selected_tab {
             TabName::Dashboard => self.dashboard.render(ui),
             TabName::Logs => Ok(()),
-            TabName::Settings => Ok(()),
+            TabName::Settings => render_settings(ui),
         });
 
         if let Err(err) = result.inner {
diff --git a/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/settings.rs b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/settings.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb4817d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/binaries/geph5-client-gui/src/settings.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+use geph5_client::Config;
+
+use crate::prefs::{pref_read, pref_write};
+
+pub fn get_config() -> anyhow::Result<Config> {
+    let settings = pref_read("settings")?;
+    let yaml: serde_yaml::Value = serde_yaml::from_str(&settings)?;
+    let json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::to_value(&yaml)?;
+    Ok(serde_json::from_value(json)?)
+}
+
+pub fn render_settings(ui: &mut egui::Ui) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let mut settings_yaml = pref_read("settings").unwrap_or_default().to_string();
+    ui.centered_and_justified(|ui| {
+        egui::ScrollArea::vertical().show(ui, |ui| ui.code_editor(&mut settings_yaml))
+    });
+    pref_write("settings", &settings_yaml)?;
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/binaries/geph5-client/src/lib.rs b/binaries/geph5-client/src/lib.rs
index d83501ef..2f2b2e10 100644
--- a/binaries/geph5-client/src/lib.rs
+++ b/binaries/geph5-client/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+pub use broker::broker_client;
 pub use client::Client;
 pub use client::Config;