diff --git a/src/owncast.go b/src/owncast.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d8b613
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/owncast.go
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/*
+  StreamGoose Owncast backend — Go reference implementation
+  
+  Created by Luxferre in 2024, released into public domain
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "log"
+  "strings"
+  "slices"
+  "time"
+  "encoding/json"
+  "net/http"
+  "io/ioutil"
+)
+
+/* global API root URL placeholder */
+var OC_API_ROOT string
+/* global API token placeholder */
+var OC_API_TOKEN string
+/* global debug flag */
+var OC_DEBUG bool
+
+const OC_ID_CACHE_LIMIT = 1000
+
+/* global message ID cache */
+var oc_msg_id_cache []string
+
+/* API request helper function */
+func oc_api_get(endpoint string) []interface{} {
+  url := OC_API_ROOT + endpoint /* get full URL */
+  req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+  req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
+  req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer " + OC_API_TOKEN)
+
+  client := &http.Client{}
+  resp, err := client.Do(req)
+  if err != nil {
+    log.Fatal(err)
+  }
+  body, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+  resp.Body.Close()
+
+  /* print the response if the debug flag is set */
+  if OC_DEBUG {
+    log.Printf("[owncast] API response: %s", string(body))
+  }
+
+  /* unmarshal the response */
+  
+  var respbody []interface{}
+  err = json.Unmarshal(body, &respbody)
+  if err != nil {
+    log.Fatal(err)
+  }
+
+  return respbody
+}
+
+/* main message procesing function */
+func oc_process_message(rawmsg map[string]interface{}) {
+  /* if the message came from a real user, this is the one we should process */
+  if rawmsg["type"] == "UserMessage" {
+    if !slices.Contains(oc_msg_id_cache, rawmsg["id"].(string)) { /* we have a fresh message here */
+      author := rawmsg["user"].(map[string]interface{})
+
+      /* convert the timestamp - TODO determine the correct format */
+      sent_dt, _ := time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000000-07:00", rawmsg["timestamp"].(string))
+
+      /* prepare output message */
+      out_message := ChatMessage {
+        Type: "oc",
+        Username: author["displayName"].(string),
+        Timestamp: sent_dt.UTC().Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z"),
+        Text: rawmsg["body"].(string),
+        Icon: "",
+      }
+
+      /* check for authenticated role */
+      if _, ok := author["authenticated"]; ok && author["authenticated"].(bool) == true {
+        out_message.Type += "-verified"
+      }
+
+      /* check for bot role */
+      if _, ok := author["isBot"]; ok && author["isBot"].(bool) == true {
+        out_message.Type += "-bot"
+      }
+
+      /* add display color hint */
+      out_message.Type += fmt.Sprintf("-occolor%d", int(author["displayColor"].(float64)))
+
+      /* finally, send it to the message broker via the message_transport channel */
+      message_transport <- out_message
+
+      /* update the ID cache */
+      oc_msg_id_cache = append(oc_msg_id_cache, rawmsg["id"].(string))
+      cachelen := len(oc_msg_id_cache)
+      if cachelen > OC_ID_CACHE_LIMIT { /* trim the excess */
+        oc_msg_id_cache = oc_msg_id_cache[cachelen-OC_ID_CACHE_LIMIT:cachelen]
+      }
+
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/* entry point */
+func owncast_run(config map[string]interface{}) {
+  token_path := "auth/oc-token.txt"
+  token, err := ioutil.ReadFile(token_path)
+  token_err_msg := "No Owncast token file provided or it is empty. "
+  token_err_msg += "Please generate a token in your Owncast admin panel "
+  token_err_msg += "and paste it into the auth/oc-token.txt file!"
+  if err != nil {
+    log.Fatal(token_err_msg + "\nDetailed error: ", err)
+  }
+  OC_API_TOKEN = strings.TrimSpace(string(token))
+  if len(OC_API_TOKEN) < 1 {
+    log.Fatal(token_err_msg)
+  }
+
+  API_POLL_TIMEOUT := 1 /* polling timeout in seconds */
+
+  if _, ok := config["debug"]; ok {
+    OC_DEBUG = config["debug"].(bool)
+  } 
+
+  if _, ok := config["oc_server"]; ok {
+    OC_API_ROOT = config["oc_server"].(string)
+  } else {
+    log.Fatal("Owncast server missing in config!")
+  }
+
+  if _, ok := config["oc_api_poll_timeout"]; ok {
+    API_POLL_TIMEOUT = int(config["oc_api_poll_timeout"].(float64))
+  } 
+  
+  log.Println("StreamGoose Owncast Go backend started")
+
+  var raw_chat_data []interface{}
+  oc_msg_id_cache = append(oc_msg_id_cache, "") /* init the cache */
+  for { /* main loop */
+    raw_chat_data = oc_api_get("/api/integrations/chat")
+    for _, rawmsg := range raw_chat_data { /* iterate over raw message objects */
+      oc_process_message(rawmsg.(map[string]interface{}))
+    }
+    time.Sleep(time.Duration(API_POLL_TIMEOUT) * time.Second) /* wait for specified amount before polling next */
+  }
+}