diff --git a/internal/atproto/utils.go b/internal/atproto/utils.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57bd040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/atproto/utils.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package atproto
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+)
+
+var (
+	// ref: https://atproto.com/specs/handle
+	handleRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^([a-zA-Z0-9]([a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?\.)+[a-zA-Z]([a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?$`)
+	// ref: https://atproto.com/specs/did
+	didRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^did:[a-z]+:[a-zA-Z0-9._:%-]*[a-zA-Z0-9._-]$`)
+)
+
+func IsHandle(s string) bool {
+	return handleRegex.MatchString(s)
+}
+
+func IsDid(s string) bool {
+	return didRegex.MatchString(s)
+}
diff --git a/internal/server/middleware/middleware.go b/internal/server/middleware/middleware.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c596c2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/server/middleware/middleware.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package middleware
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"log/slog"
+	"net/http"
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+	"shlf.space/internal/atproto"
+	"shlf.space/internal/server/oauth"
+	notfound "shlf.space/internal/views/not-found"
+)
+
+type CtxKey string
+
+const UnreadNotificationCountCtxKey CtxKey = "unreadNotificationCount"
+
+type Middleware struct {
+	oauth      *oauth.OAuth
+	idResolver *atproto.Resolver
+}
+
+func New(oauth *oauth.OAuth, idResolver *atproto.Resolver) Middleware {
+	return Middleware{
+		oauth:      oauth,
+		idResolver: idResolver,
+	}
+}
+
+type middlewareFunc func(http.Handler) http.Handler
+
+func (mw Middleware) ResolveIdent() middlewareFunc {
+	excluded := []string{"favicon.ico", "favicon.svg"}
+
+	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			didOrHandle := chi.URLParam(r, "user")
+			didOrHandle = strings.TrimPrefix(didOrHandle, "@")
+
+			if slices.Contains(excluded, didOrHandle) {
+				next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+				return
+			}
+
+			id, err := mw.idResolver.ResolveIdent(r.Context(), didOrHandle)
+			if err != nil {
+				slog.Error("failed to resolve did/handle", "err", err)
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+				notfound.NotFoundPage(notfound.NotFoundParams{}).Render(r.Context(), w)
+				return
+			}
+
+			ctx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), "resolvedId", *id)
+
+			next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx))
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/server/router.go b/internal/server/router.go
index 9df017b..016f58d 100644
--- a/internal/server/router.go
+++ b/internal/server/router.go
@@ -2,12 +2,58 @@ package server
 
 import (
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+	"shlf.space/internal/atproto"
+	"shlf.space/internal/server/middleware"
+	notfound "shlf.space/internal/views/not-found"
 )
 
 func (s *Server) Router() http.Handler {
 	router := chi.NewRouter()
+	middleware := middleware.New(
+		s.oauth,
+		s.idResolver,
+	)
+
+	userRouter := s.UserRouter(&middleware)
+	standardRouter := s.StandardRouter(&middleware)
+
+	router.HandleFunc("/*", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		pat := chi.URLParam(r, "*")
+		pathParts := strings.SplitN(pat, "/", 2)
+
+		if len(pathParts) > 0 {
+			firstPart := pathParts[0]
+
+			// if using a DID or handle, just continue as per usual
+			if atproto.IsDid(firstPart) || atproto.IsHandle(firstPart) {
+				userRouter.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+				return
+			}
+
+			// if using a handle with @, rewrite to work without @
+			if normalized := strings.TrimPrefix(firstPart, "@"); atproto.IsHandle(normalized) {
+				redirectPath := strings.Join(append([]string{normalized}, pathParts[1:]...), "/")
+
+				redirectURL := *r.URL
+				redirectURL.Path = "/" + redirectPath
+
+				http.Redirect(w, r, redirectURL.String(), http.StatusFound)
+				return
+			}
+
+		}
+
+		standardRouter.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	})
+
+	return router
+}
+
+func (s *Server) StandardRouter(middleware *middleware.Middleware) http.Handler {
+	router := chi.NewRouter()
 
 	router.Handle("/static/*", s.HandleStatic())
 
@@ -21,3 +67,17 @@ func (s *Server) Router() http.Handler {
 
 	return router
 }
+
+func (s *Server) UserRouter(middleware *middleware.Middleware) http.Handler {
+	router := chi.NewRouter()
+
+	router.With(middleware.ResolveIdent()).Route("/{user}", func(r chi.Router) {
+	})
+
+	router.NotFound(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		notfound.NotFoundPage(notfound.NotFoundParams{}).Render(r.Context(), w)
+	})
+
+	return router
+}
diff --git a/internal/views/not-found/not-found.go b/internal/views/not-found/not-found.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b39bc5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/views/not-found/not-found.go
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+package notfound
+
+type NotFoundParams struct{}
diff --git a/internal/views/not-found/not-found.templ b/internal/views/not-found/not-found.templ
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5bf66c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/views/not-found/not-found.templ
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package notfound
+
+import "shlf.space/internal/layouts/base"
+
+templ NotFoundPage(params NotFoundParams) {
+	@layouts.Base(layouts.BaseParams{Title: "not found"}) {
+		<div class="container">not found...</div>
+	}
+}