diff --git a/agent.js b/agent.js
index 0f9ae95..7263ad6 100644
--- a/agent.js
+++ b/agent.js
@@ -7,45 +7,43 @@ import { containsCodeBlock } from './utils/skill-library.js';
 
 
 export class Agent {
-    constructor(name, save_path, restart_memory=false) {
+    constructor(name, save_path, clear_memory=false, autostart=false) {
         this.name = name;
         this.bot = initBot(name);
         this.history = new History(this, save_path);
+        this.history.loadExamples();
         this.coder = new Coder(this);
 
-        if (!restart_memory) {
+        if (!clear_memory) {
             this.history.load();
         }
-    
+
         this.bot.on('login', () => {
             this.bot.chat('Hello world! I am ' + this.name);
             console.log(`${this.name} logged in.`);
-            if (!restart_memory) {
+
+            this.bot.on('chat', (username, message) => {
+                if (username === this.name) return;
+                console.log('received message from', username, ':', message);
+    
+                this.respond(username, message);
+                this.history.save();
+            });
+    
+            this.bot.on('finished_executing', () => {
+                setTimeout(() => {
+                    if (!this.coder.executing) {
+                        // return to default behavior
+                    }
+                }, 10000);
+            });
+
+            if (autostart)
                 this.respond('system', 'Agent process restarted. Notify the user and decide what to do.');
-            }
+            
         });
     }
 
-    async start() {
-        await this.history.loadExamples();
-
-        this.bot.on('chat', (username, message) => {
-            if (username === this.name) return;
-            console.log('received message from', username, ':', message);
-
-            this.respond(username, message);
-            this.history.save();
-        });
-
-        this.bot.on('finished_executing', () => {
-            setTimeout(() => {
-                if (!this.coder.executing) {
-                    // return to default behavior
-                }
-            }, 10000);
-        })
-    }
-
     async respond(username, message) {
         await this.history.add(username, message);
         for (let i=0; i<5; i++) {
diff --git a/controller/agent-controller.js b/controller/agent-process.js
similarity index 76%
rename from controller/agent-controller.js
rename to controller/agent-process.js
index 382421a..cfeb159 100644
--- a/controller/agent-controller.js
+++ b/controller/agent-process.js
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 import { spawn } from 'child_process';
 
-export class AgentController {
-    constructor(name) {
-        this.name = name;
-    }
-    async start(restart_memory=true) {
-        let args = ['controller/init-agent.js', this.name];
-        if (restart_memory)
-            args.push('-r');
+export class AgentProcess {
+    constructor(name, clear_memory=false, autostart=false) {
+        let args = ['controller/init-agent.js', name];
+        if (clear_memory)
+            args.push('-c');
+        if (autostart)
+            args.push('-a');
 
         const agentProcess = spawn('node', args, {
             stdio: 'inherit',
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ export class AgentController {
                     process.exit(1);
                 }
                 console.log('Restarting agent...');
-                this.start(false);
+                this.start(false, true);
                 last_restart = Date.now();
             }
         });
diff --git a/controller/init-agent.js b/controller/init-agent.js
index 465ceb2..e632064 100644
--- a/controller/init-agent.js
+++ b/controller/init-agent.js
@@ -3,20 +3,25 @@ import yargs from 'yargs';
 
 const args = process.argv.slice(2);
 if (args.length < 1) {
-    console.log('Usage: node init_agent.js <agent_name> [options]');
+    console.log('Usage: node init_agent.js <agent_name> [-c] [-a]');
     process.exit(1);
 }
 
 const argv = yargs(args)
-    .option('restart_memory', {
-        alias: 'r',
+    .option('clear_memory', {
+        alias: 'c',
         type: 'boolean',
         description: 'restart memory from scratch'
-    }).argv;
+    })
+    .option('autostart', {
+        alias: 'a',
+        type: 'boolean',
+        description: 'automatically prompt the agent on startup'
+    }).argv
 
 const name = argv._[0];
-const restart_memory = !!argv.restart_memory;
+const clear_memory = !!argv.clear_memory;
+const autostart = !!argv.autostart;
 const save_path = './bots/'+name+'.json';
 
-let agent = new Agent(name, save_path, restart_memory);
-agent.start();
+new Agent(name, save_path, clear_memory, autostart);
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index d601ded..9ed8af8 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-import { AgentController } from './controller/agent-controller.js';
+import { AgentProcess } from './controller/agent-process.js';
 
-new AgentController('andy').start();
\ No newline at end of file
+new AgentProcess('andy', true, false);
\ No newline at end of file