diff --git a/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/chat/[chatId]/page.tsx b/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/chat/[chatId]/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/layout.tsx b/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/layout.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/app/(map)/map/page.tsx b/app/(map)/map/page.tsx
index 32a3c28..40904df 100644
--- a/app/(map)/map/page.tsx
+++ b/app/(map)/map/page.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ const page = async ({}) => {
 
   const session = await getServerSession(authOptions)
   return (
-    <div>
     <div style={{backgroundColor: "whitesmoke"}}>
       <h1>My Page</h1>
       <pre> {JSON.stringify(session)}</pre>
diff --git a/app/api/friends/add/route.ts b/app/api/friends/add/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6260c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/api/friends/add/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { fetchRedis } from '@/helpers/redis'
+import { authOptions } from "@/lib/auth"
+import { db } from '@/lib/db'
+import { addFriendValidator } from "@/lib/validations/add-friend"
+import { getServerSession } from "next-auth"
+import {z} from "zod"
+
+export async function POST(req: Request) {
+    try {
+        const body = await req.json()
+
+        const {email: emailToAdd} = addFriendValidator.parse(body.email) // if this parse fails a z error is going to be thrown
+
+        console.log("The email being passed is: " + emailToAdd)
+
+        const idToAdd = (await fetchRedis('get', `user:email:${emailToAdd}`)) as string
+
+        console.log(`The id that is passed is: ${idToAdd}`)
+
+        if(!idToAdd) {
+            return new Response('This person does not exist', {status: 400} )
+        }
+
+        
+
+        const session = await getServerSession(authOptions)
+
+        if(!session) {
+            return new Response('Unauthorized', {status: 401})
+        }
+
+
+        //const data = await RESTResponse.json() as {result: string}
+        
+
+        if(idToAdd === session.user.id) {
+            return new Response('You cannot add yourself as a friend', {
+                status:400,
+            })
+        }
+        
+         //check if user is already added
+         const isAlreadyAddded = await (fetchRedis('sismember', `user:${idToAdd}:incoming_friend_requests`,   session.user.id)) as 0 | 1
+      
+         if (isAlreadyAddded) {
+             return new Response('Already added this user', {status: 400})
+         }
+        //const idToAdd = data.result
+
+          //check if user is already in the friends list 
+          const isAlreadyFriends = (await fetchRedis(
+            'sismember', `user:${session.user.id}:friends`, // we are checking in the friends list of the user who is already logged in whtether the id to add already exists 
+            idToAdd
+        )) as 0 | 1
+
+        if (isAlreadyFriends) {
+            return new Response('Already Friends with this user')
+        }
+        
+          //valid request, send friend request
+
+          db.sadd(`user${idToAdd}:incoming_friend_requests`, session.user.id)
+
+          return new Response("OK")
+
+    } catch (error) {
+        if(error instanceof z.ZodError) {
+            return new Response('Invalid request payload')
+        }
+        return new Response('Invalid request payload', {status: 422})
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/api/hello/route.ts b/app/api/hello/route.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index d1cc6ee..0000000
--- a/app/api/hello/route.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-export async function GET(request: Request) {
-  return new Response('Hello, Next.js!')
-}
diff --git a/components/ui/AddFriendButton.tsx b/components/ui/AddFriendButton.tsx
index 04ffb91..158cbb8 100644
--- a/components/ui/AddFriendButton.tsx
+++ b/components/ui/AddFriendButton.tsx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const AddFriendButton: FC<AddFriendButtonProps> = ({}) => {
     const addFriend = async (email: string) => {
         try {
             const validatedEmail = addFriendValidator.parse({email})
-            await axios.post('/api/fiends/add', {
+            await axios.post('/api/friends/add', {
                 email: validatedEmail,
             }) 
             setShowSuccessState(true)
diff --git a/components/ui/SidebarChatList.tsx b/components/ui/SidebarChatList.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/helpers/get-friends-by-user-id.ts b/helpers/get-friends-by-user-id.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e44a840
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helpers/get-friends-by-user-id.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { fetchRedis } from "./redis"
+
+export const getFriendsByUserId = async (userId: string) => {
+    //retrieve friends for current user 
+    //const friendIds = fetchRedis('smembers', `user:${userId}:friends`) as string[]
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/helpers/redis.ts b/helpers/redis.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59d7ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helpers/redis.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+const upstashRedisRestUrl = process.env.UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL
+const authToken = process.env.USTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN
+
+type Command = 'zrange' | 'sismember' | 'get' | 'smembers'
+
+export async function fetchRedis(
+    command: Command,
+    ...args: (string | number) [
+    ]
+) {
+    const commandUrl = `${upstashRedisRestUrl}/${command}/${args.join('/')}`
+
+    const response = await fetch(commandUrl, {
+        headers: {Authorization: `Bearer${process.env.UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN}` },
+        cache: 'no-store',
+    })
+
+    if(!response.ok) {
+        throw new Error(`Error executing Redis command: ${response.statusText}`)
+    }
+    const data = await response.json()
+    return data.result
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/validations/add-friend.ts b/lib/validations/add-friend.ts
index 9873757..24cbb14 100644
--- a/lib/validations/add-friend.ts
+++ b/lib/validations/add-friend.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,3 @@ export const addFriendValidator = z.object({
     email: z.string().email(),
 })
 
-const random = {
-    idk: 'asd',
-}
\ No newline at end of file