diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 726e1da..a02393d 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "twinny",
-  "version": "3.19.3",
+  "version": "3.19.4",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "twinny",
-      "version": "3.19.3",
+      "version": "3.19.4",
       "cpu": [
         "x64",
         "arm64"
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c7ce96d..7a3bbc8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "twinny",
   "displayName": "twinny - AI Code Completion and Chat",
   "description": "Locally hosted AI code completion plugin for vscode",
-  "version": "3.19.3",
+  "version": "3.19.4",
   "icon": "assets/icon.png",
   "keywords": [
     "code-inference",
diff --git a/src/extension/symmetry-service.ts b/src/extension/symmetry-service.ts
index ca20a5d..c768f2c 100644
--- a/src/extension/symmetry-service.ts
+++ b/src/extension/symmetry-service.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import os from "os"
 import path from "path"
 import { EventEmitter } from "stream"
 import { serverMessageKeys, SymmetryProvider } from "symmetry-core"
-import { commands, ExtensionContext, Webview, workspace } from "vscode"
+import * as vscode from "vscode"
+import { commands, ExtensionContext, Webview, window, workspace } from "vscode"
 
 import {
   ACTIVE_CHAT_PROVIDER_STORAGE_KEY,
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ export class SymmetryService extends EventEmitter {
     return path.join(homeDir, ".config", "symmetry", "provider.yaml")
   }
 
-  private createOrUpdateProviderConfig(providerConfig: TwinnyProvider): void {
+  private createProviderConfig(provider: TwinnyProvider): Promise<void> {
     const configPath = this.getSymmetryConfigPath()
     const configDir = path.dirname(configPath)
 
@@ -270,35 +271,59 @@ export class SymmetryService extends EventEmitter {
       fs.mkdirSync(configDir, { recursive: true })
     }
 
+    const existingConfig = yaml.load(fs.readFileSync(configPath, "utf8")) as any
+
+    const userSecret = existingConfig?.userSecret
+      ? existingConfig.userSecret
+      : crypto.randomBytes(32).toString("hex")
+
     const symmetryConfiguration = yaml.dump({
-      apiHostname: providerConfig.apiHostname,
-      apiKey: providerConfig.apiKey,
-      apiPath: providerConfig.apiPath,
-      apiPort: providerConfig.apiPort,
-      apiProtocol: providerConfig.apiProtocol,
-      apiProvider: providerConfig.provider,
+      apiHostname: provider.apiHostname,
+      apiKey: provider.apiKey,
+      apiPath: provider.apiPath,
+      apiPort: provider.apiPort,
+      apiProtocol: provider.apiProtocol,
+      apiProvider: provider.provider,
       dataCollectionEnabled: false,
       maxConnections: 10,
-      modelName: providerConfig.modelName,
+      modelName: provider.modelName,
       name: os.hostname(),
       path: configPath,
       public: true,
       serverKey: this._config.symmetryServerKey,
+      userSecret,
       systemMessage: ""
     })
 
-    fs.writeFileSync(configPath, symmetryConfiguration, "utf8")
+    return fs.promises.writeFile(configPath, symmetryConfiguration, "utf8");
   }
 
-  public async startSymmetryProvider() {
-    const providerConfig = this.getChatProvider()
+  public startSymmetryProvider = async () => {
+    const provider = this.getChatProvider()
 
-    if (!providerConfig) return
+    if (!provider) return
 
     const configPath = this.getSymmetryConfigPath()
 
     if (!fs.existsSync(configPath)) {
-      this.createOrUpdateProviderConfig(providerConfig)
+      await this.createProviderConfig(provider)
+    }
+
+    const existingConfig = yaml.load(fs.readFileSync(configPath, "utf8")) as any
+    const { userSecret } = existingConfig
+
+    if (!userSecret) {
+      vscode.window.showInformationMessage(
+        `
+          Twinny did not detect a userSecret for your provider.
+          Generating a \`userSecret\` for you at at ${configPath}
+          This only needs to be done once.
+        `
+      )
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(configPath, yaml.dump({
+        ...existingConfig,
+        userSecret: crypto.randomBytes(32).toString("hex")
+      }), "utf8")
     }
 
     this._provider = new SymmetryProvider(configPath)
@@ -324,7 +349,7 @@ export class SymmetryService extends EventEmitter {
     })
   }
 
-  public async stopSymmetryProvider() {
+  public stopSymmetryProvider = async () => {
     await this._provider?.destroySwarms()
     updateSymmetryStatus(this._webView, "disconnected")
     const sessionKey = EXTENSION_SESSION_NAME.twinnySymmetryConnectionProvider