diff --git a/spec/more_speech/migrator_spec.clj b/spec/more_speech/migrator_spec.clj
index 09ae4bd..6879b31 100644
--- a/spec/more_speech/migrator_spec.clj
+++ b/spec/more_speech/migrator_spec.clj
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
   (reset! config/tabs-list-filename "tmp/tabs-list")
   (reset! config/messages-directory "tmp/messages")
   (reset! config/messages-filename "tmp/messages/message-file")
+  (reset! config/user-configuration-filename "tmp/user-configuration")
   (.mkdir (io/file "tmp"))
   (prn 'changed-to-tmp)
   )
@@ -45,7 +46,9 @@
   (reset! config/tabs-filename "private/tabs")
   (reset! config/tabs-list-filename "private/tabs-list")
   (reset! config/messages-directory "private/messages")
-  (reset! config/messages-filename "private/messages/message-file"))
+  (reset! config/messages-filename "private/messages/message-file")
+  (reset! config/user-configuration-filename "private/user-configuration")
+  )
 
 (describe "The Migrator"
   (with-stubs)
@@ -205,4 +208,11 @@
       (should= [{:id 1 :created-at 0}] (read-string (slurp (str @config/messages-directory "/0-01Jan70"))))
       (should= [{:id 2 :created-at 86400}] (read-string (slurp (str @config/messages-directory "/1-02Jan70"))))
       (should-not (file-exists? @config/messages-filename))))
+
+  (context "migration 8 user configuration"
+    (it "creates an empty user-configuration file"
+      (migration-8-user-configuration)
+      (should (file-exists? @config/user-configuration-filename))
+      (should= {} (read-string (slurp @config/user-configuration-filename))))
+    )
   )
diff --git a/src/more_speech/config.clj b/src/more_speech/config.clj
index 92e7fb9..e135be5 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/config.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/config.clj
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 (def days-to-read 10) ;how many daily message files to read in.
 
-(def migration-level 7)
+(def migration-level 8)
 (def version "202207291135")
 
 (def test-run? false)
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 (def tabs-list-filename (atom "private/tabs-list"))
 (def messages-directory (atom "private/messages"))
 (def messages-filename (atom "private/messages/message-file"))
+(def user-configuration-filename (atom "private/user-configuration"))
 
 (def user-name-pattern #"\@[\w\-]+")
 (def user-name-chars #"[\w\-]+")
diff --git a/src/more_speech/data_storage.clj b/src/more_speech/data_storage.clj
index a792d88..f4b6727 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/data_storage.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/data_storage.clj
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
             [more-speech.nostr.events :as events]
             [more-speech.nostr.relays :as relays]
             [more-speech.ui.swing.tabs :as tabs]
+            [more-speech.user-configuration :as user-configuration]
             [clojure.string :as string])
   (:import (java.util Date TimeZone)
            (java.text SimpleDateFormat)))
@@ -23,7 +24,9 @@
     (spit @config/tabs-list-filename
               (with-out-str
                 (clojure.pprint/pprint (:tabs-list @event-context))))
-
+    (spit @config/user-configuration-filename
+              (with-out-str
+                (clojure.pprint/pprint (:user-configuration @event-context))))
     ))
 
 (defn write-messages []
@@ -38,10 +41,14 @@
         profiles (read-string (slurp @config/profiles-filename))
         tabs-list (tabs/ensure-tab-list-has-all
                     (read-string (slurp @config/tabs-list-filename)))
+        user-configuration (user-configuration/validate
+                             (read-string (slurp @config/user-configuration-filename)))
+
         event-context (events/make-event-context {:keys keys
                                                   :profiles profiles
                                                   :read-event-ids read-event-ids
                                                   :tabs-list tabs-list
+                                                  :user-configuration user-configuration
                                                   })]
     (swap! ui-context assoc :event-context event-context)
     (relays/load-relays-from-file @config/relays-filename)))
diff --git a/src/more_speech/migrator.clj b/src/more_speech/migrator.clj
index 8d90cbe..7165f13 100644
--- a/src/more_speech/migrator.clj
+++ b/src/more_speech/migrator.clj
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@
     )
   )
 
+;--- Migration 8 user-configuration file ---
+
+(defn migration-8-user-configuration []
+  (spit @config/user-configuration-filename {})
+  )
+
 ;---------- The Migrations List -------
 
 (def migrations (atom {1 initial-migration
@@ -118,6 +124,7 @@
                        5 migration-5-remove-nicknames
                        6 migration-6-reformat-tabs
                        7 migration-7-break-messages-into-daily-files
+                       8 migration-8-user-configuration
                        }))
 
 ;--------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/more_speech/user_configuration.clj b/src/more_speech/user_configuration.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c0719c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/more_speech/user_configuration.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+(ns more-speech.user-configuration)
+
+(defn validate [user-configuration]
+  user-configuration)