diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index a4551db..250bde3 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
         ca-certificates \
         curl \
         gnupg2 \
+        libssl-dev \
         vim \
         software-properties-common \
         graphviz xdot \
+        ninja-build \
     &&  add-apt-repository \
         "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
         $(lsb_release -cs) \
@@ -33,6 +35,15 @@ RUN curl -L -O https://github.com/bazelbuild/buildtools/releases/download/3.5.0/
     && chmod +x buildifier \
     && mv buildifier /usr/local/bin
 
+RUN curl -L -O https://github.com/actor-framework/actor-framework/archive/c2be26e7f9e3e84ef14730590fc4e7b25fb9d29a.zip \
+    && unzip -d caf c2be26e7f9e3e84ef14730590fc4e7b25fb9d29a.zip \
+    && cd caf/actor-framework-c2be26e7f9e3e84ef14730590fc4e7b25fb9d29a/ \
+    && ./configure --generator=Ninja \
+    && cd build \
+    && cmake -G "Ninja" .. \
+    && ninja install \
+    && cd ../../.. \
+    && rm -rf caf
 
 RUN locale-gen en_US.UTF-8
 ENV LANG='en_US.UTF-8' LANGUAGE='en_US:en' LC_ALL='en_US.UTF-8'
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 9b92ed3..eb040bc 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -38,5 +38,6 @@
 	// "postCreateCommand": "gcc -v",
 
 	// Comment out this line to run as root instead.
-	"remoteUser": "vscode"
+	"remoteUser": "vscode",
+	
 }
diff --git a/WORKSPACE b/WORKSPACE
index 35b8c62..00c8ed3 100644
--- a/WORKSPACE
+++ b/WORKSPACE
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:git.bzl", "git_repository", "new_git_repository")
+load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
 
 git_repository(
     name = "googletest",
@@ -15,6 +16,14 @@ new_local_repository(
 new_git_repository(
     name = "fmt",
     remote = "https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt",
-    branch = "master",
+    commit = "6884aab49b1b7fc6dcba1e27999f1aced0b888be",
+    shallow_since = "1641501513 -0800",
     build_file = "//:fmt.BUILD",
+)
+
+new_local_repository(
+    name = "caf",
+    path = "/usr/local", 
+    build_file = "caf.BUILD",
+
 )
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/actor/BUILD b/actor/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1f97aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+load("@rules_cc//cc:defs.bzl", "cc_binary")
+load("@//:global_copts.bzl", "global_copts")
+
+package(features = ["-default_compile_flags"])
+
+cc_binary(
+    name = "actor",
+    srcs = ["actor.cpp"],
+    copts = global_copts(),
+    deps = [
+        "@caf//:main",
+        "@fmt//:main",
+        "@ncurses//:main",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/actor/actor.cpp b/actor/actor.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89260e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actor/actor.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#include <string>
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include "caf/actor_ostream.hpp"
+#include "caf/actor_system.hpp"
+#include "caf/caf_main.hpp"
+#include "caf/event_based_actor.hpp"
+
+using namespace caf;
+
+behavior mirror(event_based_actor* self) {
+  // return the (initial) actor behavior
+  return {
+    // a handler for messages containing a single string
+    // that replies with a string
+    [=](const std::string& what) -> std::string {
+      // prints "Hello World!" via aout (thread-safe cout wrapper)
+      aout(self) << what << std::endl;
+      // reply "!dlroW olleH"
+      return std::string{what.rbegin(), what.rend()};
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+void hello_world(event_based_actor* self, const actor& buddy) {
+  // send "Hello World!" to our buddy ...
+  self->request(buddy, std::chrono::seconds(10), "Hello World!")
+    .then(
+      // ... wait up to 10s for a response ...
+      [=](const std::string& what) {
+        // ... and print it
+        aout(self) << what << std::endl;
+      });
+}
+
+void caf_main(actor_system& sys) {
+  // create a new actor that calls 'mirror()'
+  auto mirror_actor = sys.spawn(mirror);
+  // create another actor that calls 'hello_world(mirror_actor)';
+  sys.spawn(hello_world, mirror_actor);
+  // the system will wait until both actors are done before exiting the program
+}
+
+// creates a main function for us that calls our caf_main
+CAF_MAIN()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/caf.BUILD b/caf.BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92b7305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/caf.BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+load("@rules_cc//cc:defs.bzl", "cc_library")
+
+cc_library(
+    name = "main",
+    srcs = [
+        "lib/libcaf_openssl.so.0.18.5",
+        "lib/libcaf_io.so",
+        "lib/libcaf_openssl.so",
+        "lib/libcaf_io.so.0.18.5",
+        "lib/libcaf_core.so.0.18.5",
+        "lib/libcaf_core.so",
+    ],
+    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/util/BUILD b/util/BUILD
index 82edb1e..9918682 100644
--- a/util/BUILD
+++ b/util/BUILD
@@ -12,3 +12,13 @@ cc_binary(
         "@ncurses//:main",
     ],
 )
+
+cc_binary(
+    name = "scratch",
+    srcs = ["scratch.cpp"],
+    copts = global_copts(),
+    deps = [
+        "@fmt//:main",
+        "@ncurses//:main",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/util/scratch.cpp b/util/scratch.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2f87e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/scratch.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#include "include/fmt/format.h"
+#include "include/fmt/printf.h"
+
+#include <memory>
+
+int main(int /*argc*/, char** /*argv*/) {
+
+  std::unique_ptr<int> pint = std::make_unique<int>();
+  std::shared_ptr<int> spint = std::move(pint);
+  *spint = 10;
+
+  fmt::printf("Value is %d\n", *spint);
+
+  return 0;
+}
\ No newline at end of file