diff --git a/backend/app/api/deps.py b/backend/app/api/deps.py
index deed0a3d..cecb5860 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/deps.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/deps.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from typing import Generator
 
+from app.config import settings
 from app.database import engine
 from app.models import ServiceClient
 from fastapi import HTTPException, Security
@@ -37,6 +38,10 @@ def api_auth(
     delete: bool = False,
 ) -> ServiceClient:
     if api_key is not None:
+        if settings.ALLOW_ANY_API_KEY:
+            return ServiceClient(
+                api_key=api_key, name=api_key, can_append=True, can_read=True, can_write=True, can_delete=True
+            )
         api_client = db.query(ServiceClient).filter(ServiceClient.api_key == api_key).first()
         if api_client is not None:
             if (
diff --git a/backend/app/api/v1/tasks.py b/backend/app/api/v1/tasks.py
index 2a5397e5..07d0f9d1 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/v1/tasks.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/v1/tasks.py
@@ -31,9 +31,12 @@ def request_task(
         case "generic":
             # here we create a task at random (and store it in the database)
             logger.info("Frontend requested a generic task.")
-            task = protocol_schema.SummarizeStoryTask(
-                story="This is a story. A very long story. So long, it needs to be summarized.",
-            )
+            try:
+                task = protocol_schema.SummarizeStoryTask(
+                    story="This is a story. A very long story. So long, it needs to be summarized.",
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Failed to create task.")
 
         case _:
             raise HTTPException(
diff --git a/backend/app/config.py b/backend/app/config.py
index f0218bee..0780caf9 100644
--- a/backend/app/config.py
+++ b/backend/app/config.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     POSTGRES_DB: str = "postgres"
     DATABASE_URI: Optional[PostgresDsn] = None
 
+    ALLOW_ANY_API_KEY: bool = False
+
     @validator("DATABASE_URI", pre=True)
     def assemble_db_connection(cls, v: Optional[str], values: Dict[str, Any]) -> Any:
         if isinstance(v, str):
diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/protocol.py b/backend/app/schemas/protocol.py
index 554c49e1..c1976bf7 100644
--- a/backend/app/schemas/protocol.py
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/protocol.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from typing import Literal, Optional
-from uuid import UUID
+from uuid import UUID, uuid4
 
 import pydantic
 from pydantic import BaseModel
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class GenericTaskRequest(TaskRequest):
 class Task(BaseModel):
     """A task is a unit of work that the backend gives to the frontend."""
 
-    id: UUID = pydantic.Field(default_factory=UUID)
+    id: UUID = pydantic.Field(default_factory=uuid4)
     type: str
     addressed_users: Optional[list[str]] = None
 
@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@ class TaskResponse(BaseModel):
     """A task response is a message from the frontend to acknowledge the given task."""
 
     type: str
-    status: Literal["success", "failure"]
+    status: Literal["success", "failure"] = "success"
 
 
 class PostCreatedTaskResponse(TaskResponse):
     type: Literal["post_created"] = "post_created"
-    post_id: UUID
+    post_id: str
 
 
 class SummarizeStoryTask(Task):
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class SummarizeStoryTask(Task):
 
 class TaskDone(Task):
     type: Literal["task_done"] = "task_done"
-    reply_to_post_id: UUID
+    reply_to_post_id: str
 
 
 class Interaction(BaseModel):
@@ -58,6 +58,6 @@ class TextReplyToPost(Interaction):
     """A user has replied to a post with text."""
 
     type: Literal["text_reply_to_post"] = "text_reply_to_post"
-    post_id: UUID
-    user_post_id: UUID
+    post_id: str
+    user_post_id: str
     text: str
diff --git a/backend/scripts/run-local.sh b/backend/scripts/run-local.sh
index d8bd86c6..bf45e870 100755
--- a/backend/scripts/run-local.sh
+++ b/backend/scripts/run-local.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+export ALLOW_ANY_API_KEY=True
+
 uvicorn app.main:app --reload
diff --git a/text-frontend/__main__.py b/text-frontend/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dab0c745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/text-frontend/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Simple REPL frontend."""
+
+import requests
+import typer
+
+app = typer.Typer()
+
+
+@app.command()
+def main(backend_url: str, api_key: str):
+    """Simple REPL frontend."""
+
+    def _post(path: str, json: dict) -> dict:
+        response = requests.post(f"{backend_url}{path}", json=json, headers={"X-API-Key": api_key})
+        response.raise_for_status()
+        return response.json()
+
+    typer.echo("Requesting work...")
+    tasks = _post("/api/v1/tasks/", {"type": "generic"})
+    while tasks:
+        task = tasks.pop(0)
+        match (task["type"]):
+            case "summarize_story":
+                typer.echo("Summarize the following story:")
+                typer.echo(task["story"])
+
+                # acknowledge task
+                _post(f"/api/v1/tasks/{task['id']}/ack", {"type": "post_created", "post_id": "1234"})
+
+                summary = typer.prompt("Enter your summary")
+
+                # send interaction
+                new_tasks = _post(
+                    "/api/v1/tasks/interaction",
+                    {
+                        "type": "text_reply_to_post",
+                        "post_id": "1234",
+                        "user_post_id": "5678",
+                        "text": summary,
+                        "user_id": "1234",
+                    },
+                )
+                tasks.extend(new_tasks)
+            case "task_done":
+                typer.echo("Task done!")
+            case _:
+                typer.echo(f"Unknown task type {task['type']}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    app()
diff --git a/text-frontend/requirements.txt b/text-frontend/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f48a93ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/text-frontend/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+requests==2.18.1
+typer==0.7.0