diff --git a/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponse.cs b/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponse.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4636ea42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponse.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Stardrop.Models.Nexus.Web
+{
+    internal class WebsocketResponse
+    {
+        public bool success { get; set; }
+        public WebsocketResponseData? data { get; set; }
+
+
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponseData.cs b/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponseData.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d28d17d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Stardrop/Models/Nexus/Web/WebsocketResponseData.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Stardrop.Models.Nexus.Web
+{
+    internal class WebsocketResponseData
+    {
+        public string? connection_token { get; set; }
+        public string? api_key { get; set; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusConnectionResult.cs b/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusConnectionResult.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d189db9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusConnectionResult.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Stardrop.Utilities
+{
+    internal class NexusConnectionResult
+    {
+        public string? Error { get; set; }
+        public string? Message { get; set; }
+
+        public string? ApiKey { get; set; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusWebsocket.cs b/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusWebsocket.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..805b2bbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Stardrop/Utilities/NexusWebsocket.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+using Stardrop.Models.Nexus.Web;
+using Stardrop.ViewModels;
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Net.WebSockets;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Text.Json;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using System.Timers;
+
+namespace Stardrop.Utilities
+{
+    internal class NexusWebsocket
+    {
+        private readonly Uri ssoWebsocketURI = new("wss://sso.nexusmods.com");
+        private readonly string connectionUUID = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
+        private readonly string connectionSlug = "stardrop";
+
+        internal readonly string ssoUrl;
+
+        private ClientWebSocket? _socket;
+        private System.Timers.Timer? _pingTimer;
+        private bool _hasResolved;
+
+        public NexusWebsocket()
+        {
+            this.ssoUrl = $"https://www.nexusmods.com/sso?id={connectionUUID}&application={connectionSlug}";
+        }
+
+        public async Task<NexusConnectionResult> ConnectAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        {
+            var result = new NexusConnectionResult();
+            _socket = new ClientWebSocket();
+
+            try
+            {
+                await _socket.ConnectAsync(ssoWebsocketURI, cancellationToken);
+
+                var initialData = new
+                {
+                    id = connectionUUID,
+                    token = (string?)null,
+                    protocol = 2
+                };
+                string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(initialData);
+                var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json);
+                await _socket.SendAsync(
+                    new ArraySegment<byte>(bytes), WebSocketMessageType.Text, true, cancellationToken
+                );
+
+                // ping every 30 seconds as requested by docs
+                _pingTimer = new System.Timers.Timer(30_000);
+                _pingTimer.Elapsed += async (_, __) =>
+                {
+                    if (_socket?.State == WebSocketState.Open)
+                    {
+                        try
+                        {
+                            await _socket.SendAsync(
+                                new ArraySegment<byte>(Array.Empty<byte>()), WebSocketMessageType.Text, true, CancellationToken.None
+                            );
+                        }
+                        catch
+                        {
+                            _pingTimer?.Stop();
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        _pingTimer?.Stop();
+                    }
+                };
+                _pingTimer.AutoReset = true;
+                _pingTimer.Start();
+
+                // Receive data
+                var buffer = new byte[4096];
+                while (_socket.State == WebSocketState.Open && !cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+                {
+                    var recv = await _socket.ReceiveAsync(
+                        new ArraySegment<byte>(buffer), cancellationToken
+                    );
+                    if (recv.MessageType == WebSocketMessageType.Close) break;
+
+                    var msg = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buffer, 0, recv.Count);
+                    Program.helper.Log($"[nexus websocket] received data {msg}", Helper.Status.Debug);
+
+                    var response = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<WebsocketResponse>(msg);
+                    if (response != null && response.success && response.data != null)
+                    {
+                        // ignore connection_token
+                        if (response.data.connection_token != null && response.data.api_key == null)
+                        {
+                            continue;
+                        }
+
+                        result.Message = "successfully obtained api key";
+                        result.ApiKey = response.data.api_key;
+                        _hasResolved = true;
+                        await _socket.CloseAsync(
+                            WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure, "got key", CancellationToken.None
+                        );
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        result.Error = "received invalid message";
+                        _hasResolved = true;
+                        await _socket.CloseAsync(
+                            WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure,
+                            "invalid",
+                            CancellationToken.None
+                        );
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Program.helper.Log($"[nexus websocket] exception: {ex}", Helper.Status.Debug);
+                if (!_hasResolved)
+                {
+                    result.Error = ex.Message;
+                    _hasResolved = true;
+                }
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                _pingTimer?.Stop();
+                if (_socket?.State == WebSocketState.Open)
+                {
+                    await _socket.CloseAsync(
+                        WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure, "shutdown", CancellationToken.None
+                    );
+                }
+                _socket?.Dispose();
+            }
+
+            return result;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml b/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml
index 3e99760e..3f2b159b 100644
--- a/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml
+++ b/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml
@@ -81,11 +81,11 @@
 		</StackPanel>
 
 		<StackPanel Grid.Row="2" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Orientation="Vertical" Margin="0 15 0 0">
-			<TextBlock Text="{i18n:Translate ui.nexus_login.labels.paste}" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Foreground="{DynamicResource ThemeForegroundBrush}"/>
 			<Border Margin="0 10 0 0" BorderBrush="{DynamicResource HighlightBrush}" BorderThickness="2">
 				<TextBox Name="apiBox" TextWrapping="Wrap" Height="50" Width="450" Background="{DynamicResource DataGridRowBackground}" Foreground="{DynamicResource ThemeForegroundHighBrush}" />
 			</Border>
 		</StackPanel>
+		
 		<StackPanel Grid.Row="3" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Orientation="Vertical" Margin="0 15 0 0">
 			<TextBlock Text="{i18n:Translate ui.nexus_login.labels.note}" FontWeight="Bold" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Foreground="{DynamicResource ThemeForegroundBrush}" Margin="0 0 0 0"/>
 			<TextBlock Text="{i18n:Translate ui.nexus_login.labels.share_warning_actual}" Width="400" TextWrapping="Wrap" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Foreground="{DynamicResource ThemeForegroundBrush}" Margin="0 15 0 0"/>
diff --git a/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml.cs b/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml.cs
index 4044e1aa..84a51eb5 100644
--- a/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml.cs
+++ b/Stardrop/Views/NexusLogin.axaml.cs
@@ -2,15 +2,20 @@
 using Avalonia.Controls;
 using Avalonia.Input;
 using Avalonia.Markup.Xaml;
+using Stardrop.Utilities;
 using Stardrop.ViewModels;
+using System;
+using System.Net.WebSockets;
 
 namespace Stardrop.Views
 {
     public partial class NexusLogin : Window
     {
+        private NexusWebsocket? _nexusWebsocket;
         public NexusLogin()
         {
             InitializeComponent();
+            _nexusWebsocket = new NexusWebsocket();
 #if DEBUG
             this.AttachDevTools();
 #endif
@@ -18,20 +23,34 @@ public NexusLogin()
 
         public NexusLogin(MainWindowViewModel viewModel) : this()
         {
+            HandleNexusFlow();
             // Handle buttons
             this.FindControl<Button>("cancelButton").Click += delegate { this.Close(null); };
             this.FindControl<Button>("exitButton").Click += delegate { this.Close(null); };
-            this.FindControl<Button>("goToNexusButton").Click += delegate { viewModel.OpenBrowser("https://www.nexusmods.com/users/myaccount?tab=api"); };
+            this.FindControl<Button>("goToNexusButton").Click += delegate { viewModel.OpenBrowser(_nexusWebsocket.ssoUrl); };
 
             var applyButton = this.FindControl<Button>("applyButton");
             applyButton.Click += ApplyButton_Click;
             applyButton.IsEnabled = false;
+        }
 
-            // Give focus to textbox
-            var apiKeyBox = this.FindControl<TextBox>("apiBox");
-            apiKeyBox.AttachedToVisualTree += (s, e) => apiKeyBox.Focus();
-            apiKeyBox.KeyDown += KeyBox_KeyDown;
-            apiKeyBox.KeyUp += KeyBox_KeyUp;
+        private async void HandleNexusFlow()
+        {
+            var result = await _nexusWebsocket.ConnectAsync();
+
+            if (result.Error is not null)
+            {
+                Program.helper.Log($"Error getting API key: {result.Error}", Helper.Status.Warning);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                Program.helper.Log($"Got API key: {result.ApiKey}", Helper.Status.Info);
+                var apiKeyBox = this.FindControl<TextBox>("apiBox");
+                apiKeyBox.Text = result.ApiKey ?? string.Empty;
+
+                var applyButton = this.FindControl<Button>("applyButton");
+                applyButton.IsEnabled = true;
+            }
         }
 
         private void ApplyChanges()