diff --git a/concord-server/schema.prisma b/concord-server/schema.prisma
index 69e738c..fdfebd7 100644
--- a/concord-server/schema.prisma
+++ b/concord-server/schema.prisma
@@ -82,10 +82,10 @@ model Message {
 }
 
 model Reply {
-  message     Message @relation("MessageToReply", fields: [messageId], references: [id])
-  messageId   String  @unique
-  repliesTo   Message @relation("ReplyToMessage", fields: [repliesToId], references: [id])
-  repliesToId String  @unique
+  message     Message @relation("MessageToReply", fields: [messageId], references: [id]) //message text 
+  messageId   String  @unique //message id of the reply
+  repliesTo   Message @relation("ReplyToMessage", fields: [repliesToId], references: [id]) //message id that this message replies to
+  repliesToId String  @unique //replies to this message id
 
   @@unique([messageId, repliesToId])
 }
diff --git a/concord-server/src/controller/realtime.ts b/concord-server/src/controller/realtime.ts
index 0151393..7cacb9d 100644
--- a/concord-server/src/controller/realtime.ts
+++ b/concord-server/src/controller/realtime.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { sendMessageToChannel, removeMessageFromChannel } from "../services/real
 import { success } from "zod";
 
 
-
 export async function postMessageToChannel(
     io: any,
     c: Context
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ export async function deleteMessageFromChannel(
             message: "Message deleted successfully",
             status: 200
         })
-        
+
     } catch (err) {
 
         const errMessage = err as Error;
@@ -125,4 +124,4 @@ export async function deleteMessageFromChannel(
             status: 500
         });
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/concord-server/src/routes/realtime.ts b/concord-server/src/routes/realtime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27fb941
--- /dev/null
+++ b/concord-server/src/routes/realtime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { Hono } from "hono";
+import { zValidator } from "@hono/zod-validator";
+import { describeRoute, resolver } from "hono-openapi";
+import { postMessageToChannel, 
+    deleteMessageFromChannel 
+} from "../controller/realtime";
+
+const app = new Hono();
+
+app.post(
+    "message/",
+    zValidator({
+        body: z.object({
+            content: z.string().min(1).max(500)
+        })
+    }),
+    async (c) => {
+        const { instanceId, categoryId, channelId } = c.req.params;
+        const { content } = c.req.body;
+
+        return postMessageToChannel(c.get("io"), {
+            instanceId,
+            categoryId,
+            channelId,
+            content
+        });
+    }
+);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/concord-server/src/services/message.ts b/concord-server/src/services/message.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e666ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/concord-server/src/services/message.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import {
+  Message,
+  MessagePing,
+  PrismaClient,
+  Role,
+  Reply
+
+} from "@prisma/client";
+import { CreateUserInput } from '../validators/userValidator';
+
+const prisma = new PrismaClient();
+
+class MessageService {
+    public async function sendMessageToChannel(
+        channelId: string,
+        userId: string,
+        content: string,
+        repliedMessageId: string | null
+    ): Promise<{
+        id: string,
+        channelId: string,
+        userId: string,
+        text: string,
+        deleted: boolean,
+        replies: null | {
+            messageId: string,
+            repliesToId: string,
+            repliesToText: string
+        }
+    } | null> {
+        try {
+
+
+            const newMessage = await prisma.message.create({
+                data: {
+                    channelId: channelId,
+                    userId: userId,
+                    text: content,
+                    deleted: false,
+
+                }
+            })
+
+            let origMessage;
+            if(repliedMessageId){
+                origMessage = await prisma.message.findUnique({
+                    where: {
+                        id: repliedMessageId
+                    }
+                })
+
+                if(!origMessage){
+                    throw new Error("could not find original message to reply to");
+                }
+
+                await prisma.reply.create({
+                    data: {
+                        messageId: newMessage.id,
+                        repliesToId: origMessage.id
+                    }
+                })
+            }
+
+            return {
+                ...newMessage,
+                replies: repliedMessageId ? {
+                    messageId: newMessage.id,
+                    repliesToId: origMessage?.id,
+                    repliesToText: origMessage?.text
+                } : null
+            }
+
+        } catch (error) {
+
+
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/concord-server/src/validators/messageValidator.ts b/concord-server/src/validators/messageValidator.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29