diff --git a/src/Hydrogen.ts b/src/Hydrogen.ts
index 6a6de72d304e2e243ff55a1e544fb08bff3753e2..697fcfe7f4e3398a4f67d165d601a4fc6a6e5548 100644
--- a/src/Hydrogen.ts
+++ b/src/Hydrogen.ts
@@ -46,12 +46,11 @@ export class Hydrogen {
         }
     }
 
-    async mountRoom(roomId: string) {
-        const session = this._client.session;
-        const room = session.rooms.get(roomId);
+    async showRoom(roomId: string) {
+        const room = this._session.rooms.get(roomId) ?? await this._joinRoom(roomId);
         const vm = new RoomViewModel({
             room,
-            ownUserId: session.userId,
+            ownUserId: this._session.userId,
             platform: this._platform,
             urlCreator: this._urlRouter,
             navigation: this._navigation,
@@ -60,4 +59,29 @@ export class Hydrogen {
         const view = new TimelineView(vm.timelineViewModel);
         this._container.appendChild(view.mount());
     }
+
+    private async _joinRoom(roomId: string): Promise<any> {
+        await this._session.joinRoom(roomId);
+        // even though we've joined the room, we need to wait till the next sync for the actual room
+        await this._waitForRoomFromSync(roomId);
+        return this._session.rooms.get(roomId);
+
+    }
+
+    private _waitForRoomFromSync(roomId: string): Promise<void> {
+        let resolve: () => void;
+        const promise: Promise<void> = new Promise(r => { resolve = r; })
+        const subscription = {
+            onAdd: (_: string, value: {id: string}) => {
+                if (value.id === roomId) {
+                    this._session.rooms.unsubscribe(subscription);
+                    resolve();
+                }
+            },
+        };
+        this._session.rooms.subscribe(subscription);
+        return promise;
+    }
+
+    private get _session() { return this._client.session; }
 }
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 8dc447d64e47e2612107e3b16de688ec84c1f357..08b8d87cab0592f9ca9e14ba84127be97f3d0323 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ async function fetchConfig(): Promise<IChatterboxConfig> {
 
 async function main() {
     const root = document.querySelector("#chatterbox") as HTMLDivElement;
-    const { homeserver } = await fetchConfig();
+    const { homeserver, auto_join_room } = await fetchConfig();
     const hydrogen = new Hydrogen(homeserver, root);
     const username = generateRandomString(7);
     const password = generateRandomString(10);
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ async function main() {
     console.log("Attempting to login with same credentials");
     await hydrogen.login(username, password);
     console.log("Login successful");
-
-
+    console.log("Attempting to mount Timeline");
+    await hydrogen.showRoom(auto_join_room);
+    console.log("Mounted Timeline");
 }
 
 function generateRandomString(length: number): string {