diff --git a/pilot.go b/pilot.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26a824e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pilot.go
@@ -0,0 +1,259 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net"
+
+	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
+	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/autopilot"
+	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/lnwire"
+	"github.com/roasbeef/btcd/btcec"
+	"github.com/roasbeef/btcd/wire"
+	"github.com/roasbeef/btcutil"
+)
+
+// chanController is an implementation of the autopilot.ChannelController
+// interface that's backed by a running lnd instance.
+type chanController struct {
+	server *server
+}
+
+// OpenChannel opens a channel to a target peer, with a capacity of the
+// specified amount. This function should un-block immediately after the
+// funding transaction that marks the channel open has been broadcast.
+func (c *chanController) OpenChannel(target *btcec.PublicKey,
+	amt btcutil.Amount, addrs []net.Addr) error {
+
+	// We can't establish a channel if no addresses were provided for the
+	// peer.
+	if len(addrs) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Unable to create channel w/o an active " +
+			"address")
+	}
+
+	// First, we'll check if we're already connected to the target peer. If
+	// not, then we'll need to establish a connection.
+	if _, err := c.server.FindPeer(target); err != nil {
+		// TODO(roasbeef): try teach addr
+
+		atplLog.Tracef("Connecting to %x to auto-create channel: ",
+			target.SerializeCompressed())
+
+		lnAddr := &lnwire.NetAddress{
+			IdentityKey: target,
+			ChainNet:    activeNetParams.Net,
+		}
+
+		// We'll attempt to successively connect to each of the
+		// advertised IP addresses until we've either exhausted the
+		// advertised IP addresses, or have made a connection.
+		var connected bool
+		for _, addr := range addrs {
+			// If the address doesn't already have a port, then
+			// we'll assume the current default port.
+			tcpAddr, ok := addr.(*net.TCPAddr)
+			if !ok {
+				return fmt.Errorf("TCP address required instead "+
+					"have %T", addrs[0])
+			}
+			if tcpAddr.Port == 0 {
+				tcpAddr.Port = defaultPeerPort
+			}
+
+			lnAddr.Address = tcpAddr
+
+			// TODO(roasbeef): make perm connection in server after
+			// chan open?
+			err := c.server.ConnectToPeer(lnAddr, false)
+			if err != nil {
+				// If we weren't able to connect to the peer,
+				// then we'll move onto the next.
+				continue
+			}
+
+			connected = true
+			break
+		}
+
+		// If we weren't able to establish a connection at all, then
+		// we'll error out.
+		if !connected {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Unable to connect to %x",
+				target.SerializeCompressed())
+		}
+	}
+
+	// With the connection established, we'll now establish our connection
+	// to the target peer, waiting for the first update before we exit.
+	updateStream, errChan := c.server.OpenChannel(-1, target, amt, 0)
+
+	select {
+	case err := <-errChan:
+		return err
+	case <-updateStream:
+		return nil
+	case <-c.server.quit:
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+func (c *chanController) CloseChannel(chanPoint *wire.OutPoint) error {
+	return nil
+}
+func (c *chanController) SpliceIn(chanPoint *wire.OutPoint,
+	amt btcutil.Amount) (*autopilot.Channel, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+func (c *chanController) SpliceOut(chanPoint *wire.OutPoint,
+	amt btcutil.Amount) (*autopilot.Channel, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+// A compile time assertion to ensure chanController meets the
+// autopilot.ChannelController interface.
+var _ autopilot.ChannelController = (*chanController)(nil)
+
+// initAutoPilot initializes a new autopilot.Agent instance based on the passed
+// configuration struct. All interfaces needed to drive the pilot will be
+// registered and launched.
+func initAutoPilot(svr *server, cfg *autoPilotConfig) (*autopilot.Agent, error) {
+	atplLog.Infof("Instantiating autopilot with cfg: %v", spew.Sdump(cfg))
+
+	// First, we'll create the preferential attachment heuristic,
+	// initialized with the passed auto pilot configuration parameters.
+	//
+	// TODO(roasbeef): switch here to dispatch specified heuristic
+	minChanSize := svr.cc.wallet.Cfg.DefaultConstraints.DustLimit * 5
+	prefAttachment := autopilot.NewConstrainedPrefAttachment(
+		minChanSize, maxFundingAmount,
+		uint16(cfg.MaxChannels), cfg.Allocation,
+	)
+
+	// With the heuristic itself created, we can now populate the remainder
+	// of the items that the autopilot agent needs to perform its duties.
+	self := svr.identityPriv.PubKey()
+	pilotCfg := autopilot.Config{
+		Self:           self,
+		Heuristic:      prefAttachment,
+		ChanController: &chanController{svr},
+		WalletBalance: func() (btcutil.Amount, error) {
+			return svr.cc.wallet.ConfirmedBalance(1, true)
+		},
+		Graph: autopilot.ChannelGraphFromDatabase(svr.chanDB.ChannelGraph()),
+	}
+
+	// Next, we'll fetch the current state of open channels from the
+	// database to use as initial state for the auto-pilot agent.
+	activeChannels, err := svr.chanDB.FetchAllChannels()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	initialChanState := make([]autopilot.Channel, len(activeChannels))
+	for i, channel := range activeChannels {
+		initialChanState[i] = autopilot.Channel{
+			ChanID:   channel.ShortChanID,
+			Capacity: channel.Capacity,
+			Node:     autopilot.NewNodeID(channel.IdentityPub),
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Now that we have all the initial dependencies, we can create the
+	// auto-pilot instance itself.
+	pilot, err := autopilot.New(pilotCfg, initialChanState)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Finally, we'll need to subscribe to two things: incoming
+	// transactions that modify the wallet's balance, and also any graph
+	// topology updates.
+	txnSubscription, err := svr.cc.wallet.SubscribeTransactions()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	graphSubscription, err := svr.chanRouter.SubscribeTopology()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// We'll launch a goroutine to provide the agent with notifications
+	// whenever the balance of the wallet changes.
+	svr.wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer txnSubscription.Cancel()
+		defer svr.wg.Done()
+
+		for {
+			select {
+			case txnUpdate := <-txnSubscription.ConfirmedTransactions():
+				pilot.OnBalanceChange(txnUpdate.Value)
+			case <-svr.quit:
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+	}()
+
+	// We'll also launch a goroutine to provide the agent with
+	// notifications for when the graph topology controlled by the node
+	// changes.
+	svr.wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer graphSubscription.Cancel()
+		defer svr.wg.Done()
+
+		for {
+			select {
+			case topChange, ok := <-graphSubscription.TopologyChanges:
+				// If the router is shutting down, then we will
+				// as well.
+				if !ok {
+					return
+				}
+
+				for _, edgeUpdate := range topChange.ChannelEdgeUpdates {
+					// If this isn't an advertisement by
+					// the backing lnd node, then we'll
+					// continue as we only want to add
+					// channels that we've created
+					// ourselves.
+					if !edgeUpdate.AdvertisingNode.IsEqual(self) {
+						continue
+					}
+
+					// If this is indeed a channel we
+					// opened, then we'll convert it to the
+					// autopilot.Channel format, and notify
+					// the pilot of the new channel.
+					chanNode := autopilot.NewNodeID(
+						edgeUpdate.ConnectingNode,
+					)
+					chanID := lnwire.NewShortChanIDFromInt(
+						edgeUpdate.ChanID,
+					)
+					edge := autopilot.Channel{
+						ChanID:   chanID,
+						Capacity: edgeUpdate.Capacity,
+						Node:     chanNode,
+					}
+					pilot.OnChannelOpen(edge)
+				}
+
+				// For each closed closed channel, we'll obtain
+				// the chanID of the closed channel and send it
+				// to the pilot.
+				for _, chanClose := range topChange.ClosedChannels {
+					chanID := lnwire.NewShortChanIDFromInt(
+						chanClose.ChanID,
+					)
+					pilot.OnChannelClose(chanID)
+				}
+
+			case <-svr.quit:
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return pilot, nil
+}