diff --git a/slaeforms/app.py b/slaeforms/app.py
index c4a3540..27b4d8c 100644
--- a/slaeforms/app.py
+++ b/slaeforms/app.py
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
 import sys
-from flask import Flask, redirect, url_for, request
+from flask import Flask, redirect, url_for, request, session, make_response
 from flask import render_template
 from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
 from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase
 from sqlalchemy import Integer, String
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Mapped, mapped_column
 from datetime import datetime
+import uuid
 
 #create the app
 app = Flask(__name__)
 # configure the database, give it a path (it will be in the instances folder)
 app.config["SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"] = "sqlite:///database.db"
 db = SQLAlchemy(app)
+#set the secret key (TODO change this for final deployment)
+app.secret_key = b"29fe9e8edd407c5491d4f1c05632d9fa33e26ed8734a3f5e080ebac3772a555a"
 
 # create the model for the response table
 class Response(db.Model):
@@ -31,6 +34,18 @@ with app.app_context():
 
 @app.route("/", methods=["GET", "POST"])
 def testpage():
+    user_cookie = request.cookies.get('sleaformcookie')
+    if user_cookie:
+        # If the cookie exists
+        return f'Hello, returning user! Your cookie value is {user_cookie}'
+    else:
+        # If the cookie doesn't exist
+        response = make_response('Hello, new user! Setting cookie...')
+        print('Hello, new user! Setting cookie...')
+        user_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
+        print('Setting cookie with your user id: {user_id}'.format(user_id=user_id))
+        response.set_cookie('sleaformcookie', user_id)
+        return response
     if request.method == "POST":
         likert_score = request.form["likertscale"]
         text_input = request.form["feedback"]