diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index c09dba1..5e587f2 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,8 +1 @@
-LDAP_HOST=192.168.33.10
-LDAP_PORT=389
-#
-# Production LDAP server:
-#
-# LDAP_HOST=ldap.kosmos.org
-# LDAP_PORT=636
-# LDAP_USE_TLS=true
+EJABBERD_API_URL='https://xmpp.kosmos.org/api'
diff --git a/.env.test b/.env.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..932c595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.test
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+EJABBERD_API_URL='http://xmpp.example.com/api'
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 3895a98..8a5b728 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ gem 'jbuilder', '~> 2.7'
 # Reduces boot times through caching; required in config/boot.rb
 gem 'bootsnap', '>= 1.4.2', require: false
 
-gem 'dotenv-rails', groups: [:development, :test]
+gem 'dotenv-rails'
 
 gem 'warden'
 gem 'devise'
diff --git a/app/services/create_account.rb b/app/services/create_account.rb
index e000631..eb60824 100644
--- a/app/services/create_account.rb
+++ b/app/services/create_account.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@ class CreateAccount < ApplicationService
   def call
     user = create_user_in_database
     add_ldap_document
-    update_invitation(user.id) if @invitation.present?
+
+    if @invitation.present?
+      update_invitation(user.id)
+      exchange_xmpp_contacts
+    end
   end
 
   private
@@ -57,4 +61,23 @@ class CreateAccount < ApplicationService
   def ldap_config
     ldap_config ||= YAML.load(ERB.new(File.read("#{Rails.root}/config/ldap.yml")).result)[Rails.env]
   end
+
+  def exchange_xmpp_contacts
+    #TODO enable in development when we have easy setup of ejabberd etc.
+    return if Rails.env.development?
+
+    ejabberd = EjabberdApiClient.new
+    inviter = @invitation.user
+
+    ejabberd.add_rosteritem({
+      "localuser": @username, "localhost": @domain,
+      "user": inviter.cn, "host": inviter.ou,
+      "nick": inviter.cn, "group": "Friends", "subs": "both"
+    })
+    ejabberd.add_rosteritem({
+      "localuser": inviter.cn, "localhost": inviter.ou,
+      "user": @username, "host": @domain,
+      "nick": @username, "group": "Friends", "subs": "both"
+    })
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/ejabberd_api_client.rb b/app/services/ejabberd_api_client.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddce590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/services/ejabberd_api_client.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+class EjabberdApiClient
+  def initialize
+    @base_url = ENV["EJABBERD_API_URL"]
+  end
+
+  def post(endpoint, payload)
+    res = Faraday.post("#{@base_url}/#{endpoint}", payload,
+                       "Content-Type" => "application/json")
+
+    if res.status != 200
+      Rails.logger.error "[ejabberd] API request failed:"
+      Rails.logger.error res.body
+      #TODO add some kind of exception tracking/notifications
+    end
+  end
+
+  def add_rosteritem(payload)
+    post "add_rosteritem", payload
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/services/create_account_spec.rb b/spec/services/create_account_spec.rb
index 8641beb..2808836 100644
--- a/spec/services/create_account_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/create_account_spec.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 require 'rails_helper'
+require 'webmock/rspec'
+require 'json'
 
 RSpec.describe CreateAccount, type: :model do
   let(:ldap_client_mock) { instance_double(Net::LDAP) }
@@ -68,4 +70,37 @@ RSpec.describe CreateAccount, type: :model do
       service.send(:add_ldap_document)
     end
   end
+
+  describe "#exchange_xmpp_contacts" do
+    let(:inviter) { create :user, cn: "willherschel", ou: "kosmos.org" }
+    let(:invitation) { create :invitation, user: inviter }
+    let(:service) { CreateAccount.new(
+      username: 'isaacnewton',
+      email: 'isaacnewton@example.com',
+      password: 'bright-ideas-in-autumn',
+      invitation: invitation
+    )}
+
+    before do
+      stub_request(:post, "http://xmpp.example.com/api/add_rosteritem")
+        .to_return(status: 200, body: "", headers: {})
+    end
+
+    it "posts add_rosteritem commands to the ejabberd API" do
+      service.send(:exchange_xmpp_contacts)
+
+      expect(WebMock).to have_requested(:post, "http://xmpp.example.com/api/add_rosteritem")
+        .with { |req| req.body == {
+          localuser: "isaacnewton", localhost: "kosmos.org",
+          user: "willherschel", host: "kosmos.org",
+          nick: "willherschel", group: "Friends", subs: "both"
+        }}
+      expect(WebMock).to have_requested(:post, "http://xmpp.example.com/api/add_rosteritem")
+        .with { |req| req.body == {
+          localuser: "willherschel", localhost: "kosmos.org",
+          user: "isaacnewton", host: "kosmos.org",
+          nick: "isaacnewton", group: "Friends", subs: "both"
+        }}
+    end
+  end
 end