diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3e7d549..cf16c21 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
     "sinon": "~1.17.3"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "elasticsearch": "~11.0.1",
-    "joi": "~8.0.5"
+    "elasticsearch": "~11.0.1"
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/helpers/create_client.js b/src/helpers/create_client.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c63fced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/create_client.js
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import elasticsearch from 'elasticsearch';
+
+export default function createClient(options) {
+  let client;
+
+  if (options instanceof elasticsearch.Client) {
+    client = options;
+  } else {
+    client = new elasticsearch.Client(options);
+  }
+
+  return client;
+};
diff --git a/src/helpers/validate_schema.js b/src/helpers/validate_schema.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a76ed1..0000000
--- a/src/helpers/validate_schema.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-import Joi from 'joi';
-
-var schema = Joi.object({
-  url: Joi.string().uri({ scheme: ['http', 'https'] }).default('http://localhost:9200'),
-  index: Joi.string().required(),
-  interval: Joi.string().default('1w'),
-  timeout: Joi.number().min(10000).default(10000),
-}).default();
-
-const validateSchema = (options) => new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
-  schema.validate(options, (err, settings) => {
-    if (err) return reject(err);
-    resolve(settings);
-  })
-})
-
-export default validateSchema;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index a92c1a9..cd04c0b 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -1,24 +1,26 @@
 import events from 'events';
-import validateSchema from './helpers/validate_schema';
+import createClient from './helpers/create_client';
 
 export default class Elastique extends events.EventEmitter {
   constructor(options = {}) {
+    if (!options.index) throw new Error('Must specify an index to write to');
     super();
 
     this.ready = true;
 
-    // initalize the module
-    Promise.all([
-      validateSchema(options)
-    ])
-    .then(([ settings ]) => {
-      this.settings = settings;
-    })
-    .catch((err) => {
-      this.ready = false;
-      this.emit('error', err);
-      throw err;
+    this.settings = {};
+    Object.keys(options, (key) => {
+      if (key !== 'client') this.settings[key] = options[key];
     });
+
+    this.client = createClient(options.client);
+  }
+
+  add(type, payload, opts = {}) {
+    const options = Object.assign({
+      timeout: this.settings.timeout
+    }, opts);
+
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index d8068f7..a801422 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -1,28 +1,29 @@
-import Elastique from '../lib/index'
+import Elastique from '../lib/index';
 import expect from 'expect.js';
 
 describe('Elastique class', function () {
   describe('Option validation', function () {
-    it('should emit error without an index', function (done) {
-      const queue = new Elastique();
-
-      queue.on('error', (err) => {
-        expect(err).to.be.an(Error);
-        expect(err.message).to.match(/index/);
-        done();
-      });
+    it('should throw without an index', function () {
+      const init = () => new Elastique();
+      expect(init).to.throwException(/must.+specify.+index/i);
     });
 
-    it('should emit error with an invalid URL', function (done) {
-      const queue = new Elastique({
+    it('should throw with an invalid host', function () {
+      const init = () => new Elastique({
         index: 'elastique',
-        url: 'nope://nope'
+        client: { host: 'nope://nope' }
       });
-      queue.on('error', (err) => {
-        expect(err).to.be.an(Error);
-        expect(err.message).to.match(/url/);
-        done();
+
+      expect(init).to.throwException(/invalid.+protocol/i);
+    });
+
+    it('should throw with invalid hosts', function () {
+      const init = () => new Elastique({
+        index: 'elastique',
+        client: { hosts: [{ host: 'localhost', protocol: 'nope' }] }
       });
+
+      expect(init).to.throwException(/invalid.+protocol/i);
     });
   });
 });
\ No newline at end of file