diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0035626..11b8225 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,12 +7,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-## Added
+### Added
 
 - `Core` module
 - `CLI` module
 - `DB` module
 - Command line arguments to switch to legacy version
+- New configuration parameter for Zebra port
+- New functions to call `getinfo` and `getblockchaininfo` RPC methods
 
 ## [0.4.1]
 
diff --git a/app/Main.hs b/app/Main.hs
index f0faf47..f64421e 100644
--- a/app/Main.hs
+++ b/app/Main.hs
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ main = do
   dbName <- require config "dbName"
   nodeUser <- require config "nodeUser"
   nodePwd <- require config "nodePwd"
+  zebraPort <- require config "zebraPort"
   if not (null args)
     then do
       case head args of
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ main = do
                     "                         ______          _ _   _    \n                        |___  /         (_) | | |    \n                           / / ___ _ __  _| |_| |__  \n                          / / / _ \\ '_ \\| | __| '_ \\ \n                         / /_|  __/ | | | | |_| | | |\n                        /_____\\___|_| |_|_|\\__|_| |_|\n                         Zcash Full Node CLI v0.4.0"
                 }
               (root nodeUser nodePwd)
-        "cli" -> runZenithCLI dbName
+        "cli" -> runZenithCLI zebraPort dbName
         _ -> printUsage
     else printUsage
 
diff --git a/package.yaml b/package.yaml
index d986cc6..4d5b0e1 100644
--- a/package.yaml
+++ b/package.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ library:
   - text
   - bytestring
   - http-conduit
+  - http-client
   - scientific
   - vector
   - regex-base
diff --git a/src/Zenith/CLI.hs b/src/Zenith/CLI.hs
index b2682f4..37c5fe4 100644
--- a/src/Zenith/CLI.hs
+++ b/src/Zenith/CLI.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 
 module Zenith.CLI where
 
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ import Brick.Widgets.Core
   )
 import qualified Brick.Widgets.List as L
 import qualified Data.Vector as Vec
+import Network.HTTP.Simple
+import ZcashHaskell.Types
 import Zenith.Core
 
 data Name
@@ -85,15 +88,6 @@ listDrawElement sel a =
           else str s
    in C.hCenter $ selStr $ show a
 
-initialState :: State
-initialState =
-  State
-    "Main"
-    (L.list WList (Vec.fromList ["wall1"]) 1)
-    (L.list AList (Vec.fromList ["addr1", "addr2"]) 1)
-    (L.list TList (Vec.fromList ["tx1", "tx2", "tx3"]) 1)
-    "Start up Ok!"
-
 customAttr :: A.AttrName
 customAttr = L.listSelectedAttr <> A.attrName "custom"
 
@@ -129,10 +123,25 @@ theApp =
     , M.appAttrMap = const theMap
     }
 
-runZenithCLI :: T.Text -> IO ()
-runZenithCLI dbName = do
-  w <- checkWallets dbName
-  if (null w)
-    then void $ M.defaultMain theApp initialState
-    else do
-      print "No wallet found. Create one? Y/N"
+runZenithCLI :: Int -> T.Text -> IO ()
+runZenithCLI port dbName = do
+  w <- checkZebra port
+  case (w :: Maybe ZebraGetInfo) of
+    Just zebra -> do
+      bc <- checkBlockChain port
+      case (bc :: Maybe ZebraGetBlockChainInfo) of
+        Nothing -> print "Unable to determine blockchain status"
+        Just chainInfo -> do
+          void $
+            M.defaultMain theApp $
+            State
+              ((show . zgb_net) chainInfo)
+              (L.list WList (Vec.fromList ["wall1"]) 1)
+              (L.list AList (Vec.fromList ["addr1", "addr2"]) 1)
+              (L.list TList (Vec.fromList ["tx1", "tx2", "tx3"]) 1)
+              ("Start up Ok! Connected to Zebra " ++
+               (T.unpack . zgi_build) zebra ++ " on port " ++ show port ++ ".")
+    Nothing -> do
+      print $
+        "No Zebra node available on port " <>
+        show port <> ". Check your configuration"
diff --git a/src/Zenith/Core.hs b/src/Zenith/Core.hs
index 1356300..f2f2bbb 100644
--- a/src/Zenith/Core.hs
+++ b/src/Zenith/Core.hs
@@ -1,12 +1,48 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+
+-- Core wallet functionality for Zenith
 module Zenith.Core where
 
+import Data.Aeson
 import qualified Data.Text as T
 import Database.Persist
 import Database.Persist.Sqlite
+import Network.HTTP.Client
+import ZcashHaskell.Types
+import ZcashHaskell.Utils
 import Zenith.DB
 
-checkWallets :: T.Text -> IO [Entity ZcashWallet]
+-- * Database functions
+-- | Returns the list of wallets available in the given database
+checkWallets ::
+     T.Text -- ^ The database name to check
+  -> IO [Entity ZcashWallet]
 checkWallets dbName = do
   runSqlite dbName $ do runMigration migrateAll
-  wallets <- runSqlite dbName $ selectList [ZcashWalletBirthdayHeight >. 0] []
-  return wallets
+  runSqlite dbName $ selectList [ZcashWalletBirthdayHeight >. 0] []
+
+-- * Zebra Node interaction
+-- | Checks the status of the `zebrad` node
+checkZebra ::
+     Int -- ^ Port where `zebrad` is available 
+  -> IO (Maybe ZebraGetInfo)
+checkZebra port = do
+  res <- makeZebraCall port "getinfo" []
+  let body = responseBody (res :: Response (RpcResponse ZebraGetInfo))
+  return $ result body
+
+-- | Checks the status of the Zcash blockchain
+checkBlockChain ::
+     Int -- ^ Port where `zebrad` is available
+  -> IO (Maybe ZebraGetBlockChainInfo)
+checkBlockChain port = do
+  let f = makeZebraCall port
+  result <$> (responseBody <$> f "getblockchaininfo" [])
+
+-- | Generic RPC call function
+connectZebra ::
+     FromJSON a => Int -> T.Text -> [Data.Aeson.Value] -> IO (Maybe a)
+connectZebra port m params = do
+  res <- makeZebraCall port m params
+  let body = responseBody res
+  return $ result body
diff --git a/stack.yaml b/stack.yaml
index 46515d8..4286f97 100644
--- a/stack.yaml
+++ b/stack.yaml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ packages:
 # extra-deps: []
 extra-deps:
   - git: https://git.vergara.tech/Vergara_Tech/zcash-haskell.git
-    commit: c4f345b1deb876e19a51c5f7ae1b4402fae14126
+    commit: 09cee9a064219e4be89413ef86341aa18b62be68
   - git: https://git.vergara.tech/Vergara_Tech/haskell-hexstring.git
     commit: fd1ddce73c0ad18a2a4509a299c6e93f8c6c383d
   - git: https://git.vergara.tech/Vergara_Tech/haskell-foreign-rust.git
diff --git a/stack.yaml.lock b/stack.yaml.lock
index 0d86d36..fe64ec4 100644
--- a/stack.yaml.lock
+++ b/stack.yaml.lock
@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@
 
 packages:
 - completed:
-    commit: c4f345b1deb876e19a51c5f7ae1b4402fae14126
+    commit: 09cee9a064219e4be89413ef86341aa18b62be68
     git: https://git.vergara.tech/Vergara_Tech/zcash-haskell.git
     name: zcash-haskell
     pantry-tree:
-      sha256: 1bf709484bc488e51e18aa11001abdc06100ed7086b9bbd765d28c4a3d8e9113
-      size: 1366
+      sha256: 6bf1902a377bf9399442de6f0b89219479fa908e70706918e81b88caa28dc0f5
+      size: 1367
     version: 0.4.1
   original:
-    commit: c4f345b1deb876e19a51c5f7ae1b4402fae14126
+    commit: 09cee9a064219e4be89413ef86341aa18b62be68
     git: https://git.vergara.tech/Vergara_Tech/zcash-haskell.git
 - completed:
     commit: fd1ddce73c0ad18a2a4509a299c6e93f8c6c383d
diff --git a/zenith.cabal b/zenith.cabal
index 66e50e1..64795e1 100644
--- a/zenith.cabal
+++ b/zenith.cabal
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ library
     , base64-bytestring
     , brick
     , bytestring
+    , http-client
     , http-conduit
     , http-types
     , microlens
diff --git a/zenith.cfg b/zenith.cfg
index 77461ba..7a1dc51 100644
--- a/zenith.cfg
+++ b/zenith.cfg
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 nodeUser = "user"
 nodePwd = "superSecret"
 dbName = "zenith.db"
+zebraPort = 18232