diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index fc41095..766877a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,4 +2,15 @@ module gitea.maximumdirect.net/ejr/feedkit
 
 go 1.22
 
-require gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
+require (
+	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.34.0
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
+)
+
+require (
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.2 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.7 // indirect
+	github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.18.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.16.0 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 4bc0337..91387b2 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.2 h1:RlWWUY/Dr4fL8qk9YG7DTZ7PDgME2V4csBXA8L/ixi4=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.2/go.mod h1:ntbaceVETuRiXiv4DpjP66DpAtAGkEQskQzEyD//IeE=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.34.0 h1:fnxnPCNiwIG5w08rlMcEKTUw4AV/nKyGCOJE8TdhSPk=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.34.0/go.mod h1:Ubdu4Nh9exXdSz0RVWRFBbRfrbSxOYd26oF0wkWclB8=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.7 h1:RwNJbbIdYCoClSDNY7QVKZlyb/wfT6ugvFCiKy6vDvI=
+github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.7/go.mod h1:kqXRgRDPlGy7nGaEDMuYzmiJCIAAWDK0IMBtDmGD0nc=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 h1:5iA8DT8V7q8WK2EScv2padNa/rTESc1KdnPw4TC2paw=
+github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1/go.mod h1:19wcPz3Ph3q0Jbyiqsd0kePYG7A95tJPxeL+1OSON2c=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.18.0 h1:PGVlW0xEltQnzFZ55hkuX5+KLyrMYhHld1YHO4AKcdc=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.18.0/go.mod h1:R0j02AL6hcrfOiy9T4ZYp/rcWeMxM3L6QYxlOuEG1mg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.16.0 h1:xWw16ngr6ZMtmxDyKyIgsE93KNKz5HKmMa3b8ALHidU=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.16.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/sinks/builtins.go b/sinks/builtins.go
index 7313b98..59974b2 100644
--- a/sinks/builtins.go
+++ b/sinks/builtins.go
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ func RegisterBuiltins(r *Registry) {
 		return NewPostgresSinkFromConfig(cfg)
 	})
 
-	// RabbitMQ sink: publishes events to a broker for downstream consumers.
-	r.Register("rabbitmq", func(cfg config.SinkConfig) (Sink, error) {
-		return NewRabbitMQSinkFromConfig(cfg)
+	// NATS sink: publishes events to a broker for downstream consumers.
+	r.Register("nats", func(cfg config.SinkConfig) (Sink, error) {
+		return NewNATSSinkFromConfig(cfg)
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/sinks/nats.go b/sinks/nats.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20cbea7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sinks/nats.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package sinks
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/ejr/feedkit/config"
+	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/ejr/feedkit/event"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+)
+
+type NATSSink struct {
+	name     string
+	url      string
+	exchange string
+
+	mu   sync.Mutex
+	conn *nats.Conn
+}
+
+func NewNATSSinkFromConfig(cfg config.SinkConfig) (Sink, error) {
+	url, err := requireStringParam(cfg, "url")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	ex, err := requireStringParam(cfg, "exchange")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &NATSSink{name: cfg.Name, url: url, exchange: ex}, nil
+}
+
+func (r *NATSSink) Name() string { return r.name }
+
+func (r *NATSSink) Consume(ctx context.Context, e event.Event) error {
+	// Boundary validation: if something upstream violated invariants,
+	// surface it loudly rather than printing partial nonsense.
+	if err := e.Validate(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("NATS sink: invalid event: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	conn, err := r.connect(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("NATS sink: connect: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	b, err := json.Marshal(e)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("NATS sink: marshal event: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := conn.Publish(r.exchange, b); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("NATS sink: publish: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (r *NATSSink) connect(ctx context.Context) (*nats.Conn, error) {
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	defer r.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if r.conn != nil && r.conn.Status() != nats.CLOSED {
+		return r.conn, nil
+	}
+
+	opts := []nats.Option{
+		nats.Name(fmt.Sprintf("feedkit sink %s", r.name)),
+	}
+	if deadline, ok := ctx.Deadline(); ok {
+		timeout := time.Until(deadline)
+		if timeout <= 0 {
+			return nil, ctx.Err()
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, nats.Timeout(timeout))
+	}
+
+	conn, err := nats.Connect(r.url, opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	r.conn = conn
+	return conn, nil
+}
diff --git a/sinks/rabbitmq.go b/sinks/rabbitmq.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 15d81c5..0000000
--- a/sinks/rabbitmq.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-package sinks
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"fmt"
-
-	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/ejr/feedkit/config"
-	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/ejr/feedkit/event"
-)
-
-type RabbitMQSink struct {
-	name     string
-	url      string
-	exchange string
-}
-
-func NewRabbitMQSinkFromConfig(cfg config.SinkConfig) (Sink, error) {
-	url, err := requireStringParam(cfg, "url")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	ex, err := requireStringParam(cfg, "exchange")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return &RabbitMQSink{name: cfg.Name, url: url, exchange: ex}, nil
-}
-
-func (r *RabbitMQSink) Name() string { return r.name }
-
-func (r *RabbitMQSink) Consume(ctx context.Context, e event.Event) error {
-	_ = ctx
-
-	// Boundary validation: if something upstream violated invariants,
-	// surface it loudly rather than printing partial nonsense.
-	if err := e.Validate(); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("rabbitmq sink: invalid event: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// TODO implement RabbitMQ publishing
-	return nil
-}