diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 63b0ba0..36d02f2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
   - Linting action.
   - Commands for roxygenizing (`/document`) and restyling the source code (`/style`).
 
+* Allow unauthenticated users to connect to an instance if they ran `lamin load <instance>` beforehand (PR #19).
+
 ## MINOR CHANGES
 
 * Update `README` with new set up instructions and simplify (PR #14).
diff --git a/R/InstanceSettings.R b/R/InstanceSettings.R
index 3345b99..abf45c2 100644
--- a/R/InstanceSettings.R
+++ b/R/InstanceSettings.R
@@ -11,31 +11,37 @@ InstanceSettings <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
   public = list(
     #' @param settings A named list of settings for the instance
     initialize = function(settings) {
-      expected_columns <- c(
+      expected_keys <- c(
         "owner",
         "name",
         "id",
-        "lnid",
         "schema_str",
         "schema_id",
         "git_repo",
         "keep_artifacts_local",
-        "api_url",
-        "lamindb_version",
-        "storage",
-        "db_scheme",
-        "db_host",
-        "db_port",
-        "db_database",
-        "db_permissions",
-        "db_user_name",
-        "db_user_password"
+        "api_url"
       )
-      missing_column <- setdiff(expected_columns, names(settings))
+      optional_keys <- c(
+        "lnid", # api
+        "lamindb_version", # api
+        "storage", # api
+        "storage_root", # lamin-cli
+        "storage_region", # lamin-cli
+        "db", # lamin-cli
+        "db_scheme", # api
+        "db_host", # api
+        "db_port", # api
+        "db_database", # api
+        "db_permissions", # api
+        "db_user_name", # api
+        "db_user_password", # api
+        "lamindb_version" # api
+      )
+      missing_column <- setdiff(expected_keys, names(settings))
       if (length(missing_column) > 0) {
         cli_abort("Missing column: ", missing_column)
       }
-      unexpected_columns <- setdiff(names(settings), expected_columns)
+      unexpected_columns <- setdiff(names(settings), c(expected_keys, optional_keys))
       if (length(unexpected_columns) > 0) {
         cli_abort("Unexpected column: ", unexpected_columns)
       }
@@ -58,10 +64,6 @@ InstanceSettings <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
     id = function() {
       private$.settings$id
     },
-    #' Get the LNID of the instance.
-    lnid = function() {
-      private$.settings$lnid
-    },
     #' Get the schema string of the instance.
     schema_str = function() {
       private$.settings$schema_str
@@ -81,42 +83,6 @@ InstanceSettings <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
     #' Get the API URL of the instance.
     api_url = function() {
       private$.settings$api_url
-    },
-    #' Get the LaminDB version of the instance.
-    lamindb_version = function() {
-      private$.settings$lamindb_version
-    },
-    #' Get the storage of the instance.
-    storage = function() {
-      private$.settings$storage
-    },
-    #' Get the database scheme of the instance.
-    db_scheme = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_scheme
-    },
-    #' Get the database host of the instance.
-    db_host = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_host
-    },
-    #' Get the database port of the instance.
-    db_port = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_port
-    },
-    #' Get the database of the instance.
-    db_database = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_database
-    },
-    #' Get the database permissions of the instance.
-    db_permissions = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_permissions
-    },
-    #' Get the database user name of the instance.
-    db_user_name = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_user_name
-    },
-    #' Get the database user password of the instance.
-    db_user_password = function() {
-      private$.settings$db_user_password
     }
   )
 )
diff --git a/R/UserSettings.R b/R/UserSettings.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35238f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/UserSettings.R
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#' @title UserSettings
+#'
+#' @noRd
+#'
+#' @description
+#' Settings for a Lamin user. These settings are retrieved from the
+#' Lamin Hub API and are used to connect to the user.
+UserSettings <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
+  "UserSettings",
+  cloneable = FALSE,
+  public = list(
+    #' @param settings A named list of settings for the user
+    initialize = function(settings) {
+      expected_keys <- c(
+        "email",
+        "password",
+        "access_token",
+        "api_key",
+        "uid",
+        "uuid",
+        "handle",
+        "name"
+      )
+      missing_column <- setdiff(expected_keys, names(settings))
+      if (length(missing_column) > 0) {
+        cli_abort("Missing column: ", missing_column)
+      }
+      unexpected_columns <- setdiff(names(settings), expected_keys)
+      if (length(unexpected_columns) > 0) {
+        cli_abort("Unexpected column: ", unexpected_columns)
+      }
+      private$.settings <- settings
+    }
+  ),
+  private = list(
+    .settings = NULL
+  ),
+  active = list(
+    # Get the email of the user.
+    email = function() {
+      private$.settings$email
+    },
+    # Get the password of the user.
+    password = function() {
+      private$.settings$password
+    },
+    # Get the access token of the user.
+    access_token = function() {
+      private$.settings$access_token
+    },
+    # Get the API key of the user.
+    api_key = function() {
+      private$.settings$api_key
+    },
+    # Get the UID of the user.
+    uid = function() {
+      private$.settings$uid
+    },
+    # Get the UUID of the user.
+    uuid = function() {
+      private$.settings$uuid
+    },
+    # Get the handle of the user.
+    handle = function() {
+      private$.settings$handle
+    },
+    # Get the name of the user.
+    name = function() {
+      private$.settings$name
+    }
+  )
+)
diff --git a/R/connect.R b/R/connect.R
index 5b48c57..893a9cf 100644
--- a/R/connect.R
+++ b/R/connect.R
@@ -20,20 +20,65 @@
 #' instance
 #' }
 connect <- function(slug = NULL) {
-  user_settings <- .settings_load__load_or_create_user_settings()
+  instance_file <-
+    if (is.null(slug)) {
+      # if the slug is null, see if we can load the default instance
+      .settings_store__current_instance_settings_file()
+    } else {
+      # if the slug is not null, try to load the instance from the local settings
+      owner_name <- .connect_get_owner_name_from_identifier(slug)
 
-  if (is.null(slug)) {
-    current_instance <- .settings_load__load_instance_settings()
-    slug <- paste0(current_instance$owner, "/", current_instance$name)
-  }
+      .settings_store__instance_settings_file(
+        name = owner_name$name,
+        owner = owner_name$owner
+      )
+    }
 
-  owner_name <- .connect_get_owner_name_from_identifier(slug)
+  instance_settings <-
+    if (file.exists(instance_file)) {
+      .settings_load__load_instance_settings(instance_file)
+    } else {
+      # try to load the user settings from the api
+      user_file <- .settings_store__current_user_settings_file()
 
-  instance_settings <- .connect_get_instance_settings(
-    owner = owner_name$owner,
-    name = owner_name$name,
-    access_token = user_settings$access_token
-  )
+      if (!file.exists(user_file) || is.null(slug)) {
+        error_msg <-
+          if (is.null(slug)) {
+            paste0(
+              "Could not load default instance. Either:\n",
+              " - Provide a slug. For example: `connect(\"laminlabs/cellxgene\")`)\n",
+              " - Set a default instance by running `lamin load <slug>`."
+            )
+          } else {
+            paste0(
+              "No default user or instance is loaded! Either:\n",
+              " - Call `lamin login` to set a default user.\n",
+              " - Call `lamin load <slug>` to set a default instance."
+            )
+          }
+        cli_abort(error_msg)
+      } else {
+        user_settings <- .settings_load__load_user_settings(user_file)
+
+        owner_name <- .connect_get_owner_name_from_identifier(slug)
+
+        .connect_get_instance_settings(
+          owner = owner_name$owner,
+          name = owner_name$name,
+          access_token = user_settings$access_token
+        )
+      }
+    }
+
+  for (required_field in c("id", "api_url", "schema_id")) {
+    if (is.null(instance_settings[[required_field]])) {
+      cli_abort(paste0(
+        "Invalid instance settings: missing field '", required_field, "'\n",
+        "Your instance settings file is likely outdated. Please update lamin-cli,\n",
+        "delete the instance settings file, and reload the instance."
+      ))
+    }
+  }
 
   create_instance(instance_settings = instance_settings)
 }
diff --git a/R/settings_load.R b/R/settings_load.R
index 0554401..de8a027 100644
--- a/R/settings_load.R
+++ b/R/settings_load.R
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     instance_settings_file <- .settings_store__current_instance_settings_file()
   }
   if (!file.exists(instance_settings_file)) {
-    cli_abort("No instance is loaded! Call `lamin init` or `lamin load`")
+    cli_abort("No instance is loaded! Call `lamin load <instance_id>` to load an instance.")
   }
   settings_store <-
     tryCatch(
@@ -38,7 +38,17 @@
 
   if (!file.exists(file)) {
     cli_warn("using anonymous user (to identify, call `lamin login`)")
-    cli_abort("TODO: implement this")
+    content <- list(
+      email = NULL,
+      password = NULL,
+      access_token = NULL,
+      api_key = NULL,
+      uid = NULL,
+      uuid = NULL,
+      handle = "anonymous",
+      name = NULL
+    )
+    .settings_load__setup_user_from_store(content)
   } else {
     .settings_load__load_user_settings(file)
   }
@@ -61,11 +71,9 @@
 }
 
 .settings_load__setup_instance_from_store <- function(store) { # nolint object_length_linter
-  # TODO: implement this?
-  return(store)
+  InstanceSettings$new(store)
 }
 
 .settings_load__setup_user_from_store <- function(store) { # nolint object_length_linter
-  # TODO: implement this?
-  return(store)
+  UserSettings$new(store)
 }
diff --git a/R/settings_store.R b/R/settings_store.R
index 04a0254..928ce40 100644
--- a/R/settings_store.R
+++ b/R/settings_store.R
@@ -124,14 +124,14 @@
     api_url = "Optional[str]",
     owner = "str",
     name = "str",
-    storage_root = "str",
-    storage_region = "str",
-    db = "Optional[str]",
     schema_str = "Optional[str]",
     schema_id = "Optional[str]",
     id = "str",
     git_repo = "Optional[str]",
-    keep_artifacts_local = "Optional[bool]"
+    keep_artifacts_local = "Optional[bool]",
+    storage_root = "Optional[str]",
+    storage_region = "Optional[str]",
+    db = "Optional[str]"
   )
 
   .settings_store__read_typed_env(env_file, env_prefix, field_types)