diff --git a/components/Editor.js b/components/Editor.js
index c5e85b1..cd6f4a0 100644
--- a/components/Editor.js
+++ b/components/Editor.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 // Theirs
-import url from 'url'
 import React from 'react'
 import domtoimage from 'dom-to-image'
 import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'
@@ -15,7 +14,6 @@ import Carbon from './Carbon'
 import ExportMenu from './ExportMenu'
 import Themes from './Themes'
 import TweetButton from './TweetButton'
-import GistContainer from './GistContainer'
 import {
   LANGUAGES,
   LANGUAGE_MIME_HASH,
@@ -29,7 +27,7 @@ import {
   DEFAULT_LANGUAGE,
   DEFAULT_PRESET_ID
 } from '../lib/constants'
-import { serializeState, getQueryStringState } from '../lib/routing'
+import { serializeState, getRouteState } from '../lib/routing'
 import { getSettings, unescapeHtml, formatCode, omit } from '../lib/util'
 import LanguageIcon from './svg/Language'
 
@@ -41,6 +39,7 @@ const BackgroundSelect = dynamic(() => import('./BackgroundSelect'), {
 
 class Editor extends React.Component {
   static contextType = ApiContext
+
   constructor(props) {
     super(props)
     this.state = {
@@ -61,15 +60,24 @@ class Editor extends React.Component {
   }
 
   async componentDidMount() {
-    const { asPath = '' } = this.props.router
-    const { query } = url.parse(asPath, true)
-    const initialState = getQueryStringState(query)
+    const { queryState, parameter } = getRouteState(this.props.router)
+
+    // TODO we could create an interface for loading this config, so that it looks identical
+    // whether config is loaded from localStorage, gist, or even something like IndexDB
+    let gistState
+    if (this.context.gist && parameter) {
+      const { config, ...gist } = (await this.context.gist.get(parameter)) || {}
+      if (typeof config === 'object') {
+        this.gist = gist
+        gistState = config
+      }
+    }
 
     const newState = {
-      // Load from localStorage
-      ...getSettings(localStorage),
+      // Load options from gist or localStorage
+      ...(gistState ? gistState : getSettings(localStorage)),
       // and then URL params
-      ...initialState,
+      ...queryState,
       loading: false
     }
 
@@ -88,9 +96,11 @@ class Editor extends React.Component {
 
   carbonNode = React.createRef()
 
-  updateState = updates => this.setState(updates, () => this.props.onUpdate(this.state))
+  updateState = updates =>
+    this.setState(updates, () => !this.gist && this.props.onUpdate(this.state))
 
   updateCode = code => this.updateState({ code })
+
   updateAspectRatio = aspectRatio => this.updateState({ aspectRatio })
 
   async getCarbonImage(
@@ -335,8 +345,6 @@ class Editor extends React.Component {
             </Overlay>
           )}
         </Dropzone>
-
-        <GistContainer onChange={stateFromGist => this.setState(stateFromGist)} />
         <style jsx>
           {`
             .editor {
diff --git a/components/GistContainer.js b/components/GistContainer.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a24956..0000000
--- a/components/GistContainer.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-import React from 'react'
-import { withRouter } from 'next/router'
-import url from 'url'
-
-import { escapeHtml } from '../lib/util'
-import ApiContext from './ApiContext'
-
-class GistContainer extends React.Component {
-  static contextType = ApiContext
-
-  async componentDidMount() {
-    const { asPath = '' } = this.props.router
-    const { pathname } = url.parse(asPath, true)
-    const path = escapeHtml(pathname.split('/').pop())
-    let newState = {}
-
-    if (this.context.gist && path.length >= 19 && path.indexOf('.') === -1) {
-      try {
-        const { code, language, config } = await this.context.gist.get(path)
-        if (typeof config === 'object') {
-          newState = config
-        }
-        if (language) {
-          newState.language = language.toLowerCase()
-        }
-        newState.code = code
-      } catch (e) {
-        // eslint-disable-next-line
-        console.log(e)
-      }
-    }
-    this.props.onChange(newState)
-  }
-
-  render() {
-    return null
-  }
-}
-
-export default withRouter(GistContainer)
diff --git a/cypress/integration/gist.js b/cypress/integration/gist.js
index 026bcaf..9abba18 100644
--- a/cypress/integration/gist.js
+++ b/cypress/integration/gist.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 /* global cy Cypress */
 import { editorVisible } from '../support'
+
 describe('Gist', () => {
   const test = Cypress.env('CI') ? it.skip : it
+
   test('Should pull text from the first Gist file', () => {
     cy.visit('/3208813b324d82a9ebd197e4b1c3bae8')
     editorVisible()
@@ -9,4 +11,20 @@ describe('Gist', () => {
     cy.contains('Y-Combinator implemented in JavaScript')
     cy.get('#downshift-input-JavaScript').should('have.value', 'JavaScript')
   })
+
+  const pages = ['/', '/embed/']
+
+  pages.forEach(page => {
+    test(`${page} should not contain a query string in the url`, () => {
+      cy.visit('/82d742f4efad9757cc826d20f2a5e5af')
+
+      cy.url().should('not.contain', '?')
+    })
+
+    test(`${page} should have a green editor background`, () => {
+      cy.visit(`${page}82d742f4efad9757cc826d20f2a5e5af`)
+
+      cy.get('.container-bg .bg').should('have.css', 'background-color', 'rgb(0, 128, 0)')
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/lib/api.js b/lib/api.js
index 4e73a7d..031a41b 100644
--- a/lib/api.js
+++ b/lib/api.js
@@ -42,31 +42,40 @@ function image(state) {
 
 // ~ makes the file come later alphabetically, which is how gists are sorted
 const CARBON_STORAGE_KEY = '~carbon.json'
-function getGist(uid) {
-  return gistClient
-    .get(`/gists/${uid}`)
-    .then(res => res.data)
-    .then(({ owner, files }) => {
-      let config
-      if (files[CARBON_STORAGE_KEY]) {
-        try {
-          config = JSON.parse(files[CARBON_STORAGE_KEY].content)
-        } catch (error) {
-          // pass
+async function getGist(uid) {
+  try {
+    return await gistClient
+      .get(`/gists/${uid}`)
+      .then(res => res.data)
+      .then(({ id, owner, files }) => {
+        let config
+        if (files[CARBON_STORAGE_KEY]) {
+          try {
+            config = JSON.parse(files[CARBON_STORAGE_KEY].content)
+          } catch (error) {
+            // pass
+          }
         }
-      }
 
-      const otherFiles = Object.keys(files).filter(key => key !== CARBON_STORAGE_KEY)
+        const otherFiles = Object.keys(files).filter(key => key !== CARBON_STORAGE_KEY)
 
-      const snippet = files[otherFiles[0]]
+        const snippet = files[otherFiles[0]]
 
-      return {
-        code: snippet.content,
-        language: snippet.language,
-        owner,
-        config
-      }
-    })
+        return {
+          id,
+          owner,
+          config: {
+            ...config,
+            code: snippet.content,
+            language: snippet.language && snippet.language.toLowerCase()
+          }
+        }
+      })
+  } catch (error) {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line
+    console.log(e)
+    return null
+  }
 }
 
 // private
diff --git a/lib/routing.js b/lib/routing.js
index 5372f5c..f4948f5 100644
--- a/lib/routing.js
+++ b/lib/routing.js
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 import Morph from 'morphmorph'
+import url from 'url'
+
+import { escapeHtml } from './util'
 
 const mapper = new Morph({
   types: {
@@ -31,7 +34,8 @@ const mappings = [
   { field: 'es:exportSize' },
   { field: 'wm:watermark', type: 'bool' },
   { field: 'copy', type: 'bool' },
-  { field: 'readonly', type: 'bool' }
+  { field: 'readonly', type: 'bool' },
+  { field: 'id' }
 ]
 
 const reverseMappings = mappings.map(mapping =>
@@ -62,27 +66,21 @@ export const deserializeState = serializedState => {
   return JSON.parse(decodeURIComponent(stateString))
 }
 
-const getQueryStringObject = query => {
-  if (query.state) {
-    return deserializeState(query.state)
+export const getRouteState = router => {
+  const { asPath = '' } = router
+  const { query, pathname } = url.parse(asPath, true)
+  const queryState = getQueryStringState(query)
+  const path = escapeHtml(pathname.split('/').pop())
+  // TODO fix this hack
+  const parameter = path.length >= 19 && path.indexOf('.') === -1 && path
+
+  return {
+    parameter,
+    queryState
   }
-
-  const state = mapper.map(mappings, query)
-  deserializeCode(state)
-
-  Object.keys(state).forEach(key => {
-    if (state[key] === '') state[key] = undefined
-  })
-
-  return state
 }
 
-export const getQueryStringState = query => {
-  const queryParams = getQueryStringObject(query)
-  return Object.keys(queryParams).length ? queryParams : {}
-}
-
-export const updateQueryString = (router, state) => {
+export const updateRouteState = (router, state) => {
   const mappedState = mapper.map(reverseMappings, state)
   serializeCode(mappedState)
   // calls `encodeURIComponent` on each key internally
@@ -101,6 +99,26 @@ export const updateQueryString = (router, state) => {
 }
 
 // private
+const getQueryStringObject = query => {
+  if (query.state) {
+    return deserializeState(query.state)
+  }
+
+  const state = mapper.map(mappings, query)
+  deserializeCode(state)
+
+  Object.keys(state).forEach(key => {
+    if (state[key] === '') state[key] = undefined
+  })
+
+  return state
+}
+
+function getQueryStringState(query) {
+  const queryParams = getQueryStringObject(query)
+  return Object.keys(queryParams).length ? queryParams : {}
+}
+
 function serializeCode(state) {
   try {
     if (state.code) state.code = encodeURIComponent(state.code)
diff --git a/pages/embed.js b/pages/embed.js
index 8c10987..796ac93 100644
--- a/pages/embed.js
+++ b/pages/embed.js
@@ -2,15 +2,14 @@
 import React from 'react'
 import Head from 'next/head'
 import { withRouter } from 'next/router'
-import url from 'url'
 import morph from 'morphmorph'
 
 // Ours
+import ApiContext from '../components/ApiContext'
 import { StylesheetLink, CodeMirrorLink, MetaTags } from '../components/Meta'
 import Carbon from '../components/Carbon'
-import GistContainer from '../components/GistContainer'
 import { DEFAULT_CODE, DEFAULT_SETTINGS } from '../lib/constants'
-import { getQueryStringState } from '../lib/routing'
+import { getRouteState } from '../lib/routing'
 
 const isInIFrame = morph.get('parent.window.parent')
 const getParent = win => {
@@ -46,6 +45,8 @@ const Page = props => (
 )
 
 class Embed extends React.Component {
+  static contextType = ApiContext
+
   state = {
     ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS,
     code: DEFAULT_CODE,
@@ -53,18 +54,21 @@ class Embed extends React.Component {
     readOnly: true
   }
 
-  handleUpdate = updates => {
-    const { asPath = '' } = this.props.router
-    const { query } = url.parse(asPath, true)
-    const initialState = getQueryStringState(query)
+  async componentDidMount() {
+    const { queryState, parameter } = getRouteState(this.props.router)
+
+    let gistState
+    if (this.context.gist && parameter) {
+      const gist = await this.context.gist.get(parameter)
+      gistState = gist && gist.config
+    }
 
     this.setState(
       {
-        ...initialState,
-        ...updates,
-        id: query.id,
-        copyable: initialState.copy !== false,
-        readOnly: initialState.readonly !== false,
+        ...gistState,
+        ...queryState,
+        copyable: queryState.copy !== false,
+        readOnly: queryState.readonly !== false,
         mounted: true
       },
       this.postMessage
@@ -100,7 +104,6 @@ class Embed extends React.Component {
   render() {
     return (
       <Page theme={this.state.theme}>
-        <GistContainer onChange={this.handleUpdate} />
         {this.state.mounted && (
           <Carbon
             ref={this.ref}
diff --git a/pages/index.js b/pages/index.js
index 4dd507f..0762e57 100644
--- a/pages/index.js
+++ b/pages/index.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import debounce from 'lodash.debounce'
 import Editor from '../components/Editor'
 import Page from '../components/Page'
 import { MetaLinks } from '../components/Meta'
-import { updateQueryString } from '../lib/routing'
+import { updateRouteState } from '../lib/routing'
 import { saveSettings, clearSettings, omit } from '../lib/util'
 
 class Index extends React.Component {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Index extends React.Component {
 
   onEditorUpdate = debounce(
     state => {
-      updateQueryString(this.props.router, state)
+      updateRouteState(this.props.router, state)
       saveSettings(
         localStorage,
         omit(state, ['code', 'backgroundImage', 'backgroundImageSelection', 'filename'])