diff --git a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
index ac38528..be9aa4c 100644
--- a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
+++ b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
@@ -1,14 +1,59 @@
 package works.iterative
 package core
 
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
+
 // TODO: generic message catalogue
 // we need to be able to render HTML messages
 // like a list of items for example
 trait MessageCatalogue:
-  def apply(id: MessageId): String =
-    get(id).getOrElse(id.toString())
-  def apply(msg: UserMessage): String =
-    get(msg).getOrElse(msg.id.toString())
+  def apply(id: MessageId, fallback: MessageId*): String =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: List[MessageId], default: String): String =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => default
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case Some(m) => m
+            case _       => getFirstOf(is, default)
+
+    getFirstOf(id :: fallback.to(List), id.toString())
+
+  def apply(msg: UserMessage, fallback: UserMessage*): String =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: List[UserMessage], default: String): String =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => default
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case Some(m) => m
+            case _       => getFirstOf(is, default)
+
+    getFirstOf(msg :: fallback.to(List), msg.id.toString())
+
+  def opt(id: MessageId, fallback: MessageId*): Option[String] =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: Seq[MessageId]): Option[String] =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => None
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case m @ Some(_) => m
+            case _           => getFirstOf(is)
+
+    getFirstOf(id :: fallback.to(List))
+
+  def opt(msg: UserMessage, fallback: UserMessage*): Option[String] =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: Seq[UserMessage]): Option[String] =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => None
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case m @ Some(_) => m
+            case _           => getFirstOf(is)
+
+    getFirstOf(msg :: fallback.to(List))
 
   def get(id: MessageId): Option[String]
   def get(msg: UserMessage): Option[String]

diff --git a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
index ac38528..be9aa4c 100644
--- a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
+++ b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/MessageCatalogue.scala
@@ -1,14 +1,59 @@
 package works.iterative
 package core
 
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
+
 // TODO: generic message catalogue
 // we need to be able to render HTML messages
 // like a list of items for example
 trait MessageCatalogue:
-  def apply(id: MessageId): String =
-    get(id).getOrElse(id.toString())
-  def apply(msg: UserMessage): String =
-    get(msg).getOrElse(msg.id.toString())
+  def apply(id: MessageId, fallback: MessageId*): String =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: List[MessageId], default: String): String =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => default
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case Some(m) => m
+            case _       => getFirstOf(is, default)
+
+    getFirstOf(id :: fallback.to(List), id.toString())
+
+  def apply(msg: UserMessage, fallback: UserMessage*): String =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: List[UserMessage], default: String): String =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => default
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case Some(m) => m
+            case _       => getFirstOf(is, default)
+
+    getFirstOf(msg :: fallback.to(List), msg.id.toString())
+
+  def opt(id: MessageId, fallback: MessageId*): Option[String] =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: Seq[MessageId]): Option[String] =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => None
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case m @ Some(_) => m
+            case _           => getFirstOf(is)
+
+    getFirstOf(id :: fallback.to(List))
+
+  def opt(msg: UserMessage, fallback: UserMessage*): Option[String] =
+    @tailrec
+    def getFirstOf(ids: Seq[UserMessage]): Option[String] =
+      ids match
+        case Nil => None
+        case i :: is =>
+          get(i) match
+            case m @ Some(_) => m
+            case _           => getFirstOf(is)
+
+    getFirstOf(msg :: fallback.to(List))
 
   def get(id: MessageId): Option[String]
   def get(msg: UserMessage): Option[String]
diff --git a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/UserMessage.scala b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/UserMessage.scala
index d2d9343..f402180 100644
--- a/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/UserMessage.scala
+++ b/core/shared/src/main/scala/works/iterative/core/UserMessage.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package works.iterative
 package core
 
-// Type-wise naive solution to speicifying user messages.
+// Type-wise naive solution for specifying user messages.
 // A mechanism that will check the message for correct formatting and validate parameters is needed
 case class UserMessage(id: MessageId, args: Any*)
+
+object UserMessage:
+  given Conversion[MessageId, UserMessage] with
+    def apply(id: MessageId): UserMessage = UserMessage(id)