diff --git a/client/react-native/common/components/Library/PublicKeyWithActions.js b/client/react-native/common/components/Library/PublicKeyWithActions.js
index 50ffe75cbb..00478041ae 100644
--- a/client/react-native/common/components/Library/PublicKeyWithActions.js
+++ b/client/react-native/common/components/Library/PublicKeyWithActions.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ScrollView, TextInput, Platform, Clipboard } from 'react-native'
 import { btoa } from 'b64-lite'
 import React, { PureComponent } from 'react'
 
-import { Button, Flex, TextInputMultilineFix } from './index'
+import { Button, Flex, TextInputMultilineFix, Text } from './index'
 import { RelayContext } from '../../relay'
 import { colors } from '../../constants'
 import {
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export default class PublicKeyWithActions extends PureComponent {
       : [props.initialKey, props.initialName]
     const missingInitialData = props.initialKey === undefined
     this.state = {
+      err: null,
       contact: {
         id: initialKey || '',
         displayName: initialName || '',
@@ -102,7 +103,6 @@ export default class PublicKeyWithActions extends PureComponent {
       this.props.navigation.goBack(null)
     } catch (err) {
       this.setState({ err })
-      console.error(err)
     }
   }
 
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ export default class PublicKeyWithActions extends PureComponent {
       contact: { id, displayName },
     } = this.state
 
+    let errors = []
+    try {
+      errors = this.state.err.res.errors
+    } catch (e) {
+      // noop
+    }
+
     return (
       <ScrollView>
         <Flex.Rows style={[padding]} align='center'>
@@ -178,6 +185,7 @@ export default class PublicKeyWithActions extends PureComponent {
               onPress={this.onSubmit}
             />
           ) : null}
+          {errors.map((err, i) => <Text multiline key={i}>{err.message}</Text>)}
         </Flex.Rows>
       </ScrollView>
     )
diff --git a/core/entity/contact.go b/core/entity/contact.go
index 015da9a9b5..c5e76f0242 100644
--- a/core/entity/contact.go
+++ b/core/entity/contact.go
@@ -1,9 +1,26 @@
 package entity
 
+import (
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"encoding/base64"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+)
+
 func (c Contact) Validate() error {
 	if c.ID == "" {
 		return ErrInvalidEntity
 	}
+
+	pubKeyBytes, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(c.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if _, err := x509.ParsePKIXPublicKey(pubKeyBytes); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(ErrInvalidEntity, "invalid public key")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/core/node/errors.go b/core/node/errors.go
index 56a6e8ccca..d4a0717384 100644
--- a/core/node/errors.go
+++ b/core/node/errors.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package node
 import "errors"
 
 var (
+	ErrContactIsMyself                 = errors.New("contact is myself")
 	ErrEntityAlreadyExists             = errors.New("entity already exists")
 	ErrInvalidEventSender              = errors.New("invalid event sender")
 	ErrInvalidInput                    = errors.New("invalid input")
diff --git a/core/node/nodeapi.go b/core/node/nodeapi.go
index 32325cbbd5..6682bd054e 100644
--- a/core/node/nodeapi.go
+++ b/core/node/nodeapi.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/jinzhu/gorm"
+
 	"berty.tech/core/api/node"
 	"berty.tech/core/api/p2p"
 	"berty.tech/core/entity"
@@ -162,19 +164,35 @@ func (n *Node) ContactRequest(ctx context.Context, req *node.ContactRequestInput
 
 	// input validation
 	if err := req.Contact.Validate(); err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, ErrInvalidInput.Error())
+		return nil, ErrInvalidInput
 	}
 
 	// check for duplicate
 	sql := n.sql(ctx)
 	contact, err := bsql.FindContact(sql, req.Contact)
-	if err != nil {
+
+	if errors.Cause(err) == gorm.ErrRecordNotFound {
 		// save contact in database
 		contact = req.Contact
 		contact.Status = entity.Contact_IsRequested
 		if err = sql.Set("gorm:association_autoupdate", true).Save(contact).Error; err != nil {
 			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to save contact")
 		}
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+
+	} else if contact.Status == entity.Contact_RequestedMe {
+		logger().Info("this contact has already asked us, accepting the request")
+		return n.ContactAcceptRequest(ctx, contact)
+
+	} else if contact.Status == entity.Contact_IsRequested {
+		logger().Info("contact has already been requested, sending event again")
+
+	} else if contact.Status == entity.Contact_Myself {
+		return nil, ErrContactIsMyself
+
+	} else {
+		return nil, ErrEntityAlreadyExists
 	}
 
 	// send request to peer