diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8505e5a5..7b63a234 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 - Updated dependencies (including the library that lacked armhf support) [#722](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/pull/722)
 - Fix missing group expansion in function `excludeCorretlyTaggedNodes` [#563](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/issues/563)
+- Improve registration protocol implementation and switch to NodeKey as main identifier [#725](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/pull/725)
 
 ## 0.16.0 (2022-07-25)
 
diff --git a/api.go b/api.go
index 21b85be4..561545b8 100644
--- a/api.go
+++ b/api.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
+	// TODO(juan): remove this once https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/issues/727 is fixed.
+	registrationHoldoff                      = time.Second * 5
 	reservedResponseHeaderSize               = 4
 	RegisterMethodAuthKey                    = "authkey"
 	RegisterMethodOIDC                       = "oidc"
@@ -107,13 +109,17 @@ var registerWebAPITemplate = template.Must(
 `))
 
 // RegisterWebAPI shows a simple message in the browser to point to the CLI
-// Listens in /register.
+// Listens in /register/:nkey.
+//
+// This is not part of the Tailscale control API, as we could send whatever URL
+// in the RegisterResponse.AuthURL field.
 func (h *Headscale) RegisterWebAPI(
 	writer http.ResponseWriter,
 	req *http.Request,
 ) {
-	machineKeyStr := req.URL.Query().Get("key")
-	if machineKeyStr == "" {
+	vars := mux.Vars(req)
+	nodeKeyStr, ok := vars["nkey"]
+	if !ok || nodeKeyStr == "" {
 		writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
 		writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
 		_, err := writer.Write([]byte("Wrong params"))
@@ -129,7 +135,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) RegisterWebAPI(
 
 	var content bytes.Buffer
 	if err := registerWebAPITemplate.Execute(&content, registerWebAPITemplateConfig{
-		Key: machineKeyStr,
+		Key: nodeKeyStr,
 	}); err != nil {
 		log.Error().
 			Str("func", "RegisterWebAPI").
@@ -206,8 +212,6 @@ func (h *Headscale) RegistrationHandler(
 	now := time.Now().UTC()
 	machine, err := h.GetMachineByMachineKey(machineKey)
 	if errors.Is(err, gorm.ErrRecordNotFound) {
-		log.Info().Str("machine", registerRequest.Hostinfo.Hostname).Msg("New machine")
-
 		machineKeyStr := MachinePublicKeyStripPrefix(machineKey)
 
 		// If the machine has AuthKey set, handle registration via PreAuthKeys
@@ -217,6 +221,44 @@ func (h *Headscale) RegistrationHandler(
 			return
 		}
 
+		// Check if the node is waiting for interactive login.
+		//
+		// TODO(juan): We could use this field to improve our protocol implementation,
+		// and hold the request until the client closes it, or the interactive
+		// login is completed (i.e., the user registers the machine).
+		// This is not implemented yet, as it is no strictly required. The only side-effect
+		// is that the client will hammer headscale with requests until it gets a
+		// successful RegisterResponse.
+		if registerRequest.Followup != "" {
+			if _, ok := h.registrationCache.Get(NodePublicKeyStripPrefix(registerRequest.NodeKey)); ok {
+				log.Debug().
+					Caller().
+					Str("machine", registerRequest.Hostinfo.Hostname).
+					Str("node_key", registerRequest.NodeKey.ShortString()).
+					Str("node_key_old", registerRequest.OldNodeKey.ShortString()).
+					Str("follow_up", registerRequest.Followup).
+					Msg("Machine is waiting for interactive login")
+
+				ticker := time.NewTicker(registrationHoldoff)
+				select {
+				case <-req.Context().Done():
+					return
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					h.handleMachineRegistrationNew(writer, req, machineKey, registerRequest)
+
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		log.Info().
+			Caller().
+			Str("machine", registerRequest.Hostinfo.Hostname).
+			Str("node_key", registerRequest.NodeKey.ShortString()).
+			Str("node_key_old", registerRequest.OldNodeKey.ShortString()).
+			Str("follow_up", registerRequest.Followup).
+			Msg("New machine not yet in the database")
+
 		givenName, err := h.GenerateGivenName(registerRequest.Hostinfo.Hostname)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error().
@@ -251,7 +293,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) RegistrationHandler(
 		}
 
 		h.registrationCache.Set(
-			machineKeyStr,
+			newMachine.NodeKey,
 			newMachine,
 			registerCacheExpiration,
 		)
@@ -652,7 +694,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) handleMachineRegistrationNew(
 	// The machine registration is new, redirect the client to the registration URL
 	log.Debug().
 		Str("machine", registerRequest.Hostinfo.Hostname).
-		Msg("The node is sending us a new NodeKey, sending auth url")
+		Msg("The node seems to be new, sending auth url")
 	if h.cfg.OIDC.Issuer != "" {
 		resp.AuthURL = fmt.Sprintf(
 			"%s/oidc/register/%s",
@@ -660,8 +702,8 @@ func (h *Headscale) handleMachineRegistrationNew(
 			machineKey.String(),
 		)
 	} else {
-		resp.AuthURL = fmt.Sprintf("%s/register?key=%s",
-			strings.TrimSuffix(h.cfg.ServerURL, "/"), MachinePublicKeyStripPrefix(machineKey))
+		resp.AuthURL = fmt.Sprintf("%s/register/%s",
+			strings.TrimSuffix(h.cfg.ServerURL, "/"), NodePublicKeyStripPrefix(registerRequest.NodeKey))
 	}
 
 	respBody, err := encode(resp, &machineKey, h.privateKey)
diff --git a/app.go b/app.go
index 84ca86c0..3e001203 100644
--- a/app.go
+++ b/app.go
@@ -417,21 +417,17 @@ func (h *Headscale) createRouter(grpcMux *runtime.ServeMux) *mux.Router {
 
 	router.HandleFunc("/health", h.HealthHandler).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	router.HandleFunc("/key", h.KeyHandler).Methods(http.MethodGet)
-	router.HandleFunc("/register", h.RegisterWebAPI).Methods(http.MethodGet)
-	router.HandleFunc("/machine/{mkey}/map", h.PollNetMapHandler).
-		Methods(http.MethodPost)
+	router.HandleFunc("/register/{nkey}", h.RegisterWebAPI).Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	router.HandleFunc("/machine/{mkey}/map", h.PollNetMapHandler).Methods(http.MethodPost)
 	router.HandleFunc("/machine/{mkey}", h.RegistrationHandler).Methods(http.MethodPost)
-	router.HandleFunc("/oidc/register/{mkey}", h.RegisterOIDC).Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	router.HandleFunc("/oidc/register/{nkey}", h.RegisterOIDC).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	router.HandleFunc("/oidc/callback", h.OIDCCallback).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	router.HandleFunc("/apple", h.AppleConfigMessage).Methods(http.MethodGet)
-	router.HandleFunc("/apple/{platform}", h.ApplePlatformConfig).
-		Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	router.HandleFunc("/apple/{platform}", h.ApplePlatformConfig).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	router.HandleFunc("/windows", h.WindowsConfigMessage).Methods(http.MethodGet)
-	router.HandleFunc("/windows/tailscale.reg", h.WindowsRegConfig).
-		Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	router.HandleFunc("/windows/tailscale.reg", h.WindowsRegConfig).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	router.HandleFunc("/swagger", SwaggerUI).Methods(http.MethodGet)
-	router.HandleFunc("/swagger/v1/openapiv2.json", SwaggerAPIv1).
-		Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	router.HandleFunc("/swagger/v1/openapiv2.json", SwaggerAPIv1).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 
 	if h.cfg.DERP.ServerEnabled {
 		router.HandleFunc("/derp", h.DERPHandler)
diff --git a/cmd/headscale/cli/nodes.go b/cmd/headscale/cli/nodes.go
index c2b1e950..a4f2a693 100644
--- a/cmd/headscale/cli/nodes.go
+++ b/cmd/headscale/cli/nodes.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ var registerNodeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		if err != nil {
 			ErrorOutput(
 				err,
-				fmt.Sprintf("Error getting machine key from flag: %s", err),
+				fmt.Sprintf("Error getting node key from flag: %s", err),
 				output,
 			)
 
diff --git a/grpcv1.go b/grpcv1.go
index 452ac21d..e3db5dd4 100644
--- a/grpcv1.go
+++ b/grpcv1.go
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ func (api headscaleV1APIServer) RegisterMachine(
 ) (*v1.RegisterMachineResponse, error) {
 	log.Trace().
 		Str("namespace", request.GetNamespace()).
-		Str("machine_key", request.GetKey()).
+		Str("node_key", request.GetKey()).
 		Msg("Registering machine")
 
 	machine, err := api.h.RegisterMachineFromAuthCallback(
diff --git a/machine.go b/machine.go
index 22be0da1..aebfbcef 100644
--- a/machine.go
+++ b/machine.go
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) GetMachineByID(id uint64) (*Machine, error) {
 	return &m, nil
 }
 
-// GetMachineByMachineKey finds a Machine by ID and returns the Machine struct.
+// GetMachineByMachineKey finds a Machine by its MachineKey and returns the Machine struct.
 func (h *Headscale) GetMachineByMachineKey(
 	machineKey key.MachinePublic,
 ) (*Machine, error) {
@@ -362,6 +362,19 @@ func (h *Headscale) GetMachineByMachineKey(
 	return &m, nil
 }
 
+// GetMachineByNodeKey finds a Machine by its current NodeKey.
+func (h *Headscale) GetMachineByNodeKey(
+	nodeKey key.NodePublic,
+) (*Machine, error) {
+	machine := Machine{}
+	if result := h.db.Preload("Namespace").First(&machine, "node_key = ?",
+		NodePublicKeyStripPrefix(nodeKey)); result.Error != nil {
+		return nil, result.Error
+	}
+
+	return &machine, nil
+}
+
 // UpdateMachineFromDatabase takes a Machine struct pointer (typically already loaded from database
 // and updates it with the latest data from the database.
 func (h *Headscale) UpdateMachineFromDatabase(machine *Machine) error {
@@ -762,11 +775,11 @@ func getTags(
 }
 
 func (h *Headscale) RegisterMachineFromAuthCallback(
-	machineKeyStr string,
+	nodeKeyStr string,
 	namespaceName string,
 	registrationMethod string,
 ) (*Machine, error) {
-	if machineInterface, ok := h.registrationCache.Get(machineKeyStr); ok {
+	if machineInterface, ok := h.registrationCache.Get(nodeKeyStr); ok {
 		if registrationMachine, ok := machineInterface.(Machine); ok {
 			namespace, err := h.GetNamespace(namespaceName)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/oidc.go b/oidc.go
index 4c1bf5a7..63762716 100644
--- a/oidc.go
+++ b/oidc.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const (
 	errOIDCAllowedDomains      = Error("authenticated principal does not match any allowed domain")
 	errOIDCAllowedUsers        = Error("authenticated principal does not match any allowed user")
 	errOIDCInvalidMachineState = Error("requested machine state key expired before authorisation completed")
-	errOIDCMachineKeyMissing   = Error("could not get machine key from cache")
+	errOIDCNodeKeyMissing      = Error("could not get node key from cache")
 )
 
 type IDTokenClaims struct {
@@ -68,26 +68,26 @@ func (h *Headscale) initOIDC() error {
 }
 
 // RegisterOIDC redirects to the OIDC provider for authentication
-// Puts machine key in cache so the callback can retrieve it using the oidc state param
-// Listens in /oidc/register/:mKey.
+// Puts NodeKey in cache so the callback can retrieve it using the oidc state param
+// Listens in /oidc/register/:nKey.
 func (h *Headscale) RegisterOIDC(
 	writer http.ResponseWriter,
 	req *http.Request,
 ) {
 	vars := mux.Vars(req)
-	machineKeyStr, ok := vars["mkey"]
-	if !ok || machineKeyStr == "" {
+	nodeKeyStr, ok := vars["nkey"]
+	if !ok || nodeKeyStr == "" {
 		log.Error().
 			Caller().
-			Msg("Missing machine key in URL")
-		http.Error(writer, "Missing machine key in URL", http.StatusBadRequest)
+			Msg("Missing node key in URL")
+		http.Error(writer, "Missing node key in URL", http.StatusBadRequest)
 
 		return
 	}
 
 	log.Trace().
 		Caller().
-		Str("machine_key", machineKeyStr).
+		Str("node_key", nodeKeyStr).
 		Msg("Received oidc register call")
 
 	randomBlob := make([]byte, randomByteSize)
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ func (h *Headscale) RegisterOIDC(
 
 	stateStr := hex.EncodeToString(randomBlob)[:32]
 
-	// place the machine key into the state cache, so it can be retrieved later
-	h.registrationCache.Set(stateStr, machineKeyStr, registerCacheExpiration)
+	// place the node key into the state cache, so it can be retrieved later
+	h.registrationCache.Set(stateStr, nodeKeyStr, registerCacheExpiration)
 
 	// Add any extra parameter provided in the configuration to the Authorize Endpoint request
 	extras := make([]oauth2.AuthCodeOption, 0, len(h.cfg.OIDC.ExtraParams))
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ var oidcCallbackTemplate = template.Must(
 )
 
 // OIDCCallback handles the callback from the OIDC endpoint
-// Retrieves the mkey from the state cache and adds the machine to the users email namespace
+// Retrieves the nkey from the state cache and adds the machine to the users email namespace
 // TODO: A confirmation page for new machines should be added to avoid phishing vulnerabilities
 // TODO: Add groups information from OIDC tokens into machine HostInfo
 // Listens in /oidc/callback.
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) OIDCCallback(
 		return
 	}
 
-	machineKey, machineExists, err := h.validateMachineForOIDCCallback(writer, state, claims)
+	nodeKey, machineExists, err := h.validateMachineForOIDCCallback(writer, state, claims)
 	if err != nil || machineExists {
 		return
 	}
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) OIDCCallback(
 		return
 	}
 
-	if err := h.registerMachineForOIDCCallback(writer, namespace, machineKey); err != nil {
+	if err := h.registerMachineForOIDCCallback(writer, namespace, nodeKey); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) validateMachineForOIDCCallback(
 	writer http.ResponseWriter,
 	state string,
 	claims *IDTokenClaims,
-) (*key.MachinePublic, bool, error) {
+) (*key.NodePublic, bool, error) {
 	// retrieve machinekey from state cache
 	machineKeyIf, machineKeyFound := h.registrationCache.Get(state)
 	if !machineKeyFound {
@@ -420,14 +420,14 @@ func (h *Headscale) validateMachineForOIDCCallback(
 		return nil, false, errOIDCInvalidMachineState
 	}
 
-	var machineKey key.MachinePublic
-	machineKeyFromCache, machineKeyOK := machineKeyIf.(string)
-	err := machineKey.UnmarshalText(
-		[]byte(MachinePublicKeyEnsurePrefix(machineKeyFromCache)),
+	var nodeKey key.NodePublic
+	nodeKeyFromCache, nodeKeyOK := machineKeyIf.(string)
+	err := nodeKey.UnmarshalText(
+		[]byte(NodePublicKeyEnsurePrefix(nodeKeyFromCache)),
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error().
-			Msg("could not parse machine public key")
+			Msg("could not parse node public key")
 		writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
 		writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
 		_, werr := writer.Write([]byte("could not parse public key"))
@@ -441,11 +441,11 @@ func (h *Headscale) validateMachineForOIDCCallback(
 		return nil, false, err
 	}
 
-	if !machineKeyOK {
-		log.Error().Msg("could not get machine key from cache")
+	if !nodeKeyOK {
+		log.Error().Msg("could not get node key from cache")
 		writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
 		writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		_, err := writer.Write([]byte("could not get machine key from cache"))
+		_, err := writer.Write([]byte("could not get node key from cache"))
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error().
 				Caller().
@@ -453,14 +453,14 @@ func (h *Headscale) validateMachineForOIDCCallback(
 				Msg("Failed to write response")
 		}
 
-		return nil, false, errOIDCMachineKeyMissing
+		return nil, false, errOIDCNodeKeyMissing
 	}
 
 	// retrieve machine information if it exist
 	// The error is not important, because if it does not
 	// exist, then this is a new machine and we will move
 	// on to registration.
-	machine, _ := h.GetMachineByMachineKey(machineKey)
+	machine, _ := h.GetMachineByNodeKey(nodeKey)
 
 	if machine != nil {
 		log.Trace().
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ func (h *Headscale) validateMachineForOIDCCallback(
 		return nil, true, nil
 	}
 
-	return &machineKey, false, nil
+	return &nodeKey, false, nil
 }
 
 func getNamespaceName(
@@ -600,12 +600,12 @@ func (h *Headscale) findOrCreateNewNamespaceForOIDCCallback(
 func (h *Headscale) registerMachineForOIDCCallback(
 	writer http.ResponseWriter,
 	namespace *Namespace,
-	machineKey *key.MachinePublic,
+	nodeKey *key.NodePublic,
 ) error {
-	machineKeyStr := MachinePublicKeyStripPrefix(*machineKey)
+	nodeKeyStr := NodePublicKeyStripPrefix(*nodeKey)
 
 	if _, err := h.RegisterMachineFromAuthCallback(
-		machineKeyStr,
+		nodeKeyStr,
 		namespace.Name,
 		RegisterMethodOIDC,
 	); err != nil {