diff --git a/src/ssb.c b/src/ssb.c
index 6d793405..bc8d44cf 100644
--- a/src/ssb.c
+++ b/src/ssb.c
@@ -1729,6 +1729,7 @@ tf_ssb_t* tf_ssb_create(uv_loop_t* loop, JSContext* context, sqlite3* db)
 {
 	tf_ssb_t* ssb = tf_malloc(sizeof(tf_ssb_t));
 	memset(ssb, 0, sizeof(*ssb));
+	ssb->verbose = true;
 	if (context)
 	{
 		ssb->context = context;
diff --git a/src/ssb.rpc.c b/src/ssb.rpc.c
index 0b820697..22b629a0 100644
--- a/src/ssb.rpc.c
+++ b/src/ssb.rpc.c
@@ -36,18 +36,23 @@ static void _tf_ssb_rpc_blobs_get(tf_ssb_connection_t* connection, uint8_t flags
 	for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
 	{
 		JSValue arg = JS_GetPropertyUint32(context, ids, i);
-		if (!JS_IsString(arg))
+		const char* id = NULL;
+		if (JS_IsString(arg))
+		{
+			id = JS_ToCString(context, arg);
+		}
+		else
 		{
 			JSValue key = JS_GetPropertyStr(context, arg, "key");
-			JS_FreeValue(context, arg);
-			arg = key;
+			id = JS_ToCString(context, key);
+			JS_FreeValue(context, key);
 		}
-		const char* id = JS_ToCString(context, arg);
 		uint8_t* blob = NULL;
 		size_t size = 0;
-		const int k_send_max = 4096;
+		const int k_send_max = 8192;
 		if (tf_ssb_db_blob_get(ssb, id, &blob, &size))
 		{
+			printf("sending %s (%zd)\n", id, size);
 			for (size_t offset = 0; offset < size; offset += k_send_max)
 			{
 				tf_ssb_connection_rpc_send(
@@ -69,7 +74,7 @@ static void _tf_ssb_rpc_blobs_get(tf_ssb_connection_t* connection, uint8_t flags
 	JS_FreeValue(context, ids);
 	tf_ssb_connection_rpc_send(
 		connection,
-		k_ssb_rpc_flag_json | k_ssb_rpc_flag_end_error,
+		k_ssb_rpc_flag_json | k_ssb_rpc_flag_end_error | k_ssb_rpc_flag_stream,
 		-request_number,
 		(const uint8_t*)(success ? "true" : "false"),
 		strlen(success ? "true" : "false"),