diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f8c0e59..ed5e798 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,3 +7,25 @@ running on your Urbit. You can submit commands (called "pokes") and subscribe to
 responses.
 
 See the `test.hs` file for some example usages.
+
+## Design
+
+The Urbit vane `eyre` is responsible for defining the API interface. The path to
+the API is `/~/channel/...`, where we send messages to the global log (called
+`poke`s) which are then dispatched to the appropriate apps. To receive
+responses, we stream messages from a path associated with the app, such as
+`/mailbox/~/~zod/mc`. Internally, I believe Urbit calls these `wire`s.
+
+`urbit-airlock` handles most of the path, session, and HTTP request stuff
+automatically. See the haddocks for more details.
+
+This library is built on req, conduit, and aeson, all of which are very stable
+and usable libraries for working with HTTP requests and web data.
+
+## TODO
+
+- fix test suite on travis (OOM when trying to compile urbit)
+- more sophisticated test cases, also use cabal test instead of homegrown thing
+- add an exe that wraps the library with a cli
+- port to ghcjs
+- put some examples in the docs
diff --git a/Urbit/Airlock.hs b/Urbit/Airlock.hs
index b979eec..d7f2757 100644
--- a/Urbit/Airlock.hs
+++ b/Urbit/Airlock.hs
@@ -5,10 +5,44 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# OPTIONS_GHC -fno-warn-orphans #-}
 
+-- |
+-- Module: Urbit.Airlock
+-- Copyright: © 2020–present Ben Sima
+-- License: MIT
+--
+-- Maintainer: Ben Sima <ben@bsima.me>
+-- Stability: experimental
+-- Portability: non-portableo
+--
+-- === About the Urbit API
+--
+-- The "Urbit Airlock" API is a command-query API that lets you hook into apps
+-- running on your Urbit. You can submit commands and subscribe to responses.
+--
+-- The Urbit vane @eyre@ is responsible for defining the API interface. The HTTP
+-- path to the API is @\/~\/channel\/...@, where we send messages to the global
+-- log (called @poke@s) which are then dispatched to the appropriate apps. To
+-- receive responses, we stream messages from a path associated with the app,
+-- such as @\/mailbox\/~\/~zod\/mc@. Internally, I believe Urbit calls these
+-- @wire@s.
+--
+-- === About this library
+--
+-- This library helps you talk to your Urbit from Haskell, via HTTP. It handles
+-- most of the path, session, and HTTP request stuff automatically. You'll need
+-- to know what app and mark (data type) to send to, which path/wire listen to,
+-- and the shape of the message. The latter can be found in the Hoon source
+-- code, called the @vase@ on the poke arm.
+--
+-- This library is built on req, conduit, and aeson, all of which are very
+-- stable and usable libraries for working with HTTP requests and web data.
+-- Released under the MIT License, same as Urbit.
 module Urbit.Airlock
-  ( Ship (..),
-    App,
-    Mark,
+  ( -- * Types
+    Ship (..),
+    Session,
+
+    -- * Functions
     connect,
     poke,
     ack,
@@ -19,7 +53,6 @@ where
 import Conduit (ConduitM, runConduitRes, (.|))
 import qualified Conduit
 import qualified Control.Exception as Exception
-import Control.Lens ()
 import Data.Aeson ((.=))
 import qualified Data.Aeson as Aeson
 import Data.ByteString (ByteString)
@@ -33,16 +66,16 @@ import qualified Text.URI as URI
 
 -- | Some information about your ship needed to establish connection.
 data Ship = Ship
-  { -- | A random string for your channel.
+  { -- | A random string for your channel
     uid :: Text,
-    -- | The `@p` of your ship.
-    name :: ShipName,
-    -- | Track the latest event we saw (needed for poking).
+    -- | The @\@p@ of your ship
+    name :: Text,
+    -- | Track the latest event we saw (needed for poking)
     lastEventId :: Int,
-    -- | Network access point, with port if necessary. Like
-    -- 'https://sampel-palnet.arvo.network', or 'http://localhost:8080'.
+    -- | Network access point, with port if necessary, like
+    -- @https://sampel-palnet.arvo.network@, or @http://localhost:8080@
     url :: Text,
-    -- | Login code, `+code` in the dojo. Don't share this publically.
+    -- | Login code, @+code@ in the dojo. Don't share this publically
     code :: Text
   }
   deriving (Show)
@@ -50,18 +83,10 @@ data Ship = Ship
 channelUrl :: Ship -> Text
 channelUrl Ship {url, uid} = url <> "/~/channel/" <> uid
 
-type App = Text
-
-type Path = Text
-
-type Mark = Text
-
--- | The `@p` for the ship (no leading ~).
-type ShipName = Text
-
 nextEventId :: Ship -> Int
 nextEventId Ship {lastEventId} = lastEventId + 1
 
+-- | A wrapper type for the session cookies.
 type Session = HTTP.CookieJar
 
 -- | Connect and login to the ship.
@@ -75,22 +100,24 @@ connect ship =
   where
     body = "password" =: (code ship)
     con (url, opts) =
-      Req.req Req.POST url (Req.ReqBodyUrlEnc body) Req.ignoreResponse $
+      Req.req Req.POST url (Req.ReqBodyUrlEnc body) Req.bsResponse $
         opts
 
 -- | Poke a ship.
 poke ::
   Aeson.ToJSON a =>
+  -- | Session cookie from 'connect'
   Session ->
+  -- | Your ship
   Ship ->
-  -- | To what ship will you send the poke?
-  ShipName ->
-  -- | Which gall application are you trying to poke?
-  App ->
-  -- | What mark should be applied to the data you are sending?
-  Mark ->
+  -- | Name of the ship to poke
+  Text ->
+  -- | Name of the gall application you want to poke
+  Text ->
+  -- | The mark of the message you are sending
+  Text ->
   a ->
-  IO Req.IgnoreResponse
+  IO Req.BsResponse
 poke sess ship shipName app mark json =
   Req.useURI <$> (URI.mkURI $ channelUrl ship) >>= \case
     Nothing -> error "could not parse ship url"
@@ -103,7 +130,7 @@ poke sess ship shipName app mark json =
         Req.POST
         url
         (Req.ReqBodyJson body)
-        Req.ignoreResponse
+        Req.bsResponse
         $ opts <> Req.cookieJar sess
     body =
       [ Aeson.object
@@ -117,7 +144,14 @@ poke sess ship shipName app mark json =
       ]
 
 -- | Acknowledge receipt of a message. (This clears it from the ship's queue.)
-ack :: Session -> Ship -> Int -> IO Req.IgnoreResponse
+ack ::
+  -- | Session cookie from 'connect'
+  Session ->
+  -- | Your ship
+  Ship ->
+  -- | The event number
+  Int ->
+  IO Req.BsResponse
 ack sess ship eventId =
   Req.useURI <$> (URI.mkURI $ channelUrl ship) >>= \case
     Nothing -> error "could not parse ship url"
@@ -130,7 +164,7 @@ ack sess ship eventId =
         Req.POST
         url
         (Req.ReqBodyJson body)
-        Req.ignoreResponse
+        Req.bsResponse
         $ opts <> Req.cookieJar sess
     body =
       [ Aeson.object
@@ -144,11 +178,14 @@ instance Req.MonadHttp (ConduitM i o (Conduit.ResourceT IO)) where
 
 -- | Subscribe to ship events on some path.
 subscribe ::
+  -- | Session cookie from 'connect'
   Session ->
+  -- | Your ship
   Ship ->
-  Path ->
+  -- | The path to subscribe to.
+  Text ->
   -- | A handler conduit to receive the response from the server, e.g.
-  -- 'Data.Conduit.Binary.sinkFile "my-file.out"'.
+  -- @Data.Conduit.Binary.sinkFile "my-file.out"@
   ConduitM ByteString Conduit.Void (Conduit.ResourceT IO) a ->
   IO a
 subscribe sess ship path fn =
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 05ec319..1f53a43 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ nixpkgs.mkShell {
   name = "urbit-airlock-shell";
   buildInputs = [
     nixpkgs.ormolu.bin
+
     (nixpkgs.pkgs.haskell.packages.${compiler}.ghcWithPackages (hp: with hp; [
-      aeson base bytestring conduit conduit-extra http-client lens
-      modern-uri req req-conduit text uuid wai wai-extra
+
+    aeson base bytestring conduit conduit-extra http-client modern-uri
+    req req-conduit text uuid
+
     ]))
   ];
 }
diff --git a/urbit-airlock.cabal b/urbit-airlock.cabal
index 810fec5..9b7705d 100644
--- a/urbit-airlock.cabal
+++ b/urbit-airlock.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 name:                urbit-airlock
 version:             0.1.0.0
--- synopsis:
--- description:
+synopsis:            Talk to Urbit from Haskell
+description:
+    @urbit-airlock@ is a Haskell library that helps you connect to the Urbit
+    API.
+    .
+    Built on req, conduit, and aeson for stability and simplicity.
 homepage:            https://github.com/bsima/urbit-airlock
 license:             BSD3
 license-file:        LICENSE
@@ -24,14 +28,11 @@ library
     conduit,
     conduit-extra,
     http-client,
-    lens,
     modern-uri,
     req,
     req-conduit,
     text,
-    uuid,
-    wai,
-    wai-extra
+    uuid
 
 -- executable urlock
 --   hs-source-dirs:      .
diff --git a/urbit-airlock.nix b/urbit-airlock.nix
index b1383c8..36fdf3d 100644
--- a/urbit-airlock.nix
+++ b/urbit-airlock.nix
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 { mkDerivation, aeson, base, bytestring, conduit, conduit-extra
-, http-client, lens, modern-uri, req, req-conduit, stdenv, text
-, uuid, wai, wai-extra
+, http-client, modern-uri, req, req-conduit, stdenv, text, uuid
 }:
 mkDerivation {
   pname = "urbit-airlock";
   version = "0.1.0.0";
   src = ./.;
   libraryHaskellDepends = [
-    aeson base bytestring conduit conduit-extra http-client lens
-    modern-uri req req-conduit text uuid wai wai-extra
+    aeson base bytestring conduit conduit-extra http-client modern-uri
+    req req-conduit text uuid
   ];
   homepage = "https://github.com/bsima/urbit-airlock";
+  description = "Talk to Urbit from Haskell";
   license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
 }