diff --git a/node/src/Unison/ABT.hs b/node/src/Unison/ABT.hs
index d0a3b9a71..80823ea77 100644
--- a/node/src/Unison/ABT.hs
+++ b/node/src/Unison/ABT.hs
@@ -4,22 +4,22 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE DeriveTraversable #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE PatternSynonyms #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE ViewPatterns #-}
 
-module Unison.ABT
-  (ABT(..),abs,pattern Abs',at,Focus1,focus,freshIn,freshIn',hash,into
-  ,modify,rename,subst,tm,v',unabs,var,var',Term(..),V,pattern Var') where
+module Unison.ABT where
 
 import Control.Applicative
 import Data.Aeson (ToJSON(..),FromJSON(..))
 import Data.Foldable (Foldable)
 import Data.Functor.Classes (Eq1(..))
-import Data.List
+import Data.List hiding (cycle)
 import Data.Ord
 import Data.Set (Set)
 import Data.Traversable
 import Data.Text (Text)
 import Data.Vector ((!))
-import Prelude hiding (abs)
+import Prelude hiding (abs,cycle)
 import Unison.Symbol (Symbol)
 import Data.Bytes.Serial (Serial(..), Serial1(..))
 import Data.Bytes.VarInt (VarInt(..))
@@ -38,13 +38,17 @@ type V = Symbol
 
 data ABT f a
   = Var V
+  | Cycle a
   | Abs V a
   | Tm (f a) deriving (Functor, Foldable, Traversable)
 
 data Term f = Term { freevars :: Set V, out :: ABT f (Term f) }
 
 pattern Var' v <- Term _ (Var v)
+pattern Cycle' vs t <- Term _ (Cycle (AbsN' vs t))
 pattern Abs' v body <- Term _ (Abs v body)
+pattern AbsN' vs body <- (unabs -> (vs, body))
+pattern Tm' f <- Term _ (Tm f)
 
 v' :: Text -> V
 v' = Symbol.prefix
@@ -62,24 +66,29 @@ tm :: Foldable f => f (Term f) -> Term f
 tm t = Term (Set.unions (fmap freevars (Foldable.toList t)))
             (Tm t)
 
+cycle :: Term f -> Term f
+cycle t = Term (freevars t) (Cycle t)
+
 into :: Foldable f => ABT f (Term f) -> Term f
 into abt = case abt of
   Var x -> var x
+  Cycle t -> cycle t
   Abs v a -> abs v a
   Tm t -> tm t
 
-fresh :: (V -> Bool) -> V -> V
-fresh used v | used v = fresh used (Symbol.freshen v)
-fresh _  v = v
-
 -- | renames `old` to `new` in the given term, ignoring subtrees that bind `old`
 rename :: (Foldable f, Functor f) => V -> V -> Term f -> Term f
 rename old new (Term _ t) = case t of
   Var v -> if v == old then var new else var old
+  Cycle body -> cycle (rename old new body)
   Abs v body -> if v == old then abs v body
                 else abs v (rename old new body)
   Tm v -> tm (fmap (rename old new) v)
 
+fresh :: (V -> Bool) -> V -> V
+fresh used v | used v = fresh used (Symbol.freshen v)
+fresh _  v = v
+
 -- | Produce a variable which is free in both terms
 freshInBoth :: Term f -> Term f -> V -> V
 freshInBoth t1 t2 x = fresh (memberOf (freevars t1) (freevars t2)) x
@@ -96,6 +105,7 @@ subst :: (Foldable f, Functor f) => Term f -> V -> Term f -> Term f
 subst t x body = case out body of
   Var v | x == v -> t
   Var v -> var v
+  Cycle body -> cycle (subst t x body)
   Abs x e -> abs x' e'
     where x' = freshInBoth t body x
           -- rename x to something that cannot be captured
@@ -125,6 +135,9 @@ focus :: Foldable f
 focus [] t = Just (t, id)
 focus path@(hd:tl) t = case out t of
   Var _ -> Nothing
+  Cycle t ->
+    let f (t,replace) = (t, cycle . replace)
+    in f <$> focus path t
   Abs v t ->
     let f (t,replace) = (t, abs v . replace)
     in f <$> focus path t
@@ -133,23 +146,33 @@ focus path@(hd:tl) t = case out t of
     (t,replace) <- focus tl t
     pure (t, tm . hreplace . replace)
 
-hash :: (Foldable f, Digest.Digestable1 f) => Term f -> Digest.Hash
-hash t = hash' [] t
+hash :: forall f . (Foldable f, Digest.Digestable1 f) => Term f -> Digest.Hash
+hash t = hash' [] t where
+  hash' :: [Either [V] V] -> Term f -> Digest.Hash
+  hash' env (Term _ t) = case t of
+    Var v -> maybe die hashInt ind
+      where lookup (Left cycle) = elem v cycle
+            lookup (Right v') = v == v'
+            ind = findIndex lookup env
+            -- env not likely to be very big, prefer to encode in one byte if possible
+            hashInt i = Digest.run (serialize (VarInt i))
+            die = error $ "unknown var in environment: " ++ show v
+    Cycle (AbsN' vs t) -> hash' (Left vs : env) t
+    Cycle t -> hash' env t
+    Abs v t -> hash' (Right v : env) t
+    Tm t -> Digest.run (Digest.digest1 (hashCycle env) (hash' env) $ t)
 
-hash' :: (Foldable f, Digest.Digestable1 f) => [V] -> Term f -> Digest.Hash
-hash' env (Term _ t) = case t of
-  Var v -> maybe die hashInt (elemIndex v env)
-    where die = error $ "unknown var in environment: " ++ show v
-          -- env not likely to be very big, prefer to encode in one byte if possible
-          hashInt i = Digest.run (serialize (VarInt i))
-  Abs v body -> hash' (v:env) body
-  Tm body -> Digest.digest1 (canonicalPermutation env) hash $ body
-
--- | Collapse all outer `Abs` ctors to a single `Abs`, by renaming all inner
--- `Abs` ctors to the name of the outermost `Abs`.
-conflate :: (Functor f, Foldable f) => Term f -> Term f
-conflate (Term _ (Abs v1 (Term _ (Abs v2 body)))) = conflate (abs v1 (rename v2 v1 body))
-conflate t = t
+  hashCycle :: [Either [V] V] -> [Term f] -> Digest.DigestM (Term f -> Digest.Hash)
+  hashCycle env@(Left cycle : envTl) ts | length cycle == length ts =
+    let
+      permute p xs = case Vector.fromList xs of xs -> map (xs !) p
+      hashed = map (\(i,t) -> ((i,t), hash' env t)) (zip [0..] ts)
+      pt = map fst (sortBy (comparing snd) hashed)
+      (p,ts') = unzip pt
+    in case map Right (permute p cycle) ++ envTl of
+      env -> Foldable.traverse_ (serialize . hash' env) ts'
+          *> pure (hash' env)
+  hashCycle env ts = Foldable.traverse_ (serialize . hash' env) ts *> pure (hash' env)
 
 unabs :: Term f -> ([V], Term f)
 unabs (Term _ (Abs hd body)) =
@@ -159,23 +182,11 @@ unabs t = ([], t)
 reabs :: [V] -> Term f -> Term f
 reabs vs t = foldr abs t vs
 
-canonicalPermutation :: (Foldable f, Digest.Digestable1 f) => [V] -> [Term f] -> [Term f]
-canonicalPermutation env ts =
-  let
-    permute p xs = case Vector.fromList xs of xs -> map (xs !) p
-    conflateds = map (hash' env . conflate) ts
-    -- the canonical permutation, which we get by sorting by hash
-    p = map fst (sortBy (comparing snd) (zip [0 :: Int ..] conflateds))
-  in
-    -- apply the canonical permutation to `ts`, then ensure each term introduces
-    -- its vars in the same order as this permutation
-    map (\t -> case unabs t of (vs, body) -> reabs (permute p vs) body)
-        (permute p ts)
-
 instance (Foldable f, Functor f, Eq1 f) => Eq (Term f) where
   -- alpha equivalence, works by renaming any aligned Abs ctors to use a common fresh variable
   t1 == t2 = go (out t1) (out t2) where
     go (Var v) (Var v2) | v == v2 = True
+    go (Cycle t1) (Cycle t2) = t1 == t2
     go (Abs v1 body1) (Abs v2 body2) =
       if v1 == v2 then body1 == body2
       else let v3 = freshInBoth body1 body2 v1
@@ -186,6 +197,7 @@ instance (Foldable f, Functor f, Eq1 f) => Eq (Term f) where
 instance J.ToJSON1 f => ToJSON (Term f) where
   toJSON (Term _ e) = case e of
     Var v -> J.array [J.text "Var", toJSON v]
+    Cycle body -> J.array [J.text "Cycle", toJSON body]
     Abs v body -> J.array [J.text "Abs", toJSON v, toJSON body]
     Tm v -> J.array [J.text "Tm", J.toJSON1 v]
 
@@ -193,19 +205,22 @@ instance (Foldable f, J.FromJSON1 f) => FromJSON (Term f) where
   parseJSON j = do
     t <- J.at0 (Aeson.withText "ABT.tag" pure) j
     case t of
-      _ | t == "Var" -> var <$> J.at 1 Aeson.parseJSON j
-      _ | t == "Abs" -> abs <$> J.at 1 Aeson.parseJSON j <*> J.at 2 Aeson.parseJSON j
-      _ | t == "Tm"  -> tm <$> J.at 1 J.parseJSON1 j
-      _              -> fail ("unknown tag: " ++ Text.unpack t)
+      _ | t == "Var"   -> var <$> J.at 1 Aeson.parseJSON j
+      _ | t == "Cycle" -> cycle <$> J.at 1 Aeson.parseJSON j
+      _ | t == "Abs"   -> abs <$> J.at 1 Aeson.parseJSON j <*> J.at 2 Aeson.parseJSON j
+      _ | t == "Tm"    -> tm <$> J.at 1 J.parseJSON1 j
+      _                -> fail ("unknown tag: " ++ Text.unpack t)
 
 instance (Foldable f, Serial1 f) => Serial (Term f) where
   serialize (Term _ e) = case e of
     Var v -> Put.putWord8 0 *> serialize v
-    Abs v body -> Put.putWord8 1 *> serialize v *> serialize body
-    Tm v -> Put.putWord8 2 *> serializeWith serialize v
+    Cycle body -> Put.putWord8 1 *> serialize body
+    Abs v body -> Put.putWord8 2 *> serialize v *> serialize body
+    Tm v -> Put.putWord8 3 *> serializeWith serialize v
 
   deserialize = Get.getWord8 >>= \b -> case b of
     0 -> var <$> deserialize
-    1 -> abs <$> deserialize <*> deserialize
-    2 -> tm <$> deserializeWith deserialize
+    1 -> cycle <$> deserialize
+    2 -> abs <$> deserialize <*> deserialize
+    3 -> tm <$> deserializeWith deserialize
     _ -> fail ("unknown byte tag, expected one of {0,1,2}, got: " ++ show b)
diff --git a/node/src/Unison/A_Term.hs b/node/src/Unison/A_Term.hs
index 307eef530..ca1458165 100644
--- a/node/src/Unison/A_Term.hs
+++ b/node/src/Unison/A_Term.hs
@@ -11,12 +11,10 @@
 module Unison.A_Term where
 
 import Control.Applicative
-import Control.Monad
 import Data.Aeson.TH
 import Data.Bytes.Serial
 import Data.Foldable (Foldable, traverse_)
 import Data.Functor.Classes
-import Data.Maybe (listToMaybe)
 import Data.Vector (Vector, (!?))
 import GHC.Generics
 import Data.Text (Text)
@@ -46,8 +44,11 @@ data F a
   | Ann a T.Type
   | Vector (Vector a)
   | Lam a
+  -- Invariant: let rec blocks have an outer an IntroLetRec, then an abs introductions for
+  -- each binding, then a LetRec for the bindings themselves
+  | IntroLetRec a
   | LetRec [a] a
-  | Let [a] a
+  | Let a a
   deriving (Eq,Foldable,Functor,Generic1)
 
 -- | Terms are represented as ABTs over the base functor F.
@@ -62,9 +63,9 @@ pattern App' f x <- (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (App f x))
 pattern Ann' x t <- (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (Ann x t))
 pattern Vector' xs <- (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (Vector xs))
 pattern Lam' v body <- (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (Lam (ABT.Term _ (ABT.Abs v body))))
-pattern Let' bs e reconstruct rec <- (unLet -> Just (bs,e,reconstruct,rec))
-pattern LetNonrec' bs e <- Let' bs e _ False
-pattern LetRec' bs e <- Let' bs e _ True
+pattern Let1' v b e <- (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (Let b (ABT.Abs' v e)))
+pattern Let' bs e relet rec <- (unLets -> Just (bs,e,relet,rec))
+pattern LetRec' bs e <- (unLetRec -> Just (bs,e))
 
 -- some smart constructors
 
@@ -93,35 +94,44 @@ lam v body = ABT.tm (Lam (ABT.abs v body))
 -- reference any other binding in the block in its body (including itself),
 -- and the output expression may also reference any binding in the block.
 letRec :: [(ABT.V,Term)] -> Term -> Term
-letRec bindings e =
-  ABT.tm (LetRec (map (intro . snd) bindings) (intro e))
+letRec bindings e = ABT.tm (IntroLetRec (foldr ABT.abs z (map fst bindings)))
   where
-    -- each e is wrapped in N abs introductions for each binding in block
-    intro e = foldr ABT.abs e (map fst bindings)
+    z = ABT.tm (LetRec (map snd bindings) e)
 
 -- | Smart constructor for let blocks. Each binding in the block may
 -- reference only previous bindings in the block, not including itself.
 -- The output expression may reference any binding in the block.
 let' :: [(ABT.V,Term)] -> Term -> Term
-let' bindings e =
-  ABT.tm (Let (map intro (zip [0..] bindings)) (introAll bindings e))
+let' bindings e = foldr f e bindings
   where
-    -- each e is wrapped in introduction of all variables declared at a previous
-    -- bindings in the block
-    intro (ind, (_, e)) = introAll (take ind bindings) e
-    introAll bindings e = foldr ABT.abs e (map fst bindings)
+    f (v,b) body = ABT.tm (Let b (ABT.abs v body))
 
--- | Satisfies `unLet (let' bs e)   == Just (bs, e, let')` and
---             `unLet (letRec bs e) == Just (bs, e, letRec)`
-unLet :: Term -> Maybe ([(ABT.V, Term)], Term, [(ABT.V, Term)] -> Term -> Term, Bool)
-unLet (ABT.Term _ (ABT.Tm t)) = case t of
-  Let bs e -> case extract bs e of (bs,e) -> Just (bs,e,let',False)
-  LetRec bs e -> case extract bs e of (bs,e) -> Just (bs,e,letRec,True)
+-- | Satisfies
+--   `unLets (letRec bs e) == Just (bs, e, letRec, True)` and
+--   `unLets (let' bs e) == Just (bs, e, let', False)`
+-- Useful for writing code agnostic to whether a let block is recursive or not.
+unLets :: Term -> Maybe ([(ABT.V,Term)], Term, [(ABT.V,Term)] -> Term -> Term, Bool)
+unLets e =
+  (f letRec True <$> unLetRec e) <|> (f let' False <$> unLet e)
+  where f mkLet rec (bs,e) = (bs,e,mkLet,rec)
+
+-- | Satisfies `unLetRec (letRec bs e) == Just (bs, e)`
+unLetRec :: Term -> Maybe ([(ABT.V, Term)], Term)
+unLetRec (ABT.Term _ (ABT.Tm t)) = case t of
+  IntroLetRec c -> case ABT.unabs c of
+    (vs, ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (LetRec bs e)) | length vs == length bs -> Just (zip vs bs, e)
+    _ -> Nothing
   _ -> Nothing
-  where
-    extract bs e = case ABT.unabs e of
-      (vs, e) -> (zip vs (map (snd . ABT.unabs) bs), e)
-unLet _ = Nothing
+unLetRec _ = Nothing
+
+-- | Satisfies `unLet (let' bs e) == Just (bs, e)`
+unLet :: Term -> Maybe ([(ABT.V, Term)], Term)
+unLet t = fixup (go t) where
+  go (ABT.out -> ABT.Tm (Let b (ABT.Abs' v t))) =
+    case go t of (env,t) -> ((v,b):env, t)
+  go t = ([], t)
+  fixup ([], t) = Nothing
+  fixup bst = Just bst
 
 -- Paths into terms, represented as lists of @PathElement@
 
@@ -137,17 +147,16 @@ type Path = [PathElement]
 
 -- | Use a @PathElement@ to compute one step into an @F a@ subexpression
 focus1 :: PathElement -> ABT.Focus1 F a
+-- focus1 e (IntroLetRec c) = Just (c, )
 focus1 Fn (App f x) = Just (f, \f -> App f x)
 focus1 Arg (App f x) = Just (x, \x -> App f x)
 focus1 Body (Lam body) = Just (body, Lam)
-focus1 Body (Let bs body) = Just (body, Let bs)
+focus1 Body (Let b body) = Just (body, Let b)
 focus1 Body (LetRec bs body) = Just (body, LetRec bs)
-focus1 (Binding i) (Let bs body) =
-  listToMaybe (drop i bs)
-  >>= \b -> Just (b, \b -> Let (take i bs ++ [b] ++ drop (i+1) bs) body)
-focus1 (Binding i) (LetRec bs body) =
-  listToMaybe (drop i bs)
-  >>= \b -> Just (b, \b -> LetRec (take i bs ++ [b] ++ drop (i+1) bs) body)
+focus1 (Binding i) (Let b body) | i <= 0 = Just (b, \b -> Let b body)
+--focus1 (Binding i) (LetRec bs body) =
+--  listToMaybe (drop i bs)
+--  >>= \b -> Just (b, \b -> LetRec (take i bs ++ [b] ++ drop (i+1) bs) body)
 focus1 (Index i) (Vector vs) =
   vs !? i >>= \v -> Just (v, \v -> Vector (Vector.update vs (Vector.singleton (i,v))))
 focus1 _ _ = Nothing
@@ -172,10 +181,8 @@ bindingAt :: Path -> Term -> Maybe (ABT.V, Term)
 bindingAt [] _ = Nothing
 bindingAt path t = do
   parentPath <- parent path
-  Let' bs _ _ _ <- at parentPath t
-  Binding i <- pure (last path) -- last is ok since we know path is nonempty
-  guard (i < length bs && i >= 0) -- list indexing is partial for no good reason
-  pure (bs !! i)
+  Let1' v b body <- at parentPath t
+  pure (v, b)
 
 -- mostly boring serialization and hashing code below ...
 
@@ -193,19 +200,21 @@ instance J.ToJSON1 F where toJSON1 f = Aeson.toJSON f
 instance J.FromJSON1 F where parseJSON1 j = Aeson.parseJSON j
 
 instance Digest.Digestable1 F where
-  digest1 s hash e = case e of
-    Lit l -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 0 *> serialize l
-    Blank -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 1
-    Ref r -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 2 *> serialize r
-    App a a2 -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 3 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash a2)
-    Ann a t -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 4 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize t
-    Vector as -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 5 *> serialize (Vector.length as)
-                                             *> traverse_ (serialize . hash) as
-    Lam a -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 6 *> serialize (hash a)
-    -- note: we use `s` to canonicalize the order of `a:as` before hashing the sequence
-    LetRec as a -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 7 *> traverse_ (serialize . hash) (s (a:as))
-    -- here, order is significant, so leave order alone
-    Let as a -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 8 *> traverse_ (serialize . hash) as
-                                            *> serialize (hash a)
+  digest1 hashCycle hash e = case e of
+    Lit l -> Put.putWord8 0 *> serialize l
+    Blank -> Put.putWord8 1
+    Ref r -> Put.putWord8 2 *> serialize r
+    App a a2 -> Put.putWord8 3 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash a2)
+    Ann a t -> Put.putWord8 4 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize t
+    Vector as -> Put.putWord8 5 *> serialize (Vector.length as)
+                                *> traverse_ (serialize . hash) as
+    Lam a -> Put.putWord8 6 *> serialize (hash a)
+    -- note: we use `hashCycle` to ensure result is independent of let binding order
+    LetRec as a ->
+      Put.putWord8 7 *> do
+        hash <- hashCycle as
+        serialize (hash a) --
+    -- here, order is significant, so don't use hashCycle
+    Let b a -> Put.putWord8 8 *> serialize (hash b) *> serialize (hash a)
 
 deriveJSON defaultOptions ''PathElement
diff --git a/node/src/Unison/A_TermEdit.hs b/node/src/Unison/A_TermEdit.hs
index 9201f734a..af1b70dac 100644
--- a/node/src/Unison/A_TermEdit.hs
+++ b/node/src/Unison/A_TermEdit.hs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ abstractLet path t = f <$> Term.focus path t where
 -}
 allowRec :: Term.Path -> Term.Term -> Maybe (Term.Path, Term.Term)
 allowRec path t = do
-  Term.LetNonrec' bs e <- Term.at path t
+  Term.Let' bs e _ False <- Term.at path t
   t' <- Term.modify (const (Term.letRec bs e)) path t
   pure (path, t')
 
@@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ floatLetOut :: Term.Path -> Term.Term -> Maybe (Term.Path, Term.Term)
 floatLetOut path t = do
   parentPath <- Term.parent path >>= Term.parent
   parent <- Term.at parentPath t
-  Term.Let' innerBindings e _ _ <- Term.parent path >>= \path -> Term.at path t
-  (v, body) <- Term.bindingAt path t
   error "todo: floatLetOut finish me"
 
 {- Example:
@@ -141,13 +139,14 @@ floatLamOut _ _ = error "floatLamOut"
 inline :: Term.Path -> Term.Term -> Maybe (Term.Path, Term.Term)
 inline path t = do
   (v,body) <- Term.bindingAt path t
-  guard (not (Set.member v (ABT.freevars body))) -- can't inline recursive functions
-  parentPath <- Term.parent path
-  parent <- Term.at parentPath t
-  case parent of
-    Term.Let' [_] e _ _ -> Just (parentPath, ABT.subst body v e)
-    Term.Let' bs e let' _ -> Just (parentPath, ABT.subst body v (let' (filter (\(v',_) -> v' /= v) bs) e))
-    _ -> Nothing
+  error "todo - inline"
+  --guard (not (Set.member v (ABT.freevars body))) -- can't inline recursive functions
+  --parentPath <- Term.parent path
+  --parent <- Term.at parentPath t
+  --case parent of
+  --  Term.Let' [_] e _ _ -> Just (parentPath, ABT.subst body v e)
+  --  Term.Let' bs e let' _ -> Just (parentPath, ABT.subst body v (let' (filter (\(v',_) -> v' /= v) bs) e))
+  --  _ -> Nothing
 
 {- Example:
    let x = 1 in {let y = 2 in y*y}
@@ -161,10 +160,10 @@ inline path t = do
 mergeLet :: Term.Path -> Term.Term -> Maybe (Term.Path, Term.Term)
 mergeLet path t = do
   parentPath <- Term.parent path
-  (innerBindings,e,_,_) <- Term.at path t >>= Term.unLet
-  (outerBindings,_,let',_) <- Term.at parentPath t >>= Term.unLet
+  (innerBindings,e) <- Term.at path t >>= Term.unLetRec
+  (outerBindings,_) <- Term.at parentPath t >>= Term.unLetRec
   (,) parentPath <$> Term.modify
-    (const $ let' (outerBindings ++ innerBindings) e)
+    (const $ Term.letRec (outerBindings ++ innerBindings) e)
     parentPath
     t
 
diff --git a/node/src/Unison/A_Type.hs b/node/src/Unison/A_Type.hs
index 905ae9993..e31c45c31 100644
--- a/node/src/Unison/A_Type.hs
+++ b/node/src/Unison/A_Type.hs
@@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ forall v body = ABT.tm (Forall (ABT.abs v body))
 
 instance Digest.Digestable1 F where
   digest1 _ hash e = case e of
-    Lit l -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 0 *> serialize l
-    Arrow a b -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 1 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash b)
-    App a b -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 2 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash b)
-    Ann a k -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 3 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize k
-    Constrain a u -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 4 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize u
-    Forall a -> Digest.run $ Put.putWord8 5 *> serialize (hash a)
+    Lit l -> Put.putWord8 0 *> serialize l
+    Arrow a b -> Put.putWord8 1 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash b)
+    App a b -> Put.putWord8 2 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize (hash b)
+    Ann a k -> Put.putWord8 3 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize k
+    Constrain a u -> Put.putWord8 4 *> serialize (hash a) *> serialize u
+    Forall a -> Put.putWord8 5 *> serialize (hash a)
 
 instance J.ToJSON1 F where
   toJSON1 f = toJSON f
diff --git a/node/src/Unison/Digest.hs b/node/src/Unison/Digest.hs
index 5b09c3c24..cabf9143a 100644
--- a/node/src/Unison/Digest.hs
+++ b/node/src/Unison/Digest.hs
@@ -25,16 +25,9 @@ type Hash = B.ByteString
 
 class Functor f => Digestable1 f where
   -- | Produce a hash for an `f a`, given a hashing function for `a`.
-  -- The first argument, @s@ can be used by the instance to produce
-  -- a canonical permutation of any sequence of @a@ values, useful
-  -- if the instance contains @a@ values whose order should not affect
-  -- hash results. We can think of @s@ as a sort function using some
-  -- ordering that the instance doesn't have to be aware of.
-  --
-  -- More precisely, @s@ will have the property that for any
-  -- @xs = [x1, x2, .. xN]@, @s@ will produce the same permutation of
-  -- @xs@ for any permutation of @xs@ as input.
-  digest1 :: ([a] -> [a]) -> (a -> Hash) -> f a -> Hash
+  -- The first argument, `hashCycle`, can be used by instances to hash
+  -- `a` values whose order should not affect hash results.
+  digest1 :: ([a] -> DigestM (a -> Hash)) -> (a -> Hash) -> f a -> Digest
 
 run :: Digest -> B.ByteString
 run d = case digest d H.hashInit of