diff --git a/internal/api/http.go b/internal/api/http.go
index 7cc8b91..f5d21ba 100644
--- a/internal/api/http.go
+++ b/internal/api/http.go
@@ -91,14 +91,16 @@ func apiV1(broker *gotelem.Broker, tdb *db.TelemDb) chi.Router {
 	return r
 }
 
-// apiV1Subscriber is a websocket session for the v1 api.
-type apiV1Subscriber struct {
-	nameFilter []string // names of packets we care about.
-}
 
 // this is a websocket stream.
 func apiV1PacketSubscribe(broker *gotelem.Broker, db *db.TelemDb) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		// pull filter from url query params.
+		bef, err := extractBusEventFilter(r)
+		if err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+		// setup connection
 		conn_id := r.RemoteAddr + uuid.New().String()
 		sub, err := broker.Subscribe(conn_id)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -107,29 +109,35 @@ func apiV1PacketSubscribe(broker *gotelem.Broker, db *db.TelemDb) http.HandlerFu
 			return
 		}
 		defer broker.Unsubscribe(conn_id)
+
+		// setup websocket
 		c, err := websocket.Accept(w, r, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 			return
 		}
 		c.Ping(r.Context())
+		// closeread handles protocol/status messages,
+		// also handles clients closing the connection.
+		// we get a context to use from it.
+		ctx := c.CloseRead(r.Context())
 
-		// TODO: use K/V with session token?
-		sess := &apiV1Subscriber{}
+		
 
 		for {
 			select {
-			case <-r.Context().Done():
+			case <-ctx.Done():
 				return
 			case msgIn := <-sub:
-				if len(sess.nameFilter) == 0 {
-					// send it.
+				// short circuit if there's no names - send everything
+				if len(bef.Names) == 0 {
 					wsjson.Write(r.Context(), c, msgIn)
 				}
-				for _, name := range sess.nameFilter {
+				// otherwise, send it if it matches one of our names.
+				for _, name := range bef.Names {
 					if name == msgIn.Name {
 						// send it
-						wsjson.Write(r.Context(), c, msgIn)
+						wsjson.Write(ctx, c, msgIn)
 						break
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/internal/db/db.go b/internal/db/db.go
index 27f47a9..cf60081 100644
--- a/internal/db/db.go
+++ b/internal/db/db.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ type TelemDbOption func(*TelemDb) error
 
 // this function is internal use. It actually opens the database, but uses
 // a raw path string instead of formatting one like the exported functions.
-func openRawDb(rawpath string, options ...TelemDbOption) (tdb *TelemDb, err error) {
+func OpenRawDb(rawpath string, options ...TelemDbOption) (tdb *TelemDb, err error) {
 	tdb = &TelemDb{}
 	tdb.db, err = sqlx.Connect("sqlite3", rawpath)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -55,12 +55,12 @@ func openRawDb(rawpath string, options ...TelemDbOption) (tdb *TelemDb, err erro
 
 // this string is used to open the read-write db.
 // the extra options improve performance significantly.
-const rwDbPathFmt = "file:%s?_journal_mode=wal&mode=rwc&_txlock=immediate&_timeout=10000"
+const ProductionDbURI = "file:%s?_journal_mode=wal&mode=rwc&_txlock=immediate&_timeout=10000"
 
 // OpenTelemDb opens a new telemetry database at the given path.
 func OpenTelemDb(path string, options ...TelemDbOption) (*TelemDb, error) {
-	dbStr := fmt.Sprintf(rwDbPathFmt, path)
-	return openRawDb(dbStr, options...)
+	dbStr := fmt.Sprintf(ProductionDbURI, path)
+	return OpenRawDb(dbStr, options...)
 }
 
 func (tdb *TelemDb) GetVersion() (int, error) {
diff --git a/internal/db/db_test.go b/internal/db/db_test.go
index 6e018ec..35d9520 100644
--- a/internal/db/db_test.go
+++ b/internal/db/db_test.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ const exampleData = `1698013005.164 1455ED8FDBDFF4FC3BD
 // MakeMockDatabase creates a new dummy database.
 func MakeMockDatabase(name string) *TelemDb {
 	fstring := fmt.Sprintf("file:%s?mode=memory&cache=shared", name)
-	tdb, err := openRawDb(fstring)
+	tdb, err := OpenRawDb(fstring)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ func TestTelemDb(t *testing.T) {
 		if len(pkt) != 1 {
 			t.Fatalf("expected exactly one response, got %d", len(pkt))
 		}
+		// todo - validate what this should be.
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test read-write packet", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/db/packets.go b/internal/db/packets.go
index 3e17c0f..0dc8440 100644
--- a/internal/db/packets.go
+++ b/internal/db/packets.go
@@ -1,3 +1,43 @@
 package db
 // This file implements Packet modelling, which allows us to look up fields by name
 
+type PacketDef struct {
+	Name string
+	Description string
+	Id int
+}
+
+type FieldDef struct {
+	Name string
+	SubName string
+	Packet string
+	Type string
+}
+
+// PacketNotFoundError is when a matching packet cannot be found.
+type PacketNotFoundError string
+
+func (e *PacketNotFoundError) Error() string {
+	return "packet not found: " + string(*e)
+}
+
+
+// GetPacketDefN retrieves a packet matching the given name, if it exists.
+// returns PacketNotFoundError if a matching packet could not be found.
+func (tdb *TelemDb) GetPacketDefN(name string) (*PacketDef, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+// GetPacketDefF retrieves the parent packet for a given field. 
+// This function cannot return PacketNotFoundError since we have SQL FKs enforcing.
+func (tdb *TelemDb) GetPacketDefF(field FieldDef) (*PacketDef, error) {
+	return nil, nil 
+}
+
+
+// GetFieldDefs returns the given fields for a given packet definition.
+func (tdb *TelemDb) GetFieldDefs(pkt PacketDef) ([]FieldDef, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+