diff --git a/eventstore/badger/badger_test.go b/eventstore/badger/badger_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf444a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eventstore/badger/badger_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package badger
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestBasicStoreAndQuery(t *testing.T) {
+	// create a temporary directory for the test database
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "badger-test-*")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	// initialize the store
+	db := &BadgerBackend{Path: dir}
+	err = db.Init()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	// create a test event
+	evt := nostr.Event{
+		Content:   "hello world",
+		CreatedAt: 1000,
+		Kind:      1,
+		Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
+	}
+	err = evt.Sign(nostr.Generate())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// save the event
+	err = db.SaveEvent(evt)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// try to save it again, should fail with ErrDupEvent
+	err = db.SaveEvent(evt)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, eventstore.ErrDupEvent, err)
+
+	// query the event by its ID
+	filter := nostr.Filter{
+		IDs: []nostr.ID{evt.ID},
+	}
+
+	// collect results
+	results := make([]nostr.Event, 0)
+	for event := range db.QueryEvents(filter) {
+		results = append(results, event)
+	}
+
+	// verify we got exactly one event and it matches
+	require.Len(t, results, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, evt.ID, results[0].ID)
+	require.Equal(t, evt.Content, results[0].Content)
+	require.Equal(t, evt.CreatedAt, results[0].CreatedAt)
+	require.Equal(t, evt.Kind, results[0].Kind)
+	require.Equal(t, evt.PubKey, results[0].PubKey)
+}
diff --git a/eventstore/badger/fuzz_test.go b/eventstore/badger/fuzz_test.go
index 1e56ae6..ee613ac 100644
--- a/eventstore/badger/fuzz_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/badger/fuzz_test.go
@@ -2,23 +2,18 @@ package badger
 
 import (
 	"cmp"
-	"context"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
+	"slices"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v4"
-	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v4"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
-	ctx := context.Background()
-
 	f.Add(uint(200), uint(50), uint(13), uint(2), uint(2), uint(0), uint(1))
 	f.Fuzz(func(t *testing.T, total, limit, authors, timestampAuthorFactor, seedFactor, kinds, kindFactor uint) {
 		total++
@@ -72,41 +67,41 @@ func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
 		// ~ start actual test
 
 		filter := nostr.Filter{
-			Authors: make([]string, authors),
+			Authors: make([]nostr.PubKey, authors),
 			Limit:   int(limit),
 		}
-		maxKind := 1
+		var maxKind uint16 = 1
 		if kinds > 0 {
-			filter.Kinds = make([]int, kinds)
+			filter.Kinds = make([]uint16, kinds)
 			for i := range filter.Kinds {
-				filter.Kinds[i] = int(kindFactor) * i
+				filter.Kinds[i] = uint16(kindFactor) * uint16(i)
 			}
 			maxKind = filter.Kinds[len(filter.Kinds)-1]
 		}
 
 		for i := 0; i < int(authors); i++ {
-			sk := make([]byte, 32)
-			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk, uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor))+1)
-			pk, _ := nostr.GetPublicKey(hex.EncodeToString(sk))
+			sk := nostr.SecretKey{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk[:], uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor))+1)
+			pk := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk)
 			filter.Authors[i] = pk
 		}
 
-		expected := make([]*nostr.Event, 0, total)
+		expected := make([]nostr.Event, 0, total)
 		for i := 0; i < int(total); i++ {
 			skseed := uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor)) + 1
-			sk := make([]byte, 32)
-			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk, skseed)
+			sk := nostr.SecretKey{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk[:], skseed)
 
-			evt := &nostr.Event{
+			evt := nostr.Event{
 				CreatedAt: nostr.Timestamp(skseed)*nostr.Timestamp(timestampAuthorFactor) + nostr.Timestamp(i),
 				Content:   fmt.Sprintf("unbalanced %d", i),
 				Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
-				Kind:      i % maxKind,
+				Kind:      uint16(i) % maxKind,
 			}
-			err := evt.Sign(hex.EncodeToString(sk))
+			err := evt.Sign(sk)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
-			err = db.SaveEvent(ctx, evt)
+			err = db.SaveEvent(evt)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			if filter.Matches(evt) {
@@ -114,27 +109,25 @@ func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		slices.SortFunc(expected, nostr.CompareEventPtrReverse)
+		slices.SortFunc(expected, nostr.CompareEventReverse)
 		if len(expected) > int(limit) {
 			expected = expected[0:limit]
 		}
 
-		w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
-
 		start := time.Now()
 		// fmt.Println(filter)
-		res, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, filter)
+		res := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(filter))
 		end := time.Now()
 
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Equal(t, len(expected), len(res), "number of results is different than expected")
 
 		require.Less(t, end.Sub(start).Milliseconds(), int64(1500), "query took too long")
-		require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, func(a, b *nostr.Event) int { return cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt) }), "results are not sorted")
+		require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, func(a, b nostr.Event) int { return cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt) }), "results are not sorted")
 
 		nresults := len(expected)
 
-		getTimestamps := func(events []*nostr.Event) []nostr.Timestamp {
+		getTimestamps := func(events []nostr.Event) []nostr.Timestamp {
 			res := make([]nostr.Timestamp, len(events))
 			for i, evt := range events {
 				res[i] = evt.CreatedAt
diff --git a/eventstore/badger/helpers.go b/eventstore/badger/helpers.go
index 2ebb559..c96afe5 100644
--- a/eventstore/badger/helpers.go
+++ b/eventstore/badger/helpers.go
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"iter"
+	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 func getTagIndexPrefix(tagValue string) ([]byte, int) {
diff --git a/eventstore/badger/query.go b/eventstore/badger/query.go
index 04fb2cb..7611e49 100644
--- a/eventstore/badger/query.go
+++ b/eventstore/badger/query.go
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"iter"
 	"log"
+	"slices"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/codec/betterbinary"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/internal"
 	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v4"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 var batchFilled = errors.New("batch-filled")
diff --git a/eventstore/badger/query_planner.go b/eventstore/badger/query_planner.go
index 1efe6fe..0d05e9b 100644
--- a/eventstore/badger/query_planner.go
+++ b/eventstore/badger/query_planner.go
@@ -2,11 +2,9 @@ package badger
 
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"encoding/hex"
-	"fmt"
 
-	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/internal"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/internal"
 )
 
 type query struct {
@@ -51,13 +49,10 @@ func prepareQueries(filter nostr.Filter) (
 
 	if len(filter.IDs) > 0 {
 		queries = make([]query, len(filter.IDs))
-		for i, idHex := range filter.IDs {
+		for i, id := range filter.IDs {
 			prefix := make([]byte, 1+8)
 			prefix[0] = indexIdPrefix
-			if len(idHex) != 64 {
-				return nil, nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid id '%s'", idHex)
-			}
-			hex.Decode(prefix[1:], []byte(idHex[0:8*2]))
+			copy(prefix[1:1+8], id[0:8])
 			queries[i] = query{i: i, prefix: prefix, skipTimestamp: true}
 		}
 
@@ -96,27 +91,20 @@ pubkeyMatching:
 	if len(filter.Authors) > 0 {
 		if len(filter.Kinds) == 0 {
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors))
-			for i, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
-				if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-					return nil, nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid pubkey '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-				}
+			for i, pk := range filter.Authors {
 				prefix := make([]byte, 1+8)
 				prefix[0] = indexPubkeyPrefix
-				hex.Decode(prefix[1:], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2]))
+				copy(prefix[1:1+8], pk[0:8])
 				queries[i] = query{i: i, prefix: prefix}
 			}
 		} else {
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors)*len(filter.Kinds))
 			i := 0
-			for _, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
+			for _, pk := range filter.Authors {
 				for _, kind := range filter.Kinds {
-					if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-						return nil, nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid pubkey '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-					}
-
 					prefix := make([]byte, 1+8+2)
 					prefix[0] = indexPubkeyKindPrefix
-					hex.Decode(prefix[1:], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2]))
+					copy(prefix[1:1+8], pk[0:8])
 					binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(prefix[1+8:], uint16(kind))
 					queries[i] = query{i: i, prefix: prefix}
 					i++
diff --git a/eventstore/bluge/bluge_test.go b/eventstore/bluge/bluge_test.go
index 26298fc..9a6eed3 100644
--- a/eventstore/bluge/bluge_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/bluge/bluge_test.go
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 package bluge
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
-	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/badger"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/badger"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -25,9 +24,7 @@ func TestBlugeFlow(t *testing.T) {
 	bl.Init()
 	defer bl.Close()
 
-	ctx := context.Background()
-
-	willDelete := make([]*nostr.Event, 0, 3)
+	willDelete := make([]nostr.Event, 0, 3)
 
 	for i, content := range []string{
 		"good morning mr paper maker",
@@ -36,11 +33,11 @@ func TestBlugeFlow(t *testing.T) {
 		"tonight we dine in my house",
 		"the paper in this house if very good, mr",
 	} {
-		evt := &nostr.Event{Content: content, Tags: nostr.Tags{}}
-		evt.Sign("0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001")
+		evt := nostr.Event{Content: content, Tags: nostr.Tags{}}
+		evt.Sign(nostr.MustSecretKeyFromHex("0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001"))
 
-		bb.SaveEvent(ctx, evt)
-		bl.SaveEvent(ctx, evt)
+		bb.SaveEvent(evt)
+		bl.SaveEvent(evt)
 
 		if i%2 == 0 {
 			willDelete = append(willDelete, evt)
@@ -48,33 +45,26 @@ func TestBlugeFlow(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		ch, err := bl.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{Search: "good"})
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("QueryEvents error: %s", err)
-			return
-		}
 		n := 0
-		for range ch {
+		for range bl.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Search: "good"}) {
 			n++
 		}
 		assert.Equal(t, 3, n)
 	}
 
 	for _, evt := range willDelete {
-		bl.DeleteEvent(ctx, evt)
+		bl.DeleteEvent(evt.ID)
 	}
 
 	{
-		ch, err := bl.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{Search: "good"})
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("QueryEvents error: %s", err)
-			return
-		}
 		n := 0
-		for res := range ch {
+		for res := range bl.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Search: "good"}) {
 			n++
 			assert.Equal(t, res.Content, "good night")
-			assert.Equal(t, res.PubKey, "79be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798")
+			assert.Equal(t,
+				nostr.MustPubKeyFromHex("79be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798"),
+				res.PubKey,
+			)
 		}
 		assert.Equal(t, 1, n)
 	}
diff --git a/eventstore/bluge/helpers.go b/eventstore/bluge/helpers.go
index 4468112..726be7a 100644
--- a/eventstore/bluge/helpers.go
+++ b/eventstore/bluge/helpers.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package bluge
 
 import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
 )
 
@@ -20,5 +22,7 @@ func (id eventIdentifier) Field() string {
 }
 
 func (id eventIdentifier) Term() []byte {
-	return id[:]
+	idhex := make([]byte, 64)
+	hex.Encode(idhex, id[:])
+	return idhex
 }
diff --git a/eventstore/bluge/query.go b/eventstore/bluge/query.go
index 23c5175..59c6f6a 100644
--- a/eventstore/bluge/query.go
+++ b/eventstore/bluge/query.go
@@ -90,8 +90,11 @@ func (b *BlugeBackend) QueryEvents(filter nostr.Filter) iter.Seq[nostr.Event] {
 		var next *search.DocumentMatch
 		for next, err = dmi.Next(); next != nil; next, err = dmi.Next() {
 			next.VisitStoredFields(func(field string, value []byte) bool {
-				for evt := range b.RawEventStore.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{IDs: []nostr.ID{nostr.ID(value)}}) {
-					yield(evt)
+				id, err := nostr.IDFromHex(string(value))
+				if err == nil {
+					for evt := range b.RawEventStore.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{IDs: []nostr.ID{id}}) {
+						yield(evt)
+					}
 				}
 				return false
 			})
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/count.go b/eventstore/lmdb/count.go
index 2aec237..d50d3c6 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/count.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/count.go
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"slices"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/codec/betterbinary"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/nip45"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/nip45/hyperloglog"
 	"github.com/PowerDNS/lmdb-go/lmdb"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 func (b *LMDBBackend) CountEvents(filter nostr.Filter) (uint32, error) {
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/delete.go b/eventstore/lmdb/delete.go
index 3d85de3..c3bb348 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/delete.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/delete.go
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) delete(txn *lmdb.Txn, id nostr.ID) error {
 	for k := range b.getIndexKeysForEvent(evt) {
 		err := txn.Del(k.dbi, k.key, idx)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete index entry %s for %x: %w", b.keyName(k), evt.ID[0:8*2], err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete index entry %s for %x: %w", b.keyName(k), evt.ID[0:8], err)
 		}
 	}
 
 	// delete the raw event
 	if err := txn.Del(b.rawEventStore, idx, nil); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete raw event %x (idx %x): %w", evt.ID[0:8*2], idx, err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete raw event %x (idx %x): %w", evt.ID[0:8], idx, err)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/fuzz_test.go b/eventstore/lmdb/fuzz_test.go
index 6be5120..9c484e0 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/fuzz_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/fuzz_test.go
@@ -2,24 +2,19 @@ package lmdb
 
 import (
 	"cmp"
-	"context"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"slices"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/PowerDNS/lmdb-go/lmdb"
-	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"github.com/PowerDNS/lmdb-go/lmdb"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
-	ctx := context.Background()
-
 	f.Add(uint(200), uint(50), uint(13), uint(2), uint(2), uint(0), uint(1))
 	f.Fuzz(func(t *testing.T, total, limit, authors, timestampAuthorFactor, seedFactor, kinds, kindFactor uint) {
 		total++
@@ -51,41 +46,41 @@ func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
 		// ~ start actual test
 
 		filter := nostr.Filter{
-			Authors: make([]string, authors),
+			Authors: make([]nostr.PubKey, authors),
 			Limit:   int(limit),
 		}
-		maxKind := 1
+		var maxKind uint16 = 1
 		if kinds > 0 {
-			filter.Kinds = make([]int, kinds)
+			filter.Kinds = make([]uint16, kinds)
 			for i := range filter.Kinds {
-				filter.Kinds[i] = int(kindFactor) * i
+				filter.Kinds[i] = uint16(int(kindFactor) * i)
 			}
 			maxKind = filter.Kinds[len(filter.Kinds)-1]
 		}
 
 		for i := 0; i < int(authors); i++ {
-			sk := make([]byte, 32)
-			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk, uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor))+1)
-			pk, _ := nostr.GetPublicKey(hex.EncodeToString(sk))
+			var sk nostr.SecretKey
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk[:], uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor))+1)
+			pk := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk)
 			filter.Authors[i] = pk
 		}
 
-		expected := make([]*nostr.Event, 0, total)
+		expected := make([]nostr.Event, 0, total)
 		for i := 0; i < int(total); i++ {
 			skseed := uint32(i%int(authors*seedFactor)) + 1
-			sk := make([]byte, 32)
-			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk, skseed)
+			sk := nostr.SecretKey{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(sk[:], skseed)
 
-			evt := &nostr.Event{
+			evt := nostr.Event{
 				CreatedAt: nostr.Timestamp(skseed)*nostr.Timestamp(timestampAuthorFactor) + nostr.Timestamp(i),
 				Content:   fmt.Sprintf("unbalanced %d", i),
 				Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
-				Kind:      i % maxKind,
+				Kind:      uint16(i) % maxKind,
 			}
-			err := evt.Sign(hex.EncodeToString(sk))
+			err := evt.Sign(sk)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
-			err = db.SaveEvent(ctx, evt)
+			err = db.SaveEvent(evt)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			if filter.Matches(evt) {
@@ -93,25 +88,21 @@ func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		slices.SortFunc(expected, nostr.CompareEventPtrReverse)
+		slices.SortFunc(expected, nostr.CompareEventReverse)
 		if len(expected) > int(limit) {
 			expected = expected[0:limit]
 		}
 
-		w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
-
 		start := time.Now()
 
-		res, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, filter)
+		res := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(filter))
 		end := time.Now()
 
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Equal(t, len(expected), len(res), "number of results is different than expected")
-
 		require.Less(t, end.Sub(start).Milliseconds(), int64(1500), "query took too long")
 		nresults := len(expected)
 
-		getTimestamps := func(events []*nostr.Event) []nostr.Timestamp {
+		getTimestamps := func(events []nostr.Event) []nostr.Timestamp {
 			res := make([]nostr.Timestamp, len(events))
 			for i, evt := range events {
 				res[i] = evt.CreatedAt
@@ -132,6 +123,6 @@ func FuzzQuery(f *testing.F) {
 			require.True(t, filter.Matches(evt), "event %s doesn't match filter %s", evt, filter)
 		}
 
-		require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, func(a, b *nostr.Event) int { return cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt) }), "results are not sorted")
+		require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, func(a, b nostr.Event) int { return cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt) }), "results are not sorted")
 	})
 }
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/helpers.go b/eventstore/lmdb/helpers.go
index 2147f49..b9988f2 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/helpers.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/helpers.go
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"iter"
+	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
 	"github.com/PowerDNS/lmdb-go/lmdb"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 // this iterator always goes backwards
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) getIndexKeysForEvent(evt nostr.Event) iter.Seq[key] {
 		{
 			// ~ by pubkey+date
 			k := make([]byte, 8+4)
-			hex.Decode(k[0:8], []byte(evt.PubKey[0:8*2]))
+			copy(k[0:8], evt.PubKey[0:8])
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(k[8:8+4], uint32(evt.CreatedAt))
 			if !yield(key{dbi: b.indexPubkey, key: k[0 : 8+4]}) {
 				return
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) getIndexKeysForEvent(evt nostr.Event) iter.Seq[key] {
 		{
 			// ~ by pubkey+kind+date
 			k := make([]byte, 8+2+4)
-			hex.Decode(k[0:8], []byte(evt.PubKey[0:8*2]))
+			copy(k[0:8], evt.PubKey[0:8])
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(k[8:8+2], uint16(evt.Kind))
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(k[8+2:8+2+4], uint32(evt.CreatedAt))
 			if !yield(key{dbi: b.indexPubkeyKind, key: k[0 : 8+2+4]}) {
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/query.go b/eventstore/lmdb/query.go
index 8bab417..e5eda72 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/query.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/query.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) query(txn *lmdb.Txn, filter nostr.Filter, limit int) ([]in
 		results[q] = make([]internal.IterEvent, 0, batchSizePerQuery*2)
 	}
 
-	// fmt.Println("queries", len(queries))
+	// fmt.Println("queries", filter, len(queries))
 
 	for c := 0; ; c++ {
 		batchSizePerQuery = internal.BatchSizePerNumberOfQueries(limit, remainingUnexhausted)
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) query(txn *lmdb.Txn, filter nostr.Filter, limit int) ([]in
 			if oldest.Q == q && remainingUnexhausted > 1 {
 				continue
 			}
-			// fmt.Println("    query", q, unsafe.Pointer(&results[q]), hex.EncodeToString(query.prefix), len(results[q]))
+			// fmt.Println("    query", q, unsafe.Pointer(&results[q]), b.dbiName(query.dbi), hex.EncodeToString(query.prefix), len(results[q]))
 
 			it := iterators[q]
 			pulledThisIteration := 0
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/query_planner.go b/eventstore/lmdb/query_planner.go
index 4f4e7b9..a6ac57f 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/query_planner.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/query_planner.go
@@ -53,14 +53,9 @@ func (b *LMDBBackend) prepareQueries(filter nostr.Filter) (
 	if filter.IDs != nil {
 		// when there are ids we ignore everything else
 		queries = make([]query, len(filter.IDs))
-		for i, idHex := range filter.IDs {
-			if len(idHex) != 64 {
-				return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid id '%s'", idHex)
-			}
+		for i, id := range filter.IDs {
 			prefix := make([]byte, 8)
-			if _, err := hex.Decode(prefix[0:8], []byte(idHex[0:8*2])); err != nil {
-				return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid id '%s'", idHex)
-			}
+			copy(prefix[0:8], id[0:8])
 			queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: b.indexId, prefix: prefix[0:8], keySize: 8, timestampSize: 0}
 		}
 		return queries, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, nil
@@ -161,29 +156,17 @@ pubkeyMatching:
 		if len(filter.Kinds) == 0 {
 			// will use pubkey index
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors))
-			for i, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
-				if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-					return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-				}
-				prefix := make([]byte, 8)
-				if _, err := hex.Decode(prefix[0:8], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2])); err != nil {
-					return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-				}
-				queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: b.indexPubkey, prefix: prefix[0:8], keySize: 8 + 4, timestampSize: 4}
+			for i, pk := range filter.Authors {
+				queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: b.indexPubkey, prefix: pk[0:8], keySize: 8 + 4, timestampSize: 4}
 			}
 		} else {
 			// will use pubkeyKind index
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors)*len(filter.Kinds))
 			i := 0
-			for _, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
+			for _, pk := range filter.Authors {
 				for _, kind := range filter.Kinds {
-					if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-						return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-					}
 					prefix := make([]byte, 8+2)
-					if _, err := hex.Decode(prefix[0:8], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2])); err != nil {
-						return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-					}
+					copy(prefix[0:8], pk[0:8])
 					binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(prefix[8:8+2], uint16(kind))
 					queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: b.indexPubkeyKind, prefix: prefix[0 : 8+2], keySize: 10 + 4, timestampSize: 4}
 					i++
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/replace.go b/eventstore/lmdb/replace.go
index daba48e..5407a38 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/replace.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/replace.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 func (b *LMDBBackend) ReplaceEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 	// sanity checking
 	if evt.CreatedAt > math.MaxUint32 || evt.Kind > math.MaxUint16 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("event with values out of expected boundaries")
+		return fmt.Errorf("event with values out of expected boundaries %d/%d", evt.CreatedAt, evt.Kind)
 	}
 
 	return b.lmdbEnv.Update(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
diff --git a/eventstore/lmdb/save.go b/eventstore/lmdb/save.go
index 0d06ccd..fa6a646 100644
--- a/eventstore/lmdb/save.go
+++ b/eventstore/lmdb/save.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 func (b *LMDBBackend) SaveEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 	// sanity checking
 	if evt.CreatedAt > math.MaxUint32 || evt.Kind > math.MaxUint16 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("event with values out of expected boundaries")
+		return fmt.Errorf("event with values out of expected boundaries %d/%d", evt.CreatedAt, evt.Kind)
 	}
 
 	return b.lmdbEnv.Update(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/fuzz_test.go b/eventstore/mmm/fuzz_test.go
index 982a136..fb10746 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/fuzz_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/fuzz_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package mmm
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"iter"
 	"math/rand/v2"
 	"os"
 	"slices"
@@ -47,11 +47,10 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 		}
 
 		// create test events
-		ctx := context.Background()
-		sk := "945e01e37662430162121b804d3645a86d97df9d256917d86735d0eb219393eb"
-		storedIds := make([]string, nevents)
-		nTags := make(map[string]int)
-		storedByLayer := make(map[string][]string)
+		sk := nostr.MustSecretKeyFromHex("945e01e37662430162121b804d3645a86d97df9d256917d86735d0eb219393eb")
+		storedIds := make([]nostr.ID, nevents)
+		nTags := make(map[nostr.ID]int)
+		storedByLayer := make(map[string][]nostr.ID)
 
 		// create n events with random combinations of tags
 		for i := 0; i < int(nevents); i++ {
@@ -68,9 +67,9 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 				}
 			}
 
-			evt := &nostr.Event{
+			evt := nostr.Event{
 				CreatedAt: nostr.Timestamp(i),
-				Kind:      i, // hack to query by serial id
+				Kind:      uint16(i), // hack to query by serial id
 				Tags:      tags,
 				Content:   fmt.Sprintf("test content %d", i),
 			}
@@ -78,23 +77,20 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 
 			for _, layer := range mmm.layers {
 				if evt.Tags.FindWithValue("t", layer.name) != nil {
-					err := layer.SaveEvent(ctx, evt)
+					err := layer.SaveEvent(evt)
 					require.NoError(t, err)
 					storedByLayer[layer.name] = append(storedByLayer[layer.name], evt.ID)
 				}
 			}
 
-			storedIds = append(storedIds, evt.ID)
+			storedIds[i] = evt.ID
 			nTags[evt.ID] = len(evt.Tags)
 		}
 
 		// verify each layer has the correct events
 		for _, layer := range mmm.layers {
-			results, err := layer.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-
 			count := 0
-			for evt := range results {
+			for evt := range layer.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{}) {
 				require.True(t, evt.Tags.ContainsAny("t", []string{layer.name}))
 				count++
 			}
@@ -102,7 +98,7 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 		}
 
 		// randomly select n events to delete from random layers
-		deleted := make(map[string][]*IndexingLayer)
+		deleted := make(map[nostr.ID][]*IndexingLayer)
 
 		for range ndeletes {
 			id := storedIds[rnd.Int()%len(storedIds)]
@@ -117,7 +113,7 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 				require.Contains(t, layers, layer)
 
 				// delete now
-				layer.DeleteEvent(ctx, evt)
+				layer.DeleteEvent(evt.ID)
 				deleted[id] = append(deleted[id], layer)
 			} else {
 				// was never saved to this in the first place
@@ -152,16 +148,16 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 				for _, layer := range mmm.layers {
 					// verify event still accessible from other layers
 					if slices.Contains(foundlayers, layer) {
-						ch, err := layer.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []int{evt.Kind}}) // hack
-						require.NoError(t, err)
-						fetched := <-ch
-						require.NotNil(t, fetched)
+						next, stop := iter.Pull(layer.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{evt.Kind}})) // hack
+						_, fetched := next()
+						require.True(t, fetched)
+						stop()
 					} else {
 						// and not accessible from this layer we just deleted
-						ch, err := layer.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []int{evt.Kind}}) // hack
-						require.NoError(t, err)
-						fetched := <-ch
-						require.Nil(t, fetched)
+						next, stop := iter.Pull(layer.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{evt.Kind}})) // hack
+						_, fetched := next()
+						require.True(t, fetched)
+						stop()
 					}
 				}
 			}
@@ -169,11 +165,8 @@ func FuzzTest(f *testing.F) {
 
 		// now delete a layer and events that only exist in that layer should vanish
 		layer := mmm.layers[rnd.Int()%len(mmm.layers)]
-		ch, err := layer.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		eventsThatShouldVanish := make([]string, 0, nevents/2)
-		for evt := range ch {
+		eventsThatShouldVanish := make([]nostr.ID, 0, nevents/2)
+		for evt := range layer.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{}) {
 			if len(evt.Tags) == 1+len(deleted[evt.ID]) {
 				eventsThatShouldVanish = append(eventsThatShouldVanish, evt.ID)
 			}
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/helpers.go b/eventstore/mmm/helpers.go
index d0b136c..5c10894 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/helpers.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/helpers.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func (il *IndexingLayer) getIndexKeysForEvent(evt nostr.Event) iter.Seq[key] {
 		{
 			// ~ by pubkey+date
 			k := make([]byte, 8+4)
-			hex.Decode(k[0:8], []byte(evt.PubKey[0:8*2]))
+			copy(k[0:8], evt.PubKey[0:8])
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(k[8:8+4], uint32(evt.CreatedAt))
 			if !yield(key{dbi: il.indexPubkey, key: k[0 : 8+4]}) {
 				return
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (il *IndexingLayer) getIndexKeysForEvent(evt nostr.Event) iter.Seq[key] {
 		{
 			// ~ by pubkey+kind+date
 			k := make([]byte, 8+2+4)
-			hex.Decode(k[0:8], []byte(evt.PubKey[0:8*2]))
+			copy(k[0:8], evt.PubKey[0:8])
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(k[8:8+2], uint16(evt.Kind))
 			binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(k[8+2:8+2+4], uint32(evt.CreatedAt))
 			if !yield(key{dbi: il.indexPubkeyKind, key: k[0 : 8+2+4]}) {
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/mmmm_test.go b/eventstore/mmm/mmmm_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index bf116c6..0000000
--- a/eventstore/mmm/mmmm_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,386 +0,0 @@
-package mmm
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"encoding/hex"
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/PowerDNS/lmdb-go/lmdb"
-	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
-	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-)
-
-func TestMultiLayerIndexing(t *testing.T) {
-	// Create a temporary directory for the test
-	tmpDir := "/tmp/eventstore-mmm-test"
-	os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
-
-	logger := zerolog.New(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
-
-	// initialize MMM with three layers:
-	// 1. odd timestamps layer
-	// 2. even timestamps layer
-	// 3. all events layer
-	mmm := &MultiMmapManager{
-		Dir:    tmpDir,
-		Logger: &logger,
-	}
-
-	err := mmm.Init()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	defer mmm.Close()
-
-	// create layers
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("odd", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit: 100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool {
-			return evt.CreatedAt%2 == 1
-		},
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("even", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit: 100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool {
-			return evt.CreatedAt%2 == 0
-		},
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("all", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit: 100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool {
-			return true
-		},
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// create test events
-	ctx := context.Background()
-	baseTime := nostr.Timestamp(0)
-	sk := "945e01e37662430162121b804d3645a86d97df9d256917d86735d0eb219393eb"
-	events := make([]*nostr.Event, 10)
-	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
-		evt := &nostr.Event{
-			CreatedAt: baseTime + nostr.Timestamp(i),
-			Kind:      1,
-			Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
-			Content:   "test content",
-		}
-		evt.Sign(sk)
-		events[i] = evt
-		stored, err := mmm.StoreGlobal(ctx, evt)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		require.True(t, stored)
-	}
-
-	{
-		// query odd layer
-		oddResults, err := mmm.layers[0].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		oddCount := 0
-		for evt := range oddResults {
-			require.Equal(t, evt.CreatedAt%2, nostr.Timestamp(1))
-			oddCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 5, oddCount)
-	}
-
-	{
-		// query even layer
-		evenResults, err := mmm.layers[1].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		evenCount := 0
-		for evt := range evenResults {
-			require.Equal(t, evt.CreatedAt%2, nostr.Timestamp(0))
-			evenCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 5, evenCount)
-	}
-
-	{
-		// query all layer
-		allResults, err := mmm.layers[2].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		allCount := 0
-		for range allResults {
-			allCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 10, allCount)
-	}
-
-	// delete some events
-	err = mmm.layers[0].DeleteEvent(ctx, events[1]) // odd timestamp
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.layers[1].DeleteEvent(ctx, events[2]) // even timestamp
-
-	// verify deletions
-	{
-		oddResults, err := mmm.layers[0].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		oddCount := 0
-		for range oddResults {
-			oddCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 4, oddCount)
-	}
-
-	{
-		evenResults, err := mmm.layers[1].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		evenCount := 0
-		for range evenResults {
-			evenCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 4, evenCount)
-	}
-
-	{
-		allResults, err := mmm.layers[2].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		allCount := 0
-		for range allResults {
-			allCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 10, allCount)
-	}
-
-	// save events directly to layers regardless of timestamp
-	{
-		oddEvent := &nostr.Event{
-			CreatedAt: baseTime + 100, // even timestamp
-			Kind:      1,
-			Content:   "forced odd",
-		}
-		oddEvent.Sign(sk)
-		err = mmm.layers[0].SaveEvent(ctx, oddEvent) // save even timestamp to odd layer
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		// it is added to the odd il
-		oddResults, err := mmm.layers[0].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		oddCount := 0
-		for range oddResults {
-			oddCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 5, oddCount)
-
-		// it doesn't affect the event il
-		evenResults, err := mmm.layers[1].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{1},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		evenCount := 0
-		for range evenResults {
-			evenCount++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 4, evenCount)
-	}
-
-	// test replaceable events
-	for _, layer := range mmm.layers {
-		replaceable := &nostr.Event{
-			CreatedAt: baseTime + 0,
-			Kind:      0,
-			Content:   fmt.Sprintf("first"),
-		}
-		replaceable.Sign(sk)
-		err := layer.ReplaceEvent(ctx, replaceable)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-	}
-
-	// replace events alternating between layers
-	for i := range mmm.layers {
-		content := fmt.Sprintf("last %d", i)
-
-		newEvt := &nostr.Event{
-			CreatedAt: baseTime + 1000,
-			Kind:      0,
-			Content:   content,
-		}
-		newEvt.Sign(sk)
-
-		layer := mmm.layers[i]
-		err = layer.ReplaceEvent(ctx, newEvt)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		// verify replacement in the layer that did it
-		results, err := layer.QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-			Kinds: []int{0},
-		})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
-		count := 0
-		for evt := range results {
-			require.Equal(t, content, evt.Content)
-			count++
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 1, count)
-
-		// verify other layers still have the old version
-		for j := 0; j < 3; j++ {
-			if mmm.layers[j] == layer {
-				continue
-			}
-			results, err := mmm.layers[j].QueryEvents(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-				Kinds: []int{0},
-			})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-
-			count := 0
-			for evt := range results {
-				if i < j {
-					require.Equal(t, "first", evt.Content)
-				} else {
-					require.Equal(t, evt.Content, fmt.Sprintf("last %d", j))
-				}
-				count++
-			}
-
-			require.Equal(t, 1, count, "%d/%d", i, j)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestLayerReferenceTracking(t *testing.T) {
-	// Create a temporary directory for the test
-	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "mmm-test-*")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
-
-	logger := zerolog.New(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
-
-	// initialize MMM with three layers
-	mmm := &MultiMmapManager{
-		Dir:    tmpDir,
-		Logger: &logger,
-	}
-
-	err = mmm.Init()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	defer mmm.Close()
-
-	// create three layers
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("layer1", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit:    100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool { return true },
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("layer2", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit:    100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool { return true },
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("layer3", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit:    100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool { return true },
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = mmm.EnsureLayer("layer4", &IndexingLayer{
-		MaxLimit:    100,
-		ShouldIndex: func(ctx context.Context, evt *nostr.Event) bool { return true },
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// create test events
-	ctx := context.Background()
-	sk := "945e01e37662430162121b804d3645a86d97df9d256917d86735d0eb219393eb"
-	evt1 := &nostr.Event{
-		CreatedAt: 1000,
-		Kind:      1,
-		Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
-		Content:   "event 1",
-	}
-	evt1.Sign(sk)
-
-	evt2 := &nostr.Event{
-		CreatedAt: 2000,
-		Kind:      1,
-		Tags:      nostr.Tags{},
-		Content:   "event 2",
-	}
-	evt2.Sign(sk)
-
-	// save evt1 to layer1
-	err = mmm.layers[0].SaveEvent(ctx, evt1)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// save evt1 to layer2
-	err = mmm.layers[1].SaveEvent(ctx, evt1)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// save evt1 to layer4
-	err = mmm.layers[0].SaveEvent(ctx, evt1)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// delete evt1 from layer1
-	err = mmm.layers[0].DeleteEvent(ctx, evt1)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// save evt2 to layer3
-	err = mmm.layers[2].SaveEvent(ctx, evt2)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// save evt2 to layer4
-	err = mmm.layers[3].SaveEvent(ctx, evt2)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// save evt2 to layer3 again
-	err = mmm.layers[2].SaveEvent(ctx, evt2)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// delete evt1 from layer4
-	err = mmm.layers[3].DeleteEvent(ctx, evt1)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// verify the state of the indexId database
-	err = mmm.lmdbEnv.View(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
-		cursor, err := txn.OpenCursor(mmm.indexId)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		defer cursor.Close()
-
-		count := 0
-		for k, v, err := cursor.Get(nil, nil, lmdb.First); err == nil; k, v, err = cursor.Get(nil, nil, lmdb.Next) {
-			count++
-			if hex.EncodeToString(k) == evt1.ID[:16] {
-				// evt1 should only reference layer2
-				require.Equal(t, 14, len(v), "evt1 should have one layer reference")
-				layerRef := binary.BigEndian.Uint16(v[12:14])
-				require.Equal(t, mmm.layers[1].id, layerRef, "evt1 should reference layer2")
-			} else if hex.EncodeToString(k) == evt2.ID[:16] {
-				// evt2 should references to layer3 and layer4
-				require.Equal(t, 16, len(v), "evt2 should have two layer references")
-				layer3Ref := binary.BigEndian.Uint16(v[12:14])
-				require.Equal(t, mmm.layers[2].id, layer3Ref, "evt2 should reference layer3")
-				layer4Ref := binary.BigEndian.Uint16(v[14:16])
-				require.Equal(t, mmm.layers[3].id, layer4Ref, "evt2 should reference layer4")
-			} else {
-				t.Errorf("unexpected event in indexId: %x", k)
-			}
-		}
-		require.Equal(t, 2, count, "should have exactly two events in indexId")
-		return nil
-	})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/query_planner.go b/eventstore/mmm/query_planner.go
index 34f3c6f..f792460 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/query_planner.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/query_planner.go
@@ -145,29 +145,19 @@ pubkeyMatching:
 		if len(filter.Kinds) == 0 {
 			// will use pubkey index
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors))
-			for i, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
-				if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-					return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-				}
+			for i, pk := range filter.Authors {
 				prefix := make([]byte, 8)
-				if _, err := hex.Decode(prefix[0:8], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2])); err != nil {
-					return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-				}
+				copy(prefix[0:8], pk[0:8])
 				queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: il.indexPubkey, prefix: prefix[0:8], keySize: 8 + 4, timestampSize: 4}
 			}
 		} else {
 			// will use pubkeyKind index
 			queries = make([]query, len(filter.Authors)*len(filter.Kinds))
 			i := 0
-			for _, pubkeyHex := range filter.Authors {
+			for _, pk := range filter.Authors {
 				for _, kind := range filter.Kinds {
-					if len(pubkeyHex) != 64 {
-						return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-					}
 					prefix := make([]byte, 8+2)
-					if _, err := hex.Decode(prefix[0:8], []byte(pubkeyHex[0:8*2])); err != nil {
-						return nil, nil, nil, "", nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid author '%s'", pubkeyHex)
-					}
+					copy(prefix[0:8], pk[0:8])
 					binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(prefix[8:8+2], uint16(kind))
 					queries[i] = query{i: i, dbi: il.indexPubkeyKind, prefix: prefix[0 : 8+2], keySize: 10 + 4, timestampSize: 4}
 					i++
diff --git a/eventstore/slicestore/lib.go b/eventstore/slicestore/lib.go
index 45d7222..a0b5adc 100644
--- a/eventstore/slicestore/lib.go
+++ b/eventstore/slicestore/lib.go
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ import (
 	"cmp"
 	"fmt"
 	"iter"
+	"slices"
 	"sync"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore"
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/internal"
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 var _ eventstore.Store = (*SliceStore)(nil)
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ func (b *SliceStore) CountEvents(filter nostr.Filter) (uint32, error) {
 }
 
 func (b *SliceStore) SaveEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
+	b.Lock()
+	defer b.Unlock()
+
+	return b.save(evt)
+}
+
+func (b *SliceStore) save(evt nostr.Event) error {
 	idx, found := slices.BinarySearchFunc(b.internal, evt, eventComparator)
 	if found {
 		return eventstore.ErrDupEvent
@@ -93,8 +100,22 @@ func (b *SliceStore) SaveEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 }
 
 func (b *SliceStore) DeleteEvent(id nostr.ID) error {
-	idx, found := slices.BinarySearchFunc(b.internal, id, eventIDComparator)
-	if !found {
+	b.Lock()
+	defer b.Unlock()
+
+	return b.delete(id)
+}
+
+func (b *SliceStore) delete(id nostr.ID) error {
+	var idx int = -1
+	for i, event := range b.internal {
+		if event.ID == id {
+			idx = i
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	if idx == -1 {
 		// we don't have this event
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -117,7 +138,7 @@ func (b *SliceStore) ReplaceEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 	shouldStore := true
 	for previous := range b.QueryEvents(filter) {
 		if internal.IsOlder(previous, evt) {
-			if err := b.DeleteEvent(previous.ID); err != nil {
+			if err := b.delete(previous.ID); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete event for replacing: %w", err)
 			}
 		} else {
@@ -126,7 +147,7 @@ func (b *SliceStore) ReplaceEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 	}
 
 	if shouldStore {
-		if err := b.SaveEvent(evt); err != nil && err != eventstore.ErrDupEvent {
+		if err := b.save(evt); err != nil && err != eventstore.ErrDupEvent {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to save: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -135,17 +156,13 @@ func (b *SliceStore) ReplaceEvent(evt nostr.Event) error {
 }
 
 func eventTimestampComparator(e nostr.Event, t nostr.Timestamp) int {
-	return int(t) - int(e.CreatedAt)
-}
-
-func eventIDComparator(e nostr.Event, i nostr.ID) int {
-	return bytes.Compare(i[:], e.ID[:])
+	return cmp.Compare(t, e.CreatedAt)
 }
 
 func eventComparator(a nostr.Event, b nostr.Event) int {
-	c := cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt)
-	if c != 0 {
-		return c
+	v := cmp.Compare(b.CreatedAt, a.CreatedAt)
+	if v == 0 {
+		v = bytes.Compare(b.ID[:], a.ID[:])
 	}
-	return bytes.Compare(b.ID[:], a.ID[:])
+	return v
 }
diff --git a/eventstore/slicestore/slicestore_test.go b/eventstore/slicestore/slicestore_test.go
index d89741d..4e0eaf2 100644
--- a/eventstore/slicestore/slicestore_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/slicestore/slicestore_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func TestBasicStuff(t *testing.T) {
@@ -20,17 +21,17 @@ func TestBasicStuff(t *testing.T) {
 		if i%3 == 0 {
 			kind = 12
 		}
-		ss.SaveEvent(nostr.Event{CreatedAt: nostr.Timestamp(v), Kind: uint16(kind)})
+		evt := nostr.Event{CreatedAt: nostr.Timestamp(v), Kind: uint16(kind)}
+		evt.Sign(nostr.Generate())
+		ss.SaveEvent(evt)
 	}
 
 	list := make([]nostr.Event, 0, 20)
 	for event := range ss.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{}) {
 		list = append(list, event)
 	}
+	require.Len(t, list, 20)
 
-	if len(list) != 20 {
-		t.Fatalf("failed to load 20 events")
-	}
 	if list[0].CreatedAt != 10018 || list[1].CreatedAt != 10016 || list[18].CreatedAt != 3 || list[19].CreatedAt != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("order is incorrect")
 	}
@@ -49,7 +50,5 @@ func TestBasicStuff(t *testing.T) {
 	for event := range ss.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Since: &since}) {
 		list = append(list, event)
 	}
-	if len(list) != 5 {
-		t.Fatalf("should have gotten 5, not %d", len(list))
-	}
+	require.Len(t, list, 5)
 }
diff --git a/eventstore/test/first_test.go b/eventstore/test/first_test.go
index 1240a75..84eebd5 100644
--- a/eventstore/test/first_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/test/first_test.go
@@ -43,10 +43,8 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	// query
-	w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{}))
 		require.Len(t, results, len(allEvents))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			allEvents,
@@ -57,8 +55,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	{
 		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
 			since := nostr.Timestamp(i*10 + 1)
-			results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Since: &since})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Since: &since}))
 			require.ElementsMatch(t,
 				allEvents[i:],
 				results,
@@ -67,8 +64,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{IDs: []nostr.ID{allEvents[7].ID, allEvents[9].ID}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{IDs: []nostr.ID{allEvents[7].ID, allEvents[9].ID}}))
 		require.Len(t, results, 2)
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[7], allEvents[9]},
@@ -77,8 +73,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{1}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{1}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[1], allEvents[3], allEvents[5], allEvents[7], allEvents[9]},
 			results,
@@ -86,8 +81,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[0], allEvents[2], allEvents[4], allEvents[6], allEvents[8]},
 			results,
@@ -96,8 +90,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 
 	{
 		pk4 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk4)
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk4}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk4}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[0], allEvents[3], allEvents[6], allEvents[9]},
 			results,
@@ -106,8 +99,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 
 	{
 		pk3 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk3)
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9}, Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk3}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9}, Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk3}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[2], allEvents[4], allEvents[8]},
 			results,
@@ -117,9 +109,8 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	{
 		pk3 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk3)
 		pk4 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk4)
-		pk4[1] = 'a'
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9, 5, 7}, Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk3, pk4}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		pk4[1] = 9 // this is so it doesn't match
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Kinds: []uint16{9, 5, 7}, Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk3, pk4}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[0], allEvents[2], allEvents[4], allEvents[6], allEvents[8]},
 			results,
@@ -127,8 +118,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"t": []string{"2", "4", "6"}}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"t": []string{"2", "4", "6"}}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[2], allEvents[4], allEvents[6]},
 			results,
@@ -141,8 +131,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 
 	// query again
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			slices.Concat(allEvents[0:4], allEvents[6:]),
 			results,
@@ -150,8 +139,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"t": []string{"2", "6"}}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"t": []string{"2", "6"}}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[2], allEvents[6]},
 			results,
@@ -159,8 +147,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 
 	{
-		results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"e": []string{allEvents[3].Tags[1][1]}}})
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"e": []string{allEvents[3].Tags[1][1]}}}))
 		require.ElementsMatch(t,
 			[]nostr.Event{allEvents[3]},
 			results,
@@ -170,8 +157,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	{
 		for i := 0; i < 4; i++ {
 			until := nostr.Timestamp(i*10 + 1)
-			results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{Until: &until})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Until: &until}))
 
 			require.ElementsMatch(t,
 				allEvents[:i],
@@ -203,12 +189,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 		}
 
 		{
-			results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-				Tags:  nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p}},
-				Kinds: []uint16{1984},
-				Limit: 2,
-			})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p}}, Kinds: []uint16{1984}, Limit: 2}))
 			require.ElementsMatch(t,
 				[]nostr.Event{newEvents[2], newEvents[1]},
 				results,
@@ -216,11 +197,7 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 		}
 
 		{
-			results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-				Tags:  nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p}, "t": []string{"x"}},
-				Limit: 4,
-			})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p}, "t": []string{"x"}}, Limit: 4}))
 			require.ElementsMatch(t,
 				// the results won't be in canonical time order because this query is too awful, needs a kind
 				[]nostr.Event{newEvents[1]},
@@ -229,18 +206,12 @@ func runFirstTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 		}
 
 		{
-			results, err := w.QuerySync(ctx, nostr.Filter{
-				Tags:  nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p, p2}},
-				Kinds: []uint16{1},
-				Limit: 4,
-			})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-
+			results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(nostr.Filter{Tags: nostr.TagMap{"p": []string{p, p2}}, Kinds: []uint16{1}, Limit: 4}))
 			for _, idx := range []int{5, 6, 7} {
 				require.True(t,
 					slices.ContainsFunc(
 						results,
-						func(evt *nostr.Event) bool { return evt.ID == newEvents[idx].ID },
+						func(evt nostr.Event) bool { return evt.ID == newEvents[idx].ID },
 					),
 					"'p' tag 3 query error")
 			}
diff --git a/eventstore/test/manyauthors_test.go b/eventstore/test/manyauthors_test.go
index d543732..cb84cb2 100644
--- a/eventstore/test/manyauthors_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/test/manyauthors_test.go
@@ -53,10 +53,7 @@ func manyAuthorsTest(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
-
-	res := slices.Collect(w.QueryEvents(bigfilter))
-
+	res := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(bigfilter))
 	require.Len(t, res, limit)
 	require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, nostr.CompareEventReverse))
 	slices.SortFunc(ordered, nostr.CompareEventReverse)
diff --git a/eventstore/test/second_test.go b/eventstore/test/second_test.go
index df73e99..d5c824a 100644
--- a/eventstore/test/second_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/test/second_test.go
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ func runSecondTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 	}
 
-	w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
 	pk3 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk3)
 	pk4 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk4)
 	eTags := make([]string, 20)
@@ -69,12 +68,9 @@ func runSecondTestOn(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 
 	t.Run("filter", func(t *testing.T) {
 		for q, filter := range filters {
-			q := q
-			filter := filter
 			label := fmt.Sprintf("filter %d: %s", q, filter)
-
 			t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("q-%d", q), func(t *testing.T) {
-				results := slices.Collect(w.QueryEvents(filter))
+				results := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(filter))
 				require.NotEmpty(t, results, label)
 			})
 		}
diff --git a/eventstore/test/unbalanced_test.go b/eventstore/test/unbalanced_test.go
index 55d97a6..3a3ef69 100644
--- a/eventstore/test/unbalanced_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/test/unbalanced_test.go
@@ -60,9 +60,7 @@ func unbalancedTest(t *testing.T, db eventstore.Store) {
 	}
 	require.Len(t, expected, limit)
 
-	w := eventstore.RelayWrapper{Store: db}
-
-	res := slices.Collect(w.QueryEvents(bigfilter))
+	res := slices.Collect(db.QueryEvents(bigfilter))
 
 	require.Equal(t, limit, len(res))
 	require.True(t, slices.IsSortedFunc(res, nostr.CompareEventReverse))
diff --git a/keys.go b/keys.go
index ab8e413..9bc1c16 100644
--- a/keys.go
+++ b/keys.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func Generate() SecretKey {
 
 type SecretKey [32]byte
 
-func (sk SecretKey) String() string { return hex.EncodeToString(sk[:]) }
+func (sk SecretKey) String() string { return "sk::" + sk.Hex() }
 func (sk SecretKey) Hex() string    { return hex.EncodeToString(sk[:]) }
 func (sk SecretKey) Public() PubKey { return GetPublicKey(sk) }
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var ZeroPK = [32]byte{}
 
 type PubKey [32]byte
 
-func (pk PubKey) String() string { return hex.EncodeToString(pk[:]) }
+func (pk PubKey) String() string { return "pk::" + pk.Hex() }
 func (pk PubKey) Hex() string    { return hex.EncodeToString(pk[:]) }
 
 func PubKeyFromHex(pkh string) (PubKey, error) {
diff --git a/khatru/adding.go b/khatru/adding.go
index 43b3f15..74d2b7a 100644
--- a/khatru/adding.go
+++ b/khatru/adding.go
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ func (rl *Relay) handleNormal(ctx context.Context, evt nostr.Event) (skipBroadca
 	} else {
 		// otherwise it's a replaceable
 		if nil != rl.ReplaceEvent {
-			fmt.Print("\nREPLACING .", evt.CreatedAt, "\n\n")
 			if err := rl.ReplaceEvent(ctx, evt); err != nil {
 				switch err {
 				case eventstore.ErrDupEvent:
diff --git a/khatru/relay_fuzz_test.go b/khatru/relay_fuzz_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7963225
--- /dev/null
+++ b/khatru/relay_fuzz_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+package khatru
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"math"
+	"math/rand/v2"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
+	"fiatjaf.com/nostr/eventstore/lmdb"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func FuzzReplaceableEvents(f *testing.F) {
+	f.Add(uint(1), uint(2))
+
+	f.Fuzz(func(t *testing.T, seed uint, nevents uint) {
+		if nevents == 0 {
+			return
+		}
+
+		relay := NewRelay()
+		store := &lmdb.LMDBBackend{Path: "/tmp/fuzz"}
+		store.Init()
+		relay.UseEventstore(store)
+
+		defer store.Close()
+
+		// start test server
+		server := httptest.NewServer(relay)
+		defer server.Close()
+
+		// create test keys
+		sk1 := nostr.Generate()
+		pk1 := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk1)
+
+		// helper to create signed events
+		createEvent := func(sk nostr.SecretKey, kind uint16, content string, tags nostr.Tags) nostr.Event {
+			pk := nostr.GetPublicKey(sk)
+			evt := nostr.Event{
+				PubKey:    pk,
+				CreatedAt: nostr.Now(),
+				Kind:      kind,
+				Tags:      tags,
+				Content:   content,
+			}
+			evt.Sign(sk)
+			return evt
+		}
+
+		url := "ws" + server.URL[4:]
+		client1, err := nostr.RelayConnect(context.Background(), url, nostr.RelayOptions{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Skip("failed to connect client1")
+		}
+		defer client1.Close()
+
+		client2, err := nostr.RelayConnect(context.Background(), url, nostr.RelayOptions{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Skip("failed to connect client2")
+		}
+		defer client2.Close()
+
+		t.Run("replaceable events", func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 5*time.Second)
+			defer cancel()
+
+			rnd := rand.New(rand.NewPCG(uint64(seed), 0))
+
+			newest := nostr.Timestamp(0)
+			for range nevents {
+				evt := createEvent(sk1, 0, `{"name":"blblbl"}`, nil)
+				evt.CreatedAt = nostr.Timestamp(rnd.Int64() % math.MaxUint32)
+				evt.Sign(sk1)
+				err = client1.Publish(ctx, evt)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("failed to publish event: %v", err)
+				}
+
+				if evt.CreatedAt > newest {
+					newest = evt.CreatedAt
+				}
+			}
+
+			// query to verify only the newest event exists
+			sub, err := client2.Subscribe(ctx, nostr.Filter{
+				Authors: []nostr.PubKey{pk1},
+				Kinds:   []uint16{0},
+			}, nostr.SubscriptionOptions{})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("failed to subscribe: %v", err)
+			}
+			defer sub.Unsub()
+
+			// should only get one event back (the newest one)
+			var receivedEvents []nostr.Event
+			for {
+				select {
+				case evt := <-sub.Events:
+					receivedEvents = append(receivedEvents, evt)
+				case <-sub.EndOfStoredEvents:
+					require.Len(t, receivedEvents, 1)
+					require.Equal(t, newest, receivedEvents[0].CreatedAt)
+					return
+				case <-ctx.Done():
+					t.Fatal("timeout waiting for events")
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	})
+}
diff --git a/khatru/relay_test.go b/khatru/relay_test.go
index 4cb497a..2dd8830 100644
--- a/khatru/relay_test.go
+++ b/khatru/relay_test.go
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ func TestBasicRelayFunctionality(t *testing.T) {
 				receivedEvents = append(receivedEvents, evt)
 			case <-sub.EndOfStoredEvents:
 				if len(receivedEvents) != 1 {
-					t.Errorf("expected exactly 1 event, got %d", len(receivedEvents))
+					t.Errorf("expected exactly 1 event, got %v", receivedEvents)
 				}
 				if len(receivedEvents) > 0 && receivedEvents[0].Content != `{"name":"newer"}` {
 					t.Errorf("expected newest event content, got %s", receivedEvents[0].Content)
diff --git a/khatru/testdata/fuzz/FuzzReplaceableEvents/00ff79377dab077d b/khatru/testdata/fuzz/FuzzReplaceableEvents/00ff79377dab077d
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59ed458
--- /dev/null
+++ b/khatru/testdata/fuzz/FuzzReplaceableEvents/00ff79377dab077d
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+go test fuzz v1
+uint(25)
+uint(223)
diff --git a/types.go b/types.go
index f2d120f..928add4 100644
--- a/types.go
+++ b/types.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ var ZeroID = [32]byte{}
 // ID represents an event id
 type ID [32]byte
 
-func (id ID) String() string { return hex.EncodeToString(id[:]) }
+func (id ID) String() string { return "id::" + id.Hex() }
 func (id ID) Hex() string    { return hex.EncodeToString(id[:]) }
 
 func IDFromHex(idh string) (ID, error) {