diff --git a/impl/cmd/main.go b/impl/cmd/main.go
index 2c341752..83b6a9c2 100644
--- a/impl/cmd/main.go
+++ b/impl/cmd/main.go
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ func configureLogger(level string) {
 	if level != "" {
 		logLevel, err := logrus.ParseLevel(level)
 		if err != nil {
-			logrus.WithError(err).WithField("level", level).Error("could not parse log level, setting to info")
-			logrus.SetLevel(logrus.InfoLevel)
+			logrus.WithError(err).WithField("level", level).Error("could not parse log level, setting to debug")
+			logrus.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
 		} else {
 			logrus.SetLevel(logLevel)
 		}
diff --git a/impl/config/config.go b/impl/config/config.go
index a95ec23e..e17d5d5e 100644
--- a/impl/config/config.go
+++ b/impl/config/config.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func GetDefaultConfig() Config {
 			CacheSizeLimitMB: 500,
 		},
 		Log: LogConfig{
-			Level: logrus.InfoLevel.String(),
+			Level: logrus.DebugLevel.String(),
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/impl/integrationtest/main.go b/impl/integrationtest/main.go
index bad1df58..5765c773 100644
--- a/impl/integrationtest/main.go
+++ b/impl/integrationtest/main.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	logrus.SetLevel(logrus.InfoLevel)
+	logrus.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
 	if len(os.Args) < 2 {
 		logrus.Fatal("must specify 1 argument (server URL)")
 	}
diff --git a/impl/internal/did/client.go b/impl/internal/did/client.go
index d945e21b..8e904d86 100644
--- a/impl/internal/did/client.go
+++ b/impl/internal/did/client.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/TBD54566975/ssi-sdk/did"
 	"github.com/anacrolix/dht/v2/bep44"
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ func NewGatewayClient(gatewayURL string) (*GatewayClient, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	client := http.DefaultClient
-	client.Timeout = time.Second * 10
+	// client.Timeout = time.Second * 10
 	return &GatewayClient{
 		gatewayURL: gatewayURL,
 		client:     client,
diff --git a/impl/internal/did/client_test.go b/impl/internal/did/client_test.go
index 42ceecd3..b207c56a 100644
--- a/impl/internal/did/client_test.go
+++ b/impl/internal/did/client_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/anacrolix/dht/v2/bep44"
+	"github.com/goccy/go-json"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestClient(t *testing.T) {
-	client, err := NewGatewayClient("https://diddht.tbddev.org")
+	client, err := NewGatewayClient("http://localhost:8305")
 
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, client)
@@ -42,6 +43,20 @@ func TestClient(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Logf("time to put and get: %s", since)
 }
 
+func TestGet(t *testing.T) {
+	client, err := NewGatewayClient("https://diddht.tbddev.org")
+
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, client)
+
+	doc, _, _, err := client.GetDIDDocument("did:dht:9m71tgxibxtkr9f8tfueqasuyqncpyxect18zosntkrqygckqcwo")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, doc)
+
+	b, _ := json.Marshal(doc)
+	println(string(b))
+}
+
 func TestClientInvalidGateway(t *testing.T) {
 	g, err := NewGatewayClient("\n")
 	assert.Error(t, err)
diff --git a/impl/pkg/dht/logging.go b/impl/pkg/dht/logging.go
index f54fb3c1..47e3af2a 100644
--- a/impl/pkg/dht/logging.go
+++ b/impl/pkg/dht/logging.go
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 package dht
 
 import (
+	"strings"
+
 	"github.com/anacrolix/log"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 func init() {
-	logrus.SetFormatter(&logrus.JSONFormatter{})
 	log.Default.Handlers = []log.Handler{logrusHandler{}}
 }
 
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ type logrusHandler struct{}
 // It intentionally downgrades the log level to reduce verbosity.
 func (logrusHandler) Handle(record log.Record) {
 	entry := logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{"names": record.Names})
-	msg := record.Msg.String()
+	msg := strings.Replace(record.Msg.String(), "\n", "", -1)
 
 	switch record.Level {
 	case log.Debug:
diff --git a/impl/pkg/server/pkarr.go b/impl/pkg/server/pkarr.go
index fc61c500..d78293cf 100644
--- a/impl/pkg/server/pkarr.go
+++ b/impl/pkg/server/pkarr.go
@@ -43,7 +43,18 @@ func (r *PkarrRouter) GetRecord(c *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	resp, err := r.service.GetPkarr(c.Request.Context(), *id)
+	// make sure the key is valid
+	key, err := util.Z32Decode(*id)
+	if err != nil {
+		LoggingRespondErrWithMsg(c, err, "invalid record id", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
+	}
+	if len(key) != ed25519.PublicKeySize {
+		LoggingRespondErrMsg(c, "invalid z32 encoded ed25519 public key", http.StatusBadRequest)
+		return
+	}
+
+	resp, err := r.service.GetPkarr(c, *id)
 	if err != nil {
 		LoggingRespondErrWithMsg(c, err, "failed to get pkarr record", http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
@@ -82,7 +93,7 @@ func (r *PkarrRouter) PutRecord(c *gin.Context) {
 	}
 	key, err := util.Z32Decode(*id)
 	if err != nil {
-		LoggingRespondErrWithMsg(c, err, "failed to read id", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		LoggingRespondErrWithMsg(c, err, "invalid record id", http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
 	}
 	if len(key) != ed25519.PublicKeySize {
@@ -114,7 +125,7 @@ func (r *PkarrRouter) PutRecord(c *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	if err = r.service.PublishPkarr(c.Request.Context(), *id, *request); err != nil {
+	if err = r.service.PublishPkarr(c, *id, *request); err != nil {
 		LoggingRespondErrWithMsg(c, err, "failed to publish pkarr record", http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/impl/pkg/service/pkarr.go b/impl/pkg/service/pkarr.go
index 781384c8..e46622f8 100644
--- a/impl/pkg/service/pkarr.go
+++ b/impl/pkg/service/pkarr.go
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ func (s *PkarrService) PublishPkarr(ctx context.Context, id string, record pkarr
 	ctx, span := telemetry.GetTracer().Start(ctx, "PkarrService.PublishPkarr")
 	defer span.End()
 
+	// make sure the key is valid
+	if _, err := util.Z32Decode(id); err != nil {
+		return ssiutil.LoggingCtxErrorMsgf(ctx, err, "failed to decode z-base-32 encoded ID: %s", id)
+	}
+
 	if err := record.IsValid(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -115,6 +120,11 @@ func (s *PkarrService) GetPkarr(ctx context.Context, id string) (*pkarr.Response
 	ctx, span := telemetry.GetTracer().Start(ctx, "PkarrService.GetPkarr")
 	defer span.End()
 
+	// make sure the key is valid
+	if _, err := util.Z32Decode(id); err != nil {
+		return nil, ssiutil.LoggingCtxErrorMsgf(ctx, err, "failed to decode z-base-32 encoded ID: %s", id)
+	}
+
 	// first do a cache lookup
 	if got, err := s.cache.Get(id); err == nil {
 		var resp pkarr.Response
@@ -193,6 +203,7 @@ func (s *PkarrService) republish() {
 	recordCnt, err := s.db.RecordCount(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithError(err).Error("failed to get record count before republishing")
+		return
 	} else {
 		logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithField("record_count", recordCnt).Info("republishing records")
 	}
@@ -200,50 +211,64 @@ func (s *PkarrService) republish() {
 	var nextPageToken []byte
 	var recordsBatch []pkarr.Record
 	var seenRecords, batchCnt, successCnt, errCnt int32 = 0, 0, 0, 0
+
 	for {
 		recordsBatch, nextPageToken, err = s.db.ListRecords(ctx, nextPageToken, 1000)
 		if err != nil {
 			logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithError(err).Error("failed to list record(s) for republishing")
 			return
 		}
-		seenRecords += int32(len(recordsBatch))
-		if len(recordsBatch) == 0 {
+		batchSize := len(recordsBatch)
+		seenRecords += int32(batchSize)
+		if batchSize == 0 {
 			logrus.WithContext(ctx).Info("no records to republish")
 			return
 		}
 
 		logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-			"record_count": len(recordsBatch),
+			"record_count": batchSize,
 			"batch_number": batchCnt,
 			"total_seen":   seenRecords,
-		}).Infof("republishing next batch of records")
+		}).Infof("republishing batch [%d] of [%d] records", batchSize, batchCnt)
 		batchCnt++
 
 		var wg sync.WaitGroup
-		wg.Add(len(recordsBatch))
+		wg.Add(batchSize)
 
+		var batchSuccessCnt, batchErrCnt int32 = 0, 0
 		for _, record := range recordsBatch {
-			go func(record pkarr.Record) {
+			// Pass the parent context to the goroutine
+			go func(ctx context.Context, record pkarr.Record) {
 				defer wg.Done()
 
 				recordID := zbase32.EncodeToString(record.Key[:])
 				logrus.WithContext(ctx).Debugf("republishing record: %s", recordID)
 
-				// Create a new context with a timeout of 10 seconds
-				putCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+				// Create a new context with a timeout of 10 seconds based on the parent context
+				putCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
 				defer cancel()
 
-				if _, err = s.dht.Put(putCtx, record.BEP44()); err != nil {
-					logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithError(err).Errorf("failed to republish record: %s", recordID)
-					atomic.AddInt32(&errCnt, 1)
+				// Use a local variable for the error to avoid shadowing
+				if _, putErr := s.dht.Put(putCtx, record.BEP44()); putErr != nil {
+					logrus.WithContext(putCtx).WithError(putErr).Errorf("failed to republish record: %s", recordID)
+					atomic.AddInt32(&batchErrCnt, 1)
 				} else {
-					atomic.AddInt32(&successCnt, 1)
+					atomic.AddInt32(&batchSuccessCnt, 1)
 				}
-			}(record)
+			}(ctx, record)
 		}
 
 		wg.Wait()
 
+		atomic.AddInt32(&errCnt, batchErrCnt)
+		atomic.AddInt32(&successCnt, batchSuccessCnt)
+
+		logrus.WithContext(ctx).WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"batch_number": batchCnt,
+			"success":      batchSuccessCnt,
+			"errors":       batchErrCnt,
+		}).Infof("batch completed with [%d] successes and [%d] errors", batchSuccessCnt, batchErrCnt)
+
 		if nextPageToken == nil {
 			break
 		}