diff --git a/api/val_types.go b/api/val_types.go
index 9bc4352..0023cbd 100644
--- a/api/val_types.go
+++ b/api/val_types.go
@@ -337,6 +337,21 @@ func (val *Val) IsArrayString() bool {
 	return val.Type == ArrayString
 }
 
+func (val *Val) IsEmpty() bool {
+	switch val.Type {
+	case Unknown, Nil:
+		return true
+	case String:
+		return val.String() == ""
+	case ArrayNumber:
+		return len(val.arrayNumVal) == 0
+	case ArrayString:
+		return len(val.arrayStrVal) == 0
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
 // UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaller interface.
 func (val *Val) UnmarshalJSON(value []byte) error {
 	defErr := errors.New("value must be type boolean, number, string, []number, or []string; nested objects are not supported")
diff --git a/components/broker/engine/broker.go b/components/broker/engine/broker.go
index e819761..6e9d1f9 100644
--- a/components/broker/engine/broker.go
+++ b/components/broker/engine/broker.go
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ func (brk *broker) AuthorizeComponent(ctx context.Context, comp *core.Component,
 		}
 	}
 
-	// TODO is this safe?
+	// TODO use platform status to check if component is platform component.
 	platformCompName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", config.Platform, comp.Name)
 	if !strings.HasSuffix(svcAccName, comp.GroupKey()) && svcAccName != platformCompName {
 		return fmt.Errorf("service account name does not match component")
@@ -233,6 +233,8 @@ func (brk *broker) AuthorizeComponent(ctx context.Context, comp *core.Component,
 		return fmt.Errorf("unauthorized component: %s", review.Status.Error)
 	}
 
+	// TODO make sure component exists in an AppDeployment
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/backend/main.go b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/backend/main.go
index f1ad9ef..f636e6f 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/backend/main.go
+++ b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/backend/main.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	who kit.EnvVar
+	who kit.EnvVarDep
 )
 
 func main() {
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/frontend/main.go b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/frontend/main.go
index e9ca8e7..df87c25 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/frontend/main.go
+++ b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/components/frontend/main.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	backend kit.Dependency
+	backend kit.ComponentDep
 )
 
 func main() {
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.mod b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.mod
index 63d6574..ea9762f 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.mod
+++ b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/xigxog/kubefox/examples/hello-world/kubefox
 go 1.21
 
 // TODO update when kubefox is released
-require github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231206144113-48f17b47cb37
+require github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231207161131-766472f99055
 
 require (
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.3 // indirect
diff --git a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.sum b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.sum
index b7e28fc..947073d 100644
--- a/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.sum
+++ b/examples/hello-world/kubefox/go.sum
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1 h1:w7B6lhMri9wdJUVmEZPGGhZzrYTPvgJArz7wNPgYKs
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1/go.mod h1:w2LPCIKwWwSfY2zedu0+kehJoqGctiVI29o6fzry7u4=
 github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231206144113-48f17b47cb37 h1:jgXm3ga62ZnY8oejlI173Z7TfTBtXeOZbJQpArrXiw4=
 github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231206144113-48f17b47cb37/go.mod h1:9qjm+/xmMZUbXct3cf37+rOsEwapMtLORwZWExzZgT0=
+github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231207161131-766472f99055 h1:xZK7obOPCJcH7PrAJUE5f4SxRBka/ujvGJYtpXTCYIM=
+github.com/xigxog/kubefox v0.2.5-alpha.0.20231207161131-766472f99055/go.mod h1:9qjm+/xmMZUbXct3cf37+rOsEwapMtLORwZWExzZgT0=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.0 h1:xqgm/S+aQvhWFTtR0XK3Jvg7z8kGV8P4X14IzwN3Eqk=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.0/go.mod h1:XJYK+MuIchqpmGmUSAzotztawfKvYLUIgg7guXrwVUo=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 h1:blXXJkSxSSfBVBlC76pxqeO+LN3aDfLQo+309xJstO0=
diff --git a/kit/graphql/graphql.go b/kit/graphql/graphql.go
index 58d7326..321c29b 100644
--- a/kit/graphql/graphql.go
+++ b/kit/graphql/graphql.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ type Client struct {
 	wrapped *graphql.Client
 }
 
-func New(ktx kit.Kontext, dependency kit.Dependency) *Client {
+func New(ktx kit.Kontext, dependency kit.ComponentDep) *Client {
 	return &Client{
 		ktx: ktx,
 		wrapped: graphql.NewClient("", &http.Client{
diff --git a/kit/kit.go b/kit/kit.go
index ccca0c4..546dbbf 100644
--- a/kit/kit.go
+++ b/kit/kit.go
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ const (
 	maxAttempts = 5
 )
 
+// TODO also support declarative routes? Example:
+//
+//	kit.RouteBuilder().
+//	    Header("host", "google.com").
+//	    Query("param1", "fish").
+//	    Handler(myHandler)
+
 type kit struct {
 	spec *api.ComponentDetails
 
@@ -112,6 +119,10 @@ func (svc *kit) Log() *logkf.Logger {
 	return svc.log
 }
 
+func (svc *kit) L() *logkf.Logger {
+	return svc.log
+}
+
 func (svc *kit) Title(title string) {
 	svc.spec.Title = title
 }
@@ -120,12 +131,6 @@ func (svc *kit) Description(description string) {
 	svc.spec.Title = description
 }
 
-// TODO also support declarative routes? Example:
-//
-//	kit.RouteBuilder().
-//	    Header("host", "google.com").
-//	    Query("param1", "fish").
-//	    Handler(myHandler)
 func (svc *kit) Route(rule string, handler EventHandler) {
 	r := &route{
 		RouteSpec: api.RouteSpec{
@@ -143,7 +148,7 @@ func (svc *kit) Default(handler EventHandler) {
 	svc.spec.DefaultHandler = handler != nil
 }
 
-func (svc *kit) EnvVar(name string, opts ...env.VarOption) EnvVar {
+func (svc *kit) EnvVar(name string, opts ...env.VarOption) EnvVarDep {
 	if name == "" {
 		svc.log.Fatal("environment variable name is required")
 	}
@@ -160,15 +165,15 @@ func (svc *kit) EnvVar(name string, opts ...env.VarOption) EnvVar {
 	return env.NewVar(name, schema.Type)
 }
 
-func (svc *kit) Component(name string) Dependency {
+func (svc *kit) Component(name string) ComponentDep {
 	return svc.dependency(name, api.ComponentTypeKubeFox)
 }
 
-func (svc *kit) HTTPAdapter(name string) Dependency {
+func (svc *kit) HTTPAdapter(name string) ComponentDep {
 	return svc.dependency(name, api.ComponentTypeHTTP)
 }
 
-func (svc *kit) dependency(name string, typ api.ComponentType) Dependency {
+func (svc *kit) dependency(name string, typ api.ComponentType) ComponentDep {
 	c := &dependency{
 		typ:  typ,
 		name: name,
@@ -263,7 +268,7 @@ func (svc *kit) recvReq(req *grpc.ComponentEvent) {
 		log.Error(err)
 
 		errEvt := core.NewErr(err, core.EventOpts{})
-		if err := ktx.ForwardResp(errEvt).Send(); err != nil {
+		if err := ktx.Resp().Forward(errEvt); err != nil {
 			log.Error(err)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/kit/kontext.go b/kit/kontext.go
index a987792..9ea1955 100644
--- a/kit/kontext.go
+++ b/kit/kontext.go
@@ -46,16 +46,16 @@ func (k *kontext) Log() *logkf.Logger {
 	return k.log
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) Env(v EnvVar) string {
+func (k *kontext) Env(v EnvVarDep) string {
 	return k.EnvV(v).String()
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) EnvV(v EnvVar) *api.Val {
+func (k *kontext) EnvV(v EnvVarDep) *api.Val {
 	val, _ := api.ValProto(k.env[v.Name()])
 	return val
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) EnvDef(v EnvVar, def string) string {
+func (k *kontext) EnvDef(v EnvVarDep, def string) string {
 	if val := k.Env(v); val == "" {
 		return def
 	} else {
@@ -63,25 +63,14 @@ func (k *kontext) EnvDef(v EnvVar, def string) string {
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) EnvDefV(v EnvVar, def *api.Val) *api.Val {
-	if val := k.EnvV(v); val == nil {
+func (k *kontext) EnvDefV(v EnvVarDep, def *api.Val) *api.Val {
+	if val := k.EnvV(v); val.IsEmpty() {
 		return def
 	} else {
 		return val
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) ForwardResp(resp core.EventReader) Resp {
-	return &respKontext{
-		Event: core.CloneToResp(resp.(*core.Event), core.EventOpts{
-			Parent: k.Event,
-			Source: k.kit.brk.Component,
-			Target: k.Event.Source,
-		}),
-		ktx: k,
-	}
-}
-
 func (k *kontext) Resp() Resp {
 	return &respKontext{
 		Event: core.NewResp(core.EventOpts{
@@ -93,7 +82,7 @@ func (k *kontext) Resp() Resp {
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) Req(c Dependency) Req {
+func (k *kontext) Req(c ComponentDep) Req {
 	return &reqKontext{
 		Event: core.NewReq(core.EventOpts{
 			Type:   c.EventType(),
@@ -105,7 +94,7 @@ func (k *kontext) Req(c Dependency) Req {
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) Forward(c Dependency) Req {
+func (k *kontext) Forward(c ComponentDep) Req {
 	return &reqKontext{
 		Event: core.CloneToReq(k.Event, core.EventOpts{
 			Type:   c.EventType(),
@@ -117,13 +106,13 @@ func (k *kontext) Forward(c Dependency) Req {
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) HTTP(c Dependency) *http.Client {
+func (k *kontext) HTTP(c ComponentDep) *http.Client {
 	return &http.Client{
 		Transport: k.Transport(c),
 	}
 }
 
-func (k *kontext) Transport(c Dependency) http.RoundTripper {
+func (k *kontext) Transport(c ComponentDep) http.RoundTripper {
 	return &EventRoundTripper{
 		req: &reqKontext{
 			Event: core.NewReq(core.EventOpts{
@@ -137,9 +126,19 @@ func (k *kontext) Transport(c Dependency) http.RoundTripper {
 	}
 }
 
-func (resp *respKontext) SendStr(val string) error {
+func (resp *respKontext) Forward(evt core.EventReader) error {
+	resp.Event = core.CloneToResp(evt.(*core.Event), core.EventOpts{
+		Parent: resp.ktx.Event,
+		Source: resp.ktx.kit.brk.Component,
+		Target: resp.ktx.Event.Source,
+	})
+
+	return resp.Send()
+}
+
+func (resp *respKontext) SendStr(val ...string) error {
 	c := fmt.Sprintf("%s; %s", api.ContentTypePlain, api.CharSetUTF8)
-	return resp.SendBytes(c, []byte(val))
+	return resp.SendBytes(c, []byte(strings.Join(val, "")))
 }
 
 func (resp *respKontext) SendHTML(val string) error {
@@ -170,6 +169,10 @@ func (resp *respKontext) SendAccepts(json any, html, str string) error {
 }
 
 func (resp *respKontext) SendReader(contentType string, reader io.Reader) error {
+	if closer, ok := reader.(io.ReadCloser); ok {
+		defer closer.Close()
+	}
+
 	bytes, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/kit/types.go b/kit/types.go
index 3dc3e2f..f47a529 100644
--- a/kit/types.go
+++ b/kit/types.go
@@ -11,42 +11,176 @@ import (
 	"github.com/xigxog/kubefox/logkf"
 )
 
-type EventHandler func(kit Kontext) error
+type EventHandler func(ktx Kontext) error
 
 type Kit interface {
+	// Start connects to the Broker passing the Component's Service Account
+	// Token for authorization. Once connected Kit will accept incoming Events.
+	// If an error occurs the program will exit with a status code of 1. Start
+	// is a blocking call.
 	Start()
 
-	Route(string, EventHandler)
-	Default(EventHandler)
-
-	EnvVar(name string, opts ...env.VarOption) EnvVar
-
-	Component(name string) Dependency
-	HTTPAdapter(name string) Dependency
-
+	// Route registers a EventHandler for the specified rule. If an Event
+	// matches the rule the Broker will route it to the Component and Kit will
+	// call the EventHandler.
+	//
+	// Rules are written in a simple predicate based language that matches parts
+	// of an Event. Some predicates accept inputs which should be surrounded
+	// with back ticks. The boolean operators '&&' (and), '||' (or), and '!'
+	// (not) can be used to combined predicates. The following predicates are
+	// supported:
+	//
+	//   All()
+	//     Matches all Events.
+	//
+	//   Header(`key`, `value`)
+	//     Matches if a header `key` exists and is equal to `value`.
+	//
+	//   Host(`example.com`)
+	//     Matches if the domain (host header value) is equal to input.
+	//
+	//   Method(`GET`, ...)
+	//     Matches if the request method is one of the given methods (GET, POST,
+	//     PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD)
+	//
+	//   Path(`/path`)
+	//     Matches if the request path is equal to given input.
+	//
+	//   PathPrefix(`/prefix`)
+	//     Matches if the request path begins with given input.
+	//
+	//   Query(`key`, `value`)
+	//     Matches if a query parameter `key` exists and is equal to `value`.
+	//
+	//   Type(`value`)
+	//     Matches if Event type is equal to given input.
+	//
+	// Predicate inputs can utilize regular expressions to match and optionally
+	// extract parts of an Event to a named parameter. Regular expression use
+	// the format '{[REGEX]}' or '{[NAME]:[REGEX]}' to extract the matching part
+	// to a parameter.
+	//
+	// Additionally, environment variables can be utilized in predicate inputs.
+	// They are resolved at request time with the value specified in the
+	// VirtualEnv. Environment variables can be used with the format
+	// '{{.Env.[NAME]}}'.
+	//
+	// For example, the following will match Events of type 'http' that are
+	// 'GET' requests and have a path with three parts. The first part of the
+	// path must equal the value of th environment variable 'SUB_PATH', the
+	// second part must equal 'orders', and the third part can be one or more
+	// lower case letter or number. The third part of the path is extracted to
+	// the parameter 'orderId' which can be used by the EventHandler:
+	//
+	//   kit.Route("Type(`http`) && Method(`GET`) && Path(`/{{.Env.SUB_PATH}}/orders/{orderId:[a-z0-9]+}`)",
+	//     func(ktx kit.Kontext) error {
+	//       return ktx.Resp().SendStr("The orderId is ", ktx.Param("orderId"))
+	//     })
+	Route(rule string, handler EventHandler)
+
+	// Default registers a default EventHandler. If Kit receives an Event from
+	// the Broker that does not match any registered rules the default
+	// EventHandler is called.
+	Default(handler EventHandler)
+
+	// EnvVar registers an environment variable dependency with given options.
+	// The returned EnvVarDep can be used by EventHandlers to retrieve the value
+	// of the environment variable at request time.
+	//
+	// For example:
+	//
+	//   v := kit.EnvVar("SOME_VAR")
+	//   kit.Route("Any()", func(ktx kit.Kontext) error {
+	//       return ktx.Resp().SendStr("the value of SOME_VAR is ", ktx.Env(v))
+	//   })
+	EnvVar(name string, opts ...env.VarOption) EnvVarDep
+
+	// Component registers a Component dependency. The returned ComponentDep can
+	// be used by EventHandlers to invoke the Component at request time.
+	//
+	// For example:
+	//
+	//   b := kit.Component("backend")
+	//   kit.Route("Any()", func(ktx kit.Kontext) error {
+	//       r, _ := ktx.Req(backend).Send()
+	//       return ktx.Resp().SendStr("the resp from backend is ", r.Str())
+	//   })
+	Component(name string) ComponentDep
+
+	// HTTPAdapter registers a dependency on the HTTP Adapter. The returned
+	// ComponentDep can be used by EventHandlers to invoke the Adapter at
+	// request time.
+	//
+	// For example:
+	//
+	//   h := kit.HTTPAdapter("httpbin")
+	//   kit.Route("Any()", func(ktx kit.Kontext) error {
+	//       r, _ := ktx.HTTP(h).Get("/anything")
+	//       return ktx.Resp().SendReader(r.Header.Get("content-type"), r.Body)
+	//   })
+	HTTPAdapter(name string) ComponentDep
+
+	// Title sets the Component's title.
 	Title(title string)
+
+	// Description sets the Component's description.
 	Description(description string)
 
+	// Log returns a pre-configured structured logger for the Component.
 	Log() *logkf.Logger
 }
 
 type Kontext interface {
 	core.EventReader
 
-	Env(v EnvVar) string
-	EnvV(v EnvVar) *api.Val
-	EnvDef(v EnvVar, def string) string
-	EnvDefV(v EnvVar, def *api.Val) *api.Val
-
+	// Env returns the value of the given environment variable as a string. If
+	// the environment variable does not exist or cannot be converted to a
+	// string, empty string is returned. To check if an environment exists use
+	// EnvV() and check if the returned Val's ValType is 'Nil'.
+	Env(v EnvVarDep) string
+
+	// EnvV returns the value of the given environment variable as a Val. It is
+	// guaranteed the returned Val will not be nil. If the environment variable
+	// does not exist the ValType of the returned Val will be 'Nil'.
+	EnvV(v EnvVarDep) *api.Val
+
+	// EnvDef returns the value of the given environment variable as a string.
+	// If the environment variable does not exist, is empty, or cannot be
+	// converted to a string, then the given 'def' string is returned.
+	EnvDef(v EnvVarDep, def string) string
+
+	// EnvDefV returns the value of the given environment variable as a Val. If
+	// the environment variable does not exist, is an empty string, or an empty
+	// array, then the given 'def' Val is returned. If the environment variable
+	// exists and is a boolean or number, then it's value will be returned.
+	EnvDefV(v EnvVarDep, def *api.Val) *api.Val
+
+	// Resp returns a Resp object that can be used to send a response to the
+	// source of the current request.
 	Resp() Resp
-	ForwardResp(resp core.EventReader) Resp
 
-	Req(c Dependency) Req
-	Forward(c Dependency) Req
-	HTTP(c Dependency) *http.Client
-	Transport(c Dependency) http.RoundTripper
+	// Req returns an empty Req object that can be used to send a request to the
+	// given Component.
+	Req(c ComponentDep) Req
 
+	// Forward returns a Req object that can be used to send a request to the
+	// given Component. The Req object is a clone of the current request.
+	Forward(c ComponentDep) Req
+
+	// HTTP returns a native Go http.Client. Any requests made with the client
+	// are sent to the given Component. The target Component should be capable
+	// of processing HTTP requests.
+	HTTP(c ComponentDep) *http.Client
+
+	// HTTP returns a native go http.RoundTripper. This is useful to integrate
+	// with HTTP based libraries.
+	Transport(c ComponentDep) http.RoundTripper
+
+	// Context returns a context.Context with it's duration set to the TTL of
+	// the current request.
 	Context() context.Context
+
+	// Log returns a pre-configured structured logger for the current request.
 	Log() *logkf.Logger
 }
 
@@ -64,7 +198,8 @@ type Req interface {
 type Resp interface {
 	core.EventWriter
 
-	SendStr(s string) error
+	Forward(resp core.EventReader) error
+	SendStr(s ...string) error
 	SendHTML(h string) error
 	SendJSON(v any) error
 	SendAccepts(json any, html, str string) error
@@ -73,12 +208,12 @@ type Resp interface {
 	Send() error
 }
 
-type EnvVar interface {
+type EnvVarDep interface {
 	Name() string
 	Type() api.EnvVarType
 }
 
-type Dependency interface {
+type ComponentDep interface {
 	Name() string
 	Type() api.ComponentType
 	EventType() api.EventType
diff --git a/matcher/event_matcher.go b/matcher/event_matcher.go
index c72c91b..39c04ae 100644
--- a/matcher/event_matcher.go
+++ b/matcher/event_matcher.go
@@ -197,7 +197,8 @@ func (m *EventMatcher) query(key, val string) (core.EventPredicate, error) {
 
 func (m *EventMatcher) eventType(s string) core.EventPredicate {
 	return func(e *core.Event) bool {
-		return e.GetType() == s
+		return e.GetType() == s ||
+			strings.HasSuffix(strings.ToLower(e.GetType()), strings.ToLower(s))
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/matcher/event_matcher_test.go b/matcher/event_matcher_test.go
index 4389f87..bd78e28 100644
--- a/matcher/event_matcher_test.go
+++ b/matcher/event_matcher_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestPath(t *testing.T) {
 	r2 := &core.Route{
 		RouteSpec: api.RouteSpec{
 			Id:   2,
-			Rule: "Method(`PUT`,`GET`,`POST`) && (Query(`q1`, `{q[1-2]}`) && Header(`header-one`,`{[a-z0-9]+}`)) && Host(`{{.Env.a}}.0.0.{i}`) && Path(`/customize/{{.Env.b}}/{j:[a-z]+}`)",
+			Rule: "Type(`http`) && Method(`PUT`,`GET`,`POST`) && (Query(`q1`, `{q[1-2]}`) && Header(`header-one`,`{[a-z0-9]+}`)) && Host(`{{.Env.a}}.0.0.{i}`) && Path(`/customize/{{.Env.b}}/{j:[a-z]+}`)",
 		},
 		Component:    &core.Component{},
 		EventContext: &core.EventContext{},