diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c3629e..8c8d22b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 node_modules
+.tm_properties
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0bdf590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+test:
+	@mocha
+
+spec:
+	@mocha -R spec
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 401fc59..849d626 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # kwik-e-mon
 
-Monitor one-off tasks on your servers.
+Monitor one-off tasks on your servers using Redis.
 
 
 ## Installation
@@ -10,13 +10,111 @@ npm install -g kwikemon
 
 ## Usage
 
-I can't think of a concise example use of the command line tool. Here's how it works:
+    $ kwikemond &
+    $ curl -s localhost/nginx_status | grep Active | kwikemon nginx-connections
+    $ curl localhost:1111/nignx-connections
+    Active connections: 316
+    $ kwikemon foo bar
+    $ curl localhost:1111/
+    foo: bar
+    nginx-connections: Active connections: 316
 
-- you continuously pipe data to `kwikemon <name of thing you are watching>` on stdin
+Here's how it works:
+
+- call `kwikemon thing status` to set the text for the monitor named "thing"
+- fire up the server, `kwikemond`, that serves up these monitors in a big list or individually
+
+Alternatively:
+
+- continuously pipe data to `kwikemon <name of thing you are watching>` on stdin
 - every time a full line of text is received on stdin it becomes the new status for <name of thing you are watching>
-- there's a simple web server, `kwikemond`, that serves up these monitors in a big list or individually
 
-This is very much a work in progress and as the functionality is fleshed out this readme will improve as well.
+To see everything `kwikemon` can do run it without arguments.
+
+    # or with -h or --help
+    $ kwikemon
+
+This is very much a work in progress.
+
+
+## API
+
+You can use kwikemon as a library.
+
+    var kwikemon = require('kiwkemon');
+
+    kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', function(err) {
+      kwikemon.fetch('foo', function(err, text) {
+        console.log('foo = ' + text);
+      });
+    });
+
+    kwikemon.fetchAll(function(err, monitors) {
+      Object.keys(monitors).forEach(function (name) {
+        console.log(name + ' = ' + monitors[name]);
+      });
+    });
+
+Monitors expire 1 day after the last time they were set by default. You can pass in any `ttl` you
+want though.
+
+    // never expire
+    kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', { ttl: 0 });
+
+
+## Protocol
+
+All kwikemon does is shove things into Redis in a standard way and read them out later.
+
+A monitor named `nginx` stores its data in the hash `kwikemon:monitor:nginx`. Hash fields
+are:
+
+  - text
+  - created
+  - modified
+  - updates
+
+The list of all monitors is a set stored at `kwikemon:monitors`.
+
+#### List
+
+This is when you should clean out expired entries.
+
+    names = redis.smembers("kwikemon:monitors")
+    monitors = {}
+    for name in names:
+        if redis.exists("kwikemon:monitor:$name"):
+            monitors[name] = redis.hget("kwikemon:monitor:$name", "text")
+    return monitors
+
+#### Read
+
+    redis.hgetall("kwikemon:monitor:nginx")
+
+#### Update
+
+    exists = redis.exists("kwikemon:monitor:nginx")
+    if exists:
+        redis.hmset("kwikemon:monitor:nginx", {
+            text: "Active connections: 583"
+            modified: 1370668341943
+        })
+        redis.hincrby("kwikemon:monitor:nginx", "updates", 1)
+    else:
+        redis.hmset("kwikemon:monitor:nginx", {
+            text: "Active connections: 316"
+            updates: 1
+            created: 1370668301943
+            modified: 1370668301943
+        })
+    redis.sadd("kwikemon:monitors", "nginx")
+    # optional
+    redis.expire("kwikemon:monitor:nginx", <ttl>)
+
+#### Delete
+
+    redis.del("kwikemon:monitor:nginx")
+    redis.srem("kwikemon:monitors", "nginx")
 
 
 ## License
diff --git a/bin/kwikemon b/bin/kwikemon
index 8c41e85..162c0a3 100755
--- a/bin/kwikemon
+++ b/bin/kwikemon
@@ -1,10 +1,121 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
-var kwikemon = require('../kwikemon.js')
-  , name = process.argv[2]
-  ;
+var kwikemon = require('../kwikemon.js');
 
-process.stdin.pipe(kwikemon.createWriter(name));
-process.stdin.on('end', function() {
-  process.exit(0);
-});
+function usage() {
+  console.log("usage: kwikemon [options]");
+  console.log("       kwikemon <name> [text]");
+  console.log();
+  console.log("options:");
+  console.log("    -c, --clear          remove all monitors");
+  console.log("    -f, --fetch <name>   show the text of the named monitor");
+  console.log("    -n, --count          count monitors");
+  console.log("    -h, --help           show what you're reading now");
+  console.log("    -l, --list           show all monitors");
+  console.log("    -r, --remove <name>  remove the named monitor");
+  console.log("    -s, --sweep          clean up expired & deleted monitors");
+  console.log("    -t, --ttl <name>     show the TTL of the named monitor");
+}
+
+var opt = process.argv[2]
+  , name = process.argv[2]
+  , text = process.argv[3]
+  ;
+if (opt && opt[0] == '-') {
+  switch (opt) {
+  case '-c':
+  case '--clear':
+    kwikemon.removeAll(function(err) {
+      process.exit(0);
+    });
+    break;
+
+  case '-f':
+  case '--fetch':
+    var name = process.argv[3];
+    kwikemon.fetch(name, function(err, mon) {
+      if (mon) {
+        console.log(mon.text);
+        process.exit(0);
+      }
+      else {
+        console.log('error: no monitor named', name);
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+    });
+    break;
+
+  case '-l':
+  case '--list':
+    kwikemon.fetchAll(function(err, monitors) {
+      Object.keys(monitors).forEach(function(name) {
+        console.log(name + ':', monitors[name].text);
+      });
+      process.exit(0);
+    });
+    break;
+
+  case '-n':
+  case '--count':
+    kwikemon.count(function(err, n) {
+      console.log(n);
+      process.exit(0);
+    });
+    break;
+
+  case '-r':
+  case '--remove':
+    name = process.argv[3];
+    if (name) {
+      kwikemon.remove(name, function(err) {
+        process.exit(0);
+      })
+    }
+    else {
+      console.log("error: --remove requires a name");
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+    break;
+
+  case '-s':
+  case '--sweep':
+    kwikemon.sweep(function(err) {
+      process.exit(0);
+    });
+    break;
+
+  case '-t':
+  case '--ttl':
+    var name = process.argv[3];
+    kwikemon.fetchTTL(name, function(err, ttl) {
+      if (typeof ttl == 'number') {
+        console.log(ttl);
+        process.exit(0);
+      }
+      else {
+        console.log('error: no monitor named', name);
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+    });
+    break;
+
+  default:
+    usage();
+    process.exit(name == '-h' || name == '--help' ? 0 : 1);
+  }
+}
+else if (name && text) {
+  kwikemon.set(name, text, function() {
+    process.exit(0);
+  });
+}
+else if (name) {
+  process.stdin.pipe(kwikemon.createWriter(name));
+  process.stdin.on('end', function() {
+    process.exit(0);
+  });
+}
+else {
+  usage();
+  process.exit(1);
+}
diff --git a/kwikemon.js b/kwikemon.js
index 8c75ec4..8488fc5 100644
--- a/kwikemon.js
+++ b/kwikemon.js
@@ -1,72 +1,155 @@
 // Copyright 2013 Sami Samhuri
 
 module.exports = {
-  // read
-  fetchMonitor: fetchMonitor
-, fetchMonitors: fetchMonitors
 
   // write
-, monitor: monitor
-, createWriter: createWriter
+  set: callbackOptional(set)
+, writer: writer
+
+  // read
+, exists: callbackOptional(exists)
+, fetch: callbackOptional(fetch)
+, fetchTTL: callbackOptional(fetchTTL)
+, list: list
+, fetchAll: fetchAll
+, count: count
+
+  // remove
+, remove: callbackOptional(remove)
+, removeAll: removeAll
+, sweep: sweep
+
+  // change redis client
+, redis: setRedis
 };
 
-var redis = require('redis').createClient()
+var async = require('async')
+  , redis = require('redis').createClient()
   , LineEmitter = require('./line_emitter.js')
   ;
 
-function monitor(name, text, options) {
-  console.log(name,'=',text)
-  options = options || {};
-  if (typeof options == 'function') {
-    options = { cb: options };
-  }
-  var key = 'kwikemon:monitor:' + name
-    , timeout = options.timeout || 86400
-    ;
-  console.log('set',key,text)
-  redis.set(key, text, function(err, status) {
-    console.log('set',key,text)
-    if (err) throw err;
-    if (timeout >= 0) {
-      redis.expire(key, timeout);
+function setRedis(newRedis) {
+  if (redis) redis.end();
+  redis = newRedis;
+}
+
+// Make the callback argument of a function optional.
+// If the callback is passed it will call the function
+// normally. If the callback isn't given a function
+// that accepts the callback is returned, with the
+// rest of the arguments fixed (like bind).
+//
+// function fetch(id, cb) { db.fetch(id, cb); }
+// fetch = callbackOptional(fetch);
+//
+// function print(err, x) { if (err) throw err; console.log(x); }
+//
+// fetch(1, print);
+//
+// var fetch1 = fetch(1);
+// fetch1(print);
+function callbackOptional(fn, ctx) {
+  return function() {
+    var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
+    var cb = args[args.length - 1];
+    if (typeof cb == 'function') {
+      fn.apply(ctx, arguments);
     }
-    redis.sadd('kwikemon:monitors', name, function(err, status) {
-      if (options.cb) options.cb();
-    });
+    else {
+      return function(cb) {
+        args.push(cb);
+        fn.apply(ctx, args);
+      };
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+function k(name) {
+  return 'kwikemon:monitor:' + name;
+}
+
+function exists(name, cb) {
+  redis.exists(k(name), function(err, exists) {
+    if (err) return cb(err);
+    cb(null, exists == 1);
   });
 }
 
-function createWriter(name) {
+// options:
+//   - ttl: time to live in seconds, <= 0 to never expire
+function set(name, text, options, cb) {
+  if (typeof options == 'function') {
+    cb = options;
+    options = null;
+  }
+  options = options || {};
+  var key = k(name)
+    , ttl = ('ttl' in options) ? options.ttl : 86400
+    ;
+  exists(name, function(err, exists) {
+    var fields = {
+          text: text
+        , modified: Date.now()
+        }
+      , multi = redis.multi()
+      ;
+    if (!exists) {
+      fields.created = Date.now();
+    }
+    multi
+      .hmset(key, fields)
+      .hincrby(key, 'updates', 1);
+    if (ttl != null) {
+      multi.expire(key, ttl);
+    }
+    multi.sadd('kwikemon:monitors', name);
+    multi.exec(cb);
+  });
+}
+
+function writer(name) {
   var le = new LineEmitter();
   le.on('line', function(line) {
-    monitor(name, line);
+    set(name, line, function(err) {
+      if (err) throw err;
+      le.emit('monitor', name, line);
+    });
   });
   return le;
 }
 
-function fetchMonitor(name, cb) {
-  redis.get('kwikemon:monitor:' + name, cb);
+function fetch(name, cb) {
+  redis.hgetall(k(name), cb);
 }
 
-function fetchMonitors(cb) {
-  var monitors = {}
-    , i = 0
+function fetchTTL(name, cb) {
+  redis.ttl(k(name), cb);
+}
+
+function count(cb) {
+  redis.scard('kwikemon:monitors', cb);
+}
+
+function sweep(cb) {
+  var i = 0
     , n
     , checkIfDone = function() {
         i += 1;
-        if (i == n) cb(null, monitors);
+        if (i == n) cb();
       }
     ;
   redis.smembers('kwikemon:monitors', function(err, names) {
     if (err) return cb(err);
     n = names.length;
+    if (n == 0) return cb();
     names.forEach(function(name) {
-      fetchMonitor(name, function(err, text) {
+      exists(name, function(err, exists) {
         if (err) {
-          // missing? probably don't care
+          // meh, ignore it
         }
-        else {
-          monitors[name] = text;
+        // remove expired monitors
+        else if (!exists) {
+          remove(name);
         }
         checkIfDone();
       });
@@ -74,3 +157,48 @@ function fetchMonitors(cb) {
   });
 }
 
+function list(cb) {
+  sweep(function(err) {
+    if (err) return cb(err);
+    redis.smembers('kwikemon:monitors', cb);
+  });
+}
+
+function fetchAll(cb) {
+  var monitors = {};
+  list(function(err, names) {
+    if (err) return cb(err);
+    var fetchers = names.sort().map(function(name) {
+      return function(done) {
+        fetch(name, function(err, text) {
+          if (err) return done(err);
+          monitors[name] = text;
+          done();
+        });
+      };
+    });
+    async.parallel(fetchers, function(err, _) {
+      if (err) return cb(err);
+      cb(null, monitors)
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+function remove(name, cb) {
+  redis.multi()
+    .del(k(name))
+    .srem('kwikemon:monitors', name)
+    .exec(cb);
+}
+
+function removeAll(cb) {
+  redis.smembers('kwikemon:monitors', function(err, names) {
+    if (err) return cb(err);
+    var multi = redis.multi();
+    names.forEach(function(name) {
+      multi.del(k(name));
+      multi.srem('kwikemon:monitors', name);
+    });
+    multi.exec(cb);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6ea2b64..8c8fdb1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@
 , "dependencies": {
     "paramify": "0.0.x"
   , "redis": "0.8.x"
+  , "async": "0.2.x"
+  }
+, "devDependencies": {
+    "mocha": "1.10.x"
+  , "better-assert": "1.0.x"
   }
 , "engines": {
     "node": ">=0.10"
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 17f3fcf..27218dc 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -31,9 +31,17 @@ function stop() {
 }
 
 function handleRequest(req, res) {
-  var name = req.url.replace(/^\//, '');
+  var name = req.url.replace(/^\//, '')
+    , type = 'html'
+    , m
+    ;
+  if (name == 'favicon.ico') return res.end();
+  if (m = name.match(/\.(json|txt)$/)) {
+    type = m[1];
+    name = name.replace(RegExp('\.' + type + '$'), '');
+  }
   if (name) {
-    kwikemon.fetchMonitor(name, function(err, text) {
+    kwikemon.fetch(name, function(err, text) {
       if (err) {
         res.end('error: ' + (err.message || 'unknown'));
         return;
@@ -43,7 +51,7 @@ function handleRequest(req, res) {
   }
   // all
   else {
-    kwikemon.fetchMonitors(function(err, monitors) {
+    kwikemon.fetchAll(function(err, monitors) {
       if (err) {
         res.end('error: ' + (err.message || 'unknown'));
         return;
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..fd502af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+// Copyright 2013 Sami Samhuri
+
+var assert = require('better-assert')
+  , async = require('async')
+  , kwikemon = require('./kwikemon')
+  , redis = require('redis').createClient()
+  ;
+
+before(function(done) {
+  redis.select(1, function() {
+    kwikemon.redis(redis);
+    done();
+  });
+});
+beforeEach(kwikemon.removeAll);
+after(kwikemon.removeAll);
+
+describe("kwikemon", function() {
+  describe("#set", function() {
+    it("should set text", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetch('foo', function(err, mon) {
+          assert(mon.text == 'bar');
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("should overwrite text", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'baz', function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetch('foo', function(err, mon) {
+          assert(mon.text == 'baz');
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("should set custom ttls", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', { ttl: 1 }, function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetchTTL('foo', function(err, ttl) {
+          assert(ttl <= 1);
+          done();
+        });
+      })
+    });
+
+    it("should not expire with a ttl of zero", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', { ttl: 0 }, function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetchTTL('foo', function(err, ttl) {
+          assert(ttl == -1);
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("should not expire when ttl is < 0", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', { ttl: -1 }, function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetchTTL('foo', function(err, ttl) {
+          assert(ttl == -1);
+          done();
+        });
+      })
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#writer", function() {
+    it("should monitor each line of text written", function(done) {
+      var writer = kwikemon.writer('foo');
+      writer.once('monitor', function(name, text) {
+        assert(text == 'a');
+        writer.once('monitor', function(name, text) {
+          assert(text == 'b');
+          done();
+        });
+        writer.write("b\n");
+      });
+      writer.write("a\n");
+    });
+
+    it("should only monitor complete lines of text", function(done) {
+      var writer = kwikemon.writer('foo');
+      writer.once('monitor', function(name, text) {
+        assert(text == 'complete');
+        writer.once('monitor', function(name, text) {
+          assert(text == 'incomplete');
+          done();
+        });
+        writer.write("plete\n");
+      });
+      writer.write("complete\n");
+      writer.write("incom");
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#fetch", function() {
+    it("should fetch the last text monitored", function(done) {
+      async.series([
+          kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar')
+        , kwikemon.set('foo', 'marcellus')
+        , kwikemon.fetch('foo')
+        ],
+        function(err, results) {
+          var mon = results[2];
+          assert(mon.text == 'marcellus');
+          done();
+        }
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("should fetch null for non-existent monitors", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.fetch('non-existent', function(err, mon) {
+        assert(mon == null);
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#fetchTTL", function() {
+    it("should fetch the last TTL set", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar', { ttl: 300 }, function(err) {
+        kwikemon.fetchTTL('foo', function(err, ttl) {
+          assert(ttl <= 300);
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("should return -1 for non-existent monitors", function(done) {
+      kwikemon.fetchTTL('non-existent', function(err, ttl) {
+        assert(ttl == -1);
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#fetchAll", function() {
+    it("should fetch all monitors", function(done) {
+      async.series([
+          kwikemon.set('a', '1')
+        , kwikemon.set('b', '2')
+        , kwikemon.set('c', '3')
+        , kwikemon.fetchAll
+        ],
+        function(err, results) {
+          var monitors = results.pop()
+            , names = Object.keys(monitors).sort();
+          assert(names.length == 3);
+          assert(names[0] == 'a' && monitors.a.text == '1');
+          assert(names[1] == 'b' && monitors.b.text == '2');
+          assert(names[2] == 'c' && monitors.c.text == '3');
+          done();
+        }
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#count", function() {
+    it("should count all monitors", function(done) {
+      async.series([
+          kwikemon.set('a', '1')
+        , kwikemon.set('b', '2')
+        , kwikemon.set('c', '3')
+        , kwikemon.count
+        ],
+        function(err, results) {
+          var n = results.pop();
+          assert(n == 3);
+          done();
+        }
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#remove", function() {
+    it("should remove the named monitor", function(done) {
+      async.series([
+          kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar')
+        , kwikemon.remove('foo')
+        , kwikemon.exists('foo')
+        ],
+        function(err, results) {
+          var exists = results.pop();
+          assert(!exists);
+          done();
+        }
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("#removeAll", function() {
+    it("should remove the named monitor", function(done) {
+      async.series([
+          kwikemon.set('foo', 'bar')
+        , kwikemon.set('baz', 'quux')
+        , kwikemon.removeAll
+        , kwikemon.exists('foo')
+        , kwikemon.exists('baz')
+        , kwikemon.count
+        ],
+        function(err, results) {
+          var n = results.pop()
+            , bazExists = results.pop()
+            , fooExists = results.pop()
+            ;
+          assert(!fooExists);
+          assert(!bazExists);
+          assert(n == 0);
+          done();
+        }
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});