diff --git a/app/index.js b/app/index.js
index 9886b73..a82ef8c 100644
--- a/app/index.js
+++ b/app/index.js
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
 var app = require('app')
 var Menu = require('menu')
-var shell = require('shell')
-var BrowserWindow = require('browser-window')
 var path = require('path')
 
-var config = require('ssb-config') 
-var setupRpc = require('./lib/muxrpc-ipc')
+var config = require('ssb-config')
+var windows = require('./lib/windows')
 
 // Report crashes to our server.
 //require('crash-reporter').start();
 
-var mainWindow
-
 app.on('ready', function ready () {
   // setup blobs
   var blobs_dir = path.join(config.path, 'blobs')
@@ -24,33 +20,13 @@ app.on('ready', function ready () {
     require('protocol').registerProtocol('blob', blobs.protocol)
 
     // open the web app
-    mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({width: 1000, height: 720})
-    // mainWindow.openDevTools()
-    mainWindow.loadUrl('file://' + path.join(__dirname, '../node_modules/ssbplug-phoenix/home.html'))
-    mainWindow.webContents.on('new-window', onNewWindow)
-    mainWindow.on('closed', function() { mainWindow = null })
-    setupRpc(sbot, mainWindow)
-
-    function onNewWindow (e, url) {
-      e.preventDefault() // hell naw
-      if (url.indexOf('blob:') === 0) {
-        // open the file
-        blobs.checkout(url, function (err, path) {
-          if (err) {
-            if (err.badUrl)
-              alert('Error: Not a valid file reference')
-            else if (err.notFound)
-              alert('Error: This file has not yet been synced. Please try again soon.') // :TODO: show 'search' window
-            else
-              console.log(err) // :TODO: something nicer
-          } else
-            shell.openItem(path)
-        })
-      } else {
-        // open in the browser
-        shell.openExternal(url)
-      }
-    }
+    var mainWindow = windows.open(
+      'file://' + path.join(__dirname, '../node_modules/ssbplug-phoenix/home.html'),
+      sbot,
+      blobs,
+      { width: 1000, height: 720 }
+    )
+    mainWindow.openDevTools()
 
     // setup menu
     // Menu.setApplicationMenu(Menu.buildFromTemplate([{
diff --git a/app/lib/blobs.js b/app/lib/blobs.js
index 5e6d595..7596dc0 100644
--- a/app/lib/blobs.js
+++ b/app/lib/blobs.js
@@ -7,24 +7,6 @@ var toPull = require('stream-to-pull-stream')
 var querystring = require('querystring')
 var fs = require('fs')
 
-// blob url parser
-var re = /^blob:([a-z0-9\+\/=]+\.blake2s)\??(.*)$/i
-var url_parse =
-module.exports.url_parse = function (str) {
-  var parts = re.exec(str)
-  if (parts)
-    return { hash: parts[1], qs: querystring.parse(parts[2]) }
-}
-
-// blob url builder
-var url_stringify =
-module.exports.url_stringify = function (hash, qs) {
-  var url = 'blob:'+hash
-  if (qs && typeof qs == 'object')
-    url += '?' + querystring.stringify(qs)
-  return url
-}
-
 module.exports = function (blobs_dir, checkout_dir) {
   return {
     // behavior for the blob: protocol
@@ -50,7 +32,7 @@ module.exports = function (blobs_dir, checkout_dir) {
       fs.stat(toPath(blobs_dir, parsed.hash), done())
       findCheckoutDst(filename, parsed.hash, done())
       done(function (err, res) {
-        if (!res[0][1])
+        if (err && err.code == 'ENOENT')
           return cb({ notFound: true })
 
         // do we need to copy?
@@ -113,4 +95,22 @@ module.exports = function (blobs_dir, checkout_dir) {
       })
     }
   }
+}
+
+// blob url parser
+var re = /^blob:([a-z0-9\+\/=]+\.blake2s)\??(.*)$/i
+var url_parse =
+module.exports.url_parse = function (str) {
+  var parts = re.exec(str)
+  if (parts)
+    return { hash: parts[1], qs: querystring.parse(parts[2]) }
+}
+
+// blob url builder
+var url_stringify =
+module.exports.url_stringify = function (hash, qs) {
+  var url = 'blob:'+hash
+  if (qs && typeof qs == 'object')
+    url += '?' + querystring.stringify(qs)
+  return url
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/lib/muxrpc-ipc.js b/app/lib/muxrpc-ipc.js
index 0460bd8..c83ac23 100644
--- a/app/lib/muxrpc-ipc.js
+++ b/app/lib/muxrpc-ipc.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ var pull       = require('pull-stream')
 var pushable   = require('pull-pushable')
 var Api        = require('scuttlebot/lib/api')
 
-module.exports = function (sbot, window) {
+module.exports = function (window, sbot, params) {
   // construct api
   var api = Api(sbot)
   for (var k in sbot.manifest) {
@@ -34,4 +34,8 @@ module.exports = function (sbot, window) {
     if (e.sender == window.webContents)
       e.returnValue = sbot.config
   });
+  ipc.on('fetch-params', function(e) {
+    if (e.sender == window.webContents)
+      e.returnValue = params
+  });
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/lib/windows.js b/app/lib/windows.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41d9b25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/lib/windows.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+var BrowserWindow = require('browser-window')
+var path = require('path')
+var shell = require('shell')
+var setupRpc = require('./muxrpc-ipc')
+var blobslib = require('./blobs')
+
+var windows = []
+
+var open =
+module.exports.open = function (url, sbot, blobs, opts, params) {
+  var win = new BrowserWindow(opts)
+  win.loadUrl(url)
+  setupRpc(win, sbot, params)
+  
+  win.on('closed', function() {
+    var i = windows.indexOf(win)
+    windows.splice(i, 1)
+    win = null
+  })
+  
+  win.webContents.on('new-window', function (e, url) {
+    e.preventDefault() // hell naw
+    if (url.indexOf('blob:') === 0) {
+      // open the file
+      blobs.checkout(url, function (err, filepath) {
+        if (err) {
+          if (err.badUrl)
+            alert('Error: Not a valid file reference')
+          else if (err.notFound) {
+            // register want
+            var hash = blobslib.url_parse(url).hash
+            sbot.blobs.want(hash, {nowait: true}, function(){})
+            // open search interface
+            open(
+              'file://' + path.join(__dirname, '../../node_modules/ssbplug-phoenix/blob-search.html'),
+              sbot,
+              blobs,
+              { width: 600, height: 650 },
+              { url: url, hash: hash }
+            )
+          } else
+            console.log(err) // :TODO: something nicer
+        } else
+          shell.openItem(filepath)
+      })
+    } else {
+      // open in the browser
+      shell.openExternal(url)
+    }
+  })
+
+  return win
+}
\ No newline at end of file