diff --git a/server/main.go b/server/main.go
index 2a9e3e4..a154bdd 100644
--- a/server/main.go
+++ b/server/main.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
@@ -10,9 +11,12 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/gtank/ctxd/rpc"
+	"github.com/gtank/ctxd/storage"
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/reflection"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -41,13 +45,13 @@ type Options struct {
 func main() {
 	opts := &Options{}
 	flag.StringVar(&opts.bindAddr, "bind-addr", "127.0.0.1:9067", "the address to listen on")
-	flag.StringVar(&opts.dbPath, "db-path", "", "the location of a sqlite database file")
+	flag.StringVar(&opts.dbPath, "db-path", "", "the path to a sqlite database file")
 	flag.StringVar(&opts.tlsCertPath, "tls-cert", "", "the path to a TLS certificate (optional)")
 	flag.StringVar(&opts.tlsKeyPath, "tls-key", "", "the path to a TLS key file (optional)")
 	flag.Uint64Var(&opts.logLevel, "log-level", uint64(logrus.InfoLevel), "log level (logrus 1-7)")
 	// TODO prod logging flag.StringVar(&opts.logPath, "log-file", "", "log file to write to")
 	// TODO prod metrics
-	// TODO support config from file
+	// TODO support config from file and env vars
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	if opts.dbPath == "" {
@@ -74,6 +78,11 @@ func main() {
 		server = grpc.NewServer()
 	}
 
+	// Enable reflection for debugging
+	if opts.logLevel >= uint64(logrus.WarnLevel) {
+		reflection.Register(server)
+	}
+
 	// Compact transaction service initialization
 	service, err := NewSQLiteStreamer(opts.dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -110,7 +119,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 			"error": err.Error(),
-		}).Fatal("gRPC server failed")
+		}).Fatal("gRPC server exited")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -120,5 +129,43 @@ type sqlStreamer struct {
 }
 
 func NewSQLiteStreamer(dbPath string) (rpc.CompactTxStreamerServer, error) {
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", dbPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Creates our tables if they don't already exist.
+	err = storage.CreateTables(db)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &sqlStreamer{db}, nil
+}
+
+func (s *sqlStreamer) GetLatestBlock(ctx context.Context, placeholder *rpc.ChainSpec) (*rpc.BlockID, error) {
+	// the ChainSpec type is an empty placeholder
+	height, err := storage.GetCurrentHeight(ctx, s.db)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"error":   err.Error(),
+			"context": ctx,
+		}).Error("GetLatestBlock call failed")
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// TODO: also return block hashes here
+	return &rpc.BlockID{Height: uint64(height)}, nil
+}
+
+func (s *sqlStreamer) GetBlock(context.Context, *rpc.BlockID) (*rpc.CompactBlock, error) {
+	return nil, ErrNoImpl
+}
+func (s *sqlStreamer) GetBlockRange(*rpc.BlockRange, rpc.CompactTxStreamer_GetBlockRangeServer) error {
+	return ErrNoImpl
+}
+func (s *sqlStreamer) GetTransaction(context.Context, *rpc.TxFilter) (*rpc.RawTransaction, error) {
+	return nil, ErrNoImpl
+}
+func (s *sqlStreamer) SendTransaction(context.Context, *rpc.RawTransaction) (*rpc.SendResponse, error) {
 	return nil, ErrNoImpl
 }
diff --git a/storage/sqlite3.go b/storage/sqlite3.go
index 50ab2c1..b6e1e4b 100644
--- a/storage/sqlite3.go
+++ b/storage/sqlite3.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package storage
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
 
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ var (
 	ErrBadRange = errors.New("no blocks in specified range")
 )
 
-func createTables(conn *sql.DB) error {
+func CreateTables(conn *sql.DB) error {
 	stateTable := `
 		CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS state (
 			current_height INTEGER,
@@ -39,10 +40,10 @@ func createTables(conn *sql.DB) error {
 	return err
 }
 
-func CurrentHeight(conn *sql.DB) (int, error) {
+func GetCurrentHeight(ctx context.Context, conn *sql.DB) (int, error) {
 	var height int
 	query := "SELECT current_height FROM state WHERE rowid = 1"
-	err := conn.QueryRow(query).Scan(&height)
+	err := conn.QueryRowContext(ctx, query).Scan(&height)
 	return height, err
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ func SetCurrentHeight(conn *sql.DB, height int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func GetBlock(conn *sql.DB, height int) (*rpc.CompactBlock, error) {
+func GetBlock(ctx context.Context, conn *sql.DB, height int) (*rpc.CompactBlock, error) {
 	var blockBytes []byte // avoid a copy with *RawBytes
 	query := "SELECT compact_encoding from blocks WHERE height = ?"
 	err := conn.QueryRow(query, height).Scan(&blockBytes)
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ func StoreBlock(conn *sql.DB, height int, hash string, sapling bool, version int
 		return errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("storing compact block %d", height))
 	}
 
-	currentHeight, err := CurrentHeight(conn)
+	currentHeight, err := GetCurrentHeight(context.Background(), conn)
 	if err != nil || height > currentHeight {
 		err = SetCurrentHeight(conn, height)
 	}
diff --git a/storage/sqlite3_test.go b/storage/sqlite3_test.go
index 7c5560a..14717c8 100644
--- a/storage/sqlite3_test.go
+++ b/storage/sqlite3_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package storage
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ func TestSqliteStorage(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer conn.Close()
 
-	err = createTables(conn)
+	err = CreateTables(conn)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ func TestSqliteStorage(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Wrong row count, want %d got %d", len(compactTests), count)
 	}
 
-	blockHeight, err := CurrentHeight(conn)
+	blockHeight, err := GetCurrentHeight(context.Background(), conn)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("checking current block height")))
 	}
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ func TestSqliteStorage(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Wrong block height, got: %d", blockHeight)
 	}
 
-	retBlock, err := GetBlock(conn, blockHeight)
+	retBlock, err := GetBlock(context.Background(), conn, blockHeight)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(errors.Wrap(err, "retrieving stored block"))
 	}