diff --git a/datastore/databuffer.nim b/datastore/databuffer.nim
index 6f7543e..9be717a 100644
--- a/datastore/databuffer.nim
+++ b/datastore/databuffer.nim
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ type
   
   KeyBuffer* = DataBuffer
   ValueBuffer* = DataBuffer
+  StringBuffer* = DataBuffer
 
 proc `$`*(data: DataBuffer): string =
   if data.buf.isNil:
@@ -62,10 +63,6 @@ proc unsafeGetAtomicCount*(a: DataBuffer): int =
 
 proc len*(a: DataBuffer): int = a.size
 
-proc toSeq*[T: byte | char](a: DataBuffer, tp: typedesc[T]): seq[T] =
-  result = newSeq[T](a.len)
-  copyMem(addr result[0], unsafeAddr a.buf[0], a.len)
-
 proc new*(tp: typedesc[DataBuffer], size: int = 0): DataBuffer =
   let cnt = cast[ptr int](allocShared0(sizeof(result.cnt)))
   cnt[] = 1
@@ -81,3 +78,12 @@ proc new*[T: byte | char](tp: typedesc[DataBuffer], data: openArray[T]): DataBuf
   result = DataBuffer.new(data.len)
   if data.len() > 0:
     copyMem(result.buf, unsafeAddr data[0], data.len)
+
+proc toSeq*[T: byte | char](a: DataBuffer, tp: typedesc[T]): seq[T] =
+  result = newSeq[T](a.len)
+  copyMem(addr result[0], unsafeAddr a.buf[0], a.len)
+
+proc toString*(data: StringBuffer): string =
+  result = newString(data.len())
+  if data.len() > 0:
+    copyMem(addr result[0], unsafeAddr data.buf[0], data.len)
diff --git a/datastore/threadbackend.nim b/datastore/threadbackend.nim
index 27fe9c3..3bc5c91 100644
--- a/datastore/threadbackend.nim
+++ b/datastore/threadbackend.nim
@@ -5,40 +5,51 @@ import pkg/questionable
 import pkg/questionable/results
 import pkg/upraises
 import pkg/taskpools
-import pkg/patty
 
 import ./key
 import ./query
 import ./datastore
 import ./databuffer
 
+import fsds
+
 export key, query
 
 push: {.upraises: [].}
 
-variant Shape:
-  Circle(r: float)
-  Rectangle(w: float, h: float)
-
 type
-  DatastoreBackend* {.pure.} = enum
-    FileSystem
-    SQlite
+  ThreadBackendKind* {.pure.} = enum
+    FSBackend
+    SQliteBackend
+
+  ThreadBackend* = object
+    case kind*: ThreadBackendKind
+    of FSBackend:
+      root: StringBuffer
+      depth: int
+      caseSensitive: bool
+      ignoreProtected: bool
+    of SQliteBackend:
+      discard
 
   ThreadDatastore* = ref object of Datastore
     tp: Taskpool
 
 var backendDatastore {.threadvar.}: ref Datastore
 
-proc startupDatastore(backend: DatastoreBackend): bool =
-
-  case backend:
-  of FileSystem:
-    backendDatastore = FSDatastore.new(
-      root: string,
-      depth = 2,
-      caseSensitive = true,
-      ignoreProtected = false
+proc startupDatastore(backend: ThreadBackend): bool =
+  ## starts up a FS instance on a give thread
+  case backend.kind:
+  of FSBackend:
+    let res = FSDatastore.new(
+      root = backend.root.toString(),
+      depth = backend.depth,
+      caseSensitive = backend.caseSensitive,
+      ignoreProtected = backend.ignoreProtected)
+    if res.isOk:
+      backendDatastore = res.get()
+  else:
+    discard
 
 proc has*(
   self: ThreadDatastore,