diff --git a/reagent-data-views-browserchannel/src/reagent_data_views/browserchannel/server.clj b/reagent-data-views-browserchannel/src/reagent_data_views/browserchannel/server.clj
index 7e014d4..56f6341 100644
--- a/reagent-data-views-browserchannel/src/reagent_data_views/browserchannel/server.clj
+++ b/reagent-data-views-browserchannel/src/reagent_data_views/browserchannel/server.clj
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 (ns reagent-data-views.browserchannel.server
+  (:import
+    (clojure.lang Atom))
   (:require
     [clojure.tools.logging :as log]
     [net.thegeez.browserchannel.server :as browserchannel]
@@ -13,29 +15,38 @@
 (defn init-views!
   "initializes the views system and adds browserchannel-specific configuration
    to it to enable the necessary hooks into reagent-data-views.
-   you should call this *instead* of views.core/init!. all of the same
-   options can be used. see views.core/init! for more information.
+   this function acts as a direct replacement to calling views.core/init!, so
+   are able to initialize both views and reagent-data-views by calling this
+   function. the arguments and return value are the same as in views.core/init!
+   so see that function for more information.
 
-   an additional option :context-fn can be specified which is a function
+   one additional option :context-fn can be specified which is a function
    that accepts an initial context map created by reagent-data-views and
    allows your application to add any information necessary to the context
    passed to various view system functions (such as auth-fn, namespace-fn, etc)."
-  [views & [options]]
-  (views/init! views views-send-fn options)
-  (server/set-context-fn! (:context-fn options)))
+  ([^Atom view-system options]
+   (let [options (-> options
+                     (assoc :send-fn views-send-fn))]
+     (views/init! view-system options)
+     (server/set-context-fn! view-system (:context-fn options))))
+  ([options]
+    (init-views! (atom {}) options)))
 
-(def middleware
-  "clj-browserchannel server-side event middleware. this should be included in the
-   middleware list provided to wrap-browserchannel."
+(defn ->middleware
+  "returns clj-browserchannel server-side event middleware for injecting
+   reagent-data-views handling into the clj-browserchannel client session
+   lifecycle handling. simply include the returned middleware map in your
+   Ring handler's wrap-browserchannel options."
+  [^Atom view-system]
   {:on-receive
    (fn [handler]
      (fn [client-id request data]
-       (if-not (server/on-receive! client-id data {:request request})
+       (if-not (server/on-receive! view-system client-id data {:request request})
          ; only pass along receive events for data not intended for the views system
          (handler client-id request data))))
 
    :on-close
    (fn [handler]
      (fn [client-id request reason]
-       (server/on-close! client-id {:request request})
+       (server/on-close! view-system client-id {:request request})
        (handler client-id request reason)))})
diff --git a/reagent-data-views/src/reagent_data_views/server/core.clj b/reagent-data-views/src/reagent_data_views/server/core.clj
index 87d3869..cf03c27 100644
--- a/reagent-data-views/src/reagent_data_views/server/core.clj
+++ b/reagent-data-views/src/reagent_data_views/server/core.clj
@@ -1,44 +1,46 @@
 (ns reagent-data-views.server.core
+  (:import
+    (clojure.lang Atom))
   (:require
     [clojure.tools.logging :as log]
     [views.core :as views]
     [reagent-data-views.utils :refer [relevant-event?]]))
 
 (defn- handle-subscriptions!
-  [client-id view-sig context]
+  [^Atom view-system client-id view-sig context]
   (log/trace client-id "subscribing to" view-sig)
-  (views/subscribe! view-sig client-id context))
+  (views/subscribe! view-system view-sig client-id context))
 
 (defn- handle-unsubscriptions!
-  [client-id view-sig context]
+  [^Atom view-system client-id view-sig context]
   (log/trace client-id "unsubscribing from" view-sig)
-  (views/unsubscribe! view-sig client-id context))
+  (views/unsubscribe! view-system view-sig client-id context))
 
 (defn- update-context
-  [existing-context]
-  (if-let [context-fn (get-in @views/view-system [:reagent-data-views :context-fn])]
+  [^Atom view-system existing-context]
+  (if-let [context-fn (get-in @view-system [:reagent-data-views :context-fn])]
     (context-fn existing-context)
     existing-context))
 
 (defn on-close!
-  [client-id context]
+  [^Atom view-system client-id context]
   (log/trace client-id "on-close, unsubscribing from all views")
-  (views/unsubscribe-all! client-id))
+  (views/unsubscribe-all! view-system client-id))
 
 (defn on-receive!
-  [client-id data context]
+  [^Atom view-system client-id data context]
   (when (relevant-event? data)
-    (let [context          (update-context context)
+    (let [context          (update-context view-system context)
           [event view-sig] data
           ; for safety, since this is otherwise coming in un-altered from clients
           view-sig         (dissoc view-sig :namespace)]
       (condp = event
-        :views/subscribe (handle-subscriptions! client-id view-sig context)
-        :views/unsubscribe (handle-unsubscriptions! client-id view-sig context)
+        :views/subscribe (handle-subscriptions! view-system client-id view-sig context)
+        :views/unsubscribe (handle-unsubscriptions! view-system client-id view-sig context)
         (log/warn client-id "unrecognized event" event "-- full received data:" data))
       ; indicating that we handled the received event
       true)))
 
 (defn set-context-fn!
-  [f]
-  (swap! views/view-system assoc-in [:reagent-data-views :context-fn] f))
\ No newline at end of file
+  [^Atom view-system f]
+  (swap! view-system assoc-in [:reagent-data-views :context-fn] f))
\ No newline at end of file