diff --git a/ReadMe.md b/ReadMe.md
index 67da3df..aa443ad 100644
--- a/ReadMe.md
+++ b/ReadMe.md
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ Just copy `check.lua` to where you want in your source.
 ## Usage
 
 Start it in its own thread, and send a table on the "send-itchy" channel with
-information on what you're looking for.
+information on what you're looking for. Wait for a response on the
+"receive-itchy" channel.
 
 ```lua
 -- initialize
@@ -18,33 +19,59 @@ versionCheck = love.thread.newThread("lib/itchy/check.lua")
 versionCheckSend = thread.getChannel("send-itchy")
 versionCheck:start()
 versionCheckSend:push({
-  target = "guard13007/asteroid-dodge"
-  -- other options are available!!
+  target = "guard13007/asteroid-dodge", -- target/url must be defined, see Options
+  version = current_version             -- defined elsewhere (also, optional)
+  -- other options are available!! see list below
 })
 -- receive info
 versionCheckReceive = thread.getChannel("receive-itchy")
 if versionCheckReceive:getCount() > 0 then
-  -- this could be a version or an error message!
-  latest_version = versionCheckReceive:demand()
+  data = versionCheckReceive:demand() -- this is a table of info, format specified below
+  -- easiest usage is to just print something like this to the user somewhere
+  print("Version: " .. current_version .. " Latest version: " .. data.message)
 end
 ```
 
+Returned data example:
+
+```lua
+{
+  status = 200,                -- nil or status code of an HTTP request
+  body = '{"latest":"0.2.0"}', -- raw resulting body from the HTTP request
+  version = "0.2.0",           -- a number or string
+  latest = true,               -- nil or boolean your version == latest version?
+  message = "0.2.0, you have the latest version"   -- an error or status message
+}
+```
+
+Errors from LuaSocket will be returned as `"socket.http.request error: " .. err`
+
+The library tries to parse a response body for valid JSON of the format
+`{"latest":"VERSION"}` (itch.io's format) and will do basic version comparisons
+based on this value. If it is unable to extract it or compare, `version` and
+`latest` will be `nil`.
+
+If HTTP status 200 (OK) is encountered or a version is successfully parsed from
+a response, the script terminates (or moves on to checking on an `interval`.)
+Otherwise, it will keep trying with an exponential back-off starting at a 1
+second delay.
+
 ### Options
 
+At minimum a `url` or `target` must be specified.
+
 * `url` (string) If you have a different URL to check for the latest version
   from, you can specify it here.
-* `target` REQUIRED (string) The target string of your game on itch.io
+* `target` (string) The target string of your game on itch.io
   (username/game-slug)
 * `channel` (string) If you do not specify the channel name to look for on
   itch.io, it will use `osx` for Mac OS / OS X, `win32` for Windows, `linux` for
   Linux, `android` for Android, `ios` for iOS, and if any other OS is returned
   by `love.system.getOS()` it will use that string as-is.
-* `version` (any) Version of the game running right now.
+* `version` (string/number) Version of the game running right now.
 * `proxy` (string) This library uses an [HTTP proxy](https://github.com/Guard13007/insecure-proxy)
   for the HTTPS call to itch.io's API. By default it uses `https://104.236.139.220:16343`
   which is a DigitalOcean VPS I own. If you'd rather use a different proxy
   server, you can specify it here.
 * `interval` (number) If specified, a check for the latest version will happen
   again every `interval` seconds.
-* `send_interval_errors` DEFAULT false (boolean) Whether or not checks happening
-  on an interval will report errors.
diff --git a/check.moon b/check.moon
index 78c8a2e..982171a 100644
--- a/check.moon
+++ b/check.moon
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ check = (data) ->
       result.body, result.status = http.request "#{data.proxy}/get/https://itch.io/api/1/x/wharf/latest?target=#{data.target}&channel_name=#{data.channel}"
 
     unless result.body
-      result.message = "socket.http.request error: #{status}"
+      result.message = "socket.http.request error: #{result.status}"
       send\push result
       return false
 
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ check = (data) ->
     result.latest = if data.version
       result.version == data.version
 
-    if status != 200 and (not version)
-      result.message = "unknown, error getting latest version: HTTP #{status}, trying again in #{exponential_backoff} seconds"
+    if result.status != 200 and (not result.version)
+      result.message = "unknown, error getting latest version: HTTP #{result.status}, trying again in #{exponential_backoff} seconds"
       send\push result
       timer.sleep exponential_backoff
       exponential_backoff *= 2