diff --git a/docker-compose.dev.yml b/docker-compose.dev.yml
index 975b86c..1fbc611 100644
--- a/docker-compose.dev.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.dev.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ services:
       - ./seed-backup.json:/root/.vsc-seed-backup.json
       - ./.git/refs/heads/main:/root/git_commit
       - ./src:/home/github/app/src
+      - ./dist:/home/github/app/dist
 
   mongo:
     container_name: mongo_vsc_dev
diff --git a/src/services/new/contractEngineV2.ts b/src/services/new/contractEngineV2.ts
index 3a1bb61..3308c5a 100644
--- a/src/services/new/contractEngineV2.ts
+++ b/src/services/new/contractEngineV2.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ class VmContext {
 
     async init() {
         let args = {
+            debug: true,
             state: {
 
             },
@@ -61,7 +62,9 @@ class VmContext {
         }
         this.vm = new VmContainer(args)
 
+        console.log('vm init')
         await this.vm.init()
+        console.log('vm readying')
         await this.vm.onReady()
     }
 
diff --git a/src/services/new/vm/utils.ts b/src/services/new/vm/utils.ts
index 207ae06..ec36081 100644
--- a/src/services/new/vm/utils.ts
+++ b/src/services/new/vm/utils.ts
@@ -434,8 +434,11 @@ export class VmContainer {
     this.child.kill()
   }
 
-  onReady() {
-    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+  async onReady() {
+    if (this.ready) {
+      return
+    }
+    return new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
       this.events.on('ready', resolve)
     })
   }
diff --git a/src/services/new/vm/vm-runner.ts b/src/services/new/vm/vm-runner.ts
index 0a93078..65225a5 100644
--- a/src/services/new/vm/vm-runner.ts
+++ b/src/services/new/vm/vm-runner.ts
@@ -464,8 +464,12 @@ class VmRunner {
 
     let modules = {}
     for (let [contract_id, code] of Object.entries<string>(this.modules)) {
-      const binaryData = await ipfs.block.get(IPFS.CID.parse(code))
-      modules[contract_id] = await WebAssembly.compile(binaryData)
+      const binaryData = await ipfs.dag.get(IPFS.CID.parse(code))
+      try {
+        modules[contract_id] = await WebAssembly.compile(binaryData.value)
+      } catch (e) {
+        console.error(`invalid contract code ${contract_id}`, e)
+      }
     }
 
     let state = {}
@@ -763,6 +767,7 @@ class VmRunner {
           type: 'execute-stop',
           ret: str,
           logs,
+          error: null,
           // reqId: message.reqId,
           IOGas,
         }
@@ -785,6 +790,7 @@ class VmRunner {
           return {
             type: 'execute-stop',
             ret: null,
+            error: ex.toString(),
             errorType: ContractErrorType.RUNTIME_UNKNOWN,
             logs,
             // reqId: message.reqId,
@@ -798,6 +804,7 @@ class VmRunner {
         type: 'execute-stop',
         ret: null,
         logs,
+        error: ex.toString(),
         errorType: ContractErrorType.RUNTIME_SETUP,
         // reqId: message.reqId,
         IOGas,
diff --git a/src/services/new/witness/index.ts b/src/services/new/witness/index.ts
index e2262fb..386b917 100644
--- a/src/services/new/witness/index.ts
+++ b/src/services/new/witness/index.ts
@@ -387,6 +387,7 @@ export class WitnessServiceV2 {
         console.log('contractIds', contractIds)
         const vmContext = this.self.contractEngine.vmContext(contractIds);
         await vmContext.init()
+        console.log('initalized vm')
         
         let results: Record<string, Array<any>> = {
 
@@ -395,7 +396,9 @@ export class WitnessServiceV2 {
         for(let tx of transactions) {
           if(tx.data.contract_id) {
             const contract_id = tx.data.contract_id
+            console.log('processing tx', JSON.stringify(tx, null, 2))
             const contractCallResult = await vmContext.processTx(tx)
+            console.log('completed tx', JSON.stringify(contractCallResult, null, 2))
             if(!results[contract_id]) {
               results[contract_id] = []
             }