diff --git a/piker/data/__init__.py b/piker/data/__init__.py
index fa26801c..579e596f 100644
--- a/piker/data/__init__.py
+++ b/piker/data/__init__.py
@@ -75,10 +75,12 @@ def get_ingestormod(name: str) -> ModuleType:
     return module
 
 
+# capable rpc modules
 _data_mods = [
     'piker.brokers.core',
     'piker.brokers.data',
     'piker.data',
+    'piker.data._buffer',
 ]
 
 
@@ -104,10 +106,13 @@ async def maybe_spawn_brokerd(
     brokermod = get_brokermod(brokername)
     dname = f'brokerd.{brokername}'
     async with tractor.find_actor(dname) as portal:
+
         # WTF: why doesn't this work?
         if portal is not None:
             yield portal
-        else:
+
+        else:  # no daemon has been spawned yet
+
             log.info(f"Spawning {brokername} broker daemon")
             tractor_kwargs = getattr(brokermod, '_spawn_kwargs', {})
             async with tractor.open_nursery() as nursery:
@@ -115,7 +120,7 @@ async def maybe_spawn_brokerd(
                     # spawn new daemon
                     portal = await nursery.start_actor(
                         dname,
-                        rpc_module_paths=_data_mods + [brokermod.__name__],
+                        enable_modules=_data_mods + [brokermod.__name__],
                         loglevel=loglevel,
                         **tractor_kwargs
                     )
@@ -140,7 +145,7 @@ class Feed:
     stream: AsyncIterator[Dict[str, Any]]
     shm: ShmArray
     # ticks: ShmArray
-    _broker_portal: tractor._portal.Portal
+    _brokerd_portal: tractor._portal.Portal
     _index_stream: Optional[AsyncIterator[Dict[str, Any]]] = None
 
     async def receive(self) -> dict:
@@ -151,9 +156,8 @@ class Feed:
             # XXX: this should be singleton on a host,
             # a lone broker-daemon per provider should be
             # created for all practical purposes
-            self._index_stream = await self._broker_portal.run(
-                'piker.data',
-                'increment_ohlc_buffer',
+            self._index_stream = await self._brokerd_portal.run(
+                increment_ohlc_buffer,
                 shm_token=self.shm.token,
                 topics=['index'],
             )
@@ -200,8 +204,7 @@ async def open_feed(
         loglevel=loglevel,
     ) as portal:
         stream = await portal.run(
-            mod.__name__,
-            'stream_quotes',
+            mod.stream_quotes,
             symbols=symbols,
             shm_token=shm.token,
 
@@ -225,5 +228,5 @@ async def open_feed(
             name=name,
             stream=stream,
             shm=shm,
-            _broker_portal=portal,
+            _brokerd_portal=portal,
         )