diff --git a/piker/brokers/_daemon.py b/piker/brokers/_daemon.py
index 5414bfb9..ec7a85a3 100644
--- a/piker/brokers/_daemon.py
+++ b/piker/brokers/_daemon.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 from contextlib import (
     asynccontextmanager as acm,
 )
+from functools import partial
 from types import ModuleType
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
@@ -60,12 +61,13 @@ async def _setup_persistent_brokerd(
     ctx: tractor.Context,
     brokername: str,
     loglevel: str | None = None,
+    debug_mode: bool = False,
 
 ) -> None:
     '''
-    Allocate a actor-wide service nursery in ``brokerd``
-    such that feeds can be run in the background persistently by
-    the broker backend as needed.
+    Allocate a actor-wide service nursery in `brokerd` such that
+    feeds can be run in the background persistently by the broker
+    backend as needed.
 
     '''
     # NOTE: we only need to setup logging once (and only) here
@@ -86,6 +88,18 @@ async def _setup_persistent_brokerd(
     from piker.data import feed
     assert not feed._bus
 
+    if (
+        debug_mode
+        and
+        tractor.current_actor().is_infected_aio()
+    ):
+        # NOTE, whenever running `asyncio` in provider's actor
+        # runtime be sure we enabled `breakpoint()` support
+        # for non-`trio.Task` usage.
+        from tractor.devx._debug import maybe_init_greenback
+        await maybe_init_greenback()
+        # breakpoint()  # XXX, SHOULD WORK from `trio.Task`!
+
     # allocate a nursery to the bus for spawning background
     # tasks to service client IPC requests, normally
     # `tractor.Context` connections to explicitly required
@@ -148,18 +162,21 @@ def broker_init(
       above.
 
     '''
-    from ..brokers import get_brokermod
-    brokermod = get_brokermod(brokername)
+    brokermod: ModuleType = get_brokermod(brokername)
     modpath: str = brokermod.__name__
-
-    start_actor_kwargs['name'] = f'brokerd.{brokername}'
-    start_actor_kwargs.update(
-        getattr(
-            brokermod,
-            '_spawn_kwargs',
-            {},
-        )
+    spawn_kws: dict = getattr(
+        brokermod,
+        '_spawn_kwargs',
+        {},
     )
+    # ^^ NOTE, here we pull any runtime parameters specific
+    # to spawning the sub-actor for the backend. For ex.
+    # both `ib` and `deribit` rely on,
+    #  `'infect_asyncio': True,` since they both
+    #  use `tractor`'s "infected `asyncio` mode"
+    #  for their libs but you could also do something like
+    #  `'debug_mode: True` which would be like passing
+    #  `--pdb` for just that provider backend.
 
     # XXX TODO: make this not so hacky/monkeypatched..
     # -> we need a sane way to configure the logging level for all
@@ -169,8 +186,7 @@ def broker_init(
 
     # lookup actor-enabled modules declared by the backend offering the
     # `brokerd` endpoint(s).
-    enabled: list[str]
-    enabled = start_actor_kwargs['enable_modules'] = [
+    enabled: list[str] = [
         __name__,  # so that eps from THIS mod can be invoked
         modpath,
     ]
@@ -182,9 +198,13 @@ def broker_init(
         subpath: str = f'{modpath}.{submodname}'
         enabled.append(subpath)
 
+    datad_kwargs: dict = {
+        'name': f'brokerd.{brokername}',
+        'enable_modules': enabled,
+    }
     return (
         brokermod,
-        start_actor_kwargs,  # to `ActorNursery.start_actor()`
+        start_actor_kwargs | datad_kwargs | spawn_kws,  # to `ActorNursery.start_actor()`
 
         # XXX see impl above; contains all (actor global)
         # setup/teardown expected in all `brokerd` actor instances.
@@ -193,14 +213,17 @@ def broker_init(
 
 
 async def spawn_brokerd(
-
     brokername: str,
     loglevel: str | None = None,
 
     **tractor_kwargs,
 
 ) -> bool:
+    '''
+    Spawn a `brokerd.<backendname>` subactor service daemon
+    using `pikerd`'s service mngr.
 
+    '''
     from piker.service._util import log  # use service mngr log
     log.info(f'Spawning {brokername} broker daemon')
 
@@ -214,33 +237,41 @@ async def spawn_brokerd(
         **tractor_kwargs,
     )
 
-    brokermod = get_brokermod(brokername)
-    extra_tractor_kwargs = getattr(brokermod, '_spawn_kwargs', {})
-    tractor_kwargs.update(extra_tractor_kwargs)
-
     # ask `pikerd` to spawn a new sub-actor and manage it under its
     # actor nursery
-    from piker.service import Services
-
+    from piker.service import (
+        get_service_mngr,
+        ServiceMngr,
+    )
     dname: str = tractor_kwargs.pop('name')  # f'brokerd.{brokername}'
-    portal = await Services.actor_n.start_actor(
-        dname,
-        enable_modules=_data_mods + tractor_kwargs.pop('enable_modules'),
-        debug_mode=Services.debug_mode,
+    mngr: ServiceMngr = get_service_mngr()
+    ctx: tractor.Context = await mngr.start_service(
+        daemon_name=dname,
+        ctx_ep=partial(
+            # signature of target root-task endpoint
+            daemon_fixture_ep,
+
+            # passed to daemon_fixture_ep(**kwargs)
+            brokername=brokername,
+            loglevel=loglevel,
+            debug_mode=mngr.debug_mode,
+        ),
+        debug_mode=mngr.debug_mode,
+        # ^TODO, allow overriding this per-daemon from client side?
+        # |_ it's already supported in `tractor` so..
+
+        loglevel=loglevel,
+        enable_modules=(
+            _data_mods
+            +
+            tractor_kwargs.pop('enable_modules')
+        ),
         **tractor_kwargs
     )
-
-    # NOTE: the service mngr expects an already spawned actor + its
-    # portal ref in order to do non-blocking setup of brokerd
-    # service nursery.
-    await Services.start_service_task(
-        dname,
-        portal,
-
-        # signature of target root-task endpoint
-        daemon_fixture_ep,
-        brokername=brokername,
-        loglevel=loglevel,
+    assert (
+        not ctx.cancel_called
+        and ctx.portal  # parent side
+        and dname in ctx.chan.uid  # subactor is named as desired
     )
     return True
 
@@ -265,8 +296,7 @@ async def maybe_spawn_brokerd(
     from piker.service import maybe_spawn_daemon
 
     async with maybe_spawn_daemon(
-
-        f'brokerd.{brokername}',
+        service_name=f'brokerd.{brokername}',
         service_task_target=spawn_brokerd,
         spawn_args={
             'brokername': brokername,
diff --git a/piker/data/_sampling.py b/piker/data/_sampling.py
index cc32af91..2feb6ad4 100644
--- a/piker/data/_sampling.py
+++ b/piker/data/_sampling.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from collections import (
     defaultdict,
 )
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager as acm
+from functools import partial
 import time
 from typing import (
     Any,
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ from tractor.trionics import (
     maybe_open_nursery,
 )
 import trio
-from trio_typing import TaskStatus
+from trio import TaskStatus
 
 from .ticktools import (
     frame_ticks,
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 _default_delay_s: float = 1.0
 
 
+# TODO: use new `tractor.singleton_acm` API for this!
 class Sampler:
     '''
     Global sampling engine registry.
@@ -79,9 +81,9 @@ class Sampler:
 
     This non-instantiated type is meant to be a singleton within
     a `samplerd` actor-service spawned once by the user wishing to
-    time-step-sample (real-time) quote feeds, see
-    ``.service.maybe_open_samplerd()`` and the below
-    ``register_with_sampler()``.
+    time-step-sample a (real-time) quote feeds, see
+    `.service.maybe_open_samplerd()` and the below
+    `register_with_sampler()`.
 
     '''
     service_nursery: None | trio.Nursery = None
@@ -381,7 +383,10 @@ async def register_with_sampler(
                 assert Sampler.ohlcv_shms
 
             # unblock caller
-            await ctx.started(set(Sampler.ohlcv_shms.keys()))
+            await ctx.started(
+                # XXX bc msgpack only allows one array type!
+                list(Sampler.ohlcv_shms.keys())
+            )
 
             if open_index_stream:
                 try:
@@ -426,7 +431,6 @@ async def register_with_sampler(
 
 
 async def spawn_samplerd(
-
     loglevel: str | None = None,
     **extra_tractor_kwargs
 
@@ -436,7 +440,10 @@ async def spawn_samplerd(
     update and increment count write and stream broadcasting.
 
     '''
-    from piker.service import Services
+    from piker.service import (
+        get_service_mngr,
+        ServiceMngr,
+    )
 
     dname = 'samplerd'
     log.info(f'Spawning `{dname}`')
@@ -444,26 +451,33 @@ async def spawn_samplerd(
     # singleton lock creation of ``samplerd`` since we only ever want
     # one daemon per ``pikerd`` proc tree.
     # TODO: make this built-into the service api?
-    async with Services.locks[dname + '_singleton']:
+    mngr: ServiceMngr = get_service_mngr()
+    already_started: bool = dname in mngr.service_tasks
 
-        if dname not in Services.service_tasks:
-
-            portal = await Services.actor_n.start_actor(
-                dname,
-                enable_modules=[
-                    'piker.data._sampling',
-                ],
-                loglevel=loglevel,
-                debug_mode=Services.debug_mode,  # set by pikerd flag
-                **extra_tractor_kwargs
-            )
-
-            await Services.start_service_task(
-                dname,
-                portal,
+    async with mngr._locks[dname + '_singleton']:
+        ctx: Context = await mngr.start_service(
+            daemon_name=dname,
+            ctx_ep=partial(
                 register_with_sampler,
                 period_s=1,
                 sub_for_broadcasts=False,
+            ),
+            debug_mode=mngr.debug_mode,  # set by pikerd flag
+
+            # proxy-through to tractor
+            enable_modules=[
+                'piker.data._sampling',
+            ],
+            loglevel=loglevel,
+            **extra_tractor_kwargs
+        )
+        if not already_started:
+            assert (
+                ctx
+                and
+                ctx.portal
+                and
+                not ctx.cancel_called
             )
             return True
 
diff --git a/piker/service/__init__.py b/piker/service/__init__.py
index 29360620..beb9c70b 100644
--- a/piker/service/__init__.py
+++ b/piker/service/__init__.py
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ Actor runtime primtives and (distributed) service APIs for,
   => TODO: maybe to (re)move elsewhere?
 
 '''
-from ._mngr import Services as Services
+from ._mngr import (
+    get_service_mngr as get_service_mngr,
+    open_service_mngr as open_service_mngr,
+    ServiceMngr as ServiceMngr,
+)
 from ._registry import (
     _tractor_kwargs as _tractor_kwargs,
     _default_reg_addr as _default_reg_addr,
diff --git a/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py b/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
index 33f23453..43a57f8c 100644
--- a/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
+++ b/piker/service/_actor_runtime.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 import os
 from typing import (
-    Optional,
     Any,
     ClassVar,
 )
@@ -30,13 +29,13 @@ from contextlib import (
 )
 
 import tractor
-import trio
 
 from ._util import (
     get_console_log,
 )
 from ._mngr import (
-    Services,
+    open_service_mngr,
+    ServiceMngr,
 )
 from ._registry import (  # noqa
     _tractor_kwargs,
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ async def open_piker_runtime(
     registry_addrs: list[tuple[str, int]] = [],
 
     enable_modules: list[str] = [],
-    loglevel: Optional[str] = None,
+    loglevel: str|None = None,
 
     # XXX NOTE XXX: you should pretty much never want debug mode
     # for data daemons when running in production.
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ async def open_piker_runtime(
     # and spawn the service tree distributed per that.
     start_method: str = 'trio',
 
-    tractor_runtime_overrides: dict | None = None,
+    tractor_runtime_overrides: dict|None = None,
     **tractor_kwargs,
 
 ) -> tuple[
@@ -124,6 +123,10 @@ async def open_piker_runtime(
                 enable_modules=enable_modules,
                 hide_tb=False,
 
+                # TODO: how to configure this?
+                # keep it on by default if debug mode is set?
+                # maybe_enable_greenback=debug_mode,
+
                 **tractor_kwargs,
             ) as actor,
 
@@ -172,12 +175,13 @@ async def open_pikerd(
 
     **kwargs,
 
-) -> Services:
+) -> ServiceMngr:
     '''
-    Start a root piker daemon with an indefinite lifetime.
+    Start a root piker daemon actor (aka `pikerd`) with an indefinite
+    lifetime.
 
-    A root actor nursery is created which can be used to create and keep
-    alive underling services (see below).
+    A root actor-nursery is created which can be used to spawn and
+    supervise underling service sub-actors (see below).
 
     '''
     # NOTE: for the root daemon we always enable the root
@@ -204,9 +208,6 @@ async def open_pikerd(
             root_actor,
             reg_addrs,
         ),
-        tractor.open_nursery() as actor_nursery,
-        tractor.trionics.collapse_eg(),
-        trio.open_nursery() as service_tn,
     ):
         for addr in reg_addrs:
             if addr not in root_actor.accept_addrs:
@@ -215,25 +216,17 @@ async def open_pikerd(
                     'Maybe you have another daemon already running?'
                 )
 
-        # assign globally for future daemon/task creation
-        Services.actor_n = actor_nursery
-        Services.service_n = service_tn
-        Services.debug_mode = debug_mode
-
-        try:
-            yield Services
-
-        finally:
-            # TODO: is this more clever/efficient?
-            # if 'samplerd' in Services.service_tasks:
-            #     await Services.cancel_service('samplerd')
-            service_tn.cancel_scope.cancel()
+        mngr: ServiceMngr
+        async with open_service_mngr(
+            debug_mode=debug_mode,
+        ) as mngr:
+            yield mngr
 
 
 # TODO: do we even need this?
 # @acm
 # async def maybe_open_runtime(
-#     loglevel: Optional[str] = None,
+#     loglevel: str|None = None,
 #     **kwargs,
 
 # ) -> None:
@@ -264,7 +257,7 @@ async def maybe_open_pikerd(
 
 ) -> (
     tractor._portal.Portal
-    |ClassVar[Services]
+    |ClassVar[ServiceMngr]
 ):
     '''
     If no ``pikerd`` daemon-root-actor can be found start it and
diff --git a/piker/service/_ahab.py b/piker/service/_ahab.py
index 4cccf855..0bdd1688 100644
--- a/piker/service/_ahab.py
+++ b/piker/service/_ahab.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ from requests.exceptions import (
     ReadTimeout,
 )
 
-from ._mngr import Services
+from ._mngr import ServiceMngr
 from ._util import (
     log,  # sub-sys logger
     get_console_log,
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ async def open_ahabd(
 
 @acm
 async def start_ahab_service(
-    services: Services,
+    services: ServiceMngr,
     service_name: str,
 
     # endpoint config passed as **kwargs
@@ -549,7 +549,8 @@ async def start_ahab_service(
         log.warning('Failed to cancel root permsed container')
 
     except (
-        trio.MultiError,
+        # trio.MultiError,
+        ExceptionGroup,
     ) as err:
         for subexc in err.exceptions:
             if isinstance(subexc, PermissionError):
diff --git a/piker/service/_daemon.py b/piker/service/_daemon.py
index 89d7f28d..f81d8b13 100644
--- a/piker/service/_daemon.py
+++ b/piker/service/_daemon.py
@@ -26,15 +26,17 @@ from typing import (
 from contextlib import (
     asynccontextmanager as acm,
 )
+from collections import defaultdict
 
 import tractor
-from trio.lowlevel import current_task
+import trio
 
 from ._util import (
     log,  # sub-sys logger
 )
 from ._mngr import (
-    Services,
+    get_service_mngr,
+    ServiceMngr,
 )
 from ._actor_runtime import maybe_open_pikerd
 from ._registry import find_service
@@ -42,15 +44,14 @@ from ._registry import find_service
 
 @acm
 async def maybe_spawn_daemon(
-
     service_name: str,
     service_task_target: Callable,
-
     spawn_args: dict[str, Any],
 
     loglevel: str | None = None,
     singleton: bool = False,
 
+    _locks = defaultdict(trio.Lock),
     **pikerd_kwargs,
 
 ) -> tractor.Portal:
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ async def maybe_spawn_daemon(
     '''
     # serialize access to this section to avoid
     # 2 or more tasks racing to create a daemon
-    lock = Services.locks[service_name]
+    lock = _locks[service_name]
     await lock.acquire()
 
     try:
@@ -104,6 +105,12 @@ async def maybe_spawn_daemon(
             # service task for that actor.
             started: bool
             if pikerd_portal is None:
+
+                # await tractor.pause()
+                if tractor.is_debug():
+                    from tractor.devx._debug import maybe_init_greenback
+                    await maybe_init_greenback()
+
                 started = await service_task_target(
                     loglevel=loglevel,
                     **spawn_args,
@@ -134,14 +141,72 @@ async def maybe_spawn_daemon(
             async with tractor.wait_for_actor(service_name) as portal:
                 lock.release()
                 yield portal
-                await portal.cancel_actor()
+                # --- ---- ---
+                # XXX NOTE XXX
+                # --- ---- ---
+                # DO NOT PUT A `portal.cancel_actor()` here (as was prior)!
+                #
+                # Doing so will cause an "out-of-band" ctxc
+                # (`tractor.ContextCancelled`) to be raised inside the
+                # `ServiceMngr.open_context_in_task()`'s call to
+                # `ctx.wait_for_result()` AND the internal self-ctxc
+                # "graceful capture" WILL NOT CATCH IT!
+                #
+                # This can cause certain types of operations to raise
+                # that ctxc BEFORE THEY `return`, resulting in
+                # a "false-negative" ctxc being raised when really
+                # nothing actually failed, other then our semantic
+                # "failure" to suppress an expected, graceful,
+                # self-cancel scenario..
+                #
+                # bUt wHy duZ It WorK lIKe dis..
+                # ------------------------------
+                # from the perspective of the `tractor.Context` this
+                # cancel request was conducted "out of band" since
+                # `Context.cancel()` was never called and thus the
+                # `._cancel_called: bool` was never set. Despite the
+                # remote `.canceller` being set to `pikerd` (i.e. the
+                # same `Actor.uid` of the raising service-mngr task) the
+                # service-task's ctx itself was never marked as having
+                # requested cancellation and thus still raises the ctxc
+                # bc it was unaware of any such request.
+                #
+                # How to make grokin these cases easier tho?
+                # ------------------------------------------
+                # Because `Portal.cancel_actor()` was called it requests
+                # "full-`Actor`-runtime-cancellation" of it's peer
+                # process which IS NOT THE SAME as a single inter-actor
+                # RPC task cancelling its local context with a remote
+                # peer `Task` in that same peer process.
+                #
+                # ?TODO? It might be better if we do one (or all) of the
+                # following:
+                #
+                # -[ ] at least set a special message for the
+                #    `ContextCancelled` when raised locally by the
+                #    unaware ctx task such that we check for the
+                #    `.canceller` being *our `Actor`* and in the case
+                #    where `Context._cancel_called == False` we specially
+                #    note that this is likely an "out-of-band"
+                #    runtime-cancel request triggered by some call to
+                #    `Portal.cancel_actor()`, possibly even reporting the
+                #    exact LOC of that caller by tracking it inside our
+                #    portal-type?
+                # -[ ] possibly add another field `ContextCancelled` like
+                #    maybe a,
+                #    `.request_type: Literal['os', 'proc', 'actor',
+                #    'ctx']` type thing which would allow immediately
+                #    being able to tell what kind of cancellation caused
+                #    the unexpected ctxc?
+                # -[ ] REMOVE THIS COMMENT, once we've settled on how to
+                #     better augment `tractor` to be more explicit on this!
 
     except BaseException as _err:
         err = _err
         if (
             lock.locked()
             and
-            lock.statistics().owner is current_task()
+            lock.statistics().owner is trio.lowlevel.current_task()
         ):
             log.exception(
                 f'Releasing stale lock after crash..?'
@@ -163,26 +228,25 @@ async def spawn_emsd(
     """
     log.info('Spawning emsd')
 
-    portal = await Services.actor_n.start_actor(
+    smngr: ServiceMngr = get_service_mngr()
+    portal = await smngr.an.start_actor(
         'emsd',
         enable_modules=[
             'piker.clearing._ems',
             'piker.clearing._client',
         ],
         loglevel=loglevel,
-        debug_mode=Services.debug_mode,  # set by pikerd flag
+        debug_mode=smngr.debug_mode,  # set by pikerd flag
         **extra_tractor_kwargs
     )
 
     # non-blocking setup of clearing service
     from ..clearing._ems import _setup_persistent_emsd
 
-    await Services.start_service_task(
-        'emsd',
-        portal,
-
-        # signature of target root-task endpoint
-        _setup_persistent_emsd,
+    await smngr.start_service_ctx(
+        name='emsd',
+        portal=portal,
+        ctx_fn=_setup_persistent_emsd,
         loglevel=loglevel,
     )
     return True
diff --git a/piker/service/_mngr.py b/piker/service/_mngr.py
index 726a34c8..9557a828 100644
--- a/piker/service/_mngr.py
+++ b/piker/service/_mngr.py
@@ -18,148 +18,36 @@
 daemon-service management API.
 
 """
-from collections import defaultdict
-from typing import (
-    Callable,
-    Any,
+from contextlib import (
+    asynccontextmanager as acm,
 )
 
-import trio
-from trio_typing import TaskStatus
 import tractor
-from tractor import (
-    current_actor,
-    ContextCancelled,
-    Context,
-    Portal,
+from tractor.hilevel import (
+    ServiceMngr,
+    # open_service_mngr as _open_service_mngr,
+    get_service_mngr as get_service_mngr,
 )
+# TODO:
+# -[ ] factor all the common shit from `.data._sampling`
+#   and `.brokers._daemon` into here / `ServiceMngr`
+#   in terms of allocating the `Portal` as part of the
+#   "service-in-subactor" starting!
+# -[ ] move to `tractor.hilevel._service`, import and use here!
+# NOTE: purposely leaks the ref to the mod-scope Bo
 
-from ._util import (
-    log,  # sub-sys logger
-)
+Services: ServiceMngr|None = None
 
+@acm
+async def open_service_mngr(
+    **kwargs,
+) -> ServiceMngr:
 
-# TODO: we need remote wrapping and a general soln:
-# - factor this into a ``tractor.highlevel`` extension # pack for the
-#   library.
-# - wrap a "remote api" wherein you can get a method proxy
-#   to the pikerd actor for starting services remotely!
-# - prolly rename this to ActorServicesNursery since it spawns
-#   new actors and supervises them to completion?
-class Services:
-
-    actor_n: tractor._supervise.ActorNursery
-    service_n: trio.Nursery
-    debug_mode: bool  # tractor sub-actor debug mode flag
-    service_tasks: dict[
-        str,
-        tuple[
-            trio.CancelScope,
-            Portal,
-            trio.Event,
-        ]
-    ] = {}
-    locks = defaultdict(trio.Lock)
-
-    @classmethod
-    async def start_service_task(
-        self,
-        name: str,
-        portal: Portal,
-        target: Callable,
-        allow_overruns: bool = False,
-        **ctx_kwargs,
-
-    ) -> (trio.CancelScope, Context):
-        '''
-        Open a context in a service sub-actor, add to a stack
-        that gets unwound at ``pikerd`` teardown.
-
-        This allows for allocating long-running sub-services in our main
-        daemon and explicitly controlling their lifetimes.
-
-        '''
-        async def open_context_in_task(
-            task_status: TaskStatus[
-                tuple[
-                    trio.CancelScope,
-                    trio.Event,
-                    Any,
-                ]
-            ] = trio.TASK_STATUS_IGNORED,
-
-        ) -> Any:
-
-            with trio.CancelScope() as cs:
-
-                async with portal.open_context(
-                    target,
-                    allow_overruns=allow_overruns,
-                    **ctx_kwargs,
-
-                ) as (ctx, first):
-
-                    # unblock once the remote context has started
-                    complete = trio.Event()
-                    task_status.started((cs, complete, first))
-                    log.info(
-                        f'`pikerd` service {name} started with value {first}'
-                    )
-                    try:
-                        # wait on any context's return value
-                        # and any final portal result from the
-                        # sub-actor.
-                        ctx_res: Any = await ctx.wait_for_result()
-
-                        # NOTE: blocks indefinitely until cancelled
-                        # either by error from the target context
-                        # function or by being cancelled here by the
-                        # surrounding cancel scope.
-                        return (await portal.result(), ctx_res)
-                    except ContextCancelled as ctxe:
-                        canceller: tuple[str, str] = ctxe.canceller
-                        our_uid: tuple[str, str] = current_actor().uid
-                        if (
-                            canceller != portal.channel.uid
-                            and
-                            canceller != our_uid
-                        ):
-                            log.cancel(
-                                f'Actor-service {name} was remotely cancelled?\n'
-                                f'remote canceller: {canceller}\n'
-                                f'Keeping {our_uid} alive, ignoring sub-actor cancel..\n'
-                            )
-                        else:
-                            raise
-
-
-
-                    finally:
-                        await portal.cancel_actor()
-                        complete.set()
-                        self.service_tasks.pop(name)
-
-        cs, complete, first = await self.service_n.start(open_context_in_task)
-
-        # store the cancel scope and portal for later cancellation or
-        # retstart if needed.
-        self.service_tasks[name] = (cs, portal, complete)
-
-        return cs, first
-
-    @classmethod
-    async def cancel_service(
-        self,
-        name: str,
-
-    ) -> Any:
-        '''
-        Cancel the service task and actor for the given ``name``.
-
-        '''
-        log.info(f'Cancelling `pikerd` service {name}')
-        cs, portal, complete = self.service_tasks[name]
-        cs.cancel()
-        await complete.wait()
-        assert name not in self.service_tasks, \
-            f'Serice task for {name} not terminated?'
+    global Services
+    async with tractor.hilevel.open_service_mngr(
+        **kwargs,
+    ) as mngr:
+        # Services = proxy(mngr)
+        Services = mngr
+        yield mngr
+        Services = None
diff --git a/piker/service/elastic.py b/piker/service/elastic.py
index 902f4fde..b1a13722 100644
--- a/piker/service/elastic.py
+++ b/piker/service/elastic.py
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@ from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
 )
 
+# TODO: oof, needs to be changed to `httpx`!
 import asks
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     import docker
     from ._ahab import DockerContainer
+    from . import ServiceMngr
 
 from ._util import log  # sub-sys logger
 from ._util import (
@@ -127,7 +129,7 @@ def start_elasticsearch(
 
 @acm
 async def start_ahab_daemon(
-    service_mngr: Services,
+    service_mngr: ServiceMngr,
     user_config: dict | None = None,
     loglevel: str | None = None,
 
diff --git a/piker/service/marketstore.py b/piker/service/marketstore.py
index c9f49420..852b967c 100644
--- a/piker/service/marketstore.py
+++ b/piker/service/marketstore.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ import pendulum
 # import purerpc
 
 from ..data.feed import maybe_open_feed
-from . import Services
+from . import ServiceMngr
 from ._util import (
     log,  # sub-sys logger
     get_console_log,
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ def start_marketstore(
 
 @acm
 async def start_ahab_daemon(
-    service_mngr: Services,
+    service_mngr: ServiceMngr,
     user_config: dict | None = None,
     loglevel: str | None = None,
 
diff --git a/piker/types.py b/piker/types.py
index cda3fb44..385f83b0 100644
--- a/piker/types.py
+++ b/piker/types.py
@@ -21,230 +21,4 @@ Extensions to built-in or (heavily used but 3rd party) friend-lib
 types.
 
 '''
-from __future__ import annotations
-from collections import UserList
-from pprint import (
-    saferepr,
-)
-from typing import Any
-
-from msgspec import (
-    msgpack,
-    Struct as _Struct,
-    structs,
-)
-
-
-class DiffDump(UserList):
-    '''
-    Very simple list delegator that repr() dumps (presumed) tuple
-    elements of the form `tuple[str, Any, Any]` in a nice
-    multi-line readable form for analyzing `Struct` diffs.
-
-    '''
-    def __repr__(self) -> str:
-        if not len(self):
-            return super().__repr__()
-
-        # format by displaying item pair's ``repr()`` on multiple,
-        # indented lines such that they are more easily visually
-        # comparable when printed to console when printed to
-        # console.
-        repstr: str = '[\n'
-        for k, left, right in self:
-            repstr += (
-                f'({k},\n'
-                f'\t{repr(left)},\n'
-                f'\t{repr(right)},\n'
-                ')\n'
-            )
-        repstr += ']\n'
-        return repstr
-
-
-class Struct(
-    _Struct,
-
-    # https://jcristharif.com/msgspec/structs.html#tagged-unions
-    # tag='pikerstruct',
-    # tag=True,
-):
-    '''
-    A "human friendlier" (aka repl buddy) struct subtype.
-
-    '''
-    def _sin_props(self) -> Iterator[
-        tuple[
-            structs.FieldIinfo,
-            str,
-            Any,
-        ]
-    ]:
-        '''
-        Iterate over all non-@property fields of this struct.
-
-        '''
-        fi: structs.FieldInfo
-        for fi in structs.fields(self):
-            key: str = fi.name
-            val: Any = getattr(self, key)
-            yield fi, key, val
-
-    def to_dict(
-        self,
-        include_non_members: bool = True,
-
-    ) -> dict:
-        '''
-        Like it sounds.. direct delegation to:
-        https://jcristharif.com/msgspec/api.html#msgspec.structs.asdict
-
-        BUT, by default we pop all non-member (aka not defined as
-        struct fields) fields by default.
-
-        '''
-        asdict: dict = structs.asdict(self)
-        if include_non_members:
-            return asdict
-
-        # only return a dict of the struct members
-        # which were provided as input, NOT anything
-        # added as type-defined `@property` methods!
-        sin_props: dict = {}
-        fi: structs.FieldInfo
-        for fi, k, v in self._sin_props():
-            sin_props[k] = asdict[k]
-
-        return sin_props
-
-    def pformat(
-        self,
-        field_indent: int = 2,
-        indent: int = 0,
-
-    ) -> str:
-        '''
-        Recursion-safe `pprint.pformat()` style formatting of
-        a `msgspec.Struct` for sane reading by a human using a REPL.
-
-        '''
-        # global whitespace indent
-        ws: str = ' '*indent
-
-        # field whitespace indent
-        field_ws: str = ' '*(field_indent + indent)
-
-        # qtn: str = ws + self.__class__.__qualname__
-        qtn: str = self.__class__.__qualname__
-
-        obj_str: str = ''  # accumulator
-        fi: structs.FieldInfo
-        k: str
-        v: Any
-        for fi, k, v in self._sin_props():
-
-            # TODO: how can we prefer `Literal['option1',  'option2,
-            # ..]` over .__name__ == `Literal` but still get only the
-            # latter for simple types like `str | int | None` etc..?
-            ft: type = fi.type
-            typ_name: str = getattr(ft, '__name__', str(ft))
-
-            # recurse to get sub-struct's `.pformat()` output Bo
-            if isinstance(v, Struct):
-                val_str: str =  v.pformat(
-                    indent=field_indent + indent,
-                    field_indent=indent + field_indent,
-                )
-
-            else:  # the `pprint` recursion-safe format:
-                # https://docs.python.org/3.11/library/pprint.html#pprint.saferepr
-                val_str: str = saferepr(v)
-
-            obj_str += (field_ws + f'{k}: {typ_name} = {val_str},\n')
-
-        return (
-            f'{qtn}(\n'
-            f'{obj_str}'
-            f'{ws})'
-        )
-
-    # TODO: use a pprint.PrettyPrinter instance around ONLY rendering
-    # inside a known tty?
-    # def __repr__(self) -> str:
-    #     ...
-
-    # __str__ = __repr__ = pformat
-    __repr__ = pformat
-
-    def copy(
-        self,
-        update: dict | None = None,
-
-    ) -> Struct:
-        '''
-        Validate-typecast all self defined fields, return a copy of
-        us with all such fields.
-
-        NOTE: This is kinda like the default behaviour in
-        `pydantic.BaseModel` except a copy of the object is
-        returned making it compat with `frozen=True`.
-
-        '''
-        if update:
-            for k, v in update.items():
-                setattr(self, k, v)
-
-        # NOTE: roundtrip serialize to validate
-        # - enode to msgpack binary format,
-        # - decode that back to a struct.
-        return msgpack.Decoder(type=type(self)).decode(
-            msgpack.Encoder().encode(self)
-        )
-
-    def typecast(
-        self,
-
-        # TODO: allow only casting a named subset?
-        # fields: set[str] | None = None,
-
-    ) -> None:
-        '''
-        Cast all fields using their declared type annotations
-        (kinda like what `pydantic` does by default).
-
-        NOTE: this of course won't work on frozen types, use
-        ``.copy()`` above in such cases.
-
-        '''
-        # https://jcristharif.com/msgspec/api.html#msgspec.structs.fields
-        fi: structs.FieldInfo
-        for fi in structs.fields(self):
-            setattr(
-                self,
-                fi.name,
-                fi.type(getattr(self, fi.name)),
-            )
-
-    def __sub__(
-        self,
-        other: Struct,
-
-    ) -> DiffDump[tuple[str, Any, Any]]:
-        '''
-        Compare fields/items key-wise and return a ``DiffDump``
-        for easy visual REPL comparison B)
-
-        '''
-        diffs: DiffDump[tuple[str, Any, Any]] = DiffDump()
-        for fi in structs.fields(self):
-            attr_name: str = fi.name
-            ours: Any = getattr(self, attr_name)
-            theirs: Any = getattr(other, attr_name)
-            if ours != theirs:
-                diffs.append((
-                    attr_name,
-                    ours,
-                    theirs,
-                ))
-
-        return diffs
+from tractor.msg import Struct as Struct
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 22d1af3c..db071054 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from piker import (
     config,
 )
 from piker.service import (
-    Services,
+    get_service_mngr,
 )
 from piker.log import get_console_log
 
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ async def _open_test_pikerd(
         ) as service_manager,
     ):
         # this proc/actor is the pikerd
-        assert service_manager is Services
+        assert service_manager is get_service_mngr()
 
         async with tractor.wait_for_actor(
             'pikerd',
diff --git a/tests/test_ems.py b/tests/test_ems.py
index 07e28c33..e348fc8b 100644
--- a/tests/test_ems.py
+++ b/tests/test_ems.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import pytest
 import tractor
 from uuid import uuid4
 
-from piker.service import Services
+from piker.service import ServiceMngr
 from piker.log import get_logger
 from piker.clearing._messages import (
     Order,
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ def load_and_check_pos(
 
 
 def test_ems_err_on_bad_broker(
-    open_test_pikerd: Services,
+    open_test_pikerd: ServiceMngr,
     loglevel: str,
 ):
     async def load_bad_fqme():
diff --git a/tests/test_services.py b/tests/test_services.py
index 433e97f3..ca093929 100644
--- a/tests/test_services.py
+++ b/tests/test_services.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import tractor
 
 from piker.service import (
     find_service,
-    Services,
+    ServiceMngr,
 )
 from piker.data import (
     open_feed,
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def test_runtime_boot(
     async def main():
         port = 6666
         daemon_addr = ('127.0.0.1', port)
-        services: Services
+        services: ServiceMngr
 
         async with (
             open_test_pikerd(