diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6d1cd4b..6809964 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/couchdb-auth-proxy.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/couchdb-auth-proxy) [![David](https://img.shields.io/david/tyler-johnson/couchdb-auth-proxy.svg)](https://david-dm.org/tyler-johnson/couchdb-auth-proxy) [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/tyler-johnson/couchdb-auth-proxy.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/tyler-johnson/couchdb-auth-proxy)
 
-An HTTP reverse proxy server for easy CouchDB proxy authentication.
+A Node.js HTTP reverse proxy library for quick and dirty CouchDB proxy authentication.
 
 ## Install
 
@@ -24,19 +24,14 @@ const couchdbProxy = require("couchdb-auth-proxy");
 
 ## Usage
 
-To begin, ensure proxy authentication is enabled on your CouchDB server. This is as simple as adding `{couch_httpd_auth, proxy_authentication_handler}` to the list of active authentication handlers in your configuration. Your `local.ini` file should have a line that looks something like this:
+> Note: Ensure proxy authentication is enabled on your CouchDB server. This is as simple as adding `{couch_httpd_auth, proxy_authentication_handler}` to the list of active authentication handlers in your configuration. See the [CouchDB Docs](http://docs.couchdb.org/en/1.6.1/api/server/authn.html#proxy-authentication) for more info.
 
-```ini
-[httpd]
-authentication_handlers = {couch_httpd_oauth, oauth_authentication_handler}, {couch_httpd_auth, cookie_authentication_handler}, {couch_httpd_auth, proxy_authentication_handler}, {couch_httpd_auth, default_authentication_handler}
-```
+This library generates an HTTP server request function from two arguments: a user context method and some options. This method will work with Express/Connect apps as well as the plain Node.js HTTP server.
 
-This library returns an Express/Connect middleware function. It accepts two arguments: a user context method and some options. Here is an example proxy that makes every request a super admin request.
+Here is an example proxy that authenticates every request as a super admin:
 
 ```js
-const app = express();
-
-app.use(couchdbProxy(function(req) {
+const server = http.createServer(couchdbProxy(function(req) {
   // admin party!
   return {
     name: null,
@@ -45,30 +40,15 @@ app.use(couchdbProxy(function(req) {
 }));
 ```
 
-In CouchDB, users are represented with a user context object. These are simply objects with `name` and `roles` fields. Usually this information comes from a document in the `_users` database, however we can also generate it from other means.
-
-This library allows you to complete asynchronous authentication lookups. The simple version is to return a Promise.
-
-```js
-app.use(couchdbProxy(function(req, res) {
-  const token = req.get("Authorization");
-
-  return validateToken(token).then(function(user) {
-    return {
-      name: user.name,
-      roles: []
-    };
-  });
-}));
-```
+In CouchDB, users are represented with a user context object. These are objects with `name` and `roles` fields. Usually this information comes from a document in the `_users` database, however we can also generate it from other means.
 
-Of course, you can also go with the more traditional `next` style callback that Express uses. If you do use the `next()` callback, you absolutely must call it, or the request will never complete.
+Your proxy can complete asynchronous tasks, great for authenticating against other databases or services. You can return a promise, or provide a third argument for a callback.
 
 ```js
-app.use(couchdbProxy(function(req, res, next) {
+const server = http.createServer(couchdbProxy(function(req, res, next) {
   const token = req.get("Authorization");
 
-  validateToken(token, function(err, user) {
+  db.authenticateToken(token, (err, user) => {
     if (err) return next(err);
 
     next(null, {
@@ -89,10 +69,11 @@ app.use(couchdbProxy(function(req, res, next) {
   - `options.secret` (String) - The [CouchDB secret](http://docs.couchdb.org/en/1.6.1/config/auth.html#couch_httpd_auth/secret) used to sign proxy tokens and cookies. This is very much an optional parameter and in general there is very little reason to use a secret. This is only absolutely required if `couch_httpd_auth/proxy_use_secret` is enabled on CouchDB.
   - `options.via` (String) - The name of the proxy to add to the `Via` header. This is so consumers of the HTTP API can tell that the request was directed through a proxy. This is optional and the `Via` header will be excluded when not provided.
   - `options.headerFields` (Object) - A map of custom header fields to use for the proxy. This should match what is declared in CouchDB `couch_httpd_auth` configuration, under `x_auth_roles`, `x_auth_token`, and `x_auth_username`. This is the default map:
-    ```json
-    {
-      "username": "X-Auth-CouchDB-UserName",
-      "roles": "X-Auth-CouchDB-Roles",
-      "token": "X-Auth-CouchDB-Token"
-    }
-    ```
+  ```json
+  {
+    "username": "X-Auth-CouchDB-UserName",
+    "roles": "X-Auth-CouchDB-Roles",
+    "token": "X-Auth-CouchDB-Token"
+  }
+  ```
+  - `options.info` (Object) - Some JSON serializable value that will be injected into the CouchDB's root info document response.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 15f22d0..a8a07ea 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "couchdb-auth-proxy",
   "version": "0.0.0-edge",
-  "description": "An HTTP reverse proxy server for easy Couchdb proxy authentication",
+  "description": "An HTTP reverse proxy library for quick and dirty Couchdb proxy authentication",
   "author": "Tyler Johnson <tyler@tylerjohnson.me>",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 1eb50b8..40700e8 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -1,15 +1,9 @@
-import crypto from "crypto";
+import {createHmac} from "crypto";
 import {name,version} from "../package.json";
 import {parse} from "url";
 import httpProxy from "http-proxy";
 import transformerProxy from "transformer-proxy";
 
-const injectProxyInfo = transformerProxy(function(data) {
-	const body = JSON.parse(data);
-	body.proxy = {name,version};
-	return JSON.stringify(body);
-});
-
 export default function(fn, opts={}) {
 	if (typeof fn === "object") [opts,fn] = [fn,opts];
 
@@ -17,7 +11,8 @@ export default function(fn, opts={}) {
 		via,
 		secret,
 		target="http://localhost:5984",
-		headerFields = {}
+		headerFields = {},
+		info = { name, version }
 	} = opts;
 
 	headerFields = Object.assign({
@@ -26,12 +21,18 @@ export default function(fn, opts={}) {
 		token: "X-Auth-CouchDB-Token"
 	}, headerFields);
 
+	const injectProxyInfo = info ? transformerProxy(function(data) {
+		const body = JSON.parse(data);
+		body.proxy = info;
+		return JSON.stringify(body);
+	}) : null;
+
 	const proxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer({});
 
 	return async function(req, res, next) {
 		try {
 			// hijack the root response and inject proxy information
-			if (parse(req.url).pathname === "/") {
+			if (injectProxyInfo && parse(req.url).pathname === "/") {
 				await confusedAsync(injectProxyInfo, null, [req, res]);
 			}
 
@@ -60,14 +61,15 @@ export default function(fn, opts={}) {
 
 			proxy.web(req, res, { target });
 		} catch(e) {
-			next(e);
+			if (next) next(e);
+			else throw e;
 		}
 	};
 }
 
 // couchdb proxy signed token
 function signRequest(user, secret) {
-	return crypto.createHmac("sha1", secret).update(user).digest("hex");
+	return createHmac("sha1", secret).update(user).digest("hex");
 }
 
 // for methods that we don't know if they are callback or promise async