diff --git a/iroh-cli/src/commands/blob.rs b/iroh-cli/src/commands/blob.rs
index 6e4c0aeba2..63b9578f5b 100644
--- a/iroh-cli/src/commands/blob.rs
+++ b/iroh-cli/src/commands/blob.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ use iroh::{
     net::{key::PublicKey, relay::RelayUrl, NodeAddr},
 };
 use tokio::io::AsyncWriteExt;
+use tracing::debug;
 
 #[allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
 #[derive(Subcommand, Debug, Clone)]
@@ -277,8 +278,10 @@ impl BlobCommands {
                     Some(OutputTarget::Stdout) => {
                         // we asserted above that `OutputTarget::Stdout` is only permitted if getting a
                         // single hash and not a hashseq.
+                        debug!("cli: start blob read to stdout");
                         let mut blob_read = iroh.blobs().read(hash).await?;
                         tokio::io::copy(&mut blob_read, &mut tokio::io::stdout()).await?;
+                        debug!("cli: blob finished");
                     }
                     Some(OutputTarget::Path(path)) => {
                         let absolute = std::env::current_dir()?.join(&path);
diff --git a/iroh-cli/src/commands/start.rs b/iroh-cli/src/commands/start.rs
index 694e484424..e0e3e5f4b5 100644
--- a/iroh-cli/src/commands/start.rs
+++ b/iroh-cli/src/commands/start.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use iroh::{
     net::relay::{RelayMap, RelayMode},
     node::RpcStatus,
 };
-use tracing::{info_span, Instrument};
+use tracing::{debug, info_span, Instrument};
 
 /// Whether to stop the node after running a command or run forever until stopped.
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Eq, PartialEq)]
@@ -106,7 +106,10 @@ where
         }
         // abort if the command task finishes (will run forever if not in single-command mode)
         res = &mut command_task => {
+            debug!("cli: command complete: {res:?}");
+            debug!("cli: node shutdown start");
             let _ = node.shutdown().await;
+            debug!("cli: node shutdown complete");
             res??;
         }
     }
diff --git a/iroh/src/client/blobs.rs b/iroh/src/client/blobs.rs
index e199e0f8d1..038e4203af 100644
--- a/iroh/src/client/blobs.rs
+++ b/iroh/src/client/blobs.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ use ref_cast::RefCast;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncReadExt, ReadBuf};
 use tokio_util::io::{ReaderStream, StreamReader};
-use tracing::warn;
+use tracing::{debug, warn};
 
 use crate::rpc_protocol::{
     BlobAddPathRequest, BlobAddStreamRequest, BlobAddStreamUpdate, BlobConsistencyCheckRequest,
@@ -795,12 +795,14 @@ impl Reader {
             .await?;
         let mut stream = flatten(stream);
 
+        debug!("client: start blob_read_at");
         let (size, is_complete) = match stream.next().await {
             Some(Ok(BlobReadAtResponse::Entry { size, is_complete })) => (size, is_complete),
             Some(Err(err)) => return Err(err),
             Some(Ok(_)) => return Err(anyhow!("Expected header frame, but got data frame")),
             None => return Err(anyhow!("Expected header frame, but RPC stream was dropped")),
         };
+        debug!("client: header received");
 
         let stream = stream.map(|item| match item {
             Ok(BlobReadAtResponse::Data { chunk }) => Ok(chunk),
diff --git a/iroh/src/node.rs b/iroh/src/node.rs
index 91e6febc61..2563d1ab79 100644
--- a/iroh/src/node.rs
+++ b/iroh/src/node.rs
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ impl<D: BaoStore> Node<D> {
 
         // Wait for the main task to terminate.
         self.task.await.map_err(|err| anyhow!(err))?;
+        debug!("node shutdown complete");
 
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -319,6 +320,7 @@ impl<D: iroh_blobs::store::Store> NodeInner<D> {
 
     /// Shutdown the different parts of the node concurrently.
     async fn shutdown(&self, protocols: Arc<ProtocolMap>) {
+        debug!("node shutdown services: start");
         let error_code = Closed::ProviderTerminating;
 
         // Shutdown future for the docs engine, if enabled.
@@ -349,6 +351,7 @@ impl<D: iroh_blobs::store::Store> NodeInner<D> {
             // Shutdown protocol handlers.
             protocols.shutdown(),
         );
+        debug!("node shutdown services: done");
     }
 
     async fn run_gc_loop(
diff --git a/iroh/src/node/rpc.rs b/iroh/src/node/rpc.rs
index 2c9b49fe38..36e4ff15bd 100644
--- a/iroh/src/node/rpc.rs
+++ b/iroh/src/node/rpc.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ use quic_rpc::{
 };
 use tokio::task::JoinSet;
 use tokio_util::{either::Either, task::LocalPoolHandle};
-use tracing::{debug, info, warn};
+use tracing::{debug, error_span, info, warn, Instrument};
 
 use crate::client::{
     blobs::{BlobInfo, DownloadMode, IncompleteBlobInfo, WrapOption},
@@ -909,10 +909,16 @@ impl<D: BaoStore> Handler<D> {
     ) -> impl Stream<Item = RpcResult<BlobReadAtResponse>> + Send + 'static {
         let (tx, rx) = flume::bounded(RPC_BLOB_GET_CHANNEL_CAP);
         let db = self.inner.db.clone();
-        self.inner.rt.spawn_pinned(move || async move {
-            if let Err(err) = read_loop(req, db, tx.clone(), RPC_BLOB_GET_CHUNK_SIZE).await {
-                tx.send_async(RpcResult::Err(err.into())).await.ok();
+        self.inner.rt.spawn_pinned(move || {
+            async move {
+                if let Err(err) = read_loop(req, db, tx.clone(), RPC_BLOB_GET_CHUNK_SIZE).await {
+                    debug!("blob_read_at failed: {err:?}");
+                    tx.send_async(RpcResult::Err(err.into())).await.ok();
+                } else {
+                    debug!("blob_read_at complete");
+                }
             }
+            .instrument(error_span!("blob_read_at"))
         });
 
         async fn read_loop<D: iroh_blobs::store::Store>(
@@ -921,7 +927,9 @@ impl<D: BaoStore> Handler<D> {
             tx: flume::Sender<RpcResult<BlobReadAtResponse>>,
             max_chunk_size: usize,
         ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+            debug!("loop start");
             let entry = db.get(&req.hash).await?;
+            debug!(is_some = entry.is_some(), "loop got entry");
             let entry = entry.ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Blob not found"))?;
             let size = entry.size();
             tx.send_async(Ok(BlobReadAtResponse::Entry {
@@ -929,6 +937,7 @@ impl<D: BaoStore> Handler<D> {
                 is_complete: entry.is_complete(),
             }))
             .await?;
+            debug!("header sent");
             let mut reader = entry.data_reader().await?;
 
             let len = req.len.unwrap_or((size.value() - req.offset) as usize);
@@ -960,6 +969,7 @@ impl<D: BaoStore> Handler<D> {
                     read += chunk_len as u64;
                 }
             }
+            debug!("loop complete");
             Ok(())
         }