diff --git a/iroh/examples/custom-protocol.rs b/iroh/examples/custom-protocol.rs
index 6d9be32bae..4ed0de72ac 100644
--- a/iroh/examples/custom-protocol.rs
+++ b/iroh/examples/custom-protocol.rs
@@ -64,40 +64,40 @@ struct ExampleProto<S> {
 }
 
 impl<S: Store> Protocol for ExampleProto<S> {
-    fn accept(self: Arc<Self>, conn: Connecting) -> BoxedFuture<Result<()>> {
+    fn accept(self: Arc<Self>, connecting: Connecting) -> BoxedFuture<Result<()>> {
         Box::pin(async move {
-            let conn = conn.await?;
-            let remote_node_id = get_remote_node_id(&conn)?;
-            println!("accepted connection from {remote_node_id}");
-            let mut send_stream = conn.open_uni().await?;
-            // not that this is something that you wanted to do, but let's create a new blob for each
-            // incoming connection. this could be any mechanism, but we want to demonstrate how to use a
-            // custom protocol together with built-in iroh functionality
-            let content = format!("this blob is created for my beloved peer {remote_node_id} ♥");
+            let connection = connecting.await?;
+            let peer = get_remote_node_id(&connection)?;
+            println!("accepted connection from {peer}");
+            let mut send_stream = connection.open_uni().await?;
+            // Let's create a new blob for each incoming connection.
+            // This functions as an example of using existing iroh functionality within a protocol
+            // (you likely don't want to create a new blob for each connection for real)
+            let content = format!("this blob is created for my beloved peer {peer} ♥");
             let hash = self
                 .node
                 .blobs()
                 .add_bytes(content.as_bytes().to_vec())
                 .await?;
-            // send the hash over our custom proto
+            // Send the hash over our custom protocol.
             send_stream.write_all(hash.hash.as_bytes()).await?;
             send_stream.finish().await?;
-            println!("closing connection from {remote_node_id}");
+            println!("closing connection from {peer}");
             Ok(())
         })
     }
 }
 
 impl<S: Store> ExampleProto<S> {
-    fn build(node: Node<S>) -> Arc<dyn Protocol> {
+    pub fn build(node: Node<S>) -> Arc<dyn Protocol> {
         Arc::new(Self { node })
     }
 
-    fn get_from_node(node: &Node<S>, alpn: &'static [u8]) -> Option<Arc<Self>> {
+    pub fn get_from_node(node: &Node<S>, alpn: &'static [u8]) -> Option<Arc<Self>> {
         node.get_protocol::<ExampleProto<S>>(alpn)
     }
 
-    async fn connect(&self, remote_node_id: NodeId) -> Result<()> {
+    pub async fn connect(&self, remote_node_id: NodeId) -> Result<()> {
         println!("our node id: {}", self.node.node_id());
         println!("connecting to {remote_node_id}");
         let conn = self
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ impl<S: Store> ExampleProto<S> {
     }
 }
 
-// set the RUST_LOG env var to one of {debug,info,warn} to see logging info
-pub fn setup_logging() {
+/// Set the RUST_LOG env var to one of {debug,info,warn} to see logging.
+fn setup_logging() {
     tracing_subscriber::registry()
         .with(tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer().with_writer(std::io::stderr))
         .with(EnvFilter::from_default_env())
diff --git a/iroh/src/node/builder.rs b/iroh/src/node/builder.rs
index 310241d63e..a273d60cbc 100644
--- a/iroh/src/node/builder.rs
+++ b/iroh/src/node/builder.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use std::{
 };
 
 use anyhow::{bail, Context, Result};
-use futures_lite::{future::Boxed, StreamExt};
+use futures_lite::{future::Boxed as BoxedFuture, StreamExt};
 use iroh_base::key::SecretKey;
 use iroh_blobs::{
     downloader::Downloader,
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ const MAX_STREAMS: u64 = 10;
 
 type ProtocolBuilders<D> = Vec<(
     &'static [u8],
-    Box<dyn FnOnce(Node<D>) -> Boxed<Result<Arc<dyn Protocol>>> + Send + 'static>,
+    Box<dyn FnOnce(Node<D>) -> BoxedFuture<Result<Arc<dyn Protocol>>> + Send + 'static>,
 )>;
 
 /// Storage backend for documents.
@@ -386,33 +386,47 @@ where
     /// the cast automatically, so usually you will have to cast manually:
     ///
     /// ```rust
+    /// # use std::sync::Arc;
     /// # use anyhow::Result;
     /// # use futures_lite::future::Boxed as BoxedFuture;
+    /// # use iroh::{node::{Node, Protocol}, net::endpoint::Connecting};
+    /// #
+    /// # #[tokio::main]
+    /// # async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     ///
-    /// const MY_ALPN: &[u8] = "my-protocol/1";
+    /// const MY_ALPN: &[u8] = b"my-protocol/1";
     ///
     /// #[derive(Debug)]
     /// struct MyProtocol;
     ///
     /// impl Protocol for MyProtocol {
     ///     fn accept(self: Arc<Self>, conn: Connecting) -> BoxedFuture<Result<()>> {
-    ///         todo!()
+    ///         todo!();
     ///     }
     /// }
     ///
-    /// let node = Node::memory().accept(MY_ALPN |_node| Box::pin(async move {
-    ///     let protocol = MyProtocol;
-    ///     let protocol: Arc<dyn Protocol> = Arc::new(protocol);
-    ///     Ok(protocol)
-    /// }))
-    ///
+    /// let node = Node::memory()
+    ///     .accept(MY_ALPN, |_node| {
+    ///         Box::pin(async move {
+    ///             let protocol = MyProtocol;
+    ///             let protocol: Arc<dyn Protocol> = Arc::new(protocol);
+    ///             Ok(protocol)
+    ///         })
+    ///     })
+    ///     .spawn()
+    ///     .await?;
+    /// # node.shutdown().await?;
+    /// # Ok(())
+    /// # }
     /// ```
     ///
     ///
     pub fn accept(
         mut self,
         alpn: &'static [u8],
-        protocol_builder: impl FnOnce(Node<D>) -> Boxed<Result<Arc<dyn Protocol>>> + Send + 'static,
+        protocol_builder: impl FnOnce(Node<D>) -> BoxedFuture<Result<Arc<dyn Protocol>>>
+            + Send
+            + 'static,
     ) -> Self {
         self.protocols.push((alpn, Box::new(protocol_builder)));
         self