diff --git a/src/Deeptable.ts b/src/Deeptable.ts
index d6f705d73..9d07536d5 100644
--- a/src/Deeptable.ts
+++ b/src/Deeptable.ts
@@ -290,14 +290,19 @@ export class Deeptable {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Generate an ArrowDeeptable from a single Arrow table.
+   * Generate a deeptable from a single Arrow table.
    *
    * @param table A single Arrow table
    * @param prefs The API Call to use for rendering.
-   * @param plot The Scatterplot to use.
+   * @param plot Optionally: the scatterplot to bind the deeptable to.
+   * If null, the deeptable can be used independently (including in node environments),
+   * or bound to a scatterplot later.
    * @returns
    */
-  static fromArrowTable(table: Table, plot: Scatterplot): Deeptable {
+  static fromArrowTable(
+    table: Table,
+    plot: Scatterplot | null = null,
+  ): Deeptable {
     return wrapArrowTable(tableToIPC(table), plot);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/wrap_arrow.ts b/src/wrap_arrow.ts
index bbacf6e67..192b98421 100644
--- a/src/wrap_arrow.ts
+++ b/src/wrap_arrow.ts
@@ -15,10 +15,16 @@ import type * as DS from './types';
 import { extent } from 'd3-array';
 import { Rectangle } from './tile';
 
-// This function is used to wrap an arrow table into a
-// deeptable so that record batches can be fetched asynchronously.
-// The point display order is the same as in the original file.
-// It is exposed primarily as Deeptable.from
+/**
+ * This function is used to wrap an arrow table into a
+ * deeptable so that record batches can be fetched asynchronously.
+ * The point display order is the same as in the original file.
+ * It is exposed primarily as Deeptable.fromArrowTable
+ * @param tbArray a Uint8 Array that deserializes to an Arrow table. incompatibility between Arrow
+ * versions makes it easier to simple force this transformation.
+ * @param plot Optionally, a Scatterplot.
+ * @returns
+ */
 export function wrapArrowTable(
   tbArray: Uint8Array,
   plot: Scatterplot | null,