diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7992fce..e69de29 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-eventstore
diff --git a/cmd/eventstore/del.go b/cmd/eventstore/delete.go
similarity index 84%
rename from cmd/eventstore/del.go
rename to cmd/eventstore/delete.go
index 016e760..c40fefd 100644
--- a/cmd/eventstore/del.go
+++ b/cmd/eventstore/delete.go
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v3"
 )
 
-var del = &cli.Command{
-	Name:        "del",
-	Usage:       "deletes an event",
+var delete_ = &cli.Command{
+	Name:        "delete",
+	Usage:       "deletes an event and all its associated index entries",
 	Description: ``,
 	Action: func(ctx context.Context, c *cli.Command) error {
 		hasError := false
diff --git a/cmd/eventstore/main.go b/cmd/eventstore/main.go
index 63aa8c4..b2dbf44 100644
--- a/cmd/eventstore/main.go
+++ b/cmd/eventstore/main.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ var db eventstore.Store
 var app = &cli.Command{
 	Name:      "eventstore",
 	Usage:     "a CLI for all the eventstore backends",
-	UsageText: "eventstore -d ./data/sqlite <query|put|del> ...",
+	UsageText: "eventstore -d ./data/sqlite <query|save|delete> ...",
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		&cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:     "store",
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ var app = &cli.Command{
 		return db.Init()
 	},
 	Commands: []*cli.Command{
-		queryOrPut,
+		queryOrSave,
 		query,
-		put,
-		del,
+		save,
+		delete_,
 	},
-	DefaultCommand: "query-or-put",
+	DefaultCommand: "query-or-save",
 }
 
 func main() {
diff --git a/cmd/eventstore/query-or-put.go b/cmd/eventstore/query-or-save.go
similarity index 85%
rename from cmd/eventstore/query-or-put.go
rename to cmd/eventstore/query-or-save.go
index 6307196..4d7546a 100644
--- a/cmd/eventstore/query-or-put.go
+++ b/cmd/eventstore/query-or-save.go
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v3"
 )
 
-var queryOrPut = &cli.Command{
+var queryOrSave = &cli.Command{
 	Hidden: true,
-	Name:   "query-or-put",
+	Name:   "query-or-save",
 	Action: func(ctx context.Context, c *cli.Command) error {
 		line := getStdin()
 
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ var queryOrPut = &cli.Command{
 		f := &nostr.Filter{}
 		if json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), ee) == nil && ee.Event.ID != "" {
 			e = &ee.Event
-			return doPut(ctx, line, e)
+			return doSave(ctx, line, e)
 		}
 		if json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), e) == nil && e.ID != "" {
-			return doPut(ctx, line, e)
+			return doSave(ctx, line, e)
 		}
 		if json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), re) == nil && len(re.Filters) > 0 {
 			f = &re.Filters[0]
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ var queryOrPut = &cli.Command{
 	},
 }
 
-func doPut(ctx context.Context, line string, e *nostr.Event) error {
+func doSave(ctx context.Context, line string, e *nostr.Event) error {
 	if err := db.SaveEvent(ctx, e); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to save event '%s': %s", line, err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/eventstore/query.go b/cmd/eventstore/query.go
index e05696e..f724c54 100644
--- a/cmd/eventstore/query.go
+++ b/cmd/eventstore/query.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 var query = &cli.Command{
 	Name:        "query",
-	Usage:       "queries an eventstore for events",
+	Usage:       "queries an eventstore for events, takes a Nostr filter as argument",
 	Description: ``,
 	Action: func(ctx context.Context, c *cli.Command) error {
 		hasError := false
diff --git a/cmd/eventstore/put.go b/cmd/eventstore/save.go
similarity index 84%
rename from cmd/eventstore/put.go
rename to cmd/eventstore/save.go
index 9b396a6..8e1b2da 100644
--- a/cmd/eventstore/put.go
+++ b/cmd/eventstore/save.go
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v3"
 )
 
-var put = &cli.Command{
-	Name:        "put",
-	Usage:       "saves an event to an eventstore",
+var save = &cli.Command{
+	Name:        "save",
+	Usage:       "stores an event in the database -- doesn't perform any kind of replacement",
 	Description: ``,
 	Action: func(ctx context.Context, c *cli.Command) error {
 		hasError := false