diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index eb157ff6..c2ebd010 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ jobs:
           docker image ls -a
 
       - name: Run transcript tests
+        env:
+          SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT: ${{ github.workspace }}
         # If it takes longer than this, it's probably stalled out.
         timeout-minutes: 10
         run: |
@@ -239,12 +241,11 @@ jobs:
           curl -L https://github.com/unisonweb/unison/releases/download/release%2F0.5.44/ucm-linux-x64.tar.gz | tar -xz -C ucm
           export PATH=$PWD/ucm:$PATH
 
-          # Clean up old postgres data if it exists.
-          docker volume rm docker_postgresVolume 2>/dev/null || true
-
           # Start share and it's dependencies in the background
-          docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --wait
+          docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml -f docker/docker-compose.share.yml up --wait
 
+          # Configure it as a transcript database
+          ./transcripts/configure_transcript_database.zsh
 
           # Run the transcript tests
           zsh ./transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e381b22c..4d2256b2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-.PHONY: all clean install docker_server_build docker_push serve auth_example transcripts fixtures transcripts
+.PHONY: all clean install docker_server_build docker_push serve auth_example transcripts fixtures transcripts reset_fixtures
 
+SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT := $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+export SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT
 UNAME := $(shell uname)
 STACK_FLAGS := "--fast"
 dist_dir := $(shell stack path | awk '/^dist-dir/{print $$2}')
@@ -36,39 +38,66 @@ $(installed_share): $(exe) $(target_dir)
 auth_example:
 	stack build --fast test-auth-app
 
-docker_server_build: $(installed_share)
-	docker build $(docker_platform_flag) -f docker/Dockerfile --build-arg share_commit=$(share_commit) -t share docker
-
-docker_server_release: $(installed_share)
-	docker build $(docker_platform_flag) -f docker/Dockerfile -t $(docker_registry)/share:$(DRONE_BUILD_NUMBER) docker
-
-docker_push: $(docker_server_release)
-	docker push $(docker_registry)/share:$(DRONE_BUILD_NUMBER)
-
-docker_staging_release: $(installed_share)
-	docker build $(docker_platform_flag) -f docker/Dockerfile -t $(docker_registry)/share-staging:$(DRONE_BUILD_NUMBER) docker
-
-docker_staging_push: $(docker_server_release)
-	docker push $(docker_registry)/share-staging:$(DRONE_BUILD_NUMBER)
-
+# Build Share and run it alongside its dependencies via docker-compose
 serve: $(installed_share)
-	trap 'docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down' EXIT INT TERM
-	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up postgres redis vault &
-	while  ! (  pg_isready --host localhost -U postgres -p 5432 && redis-cli -p 6379 ping && VAULT_ADDR=http://localhost:8200 vault status)  do \
-		echo "Waiting for postgres and redis..."; \
+	@docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down || true
+	@trap 'docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down' EXIT INT TERM
+	@echo "Booting up docker dependencies..."
+	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml -f docker/docker-compose.fixtures.yml up  --remove-orphans --detach
+	@echo "Booting up docker dependencies...";
+	@while  ! (  pg_isready --host localhost -U postgres -p 5432 >/dev/null 2>&1 && redis-cli -p 6379 ping  >/dev/null 2>&1 && VAULT_ADDR=http://localhost:8200 vault status >/dev/null 2>&1 )  do \
 	  sleep 1; \
 	done;
-	echo "Running Share at http://localhost:5424"
-
-	if [ ${OPEN_BROWSER} = "true" ] ; then \
-	  (sleep 1 && $(OPEN) "http://localhost:5424/local/user/test/login" || true) & \
-	fi
-	(. ./local.env && $(exe) 2>&1)
-
-fixtures:
-	echo "Resetting local database to fixture data"
-	PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -f "transcripts/sql/clean.sql"
-	PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -f "transcripts/sql/inserts.sql"
+	@echo "Starting up Share at http://localhost:5424";
+	@if curl -f -s http://localhost:1234 >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then \
+	  (sleep 1 && $(OPEN) "http://localhost:5424/local/user/test/login" && $(OPEN) "http://localhost:1234" || true) & \
+	fi;
+	@(. ./local.env && $(exe) 2>&1)
+
+# Loads the local testing share with a bunch of realistic code.
+reset_fixtures:
+	# Prompt for confirmation
+	@echo "This will delete all data in your local share database. Are you sure? (y/N) "
+	@read -r confirmation && [ "$$confirmation" = "y" ] || [ "$$confirmation" = "Y" ]
+	@docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down || true
+	@trap 'docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down' EXIT INT TERM
+	# Remove the existing postgres volume to reset the database
+	@echo "Removing any existing postgres volume"
+	docker volume rm docker_postgresVolume || true
+	@echo "Booting up docker dependencies..."
+	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml -f docker/docker-compose.fixtures.yml up --remove-orphans --detach
+	@echo "Initializing fixture data";
+	@while  ! (  pg_isready --host localhost -U postgres -p 5432 >/dev/null 2>&1 && redis-cli -p 6379 ping  >/dev/null 2>&1 && VAULT_ADDR=http://localhost:8200 vault status >/dev/null 2>&1 )  do \
+	  sleep 1; \
+	done;
+	@echo "Booting up share";
+	@( . ./local.env \
+		$(exe) 2>&1 & \
+		SERVER_PID=$$!; \
+	trap "kill $$SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null || true" EXIT INT TERM; \
+	echo "Loading fixtures"; \
+	./transcripts/fixtures/run.zsh; \
+	kill $$SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null || true; \
+	) 
+	@echo "Done!";
 
 transcripts:
-	./transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh
+	@echo "Taking down any existing docker dependencies"
+	@docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down || true
+	@trap 'docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml down' EXIT INT TERM
+	@echo "Booting up transcript docker dependencies..."
+	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.base.yml up --remove-orphans --detach
+	@while  ! (  pg_isready --host localhost -U postgres -p 5432 >/dev/null 2>&1 && redis-cli -p 6379 ping  >/dev/null 2>&1 && VAULT_ADDR=http://localhost:8200 vault status >/dev/null 2>&1 )  do \
+	  sleep 1; \
+	done;
+	./transcripts/configure_transcript_database.zsh
+	@echo "Booting up share";
+	( . ./local.env ; \
+		$(exe) & \
+		SERVER_PID=$$!; \
+		trap "kill $$SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null || true" EXIT INT TERM; \
+		echo "Running transcripts"; \
+		./transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh $(pattern); \
+		kill $$SERVER_PID 2>/dev/null || true; \
+	) 
+	@echo "Transcripts complete!";
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0b3e1b38..7e1b1a44 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,10 +61,14 @@ A [flake.nix](flake.nix) file is provided in this repo. It currently doesn't use
 
 ## Running Locally
 
-Start the server and its dependencies with `make serve`.
-You may wish to run `make fixtures` to fill some in some data for local testing.
+The first time you run locally, start with `make reset_fixtures`, then on subsequent runs just use `make serve`.
 
-See `./docker/docker-compose.yml` to see how the postgres and redis services are configured.
+Data changes in Postgres using `make serve` are persistent locally.
+You can reset the database to a known state with `make reset_fixtures`.
+
+`make transcripts` will take down the database and use a temporary one for running the transcripts.
+
+See the `Makefile` and `./docker/docker-compose.base.yml` to learn more.
 
 ### Debugging and observability
 
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.base.yml b/docker/docker-compose.base.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eeb0c292
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.base.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# docker compose config for local development.
+services:
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:15.4
+    container_name: postgres
+    restart: always
+    healthcheck:
+      # Ensure the database is up, and the tables are initialized
+      test: ["CMD", "psql", "-U", "postgres", "-c", "SELECT from users;"]
+      interval: 3s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 5
+    ports:
+      - "5432:5432"
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sekrit
+    volumes:
+      - ../sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d
+      - ./postgresql.conf:/etc/postgresql/postgresql.conf
+    command: postgres -c config_file=/etc/postgresql/postgresql.conf # -c log_statement=all
+
+  redis:
+    image: redis:6.2.6
+    container_name: redis
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
+      interval: 3s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+    ports:
+     - "6379:6379"
+
+  vault:
+    image: 'hashicorp/vault:1.19'
+    container_name: vault
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "vault", "status"]
+      interval: 3s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+    ports:
+      - "8200:8200"
+    environment:
+      VAULT_DEV_ROOT_TOKEN_ID: "sekrit"
+      VAULT_KV_V1_MOUNT_PATH: "secret"
+      VAULT_ADDR: "http://127.0.0.1:8200"
+    cap_add:
+      - IPC_LOCK
+    # # Use kv version 1
+    # command: server -dev
+
+  http-echo:
+    image: 'mendhak/http-https-echo:36'
+    container_name: http-echo
+    environment:
+      HTTP_PORT: 9999
+      ECHO_BACK_TO_CLIENT: "false"
+    ports:
+      - "9999:9999"
+
+  otel-collector:
+    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib
+    volumes:
+      - ./otel-collector-config.yaml:/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml
+    ports:
+      - 1888:1888 # pprof extension
+      - 8888:8888 # Prometheus metrics exposed by the Collector
+      - 8889:8889 # Prometheus exporter metrics
+      - 13133:13133 # health_check extension
+      - 4317:4317 # OTLP gRPC receiver
+      - 4318:4318 # OTLP http receiver
+      - 55679:55679 # zpages extension
+
+    depends_on:
+      - jaeger
+
+  jaeger:
+      image: cr.jaegertracing.io/jaegertracing/jaeger:2.8.0
+      ports:
+        - 16686:16686  # Jaeger UI
+
+      environment:
+        - COLLECTOR_OTLP_ENABLED=true
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.fixtures.yml b/docker/docker-compose.fixtures.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d8db71b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.fixtures.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Sets postgres container to use a persistent volume for its data
+services:
+  postgres:
+    volumes:
+      # Persist the data
+      - postgresVolume:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+
+volumes:
+  postgresVolume:
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.share.yml b/docker/docker-compose.share.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0ce1049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.share.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+services:
+  # Define the share service for use in CI
+  share:
+    image: share-api
+    container_name: share-api
+    depends_on:
+          redis:
+            condition: service_healthy
+          postgres:
+            condition: service_healthy
+          vault:
+            condition: service_healthy
+          http-echo:
+            condition: service_started
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5424/health"]
+      interval: 3s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+    ports:
+      - "5424:5424"
+
+    environment:
+      # Placeholder values for development
+      - SHARE_DEPLOYMENT=local
+      - SHARE_API_ORIGIN=http://localhost:5424
+      - SHARE_SERVER_PORT=5424
+      - SHARE_REDIS=redis://redis:6379
+      - SHARE_POSTGRES=postgresql://postgres:sekrit@postgres:5432
+      - SHARE_POSTGRES_CONN_TTL=30
+      - SHARE_POSTGRES_CONN_MAX=10
+      - SHARE_HMAC_KEY=hmac-key-test-key-test-key-test-
+      - SHARE_EDDSA_KEY=eddsa-key-test-key-test-key-test
+      - SHARE_SHARE_UI_ORIGIN=http://localhost:1234
+      - SHARE_CLOUD_UI_ORIGIN=http://localhost:5678
+      - SHARE_HOMEPAGE_ORIGIN=http://localhost:1111
+      - SHARE_CLOUD_HOMEPAGE_ORIGIN=http://localhost:2222
+      - SHARE_CLOUD_API_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3333
+      - SHARE_CLOUD_API_JWKS_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:3333/.well-known/jwks.json
+      - SHARE_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
+      - SHARE_COMMIT=dev
+      - SHARE_MAX_PARALLELISM_PER_DOWNLOAD_REQUEST=1
+      - SHARE_MAX_PARALLELISM_PER_UPLOAD_REQUEST=5
+      - VAULT_HOST=http://vault:8200/v1
+      - VAULT_TOKEN=sekrit
+      - USER_SECRETS_VAULT_MOUNT=secret # A default mount in dev vault
+      - SHARE_GITHUB_CLIENTID=invalid
+      - SHARE_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=invalid
+      - OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=share-api
+      - OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION=local
+      - OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://otel-collector:4318
+      - OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf
+      - OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=service.name=share-api,service.version=local,deployment.environment=local
+      - OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER=traceidratio
+      - OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG=1.0
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.yml b/docker/docker-compose.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 426e5869..00000000
--- a/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,141 +0,0 @@
-services:
-  postgres:
-    image: postgres:15.4
-    container_name: postgres
-    restart: always
-    healthcheck:
-      # Ensure the database is up, and the tables are initialized
-      test: ["CMD", "psql", "-U", "postgres", "-c", "SELECT from users;"]
-      interval: 3s
-      timeout: 10s
-      retries: 5
-    ports:
-      - "5432:5432"
-    environment:
-      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sekrit
-    volumes:
-      - ../sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d
-      # Optionally persist the data between container invocations
-      # - postgresVolume:/var/lib/postgresql/data
-      - ./postgresql.conf:/etc/postgresql/postgresql.conf
-    command: postgres -c config_file=/etc/postgresql/postgresql.conf # -c log_statement=all
-
-
-  redis:
-    image: redis:6.2.6
-    container_name: redis
-    healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
-      interval: 3s
-      timeout: 10s
-      retries: 3
-    ports:
-     - "6379:6379"
-
-  vault:
-    image: 'hashicorp/vault:1.19'
-    container_name: vault
-    healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "vault", "status"]
-      interval: 3s
-      timeout: 10s
-      retries: 3
-    ports:
-      - "8200:8200"
-    environment:
-      VAULT_DEV_ROOT_TOKEN_ID: "sekrit"
-      VAULT_KV_V1_MOUNT_PATH: "secret"
-      VAULT_ADDR: "http://127.0.0.1:8200"
-    cap_add:
-      - IPC_LOCK
-    # # Use kv version 1
-    # command: server -dev
-
-  share:
-    image: share-api
-    container_name: share-api
-    depends_on:
-          redis:
-            condition: service_healthy
-          postgres:
-            condition: service_healthy
-          vault:
-            condition: service_healthy
-          http-echo:
-            condition: service_started
-    healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5424/health"]
-      interval: 3s
-      timeout: 10s
-      retries: 3
-    ports:
-      - "5424:5424"
-
-    environment:
-      # Placeholder values for development
-      - SHARE_DEPLOYMENT=local
-      - SHARE_API_ORIGIN=http://localhost:5424
-      - SHARE_SERVER_PORT=5424
-      - SHARE_REDIS=redis://redis:6379
-      - SHARE_POSTGRES=postgresql://postgres:sekrit@postgres:5432
-      - SHARE_POSTGRES_CONN_TTL=30
-      - SHARE_POSTGRES_CONN_MAX=10
-      - SHARE_HMAC_KEY=hmac-key-test-key-test-key-test-
-      - SHARE_EDDSA_KEY=eddsa-key-test-key-test-key-test
-      - SHARE_SHARE_UI_ORIGIN=http://localhost:1234
-      - SHARE_CLOUD_UI_ORIGIN=http://localhost:5678
-      - SHARE_HOMEPAGE_ORIGIN=http://localhost:1111
-      - SHARE_CLOUD_HOMEPAGE_ORIGIN=http://localhost:2222
-      - SHARE_CLOUD_API_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3333
-      - SHARE_CLOUD_API_JWKS_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:3333/.well-known/jwks.json
-      - SHARE_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
-      - SHARE_COMMIT=dev
-      - SHARE_MAX_PARALLELISM_PER_DOWNLOAD_REQUEST=1
-      - SHARE_MAX_PARALLELISM_PER_UPLOAD_REQUEST=5
-      - VAULT_HOST=http://vault:8200/v1
-      - VAULT_TOKEN=sekrit
-      - USER_SECRETS_VAULT_MOUNT=secret # A default mount in dev vault
-      - SHARE_GITHUB_CLIENTID=invalid
-      - SHARE_GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=invalid
-      - OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=share-api
-      - OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION=local
-      - OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://otel-collector:4318
-      - OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf
-      - OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=service.name=share-api,service.version=local,deployment.environment=local
-      - OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER=traceidratio
-      - OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG=1.0
-
-  http-echo:
-    image: 'mendhak/http-https-echo:36'
-    container_name: http-echo
-    environment:
-      HTTP_PORT: 9999
-      ECHO_BACK_TO_CLIENT: "false"
-    ports:
-      - "9999:9999"
-
-  otel-collector:
-    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib
-    volumes:
-      - ./otel-collector-config.yaml:/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml
-    ports:
-      - 1888:1888 # pprof extension
-      - 8888:8888 # Prometheus metrics exposed by the Collector
-      - 8889:8889 # Prometheus exporter metrics
-      - 13133:13133 # health_check extension
-      - 4317:4317 # OTLP gRPC receiver
-      - 4318:4318 # OTLP http receiver
-      - 55679:55679 # zpages extension
-
-    depends_on:
-      - jaeger
-
-  jaeger:
-      image: cr.jaegertracing.io/jaegertracing/jaeger:2.8.0
-      ports:
-        - 16686:16686  # Jaeger UI
-
-      environment:
-        - COLLECTOR_OTLP_ENABLED=true
-# volumes:
-#   postgresVolume:
diff --git a/transcripts/configure_transcript_database.zsh b/transcripts/configure_transcript_database.zsh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..045a5f9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/configure_transcript_database.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/zsh
+
+set -e
+set -u
+
+PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -q -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -t -A -f "${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts/sql/configure_transcript_database.sql" > /dev/null
diff --git a/transcripts/fixtures/load-from-share.sh b/transcripts/fixtures/load-from-share.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a8124b2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/fixtures/load-from-share.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/bin/zsh
+
+# Note: this doesn't work as intended yet.
+
+set -e
+set -u
+
+echo "This is not yet implemented"
+exit 1
+
+. "${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts/transcript_functions.sh"
+
+cache_dir="$HOME/.cache/share-api"
+
+if [ ! -d "$cache_dir" ]; then
+  mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
+fi
+
+typeset -A projects
+projects=(
+    base '@unison/base'
+)
+
+for project_name project_ref in "${(@kv)projects}"; do
+    echo "Downloading sync file for $project_ref"
+    output_file="$(mktemp)"
+    curl -X GET --location "https://api.unison-lang.org/ucm/v1/projects/project?name=${project_ref}" \
+    --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+    >"$output_file"
+
+    echo "Response for project $project_ref:"
+    cat "$output_file"
+
+    latest_release="$(jq -r '.payload."latest-release"' <"$output_file")"
+    projectId="$(jq -r '.payload."project-id"' <"$output_file")"
+    branch_ref="releases/${latest_release}"
+    project_branch_ref="${project_ref}/${branch_ref}"
+
+    curl -X GET --location "https://api.unison-lang.org/ucm/v1/projects/project-branch?projectId=${projectId}&branchName=releases/${latest_release}" \
+    --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+    >"$output_file"
+    branch_head="$(jq -r '.payload."branch-head"' <"$output_file")"
+
+    echo "Response for project branch $project_branch_ref:"
+    cat "$output_file"
+
+    sync_file="$cache_dir/${project_branch_ref}"
+    
+    if [ -f "$sync_file" ]; then
+        echo "Sync file for $project_branch_ref already exists, skipping download."
+        continue
+      else
+        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$sync_file")"
+        echo "Downloading sync file for $project_branch_ref into $sync_file"
+        curl -X POST --location 'https://api.unison-lang.org/ucm/v2/sync/entities/download' \
+        --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+        --data-raw "{\"branchRef\": \"${project_branch_ref}\", \"causalHash\": \"${branch_head}\", \"knownHashes\":[]}" >"$cache_dir/${project_branch_ref}"
+    fi
+done
diff --git a/transcripts/fixtures/run.zsh b/transcripts/fixtures/run.zsh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..e6b331e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/fixtures/run.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/zsh
+
+set -e
+
+source "${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts/transcript_functions.sh"
+# Set up database so helper scripts know it's a local db
+pg_file "${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts/sql/configure_local_database.sql"
+pg_init_fixtures
diff --git a/transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh b/transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh
index c571d210..d86fa625 100755
--- a/transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh
+++ b/transcripts/run-transcripts.zsh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env zsh
 
 set -e
+set -u
 
 unset UNISON_SYNC_VERSION
 
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ transcripts=(
 
 for transcript dir in "${(@kv)transcripts}"; do
     # If the first argument is missing, run all transcripts, otherwise run only transcripts which match a prefix of the argument
-    if [ -z "$1" ] || [[ "$transcript" == "$1"* ]]; then
+    if [ -z "${1:-}" ] || [[ "$transcript" == "$1"* ]]; then
         pg_reset_fixtures
         echo "Running transcript $transcript"
         (cd "$dir" && {rm -f ./*.json(N) || true} && ./run.zsh);
diff --git a/transcripts/share-apis/releases/run.zsh b/transcripts/share-apis/releases/run.zsh
index 040ea756..d707169a 100755
--- a/transcripts/share-apis/releases/run.zsh
+++ b/transcripts/share-apis/releases/run.zsh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env zsh
 
 set -e
+set -u
 
 source "../../transcript_helpers.sh"
 
diff --git a/transcripts/sql/clean.sql b/transcripts/sql/clean.sql
index 27e051fe..3b49958f 100644
--- a/transcripts/sql/clean.sql
+++ b/transcripts/sql/clean.sql
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+\set ON_ERROR_STOP true
+
+DO $$
+BEGIN
+  IF NOT EXISTS (
+    SELECT 1 FROM information_schema.tables 
+    WHERE table_name = 'is_transcript_database'
+  ) THEN
+    RAISE EXCEPTION 'Refusing to clean non-transcript database.';
+  END IF;
+END $$;
+
 -- Resets most relevant tables, useful to run between tests.
 -- Doesn't clean codebase tables since that just slows things down, but does clean out codebase ownership.
 SET client_min_messages TO WARNING;
diff --git a/transcripts/sql/configure_local_database.sql b/transcripts/sql/configure_local_database.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a1aa4992
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/sql/configure_local_database.sql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS is_local_database();
diff --git a/transcripts/sql/configure_transcript_database.sql b/transcripts/sql/configure_transcript_database.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a20dda35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/sql/configure_transcript_database.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS is_local_database();
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS is_transcript_database();
diff --git a/transcripts/sql/inserts.sql b/transcripts/sql/inserts.sql
index aade5e6a..478ee820 100644
--- a/transcripts/sql/inserts.sql
+++ b/transcripts/sql/inserts.sql
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+\set ON_ERROR_STOP true
+
+DO $$
+BEGIN
+  IF NOT EXISTS (
+    SELECT 1 FROM information_schema.tables 
+    WHERE table_name = 'is_local_database'
+  ) THEN
+    RAISE EXCEPTION 'Refusing to insert fixtures on non-local database.';
+  END IF;
+END $$;
+
 SET client_min_messages TO WARNING;
 -- Useful for local performance testing.
 CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_stat_statements;
diff --git a/transcripts/transcript_functions.sh b/transcripts/transcript_functions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..291352f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/transcripts/transcript_functions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Sets up a bunch of utility functions and environment variables, 
+# but doesn't run anything.
+set -e
+set -u
+
+transcripts_dir="${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts"
+ucm_xdg_data_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${ucm_xdg_data_dir}/unisonlanguage"
+ucm_credentials_file="${ucm_xdg_data_dir}/unisonlanguage/credentials.json"
+
+# Executable to use when running unison transcripts
+export UCM_PATH="${1:-"$(which ucm)"}"
+export empty_causal_hash='sg60bvjo91fsoo7pkh9gejbn0qgc95vra87ap6l5d35ri0lkaudl7bs12d71sf3fh6p23teemuor7mk1i9n567m50ibakcghjec5ajg'
+export echo_server_port=9999
+export echo_server="http://localhost:${echo_server_port}"
+# if CI=true, change the echo server url to a url from the docker network.
+if [ "${CI:-false}" = "true" ]; then
+  export echo_server="http://http-echo:${echo_server_port}"
+fi
+
+# UCM to use within transcripts
+transcript_ucm() {
+  XDG_DATA_HOME="${ucm_xdg_data_dir}" UNISON_SHARE_HOST="http://localhost:5424" "${UCM_PATH}" "$@"
+}
+
+cookie_jar_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+export cookie_jar_dir
+
+cookie_jar_for_user_id () {
+  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "cookie_jar_for_user_id requires a user id" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo "${cookie_jar_dir}/$1"
+}
+
+# SQL stuff
+
+# Run sql against the local pg
+pg_sql () {
+        PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -q -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -t -A -c "$1"
+}
+
+pg_file () {
+        PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -q -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -t -A -f "$1"
+}
+
+pg_init_fixtures() {
+        # Initialize the database with the schema and inserts
+        pg_file "${transcripts_dir}/sql/inserts.sql" > /dev/null
+}
+
+
+# Reset all the fixtures to the state in `inserts.sql`
+pg_reset_fixtures () {
+        pg_file "${transcripts_dir}/sql/clean.sql" > /dev/null
+        pg_init_fixtures
+}
+
+user_id_from_handle () {
+  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "user_id_from_handle requires a handle" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  handle="$1"
+  pg_sql "SELECT 'U-' || id FROM users WHERE handle = '${handle}';"
+}
+
+project_id_from_handle_and_slug () {
+  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "project_id_from_handle_and_slug requires a handle" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ -z "$2" ]; then
+    echo "project_id_from_handle_and_slug requires a slug" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  handle="$1"
+  slug="$2"
+  pg_sql "SELECT 'P-' || p.id FROM projects p JOIN users u ON p.owner_user_id = u.id WHERE u.handle = '${handle}' AND p.slug = '${slug}';"
+}
+
+# Creates a user and returns the user id
+create_user () {
+  handle="$1"
+  uid=$(pg_sql "INSERT INTO users (handle, primary_email, email_verified) VALUES ('${handle}', '${handle}@example.com', true) RETURNING 'U-' || id;")
+  # Log the user in, storing credentials in their cookie jar.
+  curl -s --cookie-jar "$(cookie_jar_for_user_id "$uid")" "http://localhost:5424/local/user/${handle}/login" > /dev/null
+  echo "$uid"
+}
+
+clean_for_transcript() {
+    # Replace all ISO8601 in stdin with the string "<TIMESTAMP>"
+    sed -E 's/[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}T[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}(\.[0-9]+)?Z?/<TIMESTAMP>/g' | \
+    # Replace all uuids in stdin with the string "<UUID>"
+    sed -E 's/[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}/<UUID>/g' | \
+    # Replace all cursors in stdin with the string "<CURSOR>"
+    sed -E 's/Cursor": ?"[^"]+"/Cursor": "<CURSOR>"/g' | \
+    # Replace all JWTs in stdin with the string "<JWT>"
+    sed -E 's/eyJ([[:alnum:]_.-]+)/<JWT>/g' | \
+    # In docker we network things together with host names, but locally we just use localhost; so 
+    # this normalizes everything in transcripts.
+    sed -E 's/(localhost|http-echo):/<HOST>:/g'
+}
+
+fetch() {
+    testname="$3"
+    result_file="$(mktemp)"
+    status_code_file="$(mktemp)"
+    api_path="$4"
+    echo "${testname}" "${api_path}"
+    fetch_data "$@" 2> "${status_code_file}" | clean_for_transcript > "${result_file}"
+    # Try embedding the json response as-is, but if it's not valid json (e.g. it's an error message instead), embed it as a string.
+    jq --sort-keys -n --slurpfile status "${status_code_file}" --slurpfile body "${result_file}" '{"status": $status, "body": ($body | .[0])}' > "./$testname.json" 2> /dev/null || {
+        jq --sort-keys -n --slurpfile status "${status_code_file}" --rawfile body "${result_file}" '{"status": $status, "body": $body}'  > "./$testname.json"
+    }
+    jq_exit=$?
+    if [ $jq_exit -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "Failed to parse JSON response for test ${testname} with jq exit code ${jq_exit}" >&2
+        echo "Response body: $(cat "${result_file}")" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# fetch which returns the result,
+# stderr gets '{"status_code:xxx"}'
+# stdout gets the body
+fetch_data() {
+    if [ "$#" -lt 4 ]; then
+        echo "fetch requires at least 4 arguments: user_id, method, testname, api_path, [data]" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [ -z "${1:-}" ]; then
+        echo "fetch requires a user id" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cookie_jar="$(cookie_jar_for_user_id "$1")"
+    method="$2"
+    testname="$3"
+    api_path="$4"
+    data="${5:-}"
+    url="http://localhost:5424${api_path}"
+    result_file="$(mktemp)"
+    status_code_file="$(mktemp)"
+
+    case $method in
+        GET)
+            curl --request "GET" -L -s --cookie "$cookie_jar" -H "Accept: application/json" -w '%{stderr} {"status_code":%{http_code}}' "$url"
+            ;;
+        *)
+            curl --request "$method" -L -s --cookie "$cookie_jar" -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw "$data" -w '%{stderr} {"status_code":%{http_code}}' "$url"
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+fetch_data_jq() {
+    if [ "$#" -lt 5 ]; then
+        echo "fetch requires at least 5 arguments: user_id, method, testname, api_path, jq_pattern, [data]" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+        echo "fetch requires a user id" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cookie_jar="$1"
+    method="$2"
+    testname="$3"
+    api_path="$4"
+    jq_pattern="$5"
+    data="${6:-}"
+    fetch_data "$cookie_jar" "$method" "$testname" "$api_path" "$data" 2> /dev/null | \
+      jq --sort-keys -r "$jq_pattern" 
+}
+
+# Credentials setup 
+
+login_user_for_ucm() {
+  if [ -z "${1:-}" ]; then
+    echo "login_user_for_ucm requires a user handle" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  user_handle="$1"
+  user_id=$(user_id_from_handle "$user_handle")
+  access_token=$(curl -L -s "http://localhost:5424/local/user/${user_handle}/access-token" )
+  now=$(date -u "+%F")
+
+  # Save the credentials to a file so that UCM can find them
+cat << EOF > "${ucm_credentials_file}"
+{
+  "active_profile": "default",
+  "credentials": {
+    "default": {
+      "localhost:5424": {
+        "discovery_uri": "http://localhost:5424/.well-known/openid-configuration",
+        "fetch_time": "${now}T00:00:00.000000Z",
+        "tokens": {
+          "access_token": "${access_token}",
+          "expires_in": 2592000,
+          "id_token": null,
+          "refresh_token": null,
+          "scope": "openid cloud sync",
+          "token_type": "bearer"
+        },
+        "user_info": {
+          "handle": "${user_handle}",
+          "name": "${user_handle}",
+          "user_id": "${user_id}"
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+EOF
+}
+
+wait_for_diffs() {
+# Since namespace diffs are computed asynchronously, we just block here until there are no diffs left in
+# the causal_diff_queue.
+for _ in {1..5}; do
+  if [[ $(pg_sql "select count(*) from causal_diff_queue;") -ne 0 ]]; then
+    sleep 1
+  else
+    break
+  fi
+done
+}
diff --git a/transcripts/transcript_helpers.sh b/transcripts/transcript_helpers.sh
index 8dc61681..3d02478d 100755
--- a/transcripts/transcript_helpers.sh
+++ b/transcripts/transcript_helpers.sh
@@ -1,83 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 set -e
+set -u
 
-transcripts_dir=$(realpath "$(dirname "$0")")
-ucm_xdg_data_dir=$(mktemp -d)
-mkdir -p "${ucm_xdg_data_dir}/unisonlanguage"
-ucm_credentials_file="${ucm_xdg_data_dir}/unisonlanguage/credentials.json"
+transcripts_dir="${SHARE_PROJECT_ROOT}/transcripts"
+source "${transcripts_dir}/transcript_functions.sh"
 
-# Executable to use when running unison transcripts
-export UCM_PATH="${1:-"$(which ucm)"}"
-export empty_causal_hash='sg60bvjo91fsoo7pkh9gejbn0qgc95vra87ap6l5d35ri0lkaudl7bs12d71sf3fh6p23teemuor7mk1i9n567m50ibakcghjec5ajg'
-export echo_server_port=9999
-export echo_server="http://localhost:${echo_server_port}"
-# if CI=true, change the echo server url to a url from the docker network.
-if [ "${CI:-false}" = "true" ]; then
-  export echo_server="http://http-echo:${echo_server_port}"
-fi
-
-# UCM to use within transcripts
-transcript_ucm() {
-  XDG_DATA_HOME="${ucm_xdg_data_dir}" UNISON_SHARE_HOST="http://localhost:5424" "${UCM_PATH}" "$@"
-}
-
-cookie_jar_dir=$(mktemp -d)
-export cookie_jar_dir
-
-cookie_jar_for_user_id () {
-  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-    echo "cookie_jar_for_user_id requires a user id" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  echo "${cookie_jar_dir}/$1"
-}
-
-# SQL stuff
-
-# Run sql against the local pg
-pg_sql () {
-        PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -q -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -t -A -c "$1"
-}
-
-
-# Reset all the fixtures to the state in `inserts.sql`
-pg_reset_fixtures () {
-        PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -f "${transcripts_dir}/sql/clean.sql" > /dev/null
-        PGPASSWORD="sekrit" psql -U postgres -p 5432 -h localhost -f "${transcripts_dir}/sql/inserts.sql" > /dev/null
-}
-
-user_id_from_handle () {
-  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-    echo "user_id_from_handle requires a handle" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  handle="$1"
-  pg_sql "SELECT 'U-' || id FROM users WHERE handle = '${handle}';"
-}
-
-project_id_from_handle_and_slug () {
-  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-    echo "project_id_from_handle_and_slug requires a handle" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-    echo "project_id_from_handle_and_slug requires a slug" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  handle="$1"
-  slug="$2"
-  pg_sql "SELECT 'P-' || p.id FROM projects p JOIN users u ON p.owner_user_id = u.id WHERE u.handle = '${handle}' AND p.slug = '${slug}';"
-}
-
-# Creates a user and returns the user id
-create_user () {
-  handle="$1"
-  uid=$(pg_sql "INSERT INTO users (handle, primary_email, email_verified) VALUES ('${handle}', '${handle}@example.com', true) RETURNING 'U-' || id;")
-  # Log the user in, storing credentials in their cookie jar.
-  curl -s --cookie-jar "$(cookie_jar_for_user_id "$uid")" "http://localhost:5424/local/user/${handle}/login" > /dev/null
-  echo "$uid"
-}
 
 # Set up users so we can auth against them.
 pg_reset_fixtures
@@ -108,141 +36,4 @@ curl -s --cookie-jar "$(cookie_jar_for_user_id "$unauthorized_user")" http://loc
 unauthenticated_user="$(cookie_jar_for_user_id 'unauthenticated')"
 export unauthenticated_user
 
-
-clean_for_transcript() {
-    # Replace all ISO8601 in stdin with the string "<TIMESTAMP>"
-    sed -E 's/[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}T[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}(\.[0-9]+)?Z?/<TIMESTAMP>/g' | \
-    # Replace all uuids in stdin with the string "<UUID>"
-    sed -E 's/[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}/<UUID>/g' | \
-    # Replace all cursors in stdin with the string "<CURSOR>"
-    sed -E 's/Cursor": ?"[^"]+"/Cursor": "<CURSOR>"/g' | \
-    # Replace all JWTs in stdin with the string "<JWT>"
-    sed -E 's/eyJ([[:alnum:]_.-]+)/<JWT>/g' | \
-    # In docker we network things together with host names, but locally we just use localhost; so 
-    # this normalizes everything in transcripts.
-    sed -E 's/(localhost|http-echo):/<HOST>:/g'
-}
-
-fetch() {
-    testname="$3"
-    result_file="$(mktemp)"
-    status_code_file="$(mktemp)"
-    api_path="$4"
-    echo "${testname}" "${api_path}"
-    fetch_data "$@" 2> "${status_code_file}" | clean_for_transcript > "${result_file}"
-    # Try embedding the json response as-is, but if it's not valid json (e.g. it's an error message instead), embed it as a string.
-    jq --sort-keys -n --slurpfile status "${status_code_file}" --slurpfile body "${result_file}" '{"status": $status, "body": ($body | .[0])}' > "./$testname.json" 2> /dev/null || {
-        jq --sort-keys -n --slurpfile status "${status_code_file}" --rawfile body "${result_file}" '{"status": $status, "body": $body}'  > "./$testname.json"
-    }
-    jq_exit=$?
-    if [ $jq_exit -ne 0 ]; then
-        echo "Failed to parse JSON response for test ${testname} with jq exit code ${jq_exit}" >&2
-        echo "Response body: $(cat "${result_file}")" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-}
-
-# fetch which returns the result,
-# stderr gets '{"status_code:xxx"}'
-# stdout gets the body
-fetch_data() {
-    if [ "$#" -lt 4 ]; then
-        echo "fetch requires at least 4 arguments: user_id, method, testname, api_path, [data]" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-        echo "fetch requires a user id" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    cookie_jar="$(cookie_jar_for_user_id "$1")"
-    method="$2"
-    testname="$3"
-    api_path="$4"
-    data="$5"
-    url="http://localhost:5424${api_path}"
-    result_file="$(mktemp)"
-    status_code_file="$(mktemp)"
-
-    case $method in
-        GET)
-            curl --request "GET" -L -s --cookie "$cookie_jar" -H "Accept: application/json" -w '%{stderr} {"status_code":%{http_code}}' "$url"
-            ;;
-        *)
-            curl --request "$method" -L -s --cookie "$cookie_jar" -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw "$data" -w '%{stderr} {"status_code":%{http_code}}' "$url"
-            ;;
-    esac
-}
-
-fetch_data_jq() {
-    if [ "$#" -lt 5 ]; then
-        echo "fetch requires at least 5 arguments: user_id, method, testname, api_path, jq_pattern, [data]" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-        echo "fetch requires a user id" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    cookie_jar="$1"
-    method="$2"
-    testname="$3"
-    api_path="$4"
-    jq_pattern="$5"
-    data="$6"
-    fetch_data "$cookie_jar" "$method" "$testname" "$api_path" "$data" 2> /dev/null | \
-      jq --sort-keys -r "$jq_pattern" 
-}
-
-# Credentials setup 
-
-login_user_for_ucm() {
-  if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-    echo "login_user_for_ucm requires a user handle" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  user_handle="$1"
-  user_id=$(user_id_from_handle "$user_handle")
-  access_token=$(curl -L -s "http://localhost:5424/local/user/${user_handle}/access-token" )
-  now=$(date -u "+%F")
-
-  # Save the credentials to a file so that UCM can find them
-cat << EOF > "${ucm_credentials_file}"
-{
-  "active_profile": "default",
-  "credentials": {
-    "default": {
-      "localhost:5424": {
-        "discovery_uri": "http://localhost:5424/.well-known/openid-configuration",
-        "fetch_time": "${now}T00:00:00.000000Z",
-        "tokens": {
-          "access_token": "${access_token}",
-          "expires_in": 2592000,
-          "id_token": null,
-          "refresh_token": null,
-          "scope": "openid cloud sync",
-          "token_type": "bearer"
-        },
-        "user_info": {
-          "handle": "${user_handle}",
-          "name": "${user_handle}",
-          "user_id": "${user_id}"
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
-EOF
-}
-
 login_user_for_ucm 'transcripts'
-
-wait_for_diffs() {
-# Since namespace diffs are computed asynchronously, we just block here until there are no diffs left in
-# the causal_diff_queue.
-for i in {1..5}; do
-  if [[ $(pg_sql "select count(*) from causal_diff_queue;") -ne 0 ]]; then
-    sleep 1
-  else
-    break
-  fi
-done
-}