diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index e07c83b..e85be44 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,4 +29,3 @@ cxx = "1.0"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 cxx-build = "1.0"
-
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index e399ff0..b6d2b94 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ fn main() {
     }
     [ "-m", "-c", dir, rst @ ..] => shredder::channel_shred(&std::path::PathBuf::from(dir), rst),
     [ "-m", dir, rst @ ..] => shredder::shred(&std::path::PathBuf::from(dir), rst),
-    [ "-r", "-f", filename, _rst @ ..] => jch::rapid::parse_file(filename),
+    [ "-r", "-f", filename, _rst @ ..] => jch::rapid::schema_from_file(filename),
     [ "-r", rst @ ..] => {
       let istream = jch::make_readable(rst);
       jch::rapid::parse(istream)
diff --git a/src/rapid.rs b/src/rapid.rs
index 409f207..413069a 100644
--- a/src/rapid.rs
+++ b/src/rapid.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// Because the rapidjson handler needs PascalCase method names.
 #![allow(non_snake_case)]
 
 use std::ffi::c_char;
@@ -72,36 +73,69 @@ impl RustStream {
   unsafe fn PutEnd(self : &mut RustStream, stuff : *mut c_char) -> usize { unimplemented!("PutEnd not necessary for read-only stream") }
 }
 
-pub struct RustHandler;
+// convert rapidjson values to JsonEvents and send to a channel.
+pub struct RustHandler {
+  tx : crossbeam::channel::Sender<JsonEvent<String>>
+}
+
+use crate::parser::JsonEvent;
 
 impl RustHandler {
+  pub fn new(tx : crossbeam::channel::Sender<JsonEvent<String>>) -> Self {
+    Self{tx}
+  }
+
+  pub fn close(self) {
+    drop(self.tx)
+  }
+
+  // shim to ease the forwarding
+  #[inline]
+  fn send(&self, jev : JsonEvent<String>) -> bool {
+    match self.tx.send(jev) {
+        Ok(()) => true,
+        Err(_) => false,
+    }
+  }
+
   // return value for all of these is true -> continue parsing; false -> halt parsing
-  fn Null(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { println!("null"); true }
-  fn Bool(self : &RustHandler, val : bool) -> bool { println!("bool {val}"); true }
-  fn Int(self : &RustHandler, val : i32) -> bool { println!("int {val}"); true }
-  fn Uint(self : &RustHandler, val : u64) -> bool { println!("uint {val}"); true }
-  fn Int64(self : &RustHandler, val : i64) -> bool { println!("int64 {val}"); true }
-  fn Uint64(self : &RustHandler, val : i64) -> bool { println!("uint64 {val}"); true }
-  fn Double(self : &RustHandler, val : f64) -> bool { println!("double {val}"); true }
-  fn RawNumber(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, copy : bool) -> bool { println!("number {length}:{copy}:{val:?}"); true }
-  fn String(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, copy : bool) -> bool {
+  //
+  // the _copy parameter appears to be always 'true', which I take to mean "it's not safe to keep a reference to this parameter"
+  fn Null(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Null) }
+  fn Bool(self : &RustHandler, val : bool) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Boolean(val)) }
+
+  // All the number types.
+  //
+  // TODO rapidjson has already parsed these strings into numbers, so it's
+  // wasteful to convert them back to strings.
+  fn Int(self : &RustHandler, val : i32) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Number(format!("{val}"))) }
+  fn Uint(self : &RustHandler, val : u64) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Number(format!("{val}"))) }
+  fn Int64(self : &RustHandler, val : i64) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Number(format!("{val}"))) }
+  fn Uint64(self : &RustHandler, val : i64) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Number(format!("{val}"))) }
+  fn Double(self : &RustHandler, val : f64) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::Number(format!("{val}"))) }
+  fn RawNumber(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, _copy : bool) -> bool {
+    let val = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(val as *const u8, length) };
+    let val = unsafe { std::str::from_utf8_unchecked(val) };
+    self.send(JsonEvent::Number(val.into()))
+  }
+
+  fn String(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, _copy : bool) -> bool {
     // TODO there must be a cxx.rss builtin for this
     let val = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(val as *const u8, length) };
     let val = unsafe { std::str::from_utf8_unchecked(val) };
-    println!("string {length}:{copy}:{val}", );
-    true
+    self.send(JsonEvent::String(val.into()))
   }
-  fn StartObject(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { println!("start obj"); true }
-  fn Key(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, copy : bool) -> bool {
+
+  fn StartObject(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::StartObject) }
+  fn Key(self : &RustHandler, val : *const c_char, length : usize, _copy : bool) -> bool {
     // TODO there must be a cxx.rss builtin for this
     let val = unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(val as *const u8, length) };
     let val = unsafe { std::str::from_utf8_unchecked(val) };
-    println!("key {length}:{copy}:{val}", );
-    true
+    self.send(JsonEvent::ObjectKey(val.into()))
   }
-  fn EndObject(self : &RustHandler, member_count : usize) -> bool { println!("end obj {member_count}"); true }
-  fn StartArray(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { println!("start ary"); true }
-  fn EndArray(self : &RustHandler, element_count : usize) -> bool { println!("end ary {element_count}"); true }
+  fn EndObject(self : &RustHandler, _member_count : usize) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::EndObject) }
+  fn StartArray(self : &RustHandler) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::StartArray) }
+  fn EndArray(self : &RustHandler, _element_count : usize) -> bool { self.send(JsonEvent::EndArray) }
 }
 
 // can also have
@@ -158,15 +192,64 @@ pub mod ffi {
     }
 }
 
+// This seems to be around optimal
+const CROSSBEAM_CHANNEL_BOUND : usize = (2usize).pow(12);
+
+/// parse events via our implementation of a rapidjson::Stream.
+/// It's quite slow compared to letting rapidjson handle the file reading.
 pub fn parse( istream : Box<dyn std::io::BufRead> ) {
   // let src : &[u8] = r#"{"one": "uno", "two": 2, "tre": false}"#.as_bytes();
   // let istream = Box::new(src);
+  let (tx,rx) = crossbeam::channel::bounded(CROSSBEAM_CHANNEL_BOUND);
+
+  let cons_thr = std::thread::spawn(move || {
+    while let Ok(event) = rx.recv() {
+      println!("{event:?}");
+    }
+  });
+
   let mut reader = RustStream::new(istream);
-  let mut handler = RustHandler;
+  let mut handler = RustHandler::new(tx);
   ffi::parse(&mut handler, &mut reader);
+
+  cons_thr.join().unwrap()
 }
 
-pub fn parse_file( filename : &str ) {
-  let mut handler = RustHandler;
+/// Shim to present a channel as a JsonEvents pull source.
+struct ChannelStreamer(crossbeam::channel::Receiver<JsonEvent<String>>);
+
+use crate::parser::JsonEvents;
+
+impl<'l> JsonEvents<'_,String> for ChannelStreamer {
+  #[inline]
+  fn next_event<'a>(&'a mut self) -> std::result::Result<JsonEvent<std::string::String>, Box<(dyn std::error::Error + 'static)>> {
+    use crossbeam::channel::RecvError;
+    match self.0.recv() {
+      Ok(jev) => Ok(jev),
+      Err(RecvError) => Ok(JsonEvent::Eof),
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/// This constructs a rapidjson parser from the filename, thereby maximising read performance,
+/// and then sends event from rapidjson's push parser to a channel, which feeds our pull-oriented schema calculator.
+///
+/// In fact using this setup, the receive/schema thread is slower than the send/parser thread
+/// which only operates at about 65% capacity.
+pub fn schema_from_file( filename : &str ) {
+  let (tx,rx) = crossbeam::channel::bounded(CROSSBEAM_CHANNEL_BOUND);
+
+  let cons_thr = std::thread::Builder::new().name("jch rapid recv".into()).spawn(move || {
+    let mut streamer = ChannelStreamer(rx);
+    crate::schema::schema(&mut std::io::stdout(), &mut streamer)
+  });
+
+  // it's no-go if the receive thread can't be created, so just die.
+  let cons_thr = cons_thr.expect("cannot create recv thread");
+
+  let mut handler = RustHandler::new(tx);
   ffi::from_file(filename.to_string(), &mut handler );
+  // Shut down channel. Kak api because if you forget to call this, the thread just blocks.
+  handler.close();
+  cons_thr.join().unwrap()
 }