diff --git a/docs/metadesk_reference.mdesk b/docs/metadesk_reference.mdesk
index 844a251..2d1d124 100644
--- a/docs/metadesk_reference.mdesk
+++ b/docs/metadesk_reference.mdesk
@@ -1851,7 +1851,6 @@ MD_ParseWholeFile:
 @doc("Prints a message to @code 'out', corresponding with the source code location encoded by @code 'loc'.")
 @see(MD_PrintMessageFmt)
 @see(MD_PrintNodeMessage)
-@see(MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt)
 @func MD_PrintMessage: {
     @doc("The file to print the message to.")
         out: *FILE,
@@ -1867,7 +1866,6 @@ MD_ParseWholeFile:
 @doc("Prints a C format string message to @code 'out', corresponding with the source code location encoded by @code 'loc'.")
 @see(MD_PrintMessage)
 @see(MD_PrintNodeMessage)
-@see(MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt)
 @func MD_PrintMessageFmt: {
     @doc("The file to print the message to.")
         out: *FILE,
@@ -1883,7 +1881,6 @@ MD_ParseWholeFile:
 @send(Nodes)
 @see(MD_PrintMessage)
 @see(MD_PrintMessageFmt)
-@see(MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt)
 @doc("Prints a message to @code 'out', corresponding with the source code location of @code 'node'.")
 @func MD_PrintNodeMessage: {
     @doc("The file to print the message to.")
@@ -1896,23 +1893,6 @@ MD_ParseWholeFile:
         str: MD_String8,
 };
 
-@send(Nodes)
-@doc("Prints a C format string message to @code 'out', corresponding with the source code location of @code 'node'.")
-@see(MD_PrintMessage)
-@see(MD_PrintMessageFmt)
-@see(MD_PrintNodeMessage)
-@func MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt: {
-    @doc("The file to print the message to.")
-        out: *FILE,
-    @doc("The node for which the message is intended.")
-        node: *MD_Node,
-    @doc("The kind/severity of the message.")
-        kind: MD_MessageKind,
-    @doc("The format string to form the message contents.")
-        fmt: *char,
-    "..."
-};
-
 ////////////////////////////////
 //~ Tree Comparison/Verification
 
diff --git a/examples/datadesk_like_template.c b/examples/datadesk_like_template.c
index a95b966..17b0916 100644
--- a/examples/datadesk_like_template.c
+++ b/examples/datadesk_like_template.c
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 ** Example: datadesk-like-template
 **
  ** This example is setup as a copy-pastable template for creating metadesk
-** based metaprograms that have the same structure as datadesk.
+** based metaprograms that have the same structure as datadesk metaprograms.
 **
 ** Datadesk was a precursor language to metadesk. This example is mostly meant
 ** to help datadesk users understand metadesk and migrate onto it.
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 //~ Includes and globals //////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+#define MD_ENABLE_PRINT_HELPERS 1
+
 #include "md.h"
 #include "md.c"
 
@@ -24,47 +26,67 @@ static MD_Arena *arena = 0;
 
 //~ Declare user defined functions (the datadesk "custom layer") //////////////
 
-// Called when the program starts.
-static void Initialize(void);
-// Called for every top-level node that is parsed from passed files.
-static void TopLevel(MD_Node *node);
-// Runs before the program ends.
-static void CleanUp(void);
+static void Initialize(void);        // Runs at the beginning of generation.
+static void TopLevel(MD_Node *node); // Runs once for each top-level node from each file.
+static void CleanUp(void);           // Runs at the end of generation.
 
 
 //~ main //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 int main(int argument_count, char **arguments)
 {
-    // simple single-threaded one-run memory management setup
+    // setup the global arena
     arena = MD_ArenaAlloc(1ull << 40);
     
     // parse all files passed to the command line
+    MD_b32 failed_parse = 0;
     MD_Node *list = MD_MakeList(arena);
     for(int i = 1; i < argument_count; i += 1)
     {
-        MD_Node *root = MD_ParseWholeFile(arena, MD_S8CString(arguments[i])).node;
-        MD_PushNewReference(arena, list, root);
-    }
-    
-    // calls to the "custom layer"
-    Initialize();
-    for(MD_EachNode(ref, list->first_child))
-    {
-        MD_Node *root = MD_NodeFromReference(ref);
-        for(MD_EachNode(node, root->first_child))
+        
+        // parse the file
+        MD_String8 file_name = MD_S8CString(arguments[i]);
+        MD_ParseResult parse_result = MD_ParseWholeFile(arena, file_name);
+        
+        // print metadesk errors
+        for (MD_Message *message = parse_result.errors.first;
+             message != 0;
+             message = message->next)
         {
-            TopLevel(node);
+            MD_CodeLoc code_loc = MD_CodeLocFromNode(message->node);
+            MD_PrintMessage(stdout, code_loc, message->kind, message->string);
+        }
+        
+        // save to parse results list
+        MD_PushNewReference(arena, list, parse_result.node);
+        
+        // mark failure state
+        if (parse_result.errors.max_message_kind >= MD_MessageKind_Error)
+        {
+            failed_parse = 1;
         }
     }
-    CleanUp();
+    
+    // call the "custom layer"
+    if (!failed_parse)
+    {
+        Initialize();
+        for(MD_EachNode(ref, list->first_child))
+        {
+            MD_Node *root = MD_NodeFromReference(ref);
+            for(MD_EachNode(node, root->first_child))
+            {
+                TopLevel(node);
+            }
+        }
+        CleanUp();
+    }
     
     return 0;
 }
 
 
-//~ The "custom layer" definitions ////////////////////////////////////////////
-
+//~ The "custom layer" ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 static void
 Initialize(void)
diff --git a/examples/parse_check.c b/examples/parse_check.c
index 6870929..6e1ea43 100644
--- a/examples/parse_check.c
+++ b/examples/parse_check.c
@@ -1,26 +1,87 @@
+/* 
+** Example: parse-check
+**
+ ** This example shows how to use the metadesk library to parse metadesk files,
+** print errors, and dump verbose feedback on the resulting metadesk trees.
+** This is also a nice utility for checking and inspecting your metadesk files.
+**
+*/
+
+//~ Includes and globals //////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+// @notes Print helpers will make it easier to print the errors. This brings in
+//  C's stdio.h. It is possible to use error messages without print helpers,
+//  but a dependency on stdio.h is fine here so we will use it.
+#define MD_ENABLE_PRINT_HELPERS 1
+
 #include "md.h"
 #include "md.c"
 
+// @notes For simple single-threaded memory management in a run-once-and-exit
+//  utility, a single global arena is our prefered setup.
 static MD_Arena *arena = 0;
 
+
+//~ main //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 int main(int argument_count, char **arguments)
 {
+    // setup the global arena
+    // @notes Metadesk arenas do linear reserve-and-commit allocation. This
+    //  code makes an arena with a 1 terabyte reserve which works quite nicely,
+    //  so long as we aren't doing more than a few of them. 
     arena = MD_ArenaAlloc(1ull << 40);
     
+    
+    // parse all files passed to the command line
     MD_Node *list = MD_MakeList(arena);
     for(int i = 1; i < argument_count; i += 1)
     {
-        MD_Node *root = MD_ParseWholeFile(arena, MD_S8CString(arguments[i])).node;
-        MD_PushNewReference(arena, list, root);
+        
+        // parse the file
+        // @notes Here we rely on MD_ParseWholeFile which loads the file itself
+        //  and then does the whole parse. In a simple utility program like
+        //  this metadesk's default implementations for the overrides make
+        //  this work.
+        MD_String8 file_name = MD_S8CString(arguments[i]);
+        MD_ParseResult parse_result = MD_ParseWholeFile(arena, file_name);
+        
+        // print metadesk errors
+        for (MD_Message *message = parse_result.errors.first;
+             message != 0;
+             message = message->next)
+        {
+            // @notes To print a message from the parse, technically we can do
+            //  whatever we want. But we'll use the message format suggested
+            //  by the metadesk library. First we get the code location - which
+            //  means the file name and line number - for the node on this
+            //  message. Then we pass the details of this message to the
+            //  MD_PrintMessage helper function.
+            MD_CodeLoc code_loc = MD_CodeLocFromNode(message->node);
+            MD_PrintMessage(stdout, code_loc, message->kind, message->string);
+        }
+        
+        // save to parse results list
+        // @notes Metadesk message kinds are sorted in order of severity. So we
+        //  can easily check the severity of a entire parse by looking at the
+        //  `max_message_kind` field on the errors from the parse result. Here
+        //  only push the parse result onto our list if there were no errors.
+        if (parse_result.errors.max_message_kind >= MD_MessageKind_Error)
+        {
+            MD_PushNewReference(arena, list, parse_result.node);
+        }
     }
     
+    // print the verbose parse results
     for(MD_EachNodeRef(root, list->first_child))
     {
         for(MD_EachNode(node, root->first_child))
         {
-            MD_String8List strs = MD_DebugStringListFromNode(arena, node, 0, MD_S8Lit(" "), MD_GenerateFlags_Tree);
+            MD_String8List strs =
+                MD_DebugStringListFromNode(arena, node, 0, MD_S8Lit(" "), MD_GenerateFlags_Tree);
             MD_String8 str = MD_S8ListJoin(arena, strs, 0);
-            fprintf(stdout, "%.*s\n", MD_S8VArg(str));
+            fwrite(str.str, str.size, 1, stdout);
+            fwrite("\n", 1, 1, stdout);
         }
     }
     
diff --git a/intro_notes.txt b/intro_notes.txt
index 8233ce6..b3c8ef6 100644
--- a/intro_notes.txt
+++ b/intro_notes.txt
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ immutable tree model
 nil
 
 Examples:
+[ ] Metadesk hello world
 [ ] Metadesk parse checker
-[ ] Metadesk reprinter
 [ ] Example of helpers: string helpers, linked lists, map type
                         printing errors, cmd line, file iter
 [x] Datadesk-like setup
diff --git a/source/md.c b/source/md.c
index 724ca4e..81b3c17 100644
--- a/source/md.c
+++ b/source/md.c
@@ -2903,19 +2903,6 @@ MD_PrintMessageFmt(FILE *file, MD_CodeLoc code_loc, MD_MessageKind kind, char *f
     MD_ReleaseScratch(scratch);
 }
 
-MD_FUNCTION void
-MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt(FILE *file, MD_Node *node, MD_MessageKind kind, char *fmt, ...){
-    MD_ArenaTemp scratch = MD_GetScratch(0, 0);
-    va_list args;
-    va_start(args, fmt);
-    MD_String8 string = MD_S8FmtV(scratch.arena, fmt, args);
-    va_end(args);
-    MD_CodeLoc code_loc = MD_CodeLocFromNode(node);
-    MD_String8 message = MD_FormatMessage(scratch.arena, code_loc, kind, string);
-    fwrite(message.str, message.size, 1, file);
-    MD_ReleaseScratch(scratch);
-}
-
 #endif
 
 //~ Tree Comparison/Verification
diff --git a/source/md.h b/source/md.h
index df60afa..186474f 100644
--- a/source/md.h
+++ b/source/md.h
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 //~ Metadesk Library
 
+// TODO(allen): Welcome & user directory comment here
+
 #ifndef MD_H
 #define MD_H
 
@@ -1117,8 +1119,6 @@ MD_FUNCTION void MD_PrintMessage(FILE *file, MD_CodeLoc loc, MD_MessageKind kind
                                  MD_String8 string);
 MD_FUNCTION void MD_PrintMessageFmt(FILE *file, MD_CodeLoc code_loc, MD_MessageKind kind,
                                     char *fmt, ...);
-MD_FUNCTION void MD_PrintNodeMessageFmt(FILE *file, MD_Node *node, MD_MessageKind kind,
-                                        char *fmt, ...);
 #endif
 
 //~ Tree Comparison/Verification