diff --git a/ui/medashare/cli.py b/ui/medashare/cli.py
index 97ec07c..2fe4803 100644
--- a/ui/medashare/cli.py
+++ b/ui/medashare/cli.py
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ class ObjectStore(object):
 			if j:
 				return j
 		else:
-			raise KeyError('unable to find metadata for file')
+			raise KeyError('unable to find metadata for file: %s' % repr(fname))
 
 def _readfp(fp):
 	while True:
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ def main():
 			persona = Persona.load(identfname)
 
 		if options.printpub:
-			print(persona.get_pubkey())
+			print(persona.get_pubkey().decode('ascii'))
 			return
 
 		persona.new_version(*addprops)
@@ -572,14 +572,28 @@ def main():
 	storefname = os.path.expanduser('~/.medashare_store.pasn1')
 	import sys
 	#print >>sys.stderr, `storefname`
-	objstr = ObjectStore.load(storefname)
+	try:
+		objstr = ObjectStore.load(storefname)
+	except FileNotFoundError:
+		identfname = os.path.expanduser('~/.medashare_identity.pasn1')
+		try:
+			persona = Persona.load(identfname)
+		except FileNotFoundError:
+			print('ERROR: Identity not created, create w/ -g.', file=sys.stderr)
+			sys.exit(1)
+
+		objstr = ObjectStore(persona.get_identity().uuid)
 
 	if options.list:
 		for i in args:
-			for j in objstr.by_file(i):
-				#print >>sys.stderr, `j._obj`
-				for k, v in _iterdictlist(j):
-					print('%s:\t%s' % (k, v))
+			try:
+				for j in objstr.by_file(i):
+					#print >>sys.stderr, `j._obj`
+					for k, v in _iterdictlist(j):
+						print('%s:\t%s' % (k, v))
+			except KeyError:
+				print('ERROR: file not found: %s' % repr(i), file=sys.stderr)
+				sys.exit(1)
 	elif options.add:
 		for i in args:
 			for j in objstr.by_file(i):
@@ -731,7 +745,7 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 
 	def test_enumeratedir(self):
 		files = enumeratedir(self.tempdir, self.created_by_ref)
-		ftest = files[0]
+		ftest = files[1]
 		fname = 'test.txt'
 
 		# make sure that they are of type MDBase
@@ -751,7 +765,7 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 		# XXX - make sure works w/ relative dirs
 		files = enumeratedir(os.path.relpath(self.tempdir),
 		    self.created_by_ref)
-		self.assertEqual(oldid, files[0].id)
+		self.assertEqual(oldid, files[1].id)
 
 	def test_mdbaseoverlay(self):
 		objst = ObjectStore(self.created_by_ref)
@@ -967,11 +981,29 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 
 		# setup test fname
 		testfname = os.path.join(self.tempdir, 'test.txt')
+		newtestfname = os.path.join(self.tempdir, 'newfile.txt')
 
 		import sys
 		import io
 		import itertools
 
+		with mock.patch('os.path.expanduser', side_effect=expandusermock) \
+		    as eu, mock.patch('medashare.cli.open') as op:
+			# that when opening the store and identity fails
+			op.side_effect = FileNotFoundError
+
+			# and there is no identity
+			with mock.patch('sys.stderr', io.StringIO()) as stderr, mock.patch('sys.argv', [ 'progname', '-l', ]) as argv:
+				with self.assertRaises(SystemExit) as cm:
+					main()
+
+				# that it fails
+				self.assertEqual(cm.exception.code, 1)
+
+				# with the correct error message
+				self.assertEqual(stderr.getvalue(),
+				    'ERROR: Identity not created, create w/ -g.\n')
+
 		with mock.patch('os.path.expanduser', side_effect=expandusermock) \
 		    as eu:
 			# that generating a new identity
@@ -1038,11 +1070,33 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 
 				# the correct key is printed
 				self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(),
-				    '%s\n' % persona.get_pubkey())
+				    '%s\n' % persona.get_pubkey().decode('ascii'))
 
 			# and looked up the correct file
 			eu.assert_called_with('~/.medashare_identity.pasn1')
 
+			# that when a new file is printed
+			with mock.patch('sys.stderr', io.StringIO()) as stderr, mock.patch('sys.argv', [ 'progname', '-l', newtestfname ]) as argv:
+				# that it exits
+				with self.assertRaises(SystemExit) as cm:
+					main()
+
+				# with error code 1
+				self.assertEqual(cm.exception.code, 1)
+
+				# and outputs an error message
+				self.assertEqual(stderr.getvalue(),
+				    'ERROR: file not found: %s\n' % repr(newtestfname))
+
+			# that when a new file has a tag added
+			with mock.patch('sys.stdout', io.StringIO()) as stdout, mock.patch('sys.argv', [ 'progname', '-a', 'tag', newtestfname ]) as argv:
+				main()
+
+				# nothing is printed
+				self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(), '');
+
+			eu.assert_called_with('~/.medashare_store.pasn1')
+
 			with mock.patch('sys.stdout', io.StringIO()) as stdout, mock.patch('sys.argv', [ 'progname', '-l', testfname ]) as argv:
 				main()
 				self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(),
@@ -1080,3 +1134,25 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 				main()
 				self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(),
 				    'foo:\tbleh\nhashes:\tsha256:91751cee0a1ab8414400238a761411daa29643ab4b8243e9a91649e25be53ada\nhashes:\tsha512:7d5768d47b6bc27dc4fa7e9732cfa2de506ca262a2749cb108923e5dddffde842bbfee6cb8d692fb43aca0f12946c521cce2633887914ca1f96898478d10ad3f\nlang:\ten\n')
+
+		orig_open = open
+		with mock.patch('os.path.expanduser', side_effect=expandusermock) \
+		    as eu, mock.patch('medashare.cli.open') as op:
+			# that when the store fails
+			def open_repl(fname, mode):
+				self.assertIn(mode, ('rb', 'wb'))
+
+				if fname == identfname or mode == 'wb':
+					return orig_open(fname, mode)
+
+				#print('foo:', repr(fname), repr(mode), file=sys.stderr)
+				raise FileNotFoundError
+
+			op.side_effect = open_repl
+
+			# and there is no store
+			with mock.patch('sys.stdout', io.StringIO()) as stdout, mock.patch('sys.argv', [ 'progname', '-l', ]) as argv:
+				main()
+
+				# does not output anything
+				self.assertEqual(stdout.getvalue(), '')