diff --git a/veilid-cli/src/command_processor.rs b/veilid-cli/src/command_processor.rs
index c6ab46c7..6225d5d2 100644
--- a/veilid-cli/src/command_processor.rs
+++ b/veilid-cli/src/command_processor.rs
@@ -482,15 +482,26 @@ reply <call id> <message>           reply to an AppCall not handled directly by
             }
         }
 
+        let (message, truncated) = if message.len() > 64 {
+            (&message[0..64], true)
+        } else {
+            (&message[..], false)
+        };
+
         let strmsg = if printable {
-            String::from_utf8_lossy(&message).to_string()
+            format!("\"{}\"", String::from_utf8_lossy(&message).to_string())
         } else {
             hex::encode(message)
         };
 
         self.inner().ui_sender.add_node_event(
             Level::Info,
-            format!("AppMessage ({:?}): {}", msg["sender"], strmsg),
+            format!(
+                "AppMessage ({:?}): {}{}",
+                msg["sender"],
+                strmsg,
+                if truncated { "..." } else { "" }
+            ),
         );
     }
 
@@ -505,10 +516,16 @@ reply <call id> <message>           reply to an AppCall not handled directly by
             }
         }
 
-        let strmsg = if printable {
-            String::from_utf8_lossy(&message).to_string()
+        let (message, truncated) = if message.len() > 64 {
+            (&message[0..64], true)
         } else {
-            format!("#{}", hex::encode(&message))
+            (&message[..], false)
+        };
+
+        let strmsg = if printable {
+            format!("\"{}\"", String::from_utf8_lossy(&message).to_string())
+        } else {
+            hex::encode(message)
         };
 
         let id = json_str_u64(&call["call_id"]);
@@ -516,8 +533,11 @@ reply <call id> <message>           reply to an AppCall not handled directly by
         self.inner().ui_sender.add_node_event(
             Level::Info,
             format!(
-                "AppCall ({:?}) id = {:016x} : {}",
-                call["sender"], id, strmsg
+                "AppCall ({:?}) id = {:016x} : {}{}",
+                call["sender"],
+                id,
+                strmsg,
+                if truncated { "..." } else { "" }
             ),
         );
 
diff --git a/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_call.rs b/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_call.rs
index f3de4828..6e0a3e43 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_call.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_call.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use super::*;
 impl RPCProcessor {
     // Sends a high level app request and wait for response
     // Can be sent via all methods including relays and routes
-    #[instrument(level = "trace", skip(self), ret, err)]
+    #[instrument(level = "trace", skip(self, message), ret, err)]
     pub async fn rpc_call_app_call(
         self,
         dest: Destination,
diff --git a/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_message.rs b/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_message.rs
index 726515a4..d6040e26 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_message.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/rpc_processor/rpc_app_message.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use super::*;
 impl RPCProcessor {
     // Sends a high level app message
     // Can be sent via all methods including relays and routes
-    #[instrument(level = "trace", skip(self), ret, err)]
+    #[instrument(level = "trace", skip(self, message), ret, err)]
     pub async fn rpc_call_app_message(
         self,
         dest: Destination,
diff --git a/veilid-python/tests/test_routing_context.py b/veilid-python/tests/test_routing_context.py
index bf20d77c..931fa89c 100644
--- a/veilid-python/tests/test_routing_context.py
+++ b/veilid-python/tests/test_routing_context.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Routing context veilid tests
 
 import asyncio
+import random
 
 import pytest
 import veilid
@@ -109,3 +110,46 @@ async def test_routing_context_app_call_loopback():
             # now we should get the reply from the call
             result = await app_call_task
             assert result == reply
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_routing_context_app_message_loopback_big_packets():
+
+    app_message_queue: asyncio.Queue = asyncio.Queue()
+
+    async def app_message_queue_update_callback(update: veilid.VeilidUpdate):
+        if update.kind == veilid.VeilidUpdateKind.APP_MESSAGE:
+            await app_message_queue.put(update)
+
+    hostname, port = server_info()
+    api = await veilid.json_api_connect(
+        hostname, port, app_message_queue_update_callback
+    )
+    async with api:
+        # purge routes to ensure we start fresh
+        await api.debug("purge routes")
+
+        # make a routing context that uses a safety route
+        rc = await (await api.new_routing_context()).with_privacy()
+        async with rc:
+        
+            # make a new local private route
+            prl, blob = await api.new_private_route()
+
+            # import it as a remote route as well so we can send to it
+            prr = await api.import_remote_private_route(blob)
+
+            # do this test 10 times
+            for _ in range(10):
+
+                # send a random sized random app message to our own private route
+                message = random.randbytes(random.randint(0,32768))
+                await rc.app_message(prr, message)
+
+                # we should get the same message back
+                update: veilid.VeilidUpdate = await asyncio.wait_for(
+                    app_message_queue.get(), timeout=10
+                )
+
+                assert isinstance(update.detail, veilid.VeilidAppMessage)
+                assert update.detail.message == message
diff --git a/veilid-server/src/cmdline.rs b/veilid-server/src/cmdline.rs
index cdc4158a..bd74babc 100644
--- a/veilid-server/src/cmdline.rs
+++ b/veilid-server/src/cmdline.rs
@@ -287,8 +287,10 @@ pub fn process_command_line() -> EyreResult<(Settings, ArgMatches)> {
                 let mut out: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
                 for x in x.split(',') {
                     let x = x.trim().to_string();
-                    println!("    {}", x);
-                    out.push(x);
+                    if !x.is_empty() {
+                        println!("    {}", x);
+                        out.push(x);
+                    }
                 }
                 out
             }