diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index bbf845720..8a11d060f 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Package: mirai
 Type: Package
 Title: Minimalist Async Evaluation Framework for R
-Version: 1.1.0.9009
+Version: 1.1.0.9010
 Description: High-performance parallel code execution and distributed computing.
     Designed for simplicity, a 'mirai' evaluates an R expression asynchronously,
     on local or network resources, resolving automatically upon completion.
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ Suggests:
     knitr,
     markdown
 VignetteBuilder: knitr
-RoxygenNote: 7.3.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 041164194..77599cbb9 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-# mirai 1.1.0.9009 (development)
+# mirai 1.1.0.9010 (development)
 
-* `serialization()` function signature simplified for clarity and ease of use.
+* `serialization()` function signature and return value slightly modified for clarify. Successful registration / cancellation mesasges are no longer printed to the console.
 * `dispatcher()` argument 'retry' now defaults to FALSE for consistency with non-dispatcher behaviour.
 * `remote_config()` gains argument 'quote' to control whether or not to quote the daemon launch commmand, and now works with Slurm (thanks @michaelmayer2 #119).
 * Ephemeral daemons now exit as soon as permissible, eiliminating the 2s linger period.
diff --git a/R/daemons.R b/R/daemons.R
index 2291ea903..3bbd5d768 100644
--- a/R/daemons.R
+++ b/R/daemons.R
@@ -489,41 +489,34 @@ status <- function(.compute = "default") {
 #' Registers custom serialization and unserialization functions for sending and
 #'     receiving reference objects.
 #'
+#' @param fns \strong{either} a list comprising 2 functions: \cr serialization
+#'     function: must accept a reference object (or list of objects) inheriting
+#'     from \sQuote{class} and return a raw vector.\cr unserialization function:
+#'     must accept a raw vector and return a reference object (or list of
+#'     reference objects).\cr \strong{or else} NULL to reset.
 #' @param class the class of reference object (as a character string) that these
-#'     functions are applied to, e.g. 'ArrowTabular' or 'torch_tensor',
-#'     \strong{or else} NULL to cancel registered functions.
-#' @param sfunc serialization function: must accept a reference object (or list
-#'     of objects) inheriting from \sQuote{class} and return a raw vector.
-#' @param ufunc unserialization function: must accept a raw vector and return
-#'     a reference object (or list of reference objects).
+#'     functions are applied to, e.g. 'ArrowTabular' or 'torch_tensor'.
 #' @param vec [default FALSE] if FALSE the functions must accept and return
 #'     reference objects individually e.g. \code{arrow::write_to_raw} and
 #'     \code{arrow::read_ipc_stream}. If TRUE, the functions are vectorized and
 #'     must accept and return a list of reference objects, e.g.
 #'     \code{torch::torch_serialize} and \code{torch::torch_load}.
 #'
-#' @return Invisibly, a list comprising the currently-registered values for
-#'     'class', 'sfunc', 'ufunc' and 'vec', or else NULL if unregistered. A
-#'     message is printed to the console when functions are successfully
-#'     registered or reset.
+#' @return Invisibly, a list comprising 'fns', class', and 'vec', or else NULL
+#'     if supplied to 'fns'.
 #'
-#' @details Registering new functions replaces any existing registered
-#'     functions.
-#'
-#'     To cancel registered functions, specify 'class' as NULL, without the
-#'     need to supply 'sfunc' or 'ufunc'.
-#'
-#'     Calling without any arguments returns the pairlist of
-#'     currently-registered serialization functions.
+#' @details Registering new functions replaces any existing registered functions.
 #'
 #'     This function may be called prior to or after setting daemons, with the
 #'     registered functions applying across all compute profiles.
 #'
+#'     Calling without any arguments returns a list comprising the registered
+#'     values for 'fns', class', and 'vec', or else NULL if not registered.
+#'
 #' @examples
 #' reg <- serialization(
-#'   class = "",
-#'   sfunc = function(x) serialize(x, NULL),
-#'   ufunc = base::unserialize
+#'   list(function(x) serialize(x, NULL), base::unserialize),
+#'   class = "example_class"
 #' )
 #' reg
 #'
@@ -532,24 +525,23 @@ status <- function(.compute = "default") {
 #'
 #' @export
 #'
-serialization <- function(class, sfunc, ufunc, vec = FALSE) {
+serialization <- function(fns, class, vec = FALSE) {
 
-  missing(class) && return(.[["serial"]])
+  missing(fns) && return(.[["serial"]])
 
-  if (is.null(class)) {
+  if (is.null(fns)) {
     serial <- NULL
     next_config(NULL)
-    cat("mirai serialization functions cancelled\n", file = stderr())
-  } else if (is.character(class) && is.function(sfunc) && is.function(ufunc)) {
-    serial <- list(class, sfunc, ufunc, vec)
-    next_config(refhook = list(sfunc, ufunc), class = class, vec = vec)
-    cat("mirai serialization functions registered\n", file = stderr())
+  } else if (length(fns) == 2L && is.function(fns[[1L]]) && is.function(fns[[2L]])) {
+    is.character(class) || stop(._[["character_class"]])
+    serial <- list(fns, class, vec)
+    next_config(fns, class = class, vec = vec)
   } else {
     stop(._[["serial_invalid"]])
   }
 
   `[[<-`(., "serial", serial)
-  register_everywhere(serial = serial)
+  register_everywhere(serial)
   invisible(serial)
 
 }
@@ -673,12 +665,12 @@ query_status <- function(envir) {
 register_everywhere <- function(serial)
   for (.compute in names(..))
     everywhere(
-      mirai::serialization(class = serial[[1L]], sfunc = serial[[2L]], ufunc = serial[[3L]], vec = serial[[4L]]),
+      mirai::serialization(serial[[1L]], class = serial[[2L]], vec = serial[[3L]]),
       .args = list(serial = serial),
       .compute = .compute
     )
 
 check_register_everywhere <- function(serial = .[["serial"]])
-  if (length(serial[[1L]])) register_everywhere(serial = serial)
+  if (length(serial[[1L]])) register_everywhere(serial)
 
 ._scm_. <- as.raw(c(0x07, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x42, 0x0a, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x05, 0x03, 0x00, 0x05, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x55, 0x54, 0x46, 0x2d, 0x38, 0xfc, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00))
diff --git a/R/mirai-package.R b/R/mirai-package.R
index 990e79202..90a5b7d2e 100644
--- a/R/mirai-package.R
+++ b/R/mirai-package.R
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
 ._ <- list2env(
   list(
     arglen = "'args' and/or 'url' must be of length 1 or the same length",
+    character_class = "'class' must be a character string",
     cluster_inactive = "cluster is no longer active",
     correct_context = "'host' must be specified if not using directly in a function argument",
     daemons_unset = "a numeric value for 'url' requires daemons to be set",
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@
     register_cluster = "this function requires a more recent version of R",
     requires_daemons = "launching one local daemon as none previously set",
     requires_local = "SSH tunnelling requires 'url' hostname to be '127.0.0.1' or 'localhost'",
-    serial_invalid = "'class' must be a character value or NULL, 'sfunc' and 'ufunc' must be functions",
+    serial_invalid = "'fns' must be a list of 2 functions or NULL",
     single_url = "only one 'url' should be specified",
     sync_timeout = "initial sync with dispatcher/daemon timed out after 10s",
     url_spec = "numeric value for 'url' is out of bounds",
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e2b15e37c..aafd31b95 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ method:
 
 ``` r
 m[]
-#> [1] 50.10154
+#> [1] 47.76782
 ```
 
 It is not necessary to wait, as the mirai resolves automatically
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ available at `$data`.
 m
 #> < mirai [$data] >
 m$data
-#> [1] 50.10154
+#> [1] 47.76782
 ```
 
 ### Daemons
diff --git a/man/serialization.Rd b/man/serialization.Rd
index 2e29a038c..b210a7304 100644
--- a/man/serialization.Rd
+++ b/man/serialization.Rd
@@ -4,18 +4,17 @@
 \alias{serialization}
 \title{Custom Serialization Functions}
 \usage{
-serialization(class, sfunc, ufunc, vec = FALSE)
+serialization(fns, class, vec = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{class}{the class of reference object (as a character string) that these
-functions are applied to, e.g. 'ArrowTabular' or 'torch_tensor',
-\strong{or else} NULL to cancel registered functions.}
-
-\item{sfunc}{serialization function: must accept a reference object (or list
-of objects) inheriting from \sQuote{class} and return a raw vector.}
+\item{fns}{\strong{either} a list comprising 2 functions: \cr serialization
+function: must accept a reference object (or list of objects) inheriting
+from \sQuote{class} and return a raw vector.\cr unserialization function:
+must accept a raw vector and return a reference object (or list of
+reference objects).\cr \strong{or else} NULL to reset.}
 
-\item{ufunc}{unserialization function: must accept a raw vector and return
-a reference object (or list of reference objects).}
+\item{class}{the class of reference object (as a character string) that these
+functions are applied to, e.g. 'ArrowTabular' or 'torch_tensor'.}
 
 \item{vec}{[default FALSE] if FALSE the functions must accept and return
 reference objects individually e.g. \code{arrow::write_to_raw} and
@@ -24,33 +23,26 @@ must accept and return a list of reference objects, e.g.
 \code{torch::torch_serialize} and \code{torch::torch_load}.}
 }
 \value{
-Invisibly, a list comprising the currently-registered values for
-    'class', 'sfunc', 'ufunc' and 'vec', or else NULL if unregistered. A
-    message is printed to the console when functions are successfully
-    registered or reset.
+Invisibly, a list comprising 'fns', class', and 'vec', or else NULL
+    if supplied to 'fns'.
 }
 \description{
 Registers custom serialization and unserialization functions for sending and
     receiving reference objects.
 }
 \details{
-Registering new functions replaces any existing registered
-    functions.
-
-    To cancel registered functions, specify 'class' as NULL, without the
-    need to supply 'sfunc' or 'ufunc'.
-
-    Calling without any arguments returns the pairlist of
-    currently-registered serialization functions.
+Registering new functions replaces any existing registered functions.
 
     This function may be called prior to or after setting daemons, with the
     registered functions applying across all compute profiles.
+
+    Calling without any arguments returns a list comprising the registered
+    values for 'fns', class', and 'vec', or else NULL if not registered.
 }
 \examples{
 reg <- serialization(
-  class = "",
-  sfunc = function(x) serialize(x, NULL),
-  ufunc = base::unserialize
+  list(function(x) serialize(x, NULL), base::unserialize),
+  class = "example_class"
 )
 reg
 
diff --git a/tests/tests.R b/tests/tests.R
index 11c9a12f9..8df0a6789 100644
--- a/tests/tests.R
+++ b/tests/tests.R
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ nanotesterr(launch_remote(c("tcp://localhost:5555", "tcp://localhost:6666", "tcp
 nanotesterr(launch_local(1L), "requires daemons to be set")
 nanotestn(everywhere(mirai::serialization()))
 nanotestn(serialization())
-nanotesterr(serialization(list(NULL)), "must be a character value or NULL")
+nanotesterr(serialization(list(NULL)), "must be a list of 2 functions or NULL")
+nanotesterr(serialization(list(identity, identity), class = NA), "must be a character string")
 nanotest(is.character(host_url()))
 nanotest(substr(host_url(ws = TRUE, tls = TRUE), 1L, 3L) == "wss")
 nanotest(substr(host_url(tls = TRUE), 1L, 3L) == "tls")
@@ -240,8 +241,8 @@ connection && .Platform[["OS.type"]] != "windows" && Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN") == "
   nanotestz(sum(tstatus[, "assigned"]))
   nanotestz(sum(tstatus[, "complete"]))
   nanotestz(daemons(0))
-  nanotest(is.list(serialization(class = "", sfunc = function(x) serialize(x, NULL), ufunc = unserialize)))
-  nanotest(is.function(serialization()[[2L]]))
+  nanotest(is.list(serialization(fns = list(function(x) serialize(x, NULL), unserialize), class = "tst_cls")))
+  nanotest(is.function(serialization()[[1L]][[2L]]))
   nanotesto(daemons(url = "wss://127.0.0.1:0", token = TRUE, pass = "test"))
   nanotestn(launch_local(1L))
   Sys.sleep(1L)
diff --git a/vignettes/databases.Rmd b/vignettes/databases.Rmd
index 09dd5a799..c71bf2ce2 100644
--- a/vignettes/databases.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/databases.Rmd
@@ -69,9 +69,11 @@ everywhere({
   con <<- dbConnect(adbi::adbi("adbcsqlite"), uri = ":memory:")
 })
 serialization(
-  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  list(
+    arrow::write_to_raw,
+    function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  ),
+  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream"
 )
 ```
 `mirai()` calls may then be used to write to or query the database all in the Arrow format.
@@ -249,9 +251,8 @@ server <- function(input, output, session) {
 
 # serialization() specifies the native Arrow serialization functions
 serialization(
-  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = nanoarrow::read_nanoarrow
+  list(arrow::write_to_raw, nanoarrow::read_nanoarrow),
+  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream"
 )
 
 # run Shiny app
diff --git a/vignettes/databases.Rmd.orig b/vignettes/databases.Rmd.orig
index aaafef49d..f47373a98 100644
--- a/vignettes/databases.Rmd.orig
+++ b/vignettes/databases.Rmd.orig
@@ -60,9 +60,11 @@ everywhere({
   con <<- dbConnect(adbi::adbi("adbcsqlite"), uri = ":memory:")
 })
 serialization(
-  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  list(
+    arrow::write_to_raw,
+    function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  ),
+  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream"
 )
 ```
 `mirai()` calls may then be used to write to or query the database all in the Arrow format.
@@ -182,9 +184,8 @@ server <- function(input, output, session) {
 
 # serialization() specifies the native Arrow serialization functions
 serialization(
-  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = nanoarrow::read_nanoarrow
+  list(arrow::write_to_raw, nanoarrow::read_nanoarrow),
+  class = "nanoarrow_array_stream"
 )
 
 # run Shiny app
diff --git a/vignettes/mirai.Rmd b/vignettes/mirai.Rmd
index 83a2470c0..ee8ad5e60 100644
--- a/vignettes/mirai.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/mirai.Rmd
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ To wait for and collect the evaluated result, use the mirai's `[]` method:
 
 ``` r
 m[]
-#> [1] 57.81648
+#> [1] 58.47676
 ```
 It is not necessary to wait, as the mirai resolves automatically whenever the async operation completes, the evaluated result then available at `$data`.
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ It is not necessary to wait, as the mirai resolves automatically whenever the as
 m
 #> < mirai [$data] >
 m$data
-#> [1] 57.81648
+#> [1] 58.47676
 ```
 For easy programmatic use of `mirai()`, '.expr' accepts a pre-constructed language object, and also a list of named arguments passed via '.args'. So, the following would be equivalent to the above:
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ args <- list(mean = input$x, sd = input$y)
 
 m <- mirai(.expr = expr, .args = args)
 m[]
-#> [1] 57.51712
+#> [1] 58.44681
 ```
 
 [&laquo; Back to ToC](#table-of-contents)
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ for (i in 1:10) {
 #> iteration 4 successful
 #> iteration 5 successful
 #> iteration 6 successful
-#> Error: random error
 #> iteration 7 successful
+#> Error: random error
 #> iteration 8 successful
 #> iteration 9 successful
 #> iteration 10 successful
@@ -205,12 +205,12 @@ status()
 #> 
 #> $daemons
 #>                                     i online instance assigned complete
-#> abstract://8acde0f178041fbbcace7910 1      1        1        1        0
-#> abstract://8c35ac7da595775a3bb6609f 2      1        1        1        0
-#> abstract://1cfc035476c41bd5ba3b468c 3      1        1        1        0
-#> abstract://30759a91108c9bd0ae116c98 4      1        1        1        0
-#> abstract://a25bcabc8ec8c52739d0509a 5      1        1        1        0
-#> abstract://e4098f70b7008941abe4ce34 6      1        1        1        0
+#> abstract://97c9b9931341ea8a4b70b6c8 1      1        1        0        0
+#> abstract://5e216a9efcd8d5a15e5eb4a9 2      1        1        0        0
+#> abstract://3d01bf6f661fb4382a6683d6 3      1        1        0        0
+#> abstract://c91ef6028dfc652329f4c159 4      1        1        0        0
+#> abstract://f56375e4bc132cad42a40a01 5      1        1        0        0
+#> abstract://21f4692550e10ab4e2f233b4 6      1        1        0        0
 ```
 The default `dispatcher = TRUE` creates a `dispatcher()` background process that connects to individual daemon processes on the local machine. This ensures that tasks are dispatched efficiently on a first-in first-out (FIFO) basis to daemons for processing. Tasks are queued at the dispatcher and sent to a daemon as soon as it can accept the task for immediate execution.
 
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ status()
 #> [1] 6
 #> 
 #> $daemons
-#> [1] "abstract://4de09472768195a889a42707"
+#> [1] "abstract://df872fae5724c6e97d38f77e"
 ```
 This implementation sends tasks immediately, and ensures that tasks are evenly-distributed amongst daemons. This means that optimal scheduling is not guaranteed as the duration of tasks cannot be known *a priori*. As an example, tasks could be queued at a daemon behind a long-running task, whilst other daemons are idle having already completed their tasks.
 
@@ -265,14 +265,14 @@ By super-assignment, the conenction 'con' will be available in the global enviro
 ``` r
 m <- mirai(capture.output(str(con)))
 m[]
-#> [1] "Formal class 'SQLiteConnection' [package \"RSQLite\"] with 8 slots"  
-#> [2] "  ..@ ptr                :<externalptr> "                            
-#> [3] "  ..@ dbname             : chr \"/tmp/RtmpCSqxZK/file141403163fbe6\""
-#> [4] "  ..@ loadable.extensions: logi TRUE"                                
-#> [5] "  ..@ flags              : int 70"                                   
-#> [6] "  ..@ vfs                : chr \"\""                                 
-#> [7] "  ..@ ref                :<environment: 0x651858c14bc8> "            
-#> [8] "  ..@ bigint             : chr \"integer64\""                        
+#> [1] "Formal class 'SQLiteConnection' [package \"RSQLite\"] with 8 slots" 
+#> [2] "  ..@ ptr                :<externalptr> "                           
+#> [3] "  ..@ dbname             : chr \"/tmp/RtmpD0gU3W/file5bbd58866397\""
+#> [4] "  ..@ loadable.extensions: logi TRUE"                               
+#> [5] "  ..@ flags              : int 70"                                  
+#> [6] "  ..@ vfs                : chr \"\""                                
+#> [7] "  ..@ ref                :<environment: 0x5b2fe9a99b70> "           
+#> [8] "  ..@ bigint             : chr \"integer64\""                       
 #> [9] "  ..@ extended_types     : logi FALSE"
 ```
 Disconnect from the database everywhere, and set the number of daemons to zero to reset.
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ By specifying `dispatcher = FALSE`, remote daemons connect directly to the host
 
 ``` r
 daemons(url = host_url(), dispatcher = FALSE)
-#> [1] "tcp://hostname:36153"
+#> [1] "tcp://hostname:42563"
 ```
 Note that above, calling `host_url()` without a port value uses the default of '0'. This is a wildcard value that will automatically cause a free ephemeral port to be assigned. The actual assigned port is provided in the return value of the call, or it may be queried at any time via `status()`.
 
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ status()
 #> [1] 0
 #> 
 #> $daemons
-#> [1] "tcp://hostname:36153"
+#> [1] "tcp://hostname:42563"
 ```
 To reset all connections and revert to default behaviour:
 
@@ -463,10 +463,10 @@ daemons(n = 2, url = host_url())
 #> [1] 2
 launch_remote(1:2)
 #> [1]
-#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("tcp://hostname:34147",rs=c(10407,1840327960,54744121,1550472870,-1103900433,-1039568284,1321446933))'
+#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("tcp://hostname:35767",rs=c(10407,759990225,-1325441186,330638407,523020252,-484141267,1462196234))'
 #> 
 #> [2]
-#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("tcp://hostname:46357",rs=c(10407,-35807015,-1998252114,-991467071,-1052451096,-1759681021,619158771))'
+#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("tcp://hostname:43679",rs=c(10407,-714514434,-395272110,69901107,-741022113,1467565944,-1430404455))'
 daemons(0)
 #> [1] 0
 ```
@@ -493,37 +493,37 @@ The generated self-signed certificate is available via `launch_remote()`. This f
 ``` r
 launch_remote(1)
 #> [1]
-#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("wss://hostname:35807/1",tls=c("-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
+#> Rscript -e 'mirai::daemon("wss://hostname:40215/1",tls=c("-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
 #> MIIFNzCCAx+gAwIBAgIBATANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADAzMREwDwYDVQQDDAhrdW1h
 #> bW90bzERMA8GA1UECgwITmFub25leHQxCzAJBgNVBAYTAkpQMB4XDTAxMDEwMTAw
 #> MDAwMFoXDTMwMTIzMTIzNTk1OVowMzERMA8GA1UEAwwIa3VtYW1vdG8xETAPBgNV
 #> BAoMCE5hbm9uZXh0MQswCQYDVQQGEwJKUDCCAiIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggIP
-#> ADCCAgoCggIBAOZRT7AKu9ziWM2xJC3bXAoBWRSBb7p22tka5G4h535RU9vh8nfJ
-#> jHhhGbrfpLwao406P2mf33/WSTlB1GSnpFC14G0X+/LjtLsNOkBY6kakjyVbsC3S
-#> Qe6C1ukJkvztGyiMK3NzCLqSaWjwfeyRxu90Va0NPLLQq8E+Lo8IFnMUC7UOXYO6
-#> chg0AmbV9vj92H73Qs1MSGy2UO1y3AkHnZxZb/ZjRxLZvGbGQuY6EXxn8y6EZVJj
-#> GL1XZK2dr+ncGuFeJxQnVRLffQXWA2/MFmv3R3flk6XL5X0Q1TLNjF6Vcelm2L8W
-#> PMT+rEAi7aIn81Rd0yakOJrIkzXwAlrIpZsYnl6CO/BsB1hKLWAUkCIbP260nXYV
-#> x4zVPkpbWgY+cQhRqZsi6n5pnwfYxnIBMOYAAWKlpW/RDhEfggBQD9rXoBm9b0uV
-#> 9Bxl1dIpiGyWB0HyYkIZdx7G//wNG+vCleUbt3f5f71orp7OcoUoJ5oB3IjzSmWf
-#> uG3TIObTsDnW9bohQ0CRYvUGSc/yPysC25DqzOOuX8hrQ+Qng/jxYIPhyaLf23ri
-#> t1eRNhfeB5EvMkehfLC0Yz5nV9Q173jsJ8h+vCuqDop9Dx2Xb0N2wIVZqYsuW4hN
-#> fWT/Hz/Oo5VMB4C1ZHOgfig6EcEtMdnpiZfuCfv1bEABwpJH3GecSr4bAgMBAAGj
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+#> DDF8ZqYxCffiXjH5UQ3dGnrBkVBKnhFJ7vgrfU81W2sR4uNaRgymPhoF/g==
 #> -----END CERTIFICATE-----
-#> ",""),rs=c(10407,1746256054,887787455,-656355596,-444850843,793160418,489050363))'
+#> ",""),rs=c(10407,1366533281,-1114111506,-1933532777,537727212,1698597117,-922383462))'
 ```
 The printed value may be deployed directly on a remote machine.
 
@@ -658,9 +658,11 @@ However it is possible to register custom serialization and unserialization func
 
 ``` r
 serialization(
-  class = "ArrowTabular",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  list(
+    arrow::write_to_raw,
+    function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  ),
+  class = "ArrowTabular"
 )
 
 m <- mirai(list(a = head(x), b = "some text"), x = x)
@@ -685,9 +687,11 @@ To change registered serialization functions, just call `serialization()` again
 
 ``` r
 serialization(
-  class = "RPolarsDataFrame",
-  sfunc = function(x) polars::as_polars_df(x)$to_raw_ipc(),
-  ufunc = polars::pl$read_ipc
+  list(
+    function(x) polars::as_polars_df(x)$to_raw_ipc(),
+    polars::pl$read_ipc
+  ),
+  class = "RPolarsDataFrame"
 )
 
 x <- polars::as_polars_df(iris)
@@ -750,10 +754,10 @@ daemons(4)
 vec <- c(1, 1, 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1)
 system.time(mirai_map(vec, Sys.sleep)[])
 #>    user  system elapsed 
-#>   0.007   0.003   4.011
+#>   0.004   0.001   4.008
 system.time(parLapply(cl, vec, Sys.sleep))
 #>    user  system elapsed 
-#>   0.015   0.002   8.014
+#>   0.009   0.005   8.010
 ```
 `.args` is used to specify further constant arguments to `.f` - the 'mean' and 'sd' in the example below:
 
@@ -763,13 +767,13 @@ with(
   mirai_map(1:3, rnorm, .args = list(mean = 20, sd = 2))[]
 )
 #> [[1]]
-#> [1] 22.96205
+#> [1] 21.02448
 #> 
 #> [[2]]
-#> [1] 20.17403 21.65934
+#> [1] 19.33405 20.56202
 #> 
 #> [[3]]
-#> [1] 18.21138 20.59661 23.32587
+#> [1] 19.53189 19.11855 21.52990
 ```
 Use `...` to further specify objects referenced but not defined in `.f` - the 'do' in the anonymous function below:
 
@@ -782,16 +786,16 @@ ml <- mirai_map(
 #> Warning in mirai_map(c(a = 1, b = 2, c = 3), function(x) do(x, as.logical(x%%2)), : launching one local daemon as none
 #> previously set
 ml
-#> < mirai map [3/3] >
+#> < mirai map [1/3] >
 ml[]
 #> $a
-#> [1] "29"
+#> [1] "1c"
 #> 
 #> $b
-#> [1] fa 5d
+#> [1] d4 c2
 #> 
 #> $c
-#> [1] "4f99b0"
+#> [1] "1ab0a6"
 ```
 Use of `mirai_map()` assumes that `daemons()` have previously been set. If not then one (non-dispatcher) daemon is set to allow the function to proceed. This ensures safe behaviour, but is unlikely to be optimal, so please ensure daemons are set beforehand.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/mirai.Rmd.orig b/vignettes/mirai.Rmd.orig
index 42d3f6d60..64b7f3f35 100644
--- a/vignettes/mirai.Rmd.orig
+++ b/vignettes/mirai.Rmd.orig
@@ -509,9 +509,11 @@ However it is possible to register custom serialization and unserialization func
 
 ```{r arrowpass}
 serialization(
-  class = "ArrowTabular",
-  sfunc = arrow::write_to_raw,
-  ufunc = function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  list(
+    arrow::write_to_raw,
+    function(x) arrow::read_ipc_stream(x, as_data_frame = FALSE)
+  ),
+  class = "ArrowTabular"
 )
 
 m <- mirai(list(a = head(x), b = "some text"), x = x)
@@ -523,9 +525,11 @@ It can be seen that this time, the arrow table is seamlessly handled in the 'mir
 To change registered serialization functions, just call `serialization()` again supplying the new functions. As an example, we can switch to using [`polars`](https://pola-rs.github.io/r-polars/), a 'lightning fast' dataframe library written in Rust (requires `polars` >= 0.16.4).
 ```{r polars}
 serialization(
-  class = "RPolarsDataFrame",
-  sfunc = function(x) polars::as_polars_df(x)$to_raw_ipc(),
-  ufunc = polars::pl$read_ipc
+  list(
+    function(x) polars::as_polars_df(x)$to_raw_ipc(),
+    polars::pl$read_ipc
+  ),
+  class = "RPolarsDataFrame"
 )
 
 x <- polars::as_polars_df(iris)
diff --git a/vignettes/torch.Rmd b/vignettes/torch.Rmd
index 8eb8eb5bc..66207a29c 100644
--- a/vignettes/torch.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/torch.Rmd
@@ -27,9 +27,8 @@ library(mirai)
 library(torch)
 
 serialization(
+  fns = list(torch:::torch_serialize, torch::torch_load),
   class = "torch_tensor",
-  sfunc = torch:::torch_serialize,
-  ufunc = torch::torch_load,
   vec = TRUE
 )
 daemons(1)
@@ -77,35 +76,35 @@ The returned model is an object containing many tensor elements.
 m$data$parameters$conv1.weight
 #> torch_tensor
 #> (1,1,.,.) = 
-#>   0.1984  0.0224 -0.1263 -0.0394  0.1700
-#>  -0.0761  0.1168  0.0288 -0.0559 -0.0596
-#>  -0.0471 -0.1769 -0.0820  0.0440 -0.1753
-#>  -0.0196  0.0442  0.1465  0.1859 -0.0767
-#>  -0.1268  0.1959  0.0336  0.1014  0.0487
+#>   0.0036 -0.1690 -0.0054 -0.0737  0.0405
+#>  -0.1940  0.0497 -0.0239 -0.0711 -0.0887
+#>   0.0222 -0.0865  0.0335  0.1846  0.0207
+#>  -0.1871 -0.1136 -0.0798 -0.0665  0.1499
+#>   0.1467 -0.0570  0.1022  0.0297 -0.0931
 #> 
 #> (2,1,.,.) = 
-#>   0.1073 -0.0402 -0.0262 -0.1252  0.0949
-#>   0.1519  0.1381  0.1774  0.1095  0.1241
-#>  -0.1524  0.1307  0.1455  0.0850 -0.1714
-#>   0.0380 -0.1390  0.0885  0.1204 -0.1700
-#>   0.1932  0.1953  0.0262 -0.1436 -0.1753
+#>  -0.1554  0.0485  0.1436 -0.0879  0.0130
+#>  -0.0645 -0.1229 -0.1542  0.1748  0.1307
+#>  -0.1204  0.1478 -0.1953  0.1549  0.1258
+#>   0.0021 -0.1870 -0.1074  0.1557  0.1262
+#>  -0.0639 -0.1681  0.1661  0.0434 -0.0977
 #> 
 #> (3,1,.,.) = 
-#>   0.0075 -0.0107 -0.0532  0.1327 -0.0993
-#>   0.1388  0.0941  0.1614 -0.0404  0.0151
-#>  -0.0009  0.1057 -0.0208 -0.0372  0.1253
-#>   0.1176 -0.1657  0.0977 -0.1690  0.1061
-#>   0.0036 -0.0701  0.1600 -0.0631 -0.0347
+#>   0.0967 -0.1134  0.0304 -0.1387  0.1591
+#>  -0.1895 -0.0770  0.1698  0.0947 -0.1564
+#>  -0.1388  0.1359  0.0015  0.0263 -0.0827
+#>  -0.0109  0.1353  0.1361 -0.1883 -0.1535
+#>   0.1822 -0.0902 -0.1004 -0.0488 -0.0424
 #> 
 #> (4,1,.,.) = 
-#>   0.0515 -0.1931 -0.1265 -0.1636 -0.0354
-#>   0.1821 -0.0465  0.1698  0.0838  0.1460
-#>  -0.1897  0.1488 -0.0529 -0.0432 -0.0576
-#>  -0.1919  0.1918 -0.0111 -0.1815  0.1980
-#>  -0.0308  0.1593 -0.1766 -0.0209  0.1346
+#>  -0.0888 -0.1550 -0.0758  0.0335  0.0973
+#>   0.0543  0.1521 -0.1543  0.0261  0.1008
+#>   0.1672  0.1190  0.0217 -0.0420  0.1000
+#>   0.1382 -0.0775  0.0186  0.1861 -0.0804
+#>   0.0449  0.1972 -0.1447  0.1425  0.1872
 #> 
 #> (5,1,.,.) = 
-#>  -0.0533  0.1245  0.1549 -0.0857  0.0338
+#>  -0.1344 -0.0403  0.1268  0.0706  0.0973
 #> ... [the output was truncated (use n=-1 to disable)]
 #> [ CPUFloatType{20,1,5,5} ][ requires_grad = TRUE ]
 ```
diff --git a/vignettes/torch.Rmd.orig b/vignettes/torch.Rmd.orig
index ee11da10e..587e1a63d 100644
--- a/vignettes/torch.Rmd.orig
+++ b/vignettes/torch.Rmd.orig
@@ -32,9 +32,8 @@ library(mirai)
 library(torch)
 
 serialization(
+  fns = list(torch:::torch_serialize, torch::torch_load),
   class = "torch_tensor",
-  sfunc = torch:::torch_serialize,
-  ufunc = torch::torch_load,
   vec = TRUE
 )
 daemons(1)