Documentation/mknews.perl        |  3 ++-
 lib/PublicInbox/GzipFilter.pm    | 41 +++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm          |  2 +-
 lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm    |  4 ++--
 lib/PublicInbox/View.pm          | 58 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------
 lib/PublicInbox/ViewDiff.pm      | 69 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------
 lib/PublicInbox/WwwAtomStream.pm |  8 ++++----
 lib/PublicInbox/WwwStream.pm     |  7 ++++---

diff --git a/Documentation/mknews.perl b/Documentation/mknews.perl
index 1936cea72ae9a8b03d2046707375882795755b8c..68866f44f202b6947f31bc3b056d6cb75698abcf 100755
--- a/Documentation/mknews.perl
+++ b/Documentation/mknews.perl
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/perl -w
-# Copyright (C) 2019-2021 all contributors <meta@public-inbox.org>
+# Copyright (C) all contributors <meta@public-inbox.org>
 # License: AGPL-3.0+ <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt>
 # Generates NEWS, NEWS.atom, and NEWS.html files using release emails
 # this uses unstable internal APIs of public-inbox, and this script
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ 	my $ctx = {
 		ibx => $ibx,
 		-upfx => "$base_url/",
 		-hr => 1,
+		zfh => $out,
 	};
 	if ($dst eq 'NEWS.html') {
 		html_start($out, $ctx);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/GzipFilter.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/GzipFilter.pm
index 1f11acb8095bee0b09864370a0274fef9d1d1728..848370ce443b2a9398d73af284381a1af3531ffb 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/GzipFilter.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/GzipFilter.pm
@@ -127,38 +127,39 @@ 	# my $ret = bytes::length($_[1]); # XXX does anybody care?
 	http_out($_[0])->write(translate($_[0], $_[1]));
 }
 
-sub zadd {
-	my $self = shift;
-	$self->{pbuf} .= $_ for @_; # perl internal pad memory use here
+sub zfh {
+	$_[0]->{zfh} // do {
+		open($_[0]->{zfh}, '>>', \($_[0]->{pbuf} //= '')) or
+			die "open: $!";
+		$_[0]->{zfh}
+	};
 }
 
 # similar to ->translate; use this when we're sure we know we have
 # more data to buffer after this
 sub zmore {
-	my $self = shift; # $_[1] => input
+	my $self = shift;
+	my $zfh = delete $self->{zfh};
+	if (@_ > 1 || $zfh) {
+		print { $zfh // zfh($self) } @_;
+		@_ = (delete $self->{pbuf});
+		delete $self->{zfh};
+	};
 	http_out($self);
-	my $x;
-	defined($x = delete($self->{pbuf})) and unshift(@_, $x);
-	for (@_) {
-		($x = $self->{gz}->deflate($_, $self->{zbuf})) == Z_OK or
-			die "gzip->deflate: $x";
-	}
-	undef;
+	my $err;
+	($err = $self->{gz}->deflate($_[0], $self->{zbuf})) == Z_OK or
+		die "gzip->deflate: $err";
 }
 
 # flushes and returns the final bit of gzipped data
 sub zflush ($;@) {
 	my $self = shift; # $_[1..Inf] => final input (optional)
+	zmore($self, @_) if scalar(@_) || $self->{zfh};
+	# not a bug, recursing on DS->write failure
+	my $gz = delete $self->{gz} // return '';
+	my $err;
 	my $zbuf = delete $self->{zbuf};
-	my $gz = delete $self->{gz};
-	my $x;
-	defined($x = delete($self->{pbuf})) and unshift(@_, $x);
-	for (@_) { # it's a bug iff $gz is undef if @_ isn't empty, here:
-		($x = $gz->deflate($_, $zbuf)) == Z_OK or
-			die "gzip->deflate: $x";
-	}
-	$gz // return ''; # not a bug, recursing on DS->write failure
-	($x = $gz->flush($zbuf)) == Z_OK or die "gzip->flush: $x";
+	($err = $gz->flush($zbuf)) == Z_OK or die "gzip->flush: $err";
 	$zbuf;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
index cfe34d9c362843ded272074948ba4f995bf77e03..2ef8ff2ba48da7e52d2aebbde3d035c001c23503 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ 	my $smsg = $ctx->{smsg} or return;
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{ibx};
 	my $eml = delete($ctx->{eml}) // $ibx->smsg_eml($smsg) // return;
 	my $n = $ctx->{smsg} = $ibx->over->next_by_mid(@{$ctx->{next_arg}});
-	$ctx->zadd(msg_hdr($ctx, $eml));
+	$ctx->zmore(msg_hdr($ctx, $eml));
 	if ($n) {
 		$ctx->translate(msg_body($eml));
 	} else { # last message
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
index b18947ee1e94d3d32d8c2af0ce4de86bdcd953e7..8932c73da5671429e23ca60cabf9801d296c2f04 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
@@ -331,10 +331,10 @@
 # callback for PublicInbox::WwwStream::getline
 sub mset_thread_i {
 	my ($ctx, $eml) = @_;
-	$ctx->zadd($ctx->html_top) if exists $ctx->{-html_tip};
+	print { $ctx->zfh } $ctx->html_top if exists $ctx->{-html_tip};
 	$eml and return PublicInbox::View::eml_entry($ctx, $eml);
 	my $smsg = shift @{$ctx->{msgs}} or
-		$ctx->zmore(${delete($ctx->{skel})});
+		print { $ctx->zfh } ${delete($ctx->{skel})};
 	$smsg;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
index 85dc3bd89d679d295ea0921e36d5acb69c515230..0753c06ee4f81b4a4494ab05210b6bc60e71073a 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ 		$ctx->{mhref} = ($ctx->{nr} || $ctx->{smsg}) ?
 				"../${\mid_href($smsg->{mid})}/" : '';
 		if (_msg_page_prepare($eml, $ctx)) {
 			$eml->each_part(\&add_text_body, $ctx, 1);
-			$ctx->zadd('</pre><hr>');
+			print { $ctx->{zfh} } '</pre><hr>';
 		}
 		html_footer($ctx, $ctx->{first_hdr}) if !$ctx->{smsg};
 		''; # XXX TODO cleanup
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ 	$ctx->{mhref} = '';
 	PublicInbox::WwwStream::init($ctx);
 	if (_msg_page_prepare($eml, $ctx)) { # sets {-title_html}
 		$eml->each_part(\&add_text_body, $ctx, 1);
-		$ctx->zadd('</pre><hr>');
+		print { $ctx->{zfh} } '</pre><hr>';
 	}
 	html_footer($ctx, $eml);
 	$ctx->html_done;
@@ -240,12 +240,11 @@ 		my $href = $upfx . mid_href($irt) . '/';
 		my $html = ascii_html($irt);
 		$rv .= qq(In-Reply-To: &lt;<a\nhref="$href">$html</a>&gt;\n)
 	}
-	$rv .= "\n";
+	say { $ctx->zfh } $rv;
 
 	# scan through all parts, looking for displayable text
 	$ctx->{mhref} = $mhref;
 	$ctx->{changed_href} = "#e$id"; # for diffstat "files? changed,"
-	$ctx->zadd($rv); # XXX $rv is small, reuse below
 	$eml->each_part(\&add_text_body, $ctx, 1); # expensive
 
 	# add the footer
@@ -386,8 +385,8 @@
 sub thread_eml_entry {
 	my ($ctx, $eml) = @_;
 	my ($beg, $end) = thread_adj_level($ctx, $ctx->{level});
-	$ctx->zadd($beg.'<pre>');
-	eml_entry($ctx, $eml) . '</pre>' . $end;
+	print { $ctx->zfh } $beg, '<pre>';
+	print { $ctx->{zfh} } eml_entry($ctx, $eml), '</pre>', $end;
 }
 
 sub next_in_queue ($$) {
@@ -414,15 +413,15 @@ 				$ctx->{level} = $lvl;
 				if (!$ghost_ok) { # first non-ghost
 					$ctx->{-title_html} =
 						ascii_html($smsg->{subject});
-					$ctx->zadd($ctx->html_top);
+					print { $ctx->zfh } $ctx->html_top;
 				}
 				return $smsg;
 			}
 			# buffer the ghost entry and loop
-			$ctx->zadd(ghost_index_entry($ctx, $lvl, $smsg));
+			print { $ctx->zfh } ghost_index_entry($ctx, $lvl, $smsg)
 		} else { # all done
-			$ctx->zadd(join('', thread_adj_level($ctx, 0)));
-			$ctx->zadd(${delete($ctx->{skel})});
+			print { $ctx->zfh } thread_adj_level($ctx, 0),
+						${delete($ctx->{skel})};
 			return;
 		}
 	}
@@ -491,7 +490,7 @@ 	if ($eml) {
 		my $smsg = $ctx->{smsg};
 		if (exists $ctx->{-html_tip}) {
 			$ctx->{-title_html} = ascii_html($smsg->{subject});
-			$ctx->zadd($ctx->html_top);
+			print { $ctx->zfh } $ctx->html_top;
 		}
 		return eml_entry($ctx, $eml);
 	} else {
@@ -499,7 +498,7 @@ 		while (my $smsg = shift @{$ctx->{msgs}}) {
 			return $smsg if exists($smsg->{blob});
 		}
 		my $skel = delete($ctx->{skel}) or return; # all done
-		$ctx->zadd($$skel);
+		print { $ctx->zfh } $$skel;
 		undef;
 	}
 }
@@ -560,8 +559,9 @@ 	my ($part, $depth, $idx) = @$p;
 	my $ct = $part->content_type || 'text/plain';
 	my $fn = $part->filename;
 	my ($s, $err) = msg_part_text($part, $ct);
-	$s // return $ctx->zadd(attach_link($ctx, $ct, $p, $fn) // '');
-	my $buf = $part->{is_submsg} ? submsg_hdr($ctx, $part)."\n" : '';
+	my $zfh = $ctx->zfh;
+	$s // return print $zfh (attach_link($ctx, $ct, $p, $fn) // '');
+	say $zfh submsg_hdr($ctx, $part) if $part->{is_submsg};
 
 	# makes no difference to browsers, and don't screw up filename
 	# link generation in diffs with the extra '%0D'
@@ -609,21 +609,19 @@ 	my @sections = PublicInbox::MsgIter::split_quotes($s);
 	undef $s; # free memory
 	if (defined($fn) || ($depth > 0 && !$part->{is_submsg}) || $err) {
 		# badly-encoded message with $err? tell the world about it!
-		$buf .= attach_link($ctx, $ct, $p, $fn, $err) . "\n";
+		say $zfh attach_link($ctx, $ct, $p, $fn, $err);
 	}
 	delete $part->{bdy}; # save memory
-	$ctx->zadd($buf);
-	undef $buf;
 	for my $cur (@sections) { # $cur may be huge
 		if ($cur =~ /\A>/) {
 			# we use a <span> here to allow users to specify
 			# their own color for quoted text
-			$ctx->zadd(qq(<span\nclass="q">),
-					$l->to_html($cur), '</span>');
+			print $zfh qq(<span\nclass="q">),
+					$l->to_html($cur), '</span>';
 		} elsif ($diff) {
 			flush_diff($ctx, \$cur);
 		} else { # regular lines, OK
-			$ctx->zadd($l->to_html($cur));
+			print $zfh $l->to_html($cur);
 		}
 		undef $cur; # free memory
 	}
@@ -685,10 +683,10 @@ 		my $x = ascii_html($mids->[0]);
 		$hbuf .= qq[Message-ID: &lt;$x&gt; (<a href="raw">raw</a>)\n];
 	}
 	if (!$nr) { # first (and only) message, common case
-		$ctx->zadd($ctx->html_top, $hbuf);
+		print { $ctx->zfh } $ctx->html_top, $hbuf;
 	} else {
 		delete $ctx->{-title_html};
-		$ctx->zadd($ctx->{-html_tip}, $hbuf);
+		print { $ctx->zfh } $ctx->{-html_tip}, $hbuf;
 	}
 	$ctx->{-linkify} //= PublicInbox::Linkify->new;
 	$hbuf = '';
@@ -699,7 +697,7 @@ 		for my $h (qw(Message-ID X-Alt-Message-ID)) {
 			$hbuf .= "$h: $_\n" for ($eml->header_raw($h));
 		}
 		$ctx->{-linkify}->linkify_mids('..', \$hbuf, 1); # escapes HTML
-		$ctx->zadd($hbuf);
+		print { $ctx->{zfh} } $hbuf;
 		$hbuf = '';
 	}
 	my @irt = $eml->header_raw('In-Reply-To');
@@ -717,7 +715,7 @@ 		$refs //= references($eml);
 		$hbuf .= 'References: <'.join(">\n\t<", @$refs).">\n" if @$refs;
 	}
 	$ctx->{-linkify}->linkify_mids('..', \$hbuf); # escapes HTML
-	$ctx->zadd($hbuf .= "\n");
+	say { $ctx->{zfh} } $hbuf;
 	1;
 }
 
@@ -771,7 +769,7 @@ # writes to zbuf
 sub html_footer {
 	my ($ctx, $hdr) = @_;
 	my $upfx = '../';
-	my ($related, $skel);
+	my (@related, $skel);
 	my $foot = '<pre>';
 	my $qry = delete $ctx->{-qry};
 	if ($qry && $ctx->{ibx}->isrch) {
@@ -786,7 +784,7 @@ 		local $Text::Wrap::huge = 'overflow';
 		$q = wrap('', '', $q);
 		my $rows = ($q =~ tr/\n/\n/) + 1;
 		$q = ascii_html($q);
-		$related = <<EOM;
+		$related[0] = <<EOM;
 <form id=related
 action=$upfx
 ><pre>find likely ancestor, descendant, or conflicting patches for <a
@@ -799,7 +797,7 @@ 	}
 	if ($ctx->{ibx}->over) {
 		my $t = ts2str($ctx->{-t_max});
 		my $t_fmt = fmt_ts($ctx->{-t_max});
-		my $fallback = $related ? "\t" : "<a id=related>\t</a>";
+		my $fallback = @related ? "\t" : "<a id=related>\t</a>";
 		$skel = <<EOF;
 ${fallback}other threads:[<a
 href="$upfx?t=$t">~$t_fmt UTC</a>|<a
@@ -834,10 +832,10 @@ 		$foot .= "$next $prev$parent ";
 	} else { # unindexed inboxes w/o over
 		$skel = qq( <a\nhref="$upfx">latest</a>);
 	}
-	$foot .= qq(<a\nhref="#R">reply</a>);
 	# $skel may be big for big threads, don't append it to $foot
-	$skel .= '</pre>' . ($related // '');
-	$ctx->zadd($foot, $skel .= msg_reply($ctx, $hdr));
+	print { $ctx->zfh } $foot, qq(<a\nhref="#R">reply</a>),
+				$skel, '</pre>', @related,
+				msg_reply($ctx, $hdr);
 }
 
 sub ghost_parent {
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/ViewDiff.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/ViewDiff.pm
index 95b615dc7c11a7a2084b57d9a1e1bcaac64300de..5d23881b55c1e9a2c74b2d6afd3c1b0c04954488 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/ViewDiff.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/ViewDiff.pm
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ 	defined($spfx) ? qq(<a\nhref="$spfx$oid/s/$dctx->{Q}">$oid</a>) : $oid;
 }
 
 # returns true if diffstat anchor written, false otherwise
-sub anchor0 ($$$$) {
-	my ($dst, $ctx, $fn, $rest) = @_;
+sub anchor0 ($$$) {
+	my ($ctx, $fn, $rest) = @_;
 
 	my $orig = $fn;
 
@@ -84,15 +84,12 @@
 	# long filenames will require us to check in anchor1()
 	push(@{$ctx->{-long_path}}, $fn) if $fn =~ s!\A\.\.\./?!!;
 
-	if (defined(my $attr = to_attr($ctx->{-apfx}.$fn))) {
-		$ctx->{-anchors}->{$attr} = 1;
-		my $spaces = ($orig =~ s/( +)\z//) ? $1 : '';
-		$$dst .= " <a\nid=i$attr\nhref=#$attr>" .
-			ascii_html($orig) . '</a>' . $spaces .
+	my $attr = to_attr($ctx->{-apfx}.$fn) // return;
+	$ctx->{-anchors}->{$attr} = 1;
+	my $spaces = ($orig =~ s/( +)\z//) ? $1 : '';
+	print { $ctx->{zfh} } " <a\nid=i$attr\nhref=#$attr>",
+			ascii_html($orig), '</a>', $spaces,
 			$ctx->{-linkify}->to_html($rest);
-		return 1;
-	}
-	undef;
 }
 
 # returns "diff --git" anchor destination, undef otherwise
@@ -156,33 +153,34 @@ 	} else {
 		warn "BUG? <$$x> had no ^index line";
 	}
 	$$x =~ s!^diff --git!anchor1($ctx, $pb) // 'diff --git'!ems;
-	$ctx->zadd(qq(<span\nclass="head">$$x</span>));
+	print { $ctx->{zfh} } qq(<span\nclass="head">), $$x, '</span>';
 	$dctx;
 }
 
 sub diff_before_or_after ($$) {
 	my ($ctx, $x) = @_;
-	if (exists $ctx->{-anchors} && $$x =~ /\A(.*?) # likely "---\n"
+	if (exists $ctx->{-anchors} && $$x =~ /\A(.*?) # likely "---\n" # \$1
 			# diffstat lines:
 			((?:^\x20(?:[^\n]+?)(?:\x20+\|\x20[^\n]*\n))+)
 			(\x20[0-9]+\x20files?\x20)changed,([^\n]+\n)
 			(.*?)\z/msx) { # notes, commit message, etc
 		my @x = ($5, $4, $3, $2, $1);
+		undef $$x;
 		my $lnk = $ctx->{-linkify};
-		$$x = $lnk->to_html(pop @x); # uninteresting prefix
-		for my $l (split(/^/m, pop(@x))) { # per-file diffstat lines
+		my $zfh = $ctx->{zfh};
+		print $zfh $lnk->to_html(pop @x); # $1 uninteresting prefix
+		for my $l (split(/^/m, pop(@x))) { # $2 per-file stat lines
 			$l =~ /^ (.+)( +\| .*\z)/s and
-				anchor0($x, $ctx, $1, $2) and next;
-			$$x .= $lnk->to_html($l);
+				anchor0($ctx, $1, $2) and next;
+			 print $zfh $lnk->to_html($l);
 		}
-		$$x .= pop @x; # $3 /^ \d+ files? /
 		my $ch = $ctx->{changed_href} // '#related';
-		$$x .= qq(<a href="$ch">changed</a>,);
-		$$x .= ascii_html(pop @x); # $4: insertions/deletions
-		# notes, commit message, etc
-		$ctx->zadd($$x .= $lnk->to_html(pop @x));
+		print $zfh pop(@x), # $3 /^ \d+ files? /
+			qq(<a href="$ch">changed</a>,),
+			ascii_html(pop @x), # insertions/deletions
+			$lnk->to_html(@x); # notes, commit message, etc
 	} else {
-		$ctx->zadd($ctx->{-linkify}->to_html($$x));
+		print { $ctx->{zfh} } $ctx->{-linkify}->to_html($$x);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -195,6 +193,7 @@ 	undef $$cur; # free memory
 
 	my $lnk = $ctx->{-linkify};
 	my $dctx; # {}, keys: Q, oid_a, oid_b
+	my $zfh = $ctx->zfh;
 
 	while (defined(my $x = shift @top)) {
 		if (scalar(@top) >= 4 &&
@@ -202,7 +201,7 @@ 				$top[1] =~ $IS_OID &&
 				$top[0] =~ $IS_OID) {
 			$dctx = diff_header(\$x, $ctx, \@top);
 		} elsif ($dctx) {
-			my $after = '';
+			open(my $afh, '>>', \(my $after='')) or die "open: $!";
 
 			# Quiet "Complex regular subexpression recursion limit"
 			# warning.  Perl will truncate matches upon hitting
@@ -218,25 +217,25 @@ 			for my $s (split(/((?:(?:^\+[^\n]*\n)+)|
 					(?:(?:^-[^\n]*\n)+)|
 					(?:^@@ [^\n]+\n))/xsm, $x)) {
 				if (!defined($dctx)) {
-					$after .= $s;
+					print $afh $s;
 				} elsif ($s =~ s/\A@@ (\S+) (\S+) @@//) {
-					$ctx->zadd(qq(<span\nclass="hunk">) .
-						diff_hunk($dctx, $1, $2) .
-						$lnk->to_html($s) .
-						'</span>');
+					print $zfh qq(<span\nclass="hunk">),
+						diff_hunk($dctx, $1, $2),
+						$lnk->to_html($s),
+						'</span>';
 				} elsif ($s =~ /\A\+/) { # $s may be huge
-					$ctx->zadd(qq(<span\nclass="add">),
+					print $zfh qq(<span\nclass="add">),
 							$lnk->to_html($s),
-							'</span>');
+							'</span>';
 				} elsif ($s =~ /\A-- $/sm) { # email sig starts
 					$dctx = undef;
-					$after .= $s;
+					print $afh $s;
 				} elsif ($s =~ /\A-/) { # $s may be huge
-					$ctx->zadd(qq(<span\nclass="del">),
-						$lnk->to_html($s),
-						'</span>');
+					print $zfh qq(<span\nclass="del">),
+							$lnk->to_html($s),
+							'</span>';
 				} else { # $s may be huge
-					$ctx->zadd($lnk->to_html($s));
+					print $zfh $lnk->to_html($s);
 				}
 			}
 			diff_before_or_after($ctx, \$after) if !$dctx;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/WwwAtomStream.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/WwwAtomStream.pm
index 1c7ae881018773ef91feaab9c37c54769f59a908..33da32443c0f941cb01ce6de07a625b03d176097 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/WwwAtomStream.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/WwwAtomStream.pm
@@ -146,15 +146,15 @@ 	my ($email) = PublicInbox::Address::emails($from);
 	my $name = ascii_html(join(', ', PublicInbox::Address::names($from)));
 	$email = ascii_html($email // $ctx->{ibx}->{-primary_address});
 
-	$ctx->zadd(
-		(delete($ctx->{emit_header}) ? atom_header($ctx, $title) : '').
+	print { $ctx->zfh }
+		(delete($ctx->{emit_header}) ? atom_header($ctx, $title) : ''),
 		"<entry><author><name>$name</name><email>$email</email>" .
 		"</author>$title$updated" .
-		qq(<link\nhref="$href"/>).
+		qq(<link\nhref="$href"/>) .
 		"<id>$uuid</id>$irt" .
 		qq{<content\ntype="xhtml">} .
 		qq{<div\nxmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">} .
-		qq(<pre\nstyle="white-space:pre-wrap">));
+		qq(<pre\nstyle="white-space:pre-wrap">);
 	$ctx->{mhref} = $href;
 	$ctx->{changed_href} = "${href}#related";
 	$eml->each_part(\&PublicInbox::View::add_text_body, $ctx, 1);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/WwwStream.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/WwwStream.pm
index 2a318e5e6640cc3071e5b443bb2b6df4de457dab..77b6f9c29e4ec675120cd2b47f5c6f003abb8e2f 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/WwwStream.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/WwwStream.pm
@@ -181,11 +181,12 @@ 	my $res_hdr = [ 'Content-Type' => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8',
 		'Content-Length' => undef ];
 	bless $ctx, __PACKAGE__;
 	$ctx->{gz} = PublicInbox::GzipFilter::gz_or_noop($res_hdr, $ctx->{env});
+	my @top;
 	$ctx->{base_url} // do {
-		$ctx->zadd(html_top($ctx));
+		@top = html_top($ctx);
 		$ctx->{base_url} = base_url($ctx);
 	};
-	my $bdy = $ctx->zflush(@_[2..$#_], _html_end($ctx));
+	my $bdy = $ctx->zflush(@top, @_[2..$#_], _html_end($ctx));
 	$res_hdr->[3] = length($bdy);
 	[ $code, $res_hdr, [ $bdy ] ]
 }
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ 	$ctx->{base_url} = base_url($ctx);
 	my $h = $ctx->{-res_hdr} = ['Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'];
 	$ctx->{gz} = PublicInbox::GzipFilter::gz_or_noop($h, $ctx->{env});
 	bless $ctx, __PACKAGE__;
-	$ctx->zadd(html_top($ctx));
+	print { $ctx->zfh } html_top($ctx);
 }
 
 1;