diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/model/SimpleXAPI.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
index 619788f6e..4bb06afd8 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
@@ -516,8 +516,8 @@ object ChatController {
     throw Exception("failed to delete the user ${r.responseType} ${r.details}")
   }
 
-  suspend fun apiStartChat(openDBWithKey: String? = null): Boolean {
-    val r = sendCmd(CC.StartChat(ChatCtrlCfg(subConns = true, enableExpireCIs = true, startXFTPWorkers = true, openDBWithKey = openDBWithKey)))
+  suspend fun apiStartChat(): Boolean {
+    val r = sendCmd(CC.StartChat(expire = true))
     when (r) {
       is CR.ChatStarted -> return true
       is CR.ChatRunning -> return false
@@ -525,8 +525,8 @@ object ChatController {
     }
   }
 
-  suspend fun apiStopChat(closeStore: Boolean): Boolean {
-    val r = sendCmd(CC.ApiStopChat(closeStore))
+  suspend fun apiStopChat(): Boolean {
+    val r = sendCmd(CC.ApiStopChat())
     when (r) {
       is CR.ChatStopped -> return true
       else -> throw Error("failed stopping chat: ${r.responseType} ${r.details}")
@@ -1834,8 +1834,8 @@ sealed class CC {
   class ApiMuteUser(val userId: Long): CC()
   class ApiUnmuteUser(val userId: Long): CC()
   class ApiDeleteUser(val userId: Long, val delSMPQueues: Boolean, val viewPwd: String?): CC()
-  class StartChat(val cfg: ChatCtrlCfg): CC()
-  class ApiStopChat(val closeStore: Boolean): CC()
+  class StartChat(val expire: Boolean): CC()
+  class ApiStopChat: CC()
   class SetTempFolder(val tempFolder: String): CC()
   class SetFilesFolder(val filesFolder: String): CC()
   class ApiSetXFTPConfig(val config: XFTPFileConfig?): CC()
@@ -1938,9 +1938,8 @@ sealed class CC {
     is ApiMuteUser -> "/_mute user $userId"
     is ApiUnmuteUser -> "/_unmute user $userId"
     is ApiDeleteUser -> "/_delete user $userId del_smp=${onOff(delSMPQueues)}${maybePwd(viewPwd)}"
-//    is StartChat -> "/_start ${json.encodeToString(cfg)}" // this can be used with the new core
-    is StartChat -> "/_start subscribe=on expire=${onOff(cfg.enableExpireCIs)} xftp=on"
-    is ApiStopChat -> if (closeStore) "/_stop close" else "/_stop"
+    is StartChat -> "/_start subscribe=on expire=${onOff(expire)} xftp=on"
+    is ApiStopChat -> "/_stop"
     is SetTempFolder -> "/_temp_folder $tempFolder"
     is SetFilesFolder -> "/_files_folder $filesFolder"
     is ApiSetXFTPConfig -> if (config != null) "/_xftp on ${json.encodeToString(config)}" else "/_xftp off"
@@ -2157,14 +2156,6 @@ sealed class CC {
   }
 }
 
-@Serializable
-data class ChatCtrlCfg (
-  val subConns: Boolean,
-  val enableExpireCIs: Boolean,
-  val startXFTPWorkers: Boolean,
-  val openDBWithKey: String?
-)
-
 @Serializable
 data class NewUser(
   val profile: Profile?,
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/database/DatabaseView.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/database/DatabaseView.kt
index 3eb2e7d73..fa0f8f54d 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/database/DatabaseView.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/views/database/DatabaseView.kt
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ private fun stopChat(m: ChatModel) {
 }
 
 suspend fun stopChatAsync(m: ChatModel) {
-  m.controller.apiStopChat(false)
+  m.controller.apiStopChat()
   m.chatRunning.value = false
 }
 
diff --git a/cabal.project b/cabal.project
index b9753c9c0..b4024f088 100644
--- a/cabal.project
+++ b/cabal.project
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ constraints: zip +disable-bzip2 +disable-zstd
 source-repository-package
     type: git
     location: https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq.git
-    tag: fda1284ae4b7c33cae2eb8ed0376a511aecc1d51
+    tag: 8d47f690838371bc848e4b31a4b09ef6bf67ccc5
 
 source-repository-package
     type: git
diff --git a/scripts/nix/sha256map.nix b/scripts/nix/sha256map.nix
index faa2401b1..26f4ea112 100644
--- a/scripts/nix/sha256map.nix
+++ b/scripts/nix/sha256map.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq.git"."fda1284ae4b7c33cae2eb8ed0376a511aecc1d51" = "1gq7scv9z8x3xhzl914xr46na0kkrqd1i743xbw69lyx33kj9xb5";
+  "https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq.git"."8d47f690838371bc848e4b31a4b09ef6bf67ccc5" = "1pwasv22ii3wy4xchaknlwczmy5ws7adx7gg2g58lxzrgdjm3650";
   "https://github.com/simplex-chat/hs-socks.git"."a30cc7a79a08d8108316094f8f2f82a0c5e1ac51" = "0yasvnr7g91k76mjkamvzab2kvlb1g5pspjyjn2fr6v83swjhj38";
   "https://github.com/kazu-yamamoto/http2.git"."b5a1b7200cf5bc7044af34ba325284271f6dff25" = "0dqb50j57an64nf4qcf5vcz4xkd1vzvghvf8bk529c1k30r9nfzb";
   "https://github.com/simplex-chat/direct-sqlcipher.git"."f814ee68b16a9447fbb467ccc8f29bdd3546bfd9" = "0kiwhvml42g9anw4d2v0zd1fpc790pj9syg5x3ik4l97fnkbbwpp";
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
index 896edd26b..10f925471 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import qualified Data.ByteString.Base64 as B64
 import Data.ByteString.Char8 (ByteString)
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as B
 import Data.Char (isSpace, toLower)
-import Data.Composition ((.:))
 import Data.Constraint (Dict (..))
 import Data.Either (fromRight, rights)
 import Data.Fixed (div')
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Client (AgentStatsKey (..), SubInfo (..), agentCl
 import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Env.SQLite (AgentConfig (..), InitialAgentServers (..), createAgentStore, defaultAgentConfig)
 import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Lock
 import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Protocol
-import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Store.SQLite (MigrationConfirmation (..), MigrationError, SQLiteStore (dbNew), execSQL, upMigration, withConnection, closeSQLiteStore, openSQLiteStore)
+import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Store.SQLite (MigrationConfirmation (..), MigrationError, SQLiteStore (dbNew), execSQL, upMigration, withConnection)
 import Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Store.SQLite.DB (SlowQueryStats (..))
 import qualified Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Store.SQLite.DB as DB
 import qualified Simplex.Messaging.Agent.Store.SQLite.Migrations as Migrations
@@ -218,8 +217,8 @@ newChatController ChatDatabase {chatStore, agentStore} user cfg@ChatConfig {agen
   where
     configServers :: DefaultAgentServers
     configServers =
-      let smp' = fromMaybe defaultServers.smp (nonEmpty smpServers)
-          xftp' = fromMaybe defaultServers.xftp (nonEmpty xftpServers)
+      let smp' = fromMaybe (defaultServers.smp) (nonEmpty smpServers)
+          xftp' = fromMaybe (defaultServers.xftp) (nonEmpty xftpServers)
        in defaultServers {smp = smp', xftp = xftp', netCfg = networkConfig}
     agentServers :: ChatConfig -> IO InitialAgentServers
     agentServers config@ChatConfig {defaultServers = defServers@DefaultAgentServers {ntf, netCfg}} = do
@@ -252,7 +251,7 @@ cfgServers p s = case p of
 
 startChatController :: forall m. ChatMonad' m => Bool -> Bool -> Bool -> m (Async ())
 startChatController subConns enableExpireCIs startXFTPWorkers = do
-  resumeAgentClient =<< asks smpAgent
+  asks smpAgent >>= resumeAgentClient
   unless subConns $
     chatWriteVar subscriptionMode SMOnlyCreate
   users <- fromRight [] <$> runExceptT (withStoreCtx' (Just "startChatController, getUsers") getUsers)
@@ -324,8 +323,8 @@ restoreCalls = do
   calls <- asks currentCalls
   atomically $ writeTVar calls callsMap
 
-stopChatController :: forall m. MonadUnliftIO m => ChatController -> Bool -> m ()
-stopChatController ChatController {chatStore, smpAgent, agentAsync = s, sndFiles, rcvFiles, expireCIFlags} closeStore = do
+stopChatController :: forall m. MonadUnliftIO m => ChatController -> m ()
+stopChatController ChatController {smpAgent, agentAsync = s, sndFiles, rcvFiles, expireCIFlags} = do
   disconnectAgentClient smpAgent
   readTVarIO s >>= mapM_ (\(a1, a2) -> uninterruptibleCancel a1 >> mapM_ uninterruptibleCancel a2)
   closeFiles sndFiles
@@ -334,9 +333,6 @@ stopChatController ChatController {chatStore, smpAgent, agentAsync = s, sndFiles
     keys <- M.keys <$> readTVar expireCIFlags
     forM_ keys $ \k -> TM.insert k False expireCIFlags
     writeTVar s Nothing
-  when closeStore $ liftIO $ do
-    closeSQLiteStore chatStore
-    closeSQLiteStore $ agentClientStore smpAgent
   where
     closeFiles :: TVar (Map Int64 Handle) -> m ()
     closeFiles files = do
@@ -466,19 +462,12 @@ processChatCommand = \case
     checkDeleteChatUser user'
     withChatLock "deleteUser" . procCmd $ deleteChatUser user' delSMPQueues
   DeleteUser uName delSMPQueues viewPwd_ -> withUserName uName $ \userId -> APIDeleteUser userId delSMPQueues viewPwd_
-  APIStartChat ChatCtrlCfg {subConns, enableExpireCIs, startXFTPWorkers, openDBWithKey} -> withUser' $ \_ ->
+  StartChat subConns enableExpireCIs startXFTPWorkers -> withUser' $ \_ ->
     asks agentAsync >>= readTVarIO >>= \case
       Just _ -> pure CRChatRunning
-      _ -> checkStoreNotChanged $ do
-        forM_ openDBWithKey $ \(DBEncryptionKey dbKey) -> do
-          ChatController {chatStore, smpAgent} <- ask
-          open chatStore dbKey
-          open (agentClientStore smpAgent) dbKey
-        startChatController subConns enableExpireCIs startXFTPWorkers $> CRChatStarted
-        where
-          open = handleDBError DBErrorOpen .: openSQLiteStore
-  APIStopChat closeStore -> do
-    ask >>= (`stopChatController` closeStore)
+      _ -> checkStoreNotChanged $ startChatController subConns enableExpireCIs startXFTPWorkers $> CRChatStarted
+  APIStopChat -> do
+    ask >>= stopChatController
     pure CRChatStopped
   APIActivateChat -> withUser $ \_ -> do
     restoreCalls
@@ -5411,9 +5400,9 @@ chatCommandP =
       "/_delete user " *> (APIDeleteUser <$> A.decimal <* " del_smp=" <*> onOffP <*> optional (A.space *> jsonP)),
       "/delete user " *> (DeleteUser <$> displayName <*> pure True <*> optional (A.space *> pwdP)),
       ("/user" <|> "/u") $> ShowActiveUser,
-      "/_start" *> (APIStartChat <$> ((A.space *> jsonP) <|> chatCtrlCfgP)),
-      "/_stop close" $> APIStopChat {closeStore = True},
-      "/_stop" $> APIStopChat False,
+      "/_start subscribe=" *> (StartChat <$> onOffP <* " expire=" <*> onOffP <* " xftp=" <*> onOffP),
+      "/_start" $> StartChat True True True,
+      "/_stop" $> APIStopChat,
       "/_app activate" $> APIActivateChat,
       "/_app suspend " *> (APISuspendChat <$> A.decimal),
       "/_resubscribe all" $> ResubscribeAllConnections,
@@ -5641,12 +5630,6 @@ chatCommandP =
     ]
   where
     choice = A.choice . map (\p -> p <* A.takeWhile (== ' ') <* A.endOfInput)
-    chatCtrlCfgP = do
-      subConns <- (" subscribe=" *> onOffP) <|> pure True
-      enableExpireCIs <- (" expire=" *> onOffP) <|> pure True
-      startXFTPWorkers <- (" xftp=" *> onOffP) <|> pure True
-      openDBWithKey <- optional $ " key=" *> dbKeyP
-      pure ChatCtrlCfg {subConns, enableExpireCIs, startXFTPWorkers, openDBWithKey}
     incognitoP = (A.space *> ("incognito" <|> "i")) $> True <|> pure False
     incognitoOnOffP = (A.space *> "incognito=" *> onOffP) <|> pure False
     imagePrefix = (<>) <$> "data:" <*> ("image/png;base64," <|> "image/jpg;base64,")
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Archive.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Archive.hs
index 8d1b99328..f8fa0d152 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Archive.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Archive.hs
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ module Simplex.Chat.Archive
     importArchive,
     deleteStorage,
     sqlCipherExport,
-    handleDBError,
   )
 where
 
@@ -125,7 +124,7 @@ sqlCipherExport DBEncryptionConfig {currentKey = DBEncryptionKey key, newKey = D
     checkFile `with` fs
     backup `with` fs
     (export chatDb chatEncrypted >> export agentDb agentEncrypted)
-      `catchChatError` \e -> tryChatError (restore `with` fs) >> throwError e
+      `catchChatError` \e -> (restore `with` fs) >> throwError e
   where
     action `with` StorageFiles {chatDb, agentDb} = action chatDb >> action agentDb
     backup f = copyFile f (f <> ".bak")
@@ -140,7 +139,17 @@ sqlCipherExport DBEncryptionConfig {currentKey = DBEncryptionKey key, newKey = D
       withDB (`SQL.exec` testSQL) DBErrorOpen
       atomically $ writeTVar dbEnc $ not (null key')
       where
-        withDB a err = handleDBError err $ bracket (SQL.open $ T.pack f) SQL.close a
+        withDB a err =
+          liftIO (bracket (SQL.open $ T.pack f) SQL.close a $> Nothing)
+            `catch` checkSQLError
+            `catch` (\(e :: SomeException) -> sqliteError' e)
+            >>= mapM_ (throwDBError . err)
+          where
+            checkSQLError e = case SQL.sqlError e of
+              SQL.ErrorNotADatabase -> pure $ Just SQLiteErrorNotADatabase
+              _ -> sqliteError' e
+            sqliteError' :: Show e => e -> m (Maybe SQLiteError)
+            sqliteError' = pure . Just . SQLiteError . show
         exportSQL =
           T.unlines $
             keySQL key
@@ -157,16 +166,3 @@ sqlCipherExport DBEncryptionConfig {currentKey = DBEncryptionKey key, newKey = D
                    "SELECT count(*) FROM sqlite_master;"
                  ]
         keySQL k = ["PRAGMA key = " <> sqlString k <> ";" | not (null k)]
-
-handleDBError :: forall m. ChatMonad m => (SQLiteError -> DatabaseError) -> IO () -> m ()
-handleDBError err a =
-  (liftIO a $> Nothing)
-    `catch` checkSQLError
-    `catch` (\(e :: SomeException) -> sqliteError' e)
-    >>= mapM_ (throwDBError . err)
-  where
-    checkSQLError e = case SQL.sqlError e of
-      SQL.ErrorNotADatabase -> pure $ Just SQLiteErrorNotADatabase
-      _ -> sqliteError' e
-    sqliteError' :: Show e => e -> m (Maybe SQLiteError)
-    sqliteError' = pure . Just . SQLiteError . show
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
index 3f3dae94f..122a4be3f 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ data ChatCommand
   | UnmuteUser
   | APIDeleteUser UserId Bool (Maybe UserPwd)
   | DeleteUser UserName Bool (Maybe UserPwd)
-  | APIStartChat ChatCtrlCfg
-  | APIStopChat {closeStore :: Bool}
+  | StartChat {subscribeConnections :: Bool, enableExpireChatItems :: Bool, startXFTPWorkers :: Bool}
+  | APIStopChat
   | APIActivateChat
   | APISuspendChat {suspendTimeout :: Int}
   | ResubscribeAllConnections
@@ -621,14 +621,6 @@ instance ToJSON ChatResponse where
   toJSON = J.genericToJSON . sumTypeJSON $ dropPrefix "CR"
   toEncoding = J.genericToEncoding . sumTypeJSON $ dropPrefix "CR"
 
-data ChatCtrlCfg = ChatCtrlCfg
-  { subConns :: Bool,
-    enableExpireCIs :: Bool,
-    startXFTPWorkers :: Bool,
-    openDBWithKey :: Maybe DBEncryptionKey
-  }
-  deriving (Show, Generic, FromJSON)
-
 newtype UserPwd = UserPwd {unUserPwd :: Text}
   deriving (Eq, Show)
 
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
index 19d729bf7..01bdfba95 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/View.hs
@@ -1648,7 +1648,7 @@ viewChatError logLevel = \case
     DBErrorEncrypted -> ["error: chat database is already encrypted"]
     DBErrorPlaintext -> ["error: chat database is not encrypted"]
     DBErrorExport e -> ["error encrypting database: " <> sqliteError' e]
-    DBErrorOpen e -> ["error opening database: " <> sqliteError' e]
+    DBErrorOpen e -> ["error opening database after encryption: " <> sqliteError' e]
     e -> ["chat database error: " <> sShow e]
   ChatErrorAgent err entity_ -> case err of
     CMD PROHIBITED -> [withConnEntity <> "error: command is prohibited"]
diff --git a/stack.yaml b/stack.yaml
index a466178ce..0840970e4 100644
--- a/stack.yaml
+++ b/stack.yaml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ extra-deps:
   # - simplexmq-1.0.0@sha256:34b2004728ae396e3ae449cd090ba7410781e2b3cefc59259915f4ca5daa9ea8,8561
   # - ../simplexmq
   - github: simplex-chat/simplexmq
-    commit: fda1284ae4b7c33cae2eb8ed0376a511aecc1d51
+    commit: 8d47f690838371bc848e4b31a4b09ef6bf67ccc5
   - github: kazu-yamamoto/http2
     commit: b5a1b7200cf5bc7044af34ba325284271f6dff25
   # - ../direct-sqlcipher
diff --git a/tests/ChatClient.hs b/tests/ChatClient.hs
index d947fb63b..7da526325 100644
--- a/tests/ChatClient.hs
+++ b/tests/ChatClient.hs
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ startTestChat_ db cfg opts user = do
 
 stopTestChat :: TestCC -> IO ()
 stopTestChat TestCC {chatController = cc, chatAsync, termAsync} = do
-  stopChatController cc False
+  stopChatController cc
   uninterruptibleCancel termAsync
   uninterruptibleCancel chatAsync
   threadDelay 200000
diff --git a/tests/ChatTests/Direct.hs b/tests/ChatTests/Direct.hs
index 445a5ab99..5c4d96cc9 100644
--- a/tests/ChatTests/Direct.hs
+++ b/tests/ChatTests/Direct.hs
@@ -992,17 +992,10 @@ testDatabaseEncryption tmp = do
       alice ##> "/_start"
       alice <## "chat started"
       testChatWorking alice bob
-      alice ##> "/_stop close"
+      alice ##> "/_stop"
       alice <## "chat stopped"
       alice ##> "/db key wrongkey nextkey"
       alice <## "error encrypting database: wrong passphrase or invalid database file"
-      alice ##> "/_start key=wrongkey"
-      alice <## "error opening database: wrong passphrase or invalid database file"
-      alice ##> "/_start key=mykey"
-      alice <## "chat started"
-      testChatWorking alice bob
-      alice ##> "/_stop close"
-      alice <## "chat stopped"
       alice ##> "/db key mykey nextkey"
       alice <## "ok"
       alice ##> "/_db encryption {\"currentKey\":\"nextkey\",\"newKey\":\"anotherkey\"}"