diff --git a/authenticate/authenticate.go b/authenticate/authenticate.go
index 032cb89f8..9d5717295 100644
--- a/authenticate/authenticate.go
+++ b/authenticate/authenticate.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 var defaultOptions = &Options{
 	CookieName:         "_pomerium_authenticate",
 	CookieHTTPOnly:     true,
-	SkipProviderButton: true,
 	CookieExpire:       time.Duration(168) * time.Hour,
 	CookieRefresh:      time.Duration(1) * time.Hour,
 	SessionLifetimeTTL: time.Duration(720) * time.Hour,
@@ -57,8 +56,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	// Scopes is an optional setting corresponding to OAuth 2.0 specification's access scopes
 	// issuing an Access Token. Named providers are already set with good defaults.
 	// Most likely only overrides if using the generic OIDC provider.
-	Scopes             []string `envconfig:"IDP_SCOPE"`
-	SkipProviderButton bool     `envconfig:"SKIP_PROVIDER_BUTTON"`
+	Scopes []string `envconfig:"IDP_SCOPE"`
 }
 
 // OptionsFromEnvConfig builds the authentication service's configuration
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ func (o *Options) Validate() error {
 	}
 	redirectPath := "/oauth2/callback"
 	if o.RedirectURL.Path != redirectPath {
-		return fmt.Errorf("setting redirect-url was %s path should be %s", o.RedirectURL.Path, redirectPath)
+		return fmt.Errorf("`setting` redirect-url was %s path should be %s", o.RedirectURL.Path, redirectPath)
 	}
 	if o.ClientID == "" {
 		return errors.New("missing setting: client id")
@@ -127,8 +125,6 @@ type Authenticate struct {
 	sessionStore sessions.SessionStore
 	cipher       cryptutil.Cipher
 
-	skipProviderButton bool
-
 	provider providers.Provider
 }
 
@@ -153,7 +149,7 @@ func New(opts *Options, optionFuncs ...func(*Authenticate) error) (*Authenticate
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	cookieStore, err := sessions.NewCookieStore(opts.CookieName,
-		sessions.CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(decodedCookieSecret),
+		sessions.CreateCookieCipher(decodedCookieSecret),
 		func(c *sessions.CookieStore) error {
 			c.CookieDomain = opts.CookieDomain
 			c.CookieHTTPOnly = opts.CookieHTTPOnly
@@ -167,16 +163,15 @@ func New(opts *Options, optionFuncs ...func(*Authenticate) error) (*Authenticate
 	}
 
 	p := &Authenticate{
-		SharedKey:          opts.SharedKey,
-		AllowedDomains:     opts.AllowedDomains,
-		ProxyRootDomains:   dotPrependDomains(opts.ProxyRootDomains),
-		CookieSecure:       opts.CookieSecure,
-		RedirectURL:        opts.RedirectURL,
-		templates:          templates.New(),
-		csrfStore:          cookieStore,
-		sessionStore:       cookieStore,
-		cipher:             cipher,
-		skipProviderButton: opts.SkipProviderButton,
+		SharedKey:        opts.SharedKey,
+		AllowedDomains:   opts.AllowedDomains,
+		ProxyRootDomains: dotPrependDomains(opts.ProxyRootDomains),
+		CookieSecure:     opts.CookieSecure,
+		RedirectURL:      opts.RedirectURL,
+		templates:        templates.New(),
+		csrfStore:        cookieStore,
+		sessionStore:     cookieStore,
+		cipher:           cipher,
 	}
 
 	p.provider, err = newProvider(opts)
diff --git a/authenticate/handlers.go b/authenticate/handlers.go
index bdd477718..b7dc48470 100644
--- a/authenticate/handlers.go
+++ b/authenticate/handlers.go
@@ -32,16 +32,16 @@ func (p *Authenticate) Handler() http.Handler {
 	stdMiddleware := middleware.NewChain()
 	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.Healthcheck("/ping", version.UserAgent()))
 	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.NewHandler(log.Logger))
-	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.AccessHandler(func(r *http.Request, status, size int, duration time.Duration) {
-		// executed after handler route handler
-		middleware.FromRequest(r).Info().
-			Str("method", r.Method).
-			Str("url", r.URL.String()).
-			Int("status", status).
-			Int("size", size).
-			Dur("duration", duration).
-			Msg("request")
-	}))
+	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.AccessHandler(
+		func(r *http.Request, status, size int, duration time.Duration) {
+			middleware.FromRequest(r).Debug().
+				Str("method", r.Method).
+				Str("url", r.URL.String()).
+				Int("status", status).
+				Int("size", size).
+				Dur("duration", duration).
+				Msg("authenticate: request")
+		}))
 	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.SetHeaders(securityHeaders))
 	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.ForwardedAddrHandler("fwd_ip"))
 	stdMiddleware = stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.RemoteAddrHandler("ip"))
@@ -55,29 +55,17 @@ func (p *Authenticate) Handler() http.Handler {
 	validateClientSecret := stdMiddleware.Append(middleware.ValidateClientSecret(p.SharedKey))
 
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
-	// we setup global endpoints that should respond to any hostname
-	mux.Handle("/ping", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.PingPage))
-	serviceMux := http.NewServeMux()
-	// standard rest and healthcheck endpoints
-	serviceMux.Handle("/ping", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.PingPage))
-	serviceMux.Handle("/robots.txt", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.RobotsTxt))
-	// Identity Provider (IdP) endpoints and callbacks
-	serviceMux.Handle("/start", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.OAuthStart))
-	serviceMux.Handle("/oauth2/callback", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.OAuthCallback))
-	// authenticator-server endpoints, todo(bdd): make gRPC
-	serviceMux.Handle("/sign_in", validateSignatureMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.SignIn))
-	serviceMux.Handle("/sign_out", validateSignatureMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.SignOut)) // "GET", "POST"
-	serviceMux.Handle("/profile", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.GetProfile))      // GET
-	serviceMux.Handle("/validate", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.ValidateToken))  // GET
-	serviceMux.Handle("/redeem", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.Redeem))           // POST
-	serviceMux.Handle("/refresh", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.Refresh))         //POST
-
-	// NOTE: we have to include trailing slash for the router to match the host header
-	host := p.RedirectURL.Host
-	if !strings.HasSuffix(host, "/") {
-		host = fmt.Sprintf("%s/", host)
-	}
-	mux.Handle(host, serviceMux)
+	mux.Handle("/robots.txt", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.RobotsTxt))
+	// Identity Provider (IdP) callback endpoints and callbacks
+	mux.Handle("/start", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.OAuthStart))
+	mux.Handle("/oauth2/callback", stdMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.OAuthCallback))
+	// authenticate-server endpoints
+	mux.Handle("/sign_in", validateSignatureMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.SignIn))
+	mux.Handle("/sign_out", validateSignatureMiddleware.ThenFunc(p.SignOut)) // "GET", "POST"
+	mux.Handle("/profile", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.GetProfile))      // GET
+	mux.Handle("/validate", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.ValidateToken))  // GET
+	mux.Handle("/redeem", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.Redeem))           // POST
+	mux.Handle("/refresh", validateClientSecret.ThenFunc(p.Refresh))         //POST
 
 	return mux
 }
@@ -88,16 +76,11 @@ func (p *Authenticate) RobotsTxt(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(w, "User-agent: *\nDisallow: /")
 }
 
-// PingPage handles the /ping route
-func (p *Authenticate) PingPage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "OK")
-}
-
 // SignInPage directs the user to the sign in page. Takes a `redirect_uri` param.
 func (p *Authenticate) SignInPage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	redirectURL := p.RedirectURL.ResolveReference(r.URL)
-	destinationURL, _ := url.Parse(redirectURL.Query().Get("redirect_uri")) // checked by middleware
+
+	destinationURL, _ := url.Parse(redirectURL.Query().Get("redirect_uri"))
 	t := struct {
 		ProviderName   string
 		AllowedDomains []string
@@ -196,26 +179,17 @@ func (p *Authenticate) SignIn(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	session, err := p.authenticate(w, r)
 	switch err {
 	case nil:
-		// User is authenticated, redirect back to the proxy application
-		// with the necessary state
+		// User is authenticated, redirect back to proxy
 		p.ProxyOAuthRedirect(w, r, session)
-	case http.ErrNoCookie:
-		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("authenticate.SignIn : err no cookie")
-		if p.skipProviderButton {
-			p.skipButtonOAuthStart(w, r)
-		} else {
-			p.SignInPage(w, r)
-		}
-	case sessions.ErrLifetimeExpired, sessions.ErrInvalidSession:
-		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("authenticate.SignIn")
-		p.sessionStore.ClearSession(w, r)
-		if p.skipProviderButton {
-			p.skipButtonOAuthStart(w, r)
-		} else {
-			p.SignInPage(w, r)
+	case http.ErrNoCookie, sessions.ErrLifetimeExpired, sessions.ErrInvalidSession:
+		log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("authenticate.SignIn")
+		if err != http.ErrNoCookie {
+			p.sessionStore.ClearSession(w, r)
 		}
+		p.OAuthStart(w, r)
+
 	default:
-		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("authenticate.SignIn : unknown error cookie")
+		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("authenticate.SignIn")
 		httputil.ErrorResponse(w, r, err.Error(), httputil.CodeForError(err))
 	}
 }
@@ -315,7 +289,6 @@ func (p *Authenticate) SignOut(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 // SignOutPage renders a sign out page with a message
 func (p *Authenticate) SignOutPage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, message string) {
-	log.FromRequest(r).Debug().Msg("This is just a test to make sure signout works")
 	// validateRedirectURI middleware already ensures that this is a valid URL
 	redirectURI := r.Form.Get("redirect_uri")
 	session, err := p.sessionStore.LoadSession(r)
@@ -361,29 +334,24 @@ func (p *Authenticate) OAuthStart(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		httputil.ErrorResponse(w, r, "Invalid redirect parameter", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
-	p.helperOAuthStart(w, r, authRedirectURL)
-}
-
-func (p *Authenticate) skipButtonOAuthStart(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	p.helperOAuthStart(w, r, p.RedirectURL.ResolveReference(r.URL))
-}
-
-func (p *Authenticate) helperOAuthStart(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, authRedirectURL *url.URL) {
+	authRedirectURL = p.RedirectURL.ResolveReference(r.URL)
 
 	nonce := fmt.Sprintf("%x", cryptutil.GenerateKey())
 	p.csrfStore.SetCSRF(w, r, nonce)
 
+	// confirm the redirect uri is from the root domain
 	if !middleware.ValidRedirectURI(authRedirectURL.String(), p.ProxyRootDomains) {
 		httputil.ErrorResponse(w, r, "Invalid redirect parameter", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
-
+	// confirm proxy url is from the root domain
 	proxyRedirectURL, err := url.Parse(authRedirectURL.Query().Get("redirect_uri"))
 	if err != nil || !middleware.ValidRedirectURI(proxyRedirectURL.String(), p.ProxyRootDomains) {
 		httputil.ErrorResponse(w, r, "Invalid redirect parameter", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
 
+	// get the signature and timestamp values then compare hmac
 	proxyRedirectSig := authRedirectURL.Query().Get("sig")
 	ts := authRedirectURL.Query().Get("ts")
 	if !middleware.ValidSignature(proxyRedirectURL.String(), proxyRedirectSig, ts, p.SharedKey) {
@@ -391,8 +359,8 @@ func (p *Authenticate) helperOAuthStart(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request,
 		return
 	}
 
+	// embed authenticate service's state as the base64'd nonce and authenticate callback url
 	state := base64.URLEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("%v:%v", nonce, authRedirectURL.String())))
-
 	signInURL := p.provider.GetSignInURL(state)
 
 	http.Redirect(w, r, signInURL, http.StatusFound)
diff --git a/authenticate/handlers_test.go b/authenticate/handlers_test.go
index bb5ef7d4a..9b91c72e5 100644
--- a/authenticate/handlers_test.go
+++ b/authenticate/handlers_test.go
@@ -23,24 +23,6 @@ func testAuthenticate() *Authenticate {
 	return &auth
 }
 
-func TestAuthenticate_PingPage(t *testing.T) {
-	auth := testAuthenticate()
-	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "/ping", nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
-	handler := http.HandlerFunc(auth.PingPage)
-	handler.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
-	if status := rr.Code; status != http.StatusOK {
-		t.Errorf("handler returned wrong status code: got %v want %v", status, http.StatusOK)
-	}
-	expected := "OK"
-	if rr.Body.String() != expected {
-		t.Errorf("handler returned wrong body: got %v want %v", rr.Body.String(), expected)
-	}
-}
-
 func TestAuthenticate_RobotsTxt(t *testing.T) {
 	auth := testAuthenticate()
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "/robots.txt", nil)
diff --git a/cmd/pomerium/main.go b/cmd/pomerium/main.go
index 7f8fc185e..a3c675df1 100644
--- a/cmd/pomerium/main.go
+++ b/cmd/pomerium/main.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 
-	"github.com/pomerium/envconfig"
 	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/authenticate"
 	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/internal/https"
 	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/internal/log"
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ var (
 func main() {
 	mainOpts, err := optionsFromEnvConfig()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: failed to parse authenticator settings")
+		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: settings error")
 	}
 	flag.Parse()
 	if *debugFlag || mainOpts.Debug {
@@ -33,51 +32,46 @@ func main() {
 		fmt.Printf("%s", version.FullVersion())
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
-	log.Debug().Str("version", version.FullVersion()).Str("user-agent", version.UserAgent()).Msg("cmd/pomerium")
+	log.Info().Str("version", version.FullVersion()).Msg("cmd/pomerium")
 
-	var auth *authenticate.Authenticate
+	var authenticateService *authenticate.Authenticate
 	var authHost string
 	if mainOpts.Services == "all" || mainOpts.Services == "authenticate" {
 		authOpts, err := authenticate.OptionsFromEnvConfig()
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: failed to parse authenticate settings")
+			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: authenticate settings")
 		}
 		emailValidator := func(p *authenticate.Authenticate) error {
 			p.Validator = options.NewEmailValidator(authOpts.AllowedDomains)
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		auth, err = authenticate.New(authOpts, emailValidator)
+		authenticateService, err = authenticate.New(authOpts, emailValidator)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: failed to create authenticate")
+			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: new authenticate")
 		}
 		authHost = authOpts.RedirectURL.Host
 	}
 
-	var p *proxy.Proxy
+	var proxyService *proxy.Proxy
 	if mainOpts.Services == "all" || mainOpts.Services == "proxy" {
 		proxyOpts, err := proxy.OptionsFromEnvConfig()
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: failed to parse proxy settings")
+			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: proxy settings")
 		}
 
-		p, err = proxy.New(proxyOpts)
+		proxyService, err = proxy.New(proxyOpts)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: failed to create proxy")
+			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("cmd/pomerium: new proxy")
 		}
 	}
 
 	topMux := http.NewServeMux()
-	if auth != nil {
-		// Need to handle ping without host lookup for LB
-		topMux.HandleFunc("/ping", func(rw http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
-			rw.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-			fmt.Fprintf(rw, "OK")
-		})
-		topMux.Handle(authHost+"/", auth.Handler())
+	if authenticateService != nil {
+		topMux.Handle(authHost+"/", authenticateService.Handler())
 	}
-	if p != nil {
-		topMux.Handle("/", p.Handler())
+	if proxyService != nil {
+		topMux.Handle("/", proxyService.Handler())
 	}
 	httpOpts := &https.Options{
 		Addr:     mainOpts.Addr,
@@ -86,57 +80,5 @@ func main() {
 		CertFile: mainOpts.CertFile,
 		KeyFile:  mainOpts.KeyFile,
 	}
-	log.Fatal().Err(https.ListenAndServeTLS(httpOpts, topMux)).Msg("cmd/pomerium: fatal")
-}
-
-// Options are the global environmental flags used to set up pomerium's services.
-// If a base64 encoded certificate and key are not provided as environmental variables,
-// or if a file location is not provided, the server will attempt to find a matching keypair
-// in the local directory as `./cert.pem` and `./privkey.pem` respectively.
-type Options struct {
-	// Debug enables more verbose logging, and outputs human-readable logs to Stdout.
-	// Set with POMERIUM_DEBUG
-	Debug bool `envconfig:"POMERIUM_DEBUG"`
-	// Services is a list enabled service mode. If none are selected, "all" is used.
-	// Available options are : "all", "authenticate", "proxy".
-	Services string `envconfig:"SERVICES"`
-	// Addr specifies the host and port on which the server should serve
-	// HTTPS requests. If empty, ":https" is used.
-	Addr string `envconfig:"ADDRESS"`
-	// Cert and Key specifies the base64 encoded TLS certificates to use.
-	Cert string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE"`
-	Key  string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_KEY"`
-	// CertFile and KeyFile specifies the TLS certificates to use.
-	CertFile string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_FILE"`
-	KeyFile  string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_KEY_FILE"`
-}
-
-var defaultOptions = &Options{
-	Debug:    false,
-	Services: "all",
-}
-
-// optionsFromEnvConfig builds the authentication service's configuration
-// options from provided environmental variables
-func optionsFromEnvConfig() (*Options, error) {
-	o := defaultOptions
-	if err := envconfig.Process("", o); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if !isValidService(o.Services) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is an invalid service type", o.Services)
-	}
-	return o, nil
-}
-
-// isValidService checks to see if a service is a valid service mode
-func isValidService(service string) bool {
-	switch service {
-	case
-		"all",
-		"proxy",
-		"authenticate":
-		return true
-	}
-	return false
+	log.Fatal().Err(https.ListenAndServeTLS(httpOpts, topMux)).Msg("cmd/pomerium: https serve failure")
 }
diff --git a/cmd/pomerium/options.go b/cmd/pomerium/options.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..29dd8dc69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/pomerium/options.go
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+package main // import "github.com/pomerium/pomerium/cmd/pomerium"
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/pomerium/envconfig"
+)
+
+// Options are the global environmental flags used to set up pomerium's services.
+// If a base64 encoded certificate and key are not provided as environmental variables,
+// or if a file location is not provided, the server will attempt to find a matching keypair
+// in the local directory as `./cert.pem` and `./privkey.pem` respectively.
+type Options struct {
+	// Debug enables more verbose logging, and outputs human-readable logs to Stdout.
+	// Set with POMERIUM_DEBUG
+	Debug bool `envconfig:"POMERIUM_DEBUG"`
+	// Services is a list enabled service mode. If none are selected, "all" is used.
+	// Available options are : "all", "authenticate", "proxy".
+	Services string `envconfig:"SERVICES"`
+	// Addr specifies the host and port on which the server should serve
+	// HTTPS requests. If empty, ":https" is used.
+	Addr string `envconfig:"ADDRESS"`
+	// Cert and Key specifies the base64 encoded TLS certificates to use.
+	Cert string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE"`
+	Key  string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_KEY"`
+	// CertFile and KeyFile specifies the TLS certificates to use.
+	CertFile string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_FILE"`
+	KeyFile  string `envconfig:"CERTIFICATE_KEY_FILE"`
+}
+
+var defaultOptions = &Options{
+	Debug:    false,
+	Services: "all",
+}
+
+// optionsFromEnvConfig builds the authentication service's configuration
+// options from provided environmental variables
+func optionsFromEnvConfig() (*Options, error) {
+	o := defaultOptions
+	if err := envconfig.Process("", o); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if !isValidService(o.Services) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is an invalid service type", o.Services)
+	}
+	return o, nil
+}
+
+// isValidService checks to see if a service is a valid service mode
+func isValidService(service string) bool {
+	switch service {
+	case
+		"all",
+		"proxy",
+		"authenticate":
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/cmd/pomerium/main_test.go b/cmd/pomerium/options_test.go
similarity index 100%
rename from cmd/pomerium/main_test.go
rename to cmd/pomerium/options_test.go
diff --git a/docs/.vuepress/config.js b/docs/.vuepress/config.js
index 5e893cd3e..19ce2d13f 100644
--- a/docs/.vuepress/config.js
+++ b/docs/.vuepress/config.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ function guideSidebar(title) {
 		{
 			title,
 			collapsable: false,
-			children: ["", "docker", "kubernetes", "from-source"]
+			children: ["", "kubernetes", "from-source"]
 		}
 	];
 }
diff --git a/docs/docs/readme.md b/docs/docs/readme.md
index 7d40a6644..3678a8bb2 100644
--- a/docs/docs/readme.md
+++ b/docs/docs/readme.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Traditional [perimeter](https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/pdfs/redp4397.pdf
 - Failure to encapsulate a heterogeneous mix of cloud, on-premise, cloud, and multi-cloud environments.
 - User's don't like VPNs.
 
-Pomerium attempts to mitigate these shortcomings by by adopting the following principles.
+Pomerium attempts to mitigate these shortcomings by adopting the following principles.
 
 - Trust flows from user, device, and context.
 - Network location _does not impart trust_. Treat both internal and external networks as completely untrusted.
diff --git a/docs/guide/docker.md b/docs/guide/docker.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 5725a2c1d..000000000
--- a/docs/guide/docker.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-# Docker
-
-## Prerequisites
-
-- A configured [identity provider]
-
-## Install
-
-Install [docker] and [docker-compose]. Docker-compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. We've created an example docker-compose file that creates a minimal, but complete test environnement for pomerium.
-
-## Download
-
-Copy and paste the contents of the provided example [basic.docker-compose.yml] and save it locally as `docker-compose.yml`.
-
-## Configure
-
-Edit the [docker-compose.yml] to match your [identity provider] settings.
-
-Place your domain's wild-card TLS certificate next to the compose file. If you don't have one handy, the included [script] generates one from [LetsEncrypt].
-
-## Run
-
-You can then download the latest pomerium release of pomerium in docker form along some example containers and an nginx load balancer all in one step.
-
-```bash
-docker-compose up
-```
-
-Pomerium is configured to delegate access to two test apps [helloworld] and [httpbin].
-
-## Navigate
-
-Open a browser and navigate to `hello.your.domain.com` or `httpbin.your.domain.com`. You should see something like the following in your browser.
-
-![Getting started](./get-started.gif)
-
-And in your terminal.
-
-[![asciicast](https://asciinema.org/a/tfbSWkUZgMRxHAQDqmcjjNwUg.svg)](https://asciinema.org/a/tfbSWkUZgMRxHAQDqmcjjNwUg)
-
-[basic.docker-compose.yml]: ../docs/examples.html#basic-docker-compose-yml
-[docker]: https://docs.docker.com/install/
-[docker-compose]: (https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/)
-[helloworld]: https://hub.docker.com/r/tutum/hello-world
-[httpbin]: https://httpbin.org/
-[identity provider]: ../docs/identity-providers.md
-[letsencrypt]: https://letsencrypt.org/
-[script]: https://github.com/pomerium/pomerium/blob/master/scripts/generate_wildcard_cert.sh
diff --git a/docs/guide/from-source.md b/docs/guide/from-source.md
index baf94ad9f..5a266e710 100644
--- a/docs/guide/from-source.md
+++ b/docs/guide/from-source.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 - Install [git](https://git-scm.com/) version control system
 - Install the [go](https://golang.org/doc/install) programming language
-- A configured [identity provider].
+- A configured [identity provider]
 
 ## Download
 
diff --git a/docs/guide/readme.md b/docs/guide/readme.md
index 6059b9179..ff066a84a 100644
--- a/docs/guide/readme.md
+++ b/docs/guide/readme.md
@@ -1 +1,48 @@
-# Prerequisites
+# Docker
+
+Docker and docker-compose are tools for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. We've created an example docker-compose file that creates a minimal, but complete test environment for pomerium.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- A configured [identity provider]
+- Install [docker]
+- Install [docker-compose]
+
+## Download
+
+Copy and paste the contents of the provided example [basic.docker-compose.yml] and save it locally as `docker-compose.yml`.
+
+## Configure
+
+Edit the `docker-compose.yml` to match your [identity provider] settings.
+
+Place your domain's wild-card TLS certificate next to the compose file. If you don't have one handy, the included [script] generates one from [LetsEncrypt].
+
+## Run
+
+Docker-compose will automatically download the latest pomerium release as well as two example containers and an nginx load balancer all in one step.
+
+```bash
+docker-compose up
+```
+
+Pomerium is configured to delegate access to two test apps [helloworld] and [httpbin].
+
+## Navigate
+
+Open a browser and navigate to `hello.your.domain.com` or `httpbin.your.domain.com`. You should see something like the following in your browser.
+
+![Getting started](./get-started.gif)
+
+And in your terminal.
+
+[![asciicast](https://asciinema.org/a/tfbSWkUZgMRxHAQDqmcjjNwUg.svg)](https://asciinema.org/a/tfbSWkUZgMRxHAQDqmcjjNwUg)
+
+[basic.docker-compose.yml]: ../docs/examples.html#basic-docker-compose-yml
+[docker]: https://docs.docker.com/install/
+[docker-compose]: https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/
+[helloworld]: https://hub.docker.com/r/tutum/hello-world
+[httpbin]: https://httpbin.org/
+[identity provider]: ../docs/identity-providers.md
+[letsencrypt]: https://letsencrypt.org/
+[script]: https://github.com/pomerium/pomerium/blob/master/scripts/generate_wildcard_cert.sh
diff --git a/internal/sessions/cookie_store.go b/internal/sessions/cookie_store.go
index 90bb98627..d7af2be84 100644
--- a/internal/sessions/cookie_store.go
+++ b/internal/sessions/cookie_store.go
@@ -40,12 +40,12 @@ type CookieStore struct {
 	SessionLifetimeTTL time.Duration
 }
 
-// CreateMiscreantCookieCipher creates a new miscreant cipher with the cookie secret
-func CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(cookieSecret []byte) func(s *CookieStore) error {
+// CreateCookieCipher creates a new miscreant cipher with the cookie secret
+func CreateCookieCipher(cookieSecret []byte) func(s *CookieStore) error {
 	return func(s *CookieStore) error {
 		cipher, err := cryptutil.NewCipher(cookieSecret)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("miscreant cookie-secret error: %s", err.Error())
+			return fmt.Errorf("cookie-secret error: %s", err.Error())
 		}
 		s.CookieCipher = cipher
 		return nil
diff --git a/internal/sessions/cookie_store_test.go b/internal/sessions/cookie_store_test.go
index 38aed03c8..91da9568d 100644
--- a/internal/sessions/cookie_store_test.go
+++ b/internal/sessions/cookie_store_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 var testEncodedCookieSecret, _ = base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString("qICChm3wdjbjcWymm7PefwtPP6/PZv+udkFEubTeE38=")
 
-func TestCreateMiscreantCookieCipher(t *testing.T) {
+func TestCreateCookieCipher(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name          string
 		cookieSecret  []byte
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestCreateMiscreantCookieCipher(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			_, err := NewCookieStore("cookieName", CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(tc.cookieSecret))
+			_, err := NewCookieStore("cookieName", CreateCookieCipher(tc.cookieSecret))
 			if !tc.expectedError {
 				testutil.Ok(t, err)
 			} else {
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ func TestLoadCookiedSession(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "cookie set with cipher set",
-			optFuncs: []func(*CookieStore) error{CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(testEncodedCookieSecret)},
+			optFuncs: []func(*CookieStore) error{CreateCookieCipher(testEncodedCookieSecret)},
 			setupCookies: func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, s *CookieStore, sessionState *SessionState) {
 				value, err := MarshalSession(sessionState, s.CookieCipher)
 				testutil.Ok(t, err)
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ func TestLoadCookiedSession(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "cookie set with invalid value cipher set",
-			optFuncs: []func(*CookieStore) error{CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(testEncodedCookieSecret)},
+			optFuncs: []func(*CookieStore) error{CreateCookieCipher(testEncodedCookieSecret)},
 			setupCookies: func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, s *CookieStore, sessionState *SessionState) {
 				value := "574b776a7c934d6b9fc42ec63a389f79"
 				req.AddCookie(s.makeSessionCookie(req, value, time.Hour, time.Now()))
diff --git a/proxy/authenticator/authenticator.go b/proxy/authenticator/authenticator.go
index d9ce97f29..ea9c7bd1d 100644
--- a/proxy/authenticator/authenticator.go
+++ b/proxy/authenticator/authenticator.go
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ func (p *AuthenticateClient) ValidateSessionState(s *sessions.SessionState) bool
 	params.Add("shared_secret", p.SharedKey)
 	req, err := p.newRequest("GET", fmt.Sprintf("%s?%s", p.ValidateURL.String(), params.Encode()), nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Error().Err(err).Str("user", s.Email).Msg("proxy/authenticator.ValidateSessionState : error validating session state")
+		log.Info().Err(err).Str("user", s.Email).Msg("proxy/authenticator: error validating session state")
 		return false
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("X-Client-Secret", p.SharedKey)
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ func (p *AuthenticateClient) ValidateSessionState(s *sessions.SessionState) bool
 
 	resp, err := defaultHTTPClient.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Error().Err(err).Str("user", s.Email).Msg("proxy/authenticator.ValidateSessionState : error making request to validate access token")
+		log.Info().Err(err).Str("user", s.Email).Msg("proxy/authenticator: error validating access token")
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -260,16 +260,13 @@ func (p *AuthenticateClient) ValidateSessionState(s *sessions.SessionState) bool
 			s.ValidDeadline = extendDeadline(p.SessionValidTTL)
 			return true
 		}
-		log.Info().Str("user", s.Email).Int("status-code", resp.StatusCode).Msg("proxy/authenticator.ValidateSessionState : could not validate user access token")
+		log.Info().Str("user", s.Email).Int("status-code", resp.StatusCode).Msg("proxy/authenticator: bad status code")
 
 		return false
 	}
 
 	s.ValidDeadline = extendDeadline(p.SessionValidTTL)
 	s.GracePeriodStart = time.Time{}
-
-	log.Info().Str("user", s.Email).Msg("proxy/authenticator.ValidateSessionState : validated session")
-
 	return true
 }
 
diff --git a/proxy/handlers.go b/proxy/handlers.go
index b6dadd860..9097ef961 100644
--- a/proxy/handlers.go
+++ b/proxy/handlers.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ var securityHeaders = map[string]string{
 
 // Handler returns a http handler for an Proxy
 func (p *Proxy) Handler() http.Handler {
+	// routes
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 	mux.HandleFunc("/favicon.ico", p.Favicon)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/robots.txt", p.RobotsTxt)
@@ -37,19 +38,12 @@ func (p *Proxy) Handler() http.Handler {
 	mux.HandleFunc("/.pomerium/auth", p.AuthenticateOnly)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/", p.Proxy)
 
-	// Global middleware, which will be applied to each request in reverse
-	// order as applied here (i.e., we want to validate the host _first_ when
-	// processing a request)
-	var handler http.Handler = mux
-	// todo(bdd) : investigate if setting non-overridable headers makes sense
-	// handler = p.setResponseHeaderOverrides(handler)
-
-	// Middleware chain
+	// middleware chain
 	c := middleware.NewChain()
 	c = c.Append(middleware.Healthcheck("/ping", version.UserAgent()))
 	c = c.Append(middleware.NewHandler(log.Logger))
 	c = c.Append(middleware.AccessHandler(func(r *http.Request, status, size int, duration time.Duration) {
-		middleware.FromRequest(r).Info().
+		middleware.FromRequest(r).Debug().
 			Str("method", r.Method).
 			Str("url", r.URL.String()).
 			Int("status", status).
@@ -57,7 +51,7 @@ func (p *Proxy) Handler() http.Handler {
 			Dur("duration", duration).
 			Str("pomerium-user", r.Header.Get(HeaderUserID)).
 			Str("pomerium-email", r.Header.Get(HeaderEmail)).
-			Msg("request")
+			Msg("proxy: request")
 	}))
 	c = c.Append(middleware.SetHeaders(securityHeaders))
 	c = c.Append(middleware.RequireHTTPS)
@@ -68,12 +62,7 @@ func (p *Proxy) Handler() http.Handler {
 	c = c.Append(middleware.RequestIDHandler("req_id", "Request-Id"))
 	c = c.Append(middleware.ValidateHost(p.mux))
 	h := c.Then(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		// Skip host validation for /ping requests because they hit the LB directly.
-		if r.URL.Path == "/ping" {
-			p.PingPage(w, r)
-			return
-		}
-		handler.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+		mux.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 	}))
 	return h
 }
@@ -97,12 +86,6 @@ func (p *Proxy) Favicon(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	p.Proxy(w, r)
 }
 
-// PingPage send back a 200 OK response.
-func (p *Proxy) PingPage(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
-	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "OK")
-}
-
 // SignOut redirects the request to the sign out url.
 func (p *Proxy) SignOut(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	p.sessionStore.ClearSession(w, r)
@@ -266,28 +249,17 @@ func (p *Proxy) Proxy(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// OAuthStart. If successful, we proceed to proxy to the configured upstream.
 	if err != nil {
 		switch err {
-		case http.ErrNoCookie:
-			// No cookie is set, start the oauth flow
-			p.OAuthStart(w, r)
-			return
 		case ErrUserNotAuthorized:
-			// We know the user is not authorized for the request, we show them a forbidden page
-			p.ErrorPage(w, r, http.StatusForbidden, "Forbidden", "You're not authorized to view this page")
+			//todo(bdd) : custom forbidden page with details and troubleshooting info
+			log.FromRequest(r).Debug().Err(err).Msg("proxy: user access forbidden")
+			p.ErrorPage(w, r, http.StatusForbidden, "Forbidden", "You don't have access")
 			return
-		case sessions.ErrLifetimeExpired:
-			// User's lifetime expired, we trigger the start of the oauth flow
-			p.OAuthStart(w, r)
-			return
-		case sessions.ErrInvalidSession:
-			// The user session is invalid and we can't decode it.
-			// This can happen for a variety of reasons but the most common non-malicious
-			// case occurs when the session encoding schema changes. We manage this ux
-			// by triggering the start of the oauth flow.
+		case http.ErrNoCookie, sessions.ErrLifetimeExpired, sessions.ErrInvalidSession:
+			log.FromRequest(r).Debug().Err(err).Msg("proxy: starting auth flow")
 			p.OAuthStart(w, r)
 			return
 		default:
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Msg("unknown error")
-			// We don't know exactly what happened, but authenticating the user failed, show an error
+			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Msg("proxy: unexpected error")
 			p.ErrorPage(w, r, http.StatusInternalServerError, "Internal Error", "An unexpected error occurred")
 			return
 		}
@@ -315,69 +287,28 @@ func (p *Proxy) Authenticate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (err error)
 
 	session, err := p.sessionStore.LoadSession(r)
 	if err != nil {
-		// We loaded a cookie but it wasn't valid, clear it, and reject the request
-		log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Msg("error authenticating user")
 		return err
 	}
-
-	// Lifetime period is the entire duration in which the session is valid.
-	// This should be set to something like 14 to 30 days.
 	if session.LifetimePeriodExpired() {
-		log.FromRequest(r).Warn().Str("user", session.Email).Msg("session lifetime has expired")
 		return sessions.ErrLifetimeExpired
 	} else if session.RefreshPeriodExpired() {
-		// Refresh period is the period in which the access token is valid. This is ultimately
-		// controlled by the upstream provider and tends to be around 1 hour.
 		ok, err := p.authenticateClient.RefreshSession(session)
-
-		// We failed to refresh the session successfully
-		// clear the cookie and reject the request
 		if err != nil {
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Str("user", session.Email).Msg("refreshing session failed")
 			return err
 		}
-
 		if !ok {
-			// User is not authorized after refresh
-			// clear the cookie and reject the request
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Str("user", session.Email).Msg("not authorized after refreshing session")
 			return ErrUserNotAuthorized
 		}
-
-		err = p.sessionStore.SaveSession(w, r, session)
-		if err != nil {
-			// We refreshed the session successfully, but failed to save it.
-			//
-			// This could be from failing to encode the session properly.
-			// But, we clear the session cookie and reject the request!
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Str("user", session.Email).Msg("could not save refresh session")
-			return err
-		}
 	} else if session.ValidationPeriodExpired() {
-		// Validation period has expired, this is the shortest interval we use to
-		// check for valid requests. This should be set to something like a minute.
-		// This calls up the provider chain to validate this user is still active
-		// and hasn't been de-authorized.
 		ok := p.authenticateClient.ValidateSessionState(session)
 		if !ok {
-			// This user is now no longer authorized, or we failed to
-			// validate the user.
-			// Clear the cookie and reject the request
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Str("user", session.Email).Msg("no longer authorized after validation period")
 			return ErrUserNotAuthorized
 		}
-
-		err = p.sessionStore.SaveSession(w, r, session)
-		if err != nil {
-			// We validated the session successfully, but failed to save it.
-
-			// This could be from failing to encode the session properly.
-			// But, we clear the session cookie and reject the request!
-			log.FromRequest(r).Error().Err(err).Str("user", session.Email).Msg("could not save validated session")
-			return err
-		}
 	}
-
+	err = p.sessionStore.SaveSession(w, r, session)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	r.Header.Set(HeaderUserID, session.User)
 	r.Header.Set(HeaderEmail, session.Email)
 
diff --git a/proxy/handlers_test.go b/proxy/handlers_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..46bcf6225
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/handlers_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package proxy
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestProxy_RobotsTxt(t *testing.T) {
+	auth := Proxy{}
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "/robots.txt", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	handler := http.HandlerFunc(auth.RobotsTxt)
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+	if status := rr.Code; status != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Errorf("handler returned wrong status code: got %v want %v", status, http.StatusOK)
+	}
+	expected := fmt.Sprintf("User-agent: *\nDisallow: /")
+	if rr.Body.String() != expected {
+		t.Errorf("handler returned wrong body: got %v want %v", rr.Body.String(), expected)
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/proxy/proxy.go b/proxy/proxy.go
index 0149660df..59586da87 100755
--- a/proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/proxy/proxy.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func New(opts *Options) (*Proxy, error) {
 	}
 
 	cookieStore, err := sessions.NewCookieStore(opts.CookieName,
-		sessions.CreateMiscreantCookieCipher(decodedSecret),
+		sessions.CreateCookieCipher(decodedSecret),
 		func(c *sessions.CookieStore) error {
 			c.CookieDomain = opts.CookieDomain
 			c.CookieHTTPOnly = opts.CookieHTTPOnly
@@ -177,8 +177,8 @@ func New(opts *Options) (*Proxy, error) {
 		opts.AuthenticateServiceURL,
 		opts.SharedKey,
 		// todo(bdd): fields below should be passed as function args
-		opts.SessionLifetimeTTL,
 		opts.SessionValidTTL,
+		opts.SessionLifetimeTTL,
 		opts.GracePeriodTTL,
 	)
 
diff --git a/scripts/kubernetes_gke.sh b/scripts/kubernetes_gke.sh
index 6e398a641..c7d4a431d 100755
--- a/scripts/kubernetes_gke.sh
+++ b/scripts/kubernetes_gke.sh
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ kubectl create secret tls -n pomerium pomerium-tls --key privkey.pem --cert cert
 #                       !!! IMPORTANT !!!
 #          YOU MUST CHANGE THE Identity Provider Client Secret
 #                       !!! IMPORTANT !!!
-# kubectl create secret generic -n pomerium idp-client-secret --from-literal=REPLACE_ME
+# kubectl create secret generic -n pomerium idp-client-secret --from-literal=idp-client-secret=REPLACE_ME
 
 # Create the proxy & authenticate deployment
 kubectl create -f docs/docs/examples/kubernetes/authenticate.deploy.yml