diff --git a/include/mysql/connection.hpp b/include/mysql/connection.hpp
index 85dfd004..f9bb16b4 100644
--- a/include/mysql/connection.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/connection.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 #include "mysql/impl/channel.hpp"
 #include "mysql/impl/handshake.hpp"
-#include "mysql/impl/capabilities.hpp"
 #include "mysql/error.hpp"
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -17,7 +16,6 @@ class connection
 {
 	Stream next_level_;
 	detail::channel<Stream> channel_;
-	detail::capabilities caps_;
 	std::vector<std::uint8_t> buffer_;
 public:
 	template <typename... Args>
diff --git a/include/mysql/impl/channel.hpp b/include/mysql/impl/channel.hpp
index f2f695ba..b6656fe0 100644
--- a/include/mysql/impl/channel.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/impl/channel.hpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "mysql/error.hpp"
 #include "mysql/impl/basic_types.hpp"
+#include "mysql/impl/capabilities.hpp"
 #include <boost/asio/buffer.hpp>
 #include <boost/asio/async_result.hpp>
 #include <array>
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ class channel
 	AsyncStream& next_layer_;
 	std::uint8_t sequence_number_ {0};
 	std::array<std::uint8_t, 4> header_buffer_ {}; // for async ops
+	capabilities current_caps_;
 
 	bool process_sequence_number(std::uint8_t got);
 	std::uint8_t next_sequence_number() { return sequence_number_++; }
@@ -47,6 +49,9 @@ public:
 
 	using stream_type = AsyncStream;
 	stream_type& next_layer() { return next_layer_; }
+
+	capabilities current_capabilities() const noexcept { return current_caps_; }
+	void set_current_capabilities(capabilities value) noexcept { current_caps_ = value; }
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/include/mysql/impl/connection_impl.hpp b/include/mysql/impl/connection_impl.hpp
index ac2dad40..24c8c608 100644
--- a/include/mysql/impl/connection_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/impl/connection_impl.hpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ void mysql::connection<Stream>::handshake(
 	error_code& errc
 )
 {
-	detail::hanshake(channel_, params, buffer_, caps_, errc);
+	detail::hanshake(channel_, params, buffer_, errc);
 	// TODO: should we close() the stream in case of error?
 }
 
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ mysql::connection<Stream>::async_handshake(
 		channel_,
 		params,
 		buffer_,
-		caps_,
 		std::forward<CompletionToken>(token)
 	);
 }
diff --git a/include/mysql/impl/handshake.hpp b/include/mysql/impl/handshake.hpp
index 8f604d3e..f9ce65ee 100644
--- a/include/mysql/impl/handshake.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/impl/handshake.hpp
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 #include <string_view>
 #include <boost/asio/async_result.hpp>
 #include "mysql/impl/channel.hpp"
-#include "mysql/impl/capabilities.hpp"
 #include "mysql/impl/constants.hpp"
 #include "mysql/impl/basic_types.hpp"
 #include "mysql/collation.hpp"
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@ void hanshake(
 	ChannelType& channel,
 	const handshake_params& params,
 	bytestring<Allocator>& buffer,
-	capabilities& output_capabilities,
 	error_code& err
 );
 
@@ -37,7 +35,6 @@ async_handshake(
 	ChannelType& channel,
 	const handshake_params& params,
 	bytestring<Allocator>& buffer,
-	capabilities& output_capabilities,
 	CompletionToken&& token
 );
 
diff --git a/include/mysql/impl/handshake_impl.hpp b/include/mysql/impl/handshake_impl.hpp
index edc5b01c..ff5a5390 100644
--- a/include/mysql/impl/handshake_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/impl/handshake_impl.hpp
@@ -234,7 +234,6 @@ void mysql::detail::hanshake(
 	ChannelType& channel,
 	const handshake_params& params,
 	bytestring<Allocator>& buffer,
-	capabilities& output_capabilities,
 	error_code& err
 )
 {
@@ -279,7 +278,7 @@ void mysql::detail::hanshake(
 	err = processor.process_auth_switch_response(boost::asio::buffer(buffer));
 	if (err) return;
 
-	output_capabilities = processor.negotiated_capabilities();
+	channel.set_current_capabilities(processor.negotiated_capabilities());
 }
 
 template <typename ChannelType, typename Allocator, typename CompletionToken>
@@ -288,7 +287,6 @@ mysql::detail::async_handshake(
 	ChannelType& channel,
 	const handshake_params& params,
 	bytestring<Allocator>& buffer,
-	capabilities& output_capabilities,
 	CompletionToken&& token
 )
 {
@@ -304,26 +302,23 @@ mysql::detail::async_handshake(
 		ChannelType& channel_;
 		bytestring<Allocator>& buffer_;
 		handshake_processor processor_;
-		capabilities* output_capabilities_;
 
 		Op(
 			HandlerType&& handler,
 			ChannelType& channel,
 			bytestring<Allocator>& buffer,
-			const handshake_params& params,
-			capabilities* output_capabilities
+			const handshake_params& params
 		):
 			BaseType(std::move(handler), channel.next_layer().get_executor()),
 			channel_(channel),
 			buffer_(buffer),
-			processor_(params),
-			output_capabilities_(output_capabilities)
+			processor_(params)
 		{
 		}
 
 		void complete(bool cont, error_code errc)
 		{
-			*output_capabilities_ = processor_.negotiated_capabilities();
+			channel_.set_current_capabilities(processor_.negotiated_capabilities());
 			BaseType::complete(cont, errc);
 		}
 
@@ -409,8 +404,7 @@ mysql::detail::async_handshake(
 		std::move(initiator.completion_handler),
 		channel,
 		buffer,
-		params,
-		&output_capabilities
+		params
 	)(error_code(), false);
 	return initiator.result.get();
 }
diff --git a/include/mysql/impl/messages.hpp b/include/mysql/impl/messages.hpp
index a028d4b3..c9114784 100644
--- a/include/mysql/impl/messages.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/impl/messages.hpp
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ struct ok_packet
 	int_lenenc last_insert_id;
 	int2 status_flags; // server_status_flags
 	int2 warnings;
-	// TODO: CLIENT_SESSION_TRACK. This may require separate serialization functions
+	// TODO: CLIENT_SESSION_TRACK
 	string_lenenc info;
 
 	static constexpr auto fields = std::make_tuple(
diff --git a/include/mysql/metadata.hpp b/include/mysql/metadata.hpp
index 609254aa..b74af77d 100644
--- a/include/mysql/metadata.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/metadata.hpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public:
 };
 
 template <typename Allocator>
-class dataset_metadata
+class resultset_metadata
 {
 	std::vector<field_metadata<Allocator>> fields_;
 public:
diff --git a/include/mysql/row.hpp b/include/mysql/row.hpp
index 4e77d34f..edab92f5 100644
--- a/include/mysql/row.hpp
+++ b/include/mysql/row.hpp
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@ class row
 {
 	detail::bytestring<Allocator> buffer_;
 	std::vector<value> values_;
-	const dataset_metadata<Allocator>* metadata_;
+	const resultset_metadata<Allocator>* metadata_;
 public:
+	row(): metadata_(nullptr) {};
 	row(detail::bytestring<Allocator>&& buffer, std::vector<value>&& values,
-			const dataset_metadata<Allocator>& meta):
+			const resultset_metadata<Allocator>& meta):
 		buffer_(std::move(buffer)), values_(std::move(values)), metadata_(&meta) {};
 	row(const row&) = delete;
 	row(row&&) = default;
@@ -26,6 +27,10 @@ public:
 
 	const std::vector<value>& values() const noexcept { return values_; }
 	const auto& metadata() const noexcept { return *metadata_; }
+
+	// TODO: can we make these private? accessed by resultset
+	auto& buffer() { return buffer_; }
+	auto& values() { return values_; }
 };
 
 }