diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/package.json b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/package.json
index a20a5c7c498..490e70c4410 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/package.json
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/package.json
@@ -59,12 +59,14 @@
     "@jbrowse/plugin-wiggle": "^2.1.5",
     "@mui/icons-material": "^5.0.0",
     "@mui/material": "^5.0.0",
+    "librpc-web-mod": "^1.1.5",
     "mobx": "^6.6.0",
     "mobx-react": "^7.5.0",
     "mobx-state-tree": "^5.0.0",
     "prop-types": "^15.0.0",
     "react-use-measure": "^2.1.1",
     "rxjs": "^6.0.0",
+    "serialize-error": "^8.0.0",
     "tss-react": "^3.7.0"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createModel/createModel.ts b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createModel/createModel.ts
index 706dc5b5d3f..00637e714ba 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createModel/createModel.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createModel/createModel.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ import createSessionModel from './createSessionModel'
 
 export default function createModel(
   runtimePlugins: PluginConstructor[],
-  makeWorkerInstance: () => any,
+  makeWorkerInstance: () => any = () => {
+    throw new Error('no makeWorkerInstance supplied')
+  },
 ) {
-  console.log({ makeWorkerInstance })
   const pluginManager = new PluginManager(
     [...corePlugins, ...runtimePlugins].map(P => new P()),
   )
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createViewState.ts b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createViewState.ts
index 2d50b1092dc..9c7ce0c6c2a 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createViewState.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/createViewState.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ interface ViewStateOptions {
   defaultSession?: SessionSnapshot
   disableAddTracks?: boolean
   onChange?: (patch: IJsonPatch, reversePatch: IJsonPatch) => void
+  makeWorkerInstance?: () => any
 }
 
 export default function createViewState(opts: ViewStateOptions) {
@@ -41,8 +42,12 @@ export default function createViewState(opts: ViewStateOptions) {
     location,
     onChange,
     disableAddTracks = false,
+    makeWorkerInstance,
   } = opts
-  const { model, pluginManager } = createModel(plugins || [])
+  const { model, pluginManager } = createModel(
+    plugins || [],
+    makeWorkerInstance,
+  )
   let { defaultSession } = opts
   if (!defaultSession) {
     defaultSession = {
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/index.ts b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/index.ts
index cbf8c384c80..4732a875728 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/index.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/index.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@ export { createJBrowseTheme, ThemeProvider } from './deprecations'
 export { default as JBrowseLinearGenomeView } from './JBrowseLinearGenomeView'
 export { default as createModel } from './createModel'
 export { default as createViewState } from './createViewState'
+export { default as makeWorkerInstance } from './makeWorkerInstance'
 export { default as loadPlugins } from './loadPlugins'
 export type { ViewModel } from './createModel/createModel'
-export { makeWorkerInstance } from './makeWorkerInstance'
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/makeWorkerInstance.ts b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/makeWorkerInstance.ts
index 938e73e80e8..2258d030a96 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/makeWorkerInstance.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/makeWorkerInstance.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,5 @@
 // also note: the craco config for webpack publicPath: 'auto' is needed for
 // these workers
 export default function makeWorkerInstance() {
-  console.log('t2')
   return new Worker(new URL('./rpc.worker.ts', import.meta.url))
 }
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/rpc.worker.ts b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/rpc.worker.ts
index 102042fbd70..7617c7ec960 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/rpc.worker.ts
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/src/rpc.worker.ts
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ import { remoteAbortRpcHandler } from '@jbrowse/core/rpc/remoteAbortSignals'
 import PluginLoader, { PluginDefinition } from '@jbrowse/core/PluginLoader'
 import { serializeError } from 'serialize-error'
 
-console.log('t1')
-
 // locals
 import corePlugins from './corePlugins'
 
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/stories/JBrowseLinearGenomeView.stories.tsx b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/stories/JBrowseLinearGenomeView.stories.tsx
index 41a599be429..29e1353a0dc 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/stories/JBrowseLinearGenomeView.stories.tsx
+++ b/products/jbrowse-react-linear-genome-view/stories/JBrowseLinearGenomeView.stories.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@ import PluginManager from '@jbrowse/core/PluginManager'
 import Plugin from '@jbrowse/core/Plugin'
 
 // locals
-import { createViewState, loadPlugins, JBrowseLinearGenomeView } from '../src'
+import {
+  createViewState,
+  loadPlugins,
+  makeWorkerInstance,
+  JBrowseLinearGenomeView,
+} from '../src'
 
 // configs
 import volvoxConfig from '../public/test_data/volvox/config.json'
@@ -67,6 +72,7 @@ export const WithWebWorker = () => {
         defaultDriver: 'WebWorkerRpcDriver',
       },
     },
+    makeWorkerInstance,
   })
   return <JBrowseLinearGenomeView viewState={state} />
 }
diff --git a/products/jbrowse-web/src/Loader.tsx b/products/jbrowse-web/src/Loader.tsx
index 67adc9cbb44..33c660d351f 100644
--- a/products/jbrowse-web/src/Loader.tsx
+++ b/products/jbrowse-web/src/Loader.tsx
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ const Renderer = observer(
             try {
               if (sessionError) {
                 rootModel.setDefaultSession()
+                // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
                 rootModel.session!.notify(
                   `Error loading session: ${sessionError}. If you
                 received this URL from another user, request that they send you