diff --git a/src/fennel-ls/formatter.fnl b/src/fennel-ls/formatter.fnl
index f52055b..2297796 100644
--- a/src/fennel-ls/formatter.fnl
+++ b/src/fennel-ls/formatter.fnl
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ user code."
                       " ...)"))
       (if docstring (.. "\n" docstring) "")))
 
+(fn metadata-format [{: binding : metadata}]
+  "formats a special using its builtin metadata magic"
+  (..
+    (code-block
+      (.. "(" (tostring binding) " " (table.concat metadata.fnl/arglist " ") ")"))
+    "\n"
+    metadata.fnl/docstring))
+
 (λ fn? [symbol]
   (if (sym? symbol)
     (let [name (tostring symbol)]
@@ -27,14 +35,14 @@ user code."
           (= name "λ")
           (= name "lambda")))))
 
-(λ analyze-fn [ast]
+(λ analyze-fn [?ast]
   "if ast is a function definition, try to fill out as much of this as possible:
 {: name
  : arglist
  : docstring
  : fntype}
 fntype is one of fn or λ or lambda"
-  (case ast
+  (case ?ast
     ;; name + docstring
     (where [fntype name arglist docstring _body]
       (fn? fntype)
@@ -66,13 +74,16 @@ fntype is one of fn or λ or lambda"
    :value
    (case (analyze-fn result.definition)
      {:fntype ?fntype :name ?name :arglist ?arglist :docstring ?docstring} (fn-format ?fntype ?name ?arglist ?docstring)
-     _ (code-block
-         (if (-?>> result.keys length (< 0))
+     _ (if (-?>> result.keys length (< 0))
+         (code-block
            (.. "ERROR, I don't know how to show this "
                "(. "
                (view result.definition {:prefer-colon? true}) " "
-               (view result.keys {:prefer-colon? true}) ")")
-           (view result.definition {:prefer-colon? true}))))})
+               (view result.keys {:prefer-colon? true}) ")"))
+         result.metadata
+         (metadata-format result)
+         (code-block
+            (view result.definition {:prefer-colon? true}))))})
 
 ;; CompletionItemKind
 (local kinds
diff --git a/src/fennel-ls/handlers.fnl b/src/fennel-ls/handlers.fnl
index 8459c6d..2e06641 100644
--- a/src/fennel-ls/handlers.fnl
+++ b/src/fennel-ls/handlers.fnl
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ Every time the client sends a message, it gets handled by a function in the corr
 
 (λ scope-completion [self file byte ?symbol parents]
   (let [scope (or (accumulate [result nil
-                               i parent (ipairs parents)
+                               _ parent (ipairs parents)
                                &until result]
                     (. file.scopes parent))
                   file.scope)
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ Every time the client sends a message, it gets handled by a function in the corr
     (collect-scope scope :manglings #(make-completion-item self file $ scope) result)
     (when in-call-position?
       (collect-scope scope :macros #{:label $ :kind kinds.Keyword} result)
-      (collect-scope scope :specials #{:label $ :kind kinds.Keyword} result))
+      (collect-scope scope :specials #(make-completion-item self file $ scope) result))
     (icollect [_ k (ipairs file.allowed-globals) &into result]
         {:label k :kind kinds.Variable})))
 
@@ -162,9 +162,9 @@ Every time the client sends a message, it gets handled by a function in the corr
       (case (language.search-assignment self file ref stack {})
         {: definition}
         (case (values definition (type definition))
-          (_str :string) (icollect [k v (pairs string)]
+          (_str :string) (icollect [k _ (pairs string)]
                            {:label k :kind kinds.Field})
-          (tbl :table) (icollect [k v (pairs tbl)]
+          (tbl :table) (icollect [k _ (pairs tbl)]
                          (if (= (type k) :string)
                            {:label k :kind kinds.Field})))
         _ nil))))
diff --git a/src/fennel-ls/language.fnl b/src/fennel-ls/language.fnl
index c33268e..771e507 100644
--- a/src/fennel-ls/language.fnl
+++ b/src/fennel-ls/language.fnl
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ the data provided by compiler.fnl."
         (= 0 (length stack))      {:definition item} ;; BASE CASE !!
         (error (.. "I don't know what to do with " (view item))))))
 
+(local {:metadata METADATA
+        :scopes {:global {:specials SPECIALS}}}
+  (require :fennel.compiler))
+
 (λ search-main [self file symbol opts ?byte]
   "Find the definition of a symbol
 
@@ -125,11 +129,8 @@ Returns:
   (if (sym? symbol)
     (let [split (utils.multi-sym-split symbol (if ?byte (+ 1 (- ?byte symbol.bytestart))))
           stack (stack-add-split! [] split)]
-      (local {:metadata METADATA
-              :scopes {:global {:specials SPECIALS}}}
-        (require :fennel.compiler))
       (case (. METADATA (. SPECIALS (tostring symbol)))
-        metadata {: metadata}
+        metadata {:binding symbol : metadata}
         _ (case (. file.references symbol)
             ref (search-assignment self file ref stack opts)
             _ (case (. file.definitions symbol)
@@ -141,9 +142,13 @@ Returns:
         (find-local-definition file name ?scope.parent))))
 
 (λ search-name-and-scope [self file name scope ?opts]
+  "find a definition just from the name of the item, and the scope it is in"
+  (assert (= (type name) :string))
   (let [stack (stack-add-multisym! [] name)]
-    (case (find-local-definition file name scope)
-      def (search self file def.definition (stack-add-keys! stack def.keys) (or ?opts {})))))
+    (case (. METADATA (. SPECIALS name))
+      metadata {:binding (sym name) : metadata}
+      _ (case (find-local-definition file name scope)
+          def (search self file def.definition (stack-add-keys! stack def.keys) (or ?opts {}))))))
 
 (λ past? [?ast byte]
   ;; check if a byte is past an ast object
diff --git a/test/completion-test.fnl b/test/completion-test.fnl
index 42292d5..ccc9db7 100644
--- a/test/completion-test.fnl
+++ b/test/completion-test.fnl
@@ -119,6 +119,25 @@
         (assert completion.kind "completion kind should be present")
         (assert completion.documentation "completion documentation should be present")))))
 
+    ; (it "offers rich information about global completions"
+    ;   (let [client (doto (create-client)
+    ;                  (: :open-file! filename "("))
+    ;         [{:result completions}] (client:completion filename 0 1)
+    ;         _ (table.sort completions #(< $1.label $2.label))
+    ;         count (accumulate [sum 0 _ completion (ipairs completions)]
+    ;                (if (and (= (type completion.label) :string)
+    ;                        (= (type completion.kind) :number)
+    ;                        (= (type completion.documentation) :table))
+    ;                  (+ sum 1)
+    ;                  sum))]
+    ;     (if (< count (length completions))
+    ;       (print "!!!" (- (length completions) count) "items are missing a label or kind or doc"))
+    ;     (each [_ completion (ipairs completions)]
+    ;       (is.same (type completion.label) :string "unlabeled completion")
+    ;       (is.same (type completion.kind) :number (.. completion.label " needs a kind"))
+    ;       (is.same (type completion.documentation) :table (.. completion.label " needs documentation")))))))
+
+
     ;; (it "offers rich information about macro completions")
     ;; (it "offers rich information about variable completions")
     ;; (it "offers rich information about field completions")
diff --git a/test/hover-test.fnl b/test/hover-test.fnl
index a1d9eaf..192bbbf 100644
--- a/test/hover-test.fnl
+++ b/test/hover-test.fnl
@@ -49,4 +49,7 @@
       (is-matching message [{:jsonrpc "2.0" :id 2}] "")))
 
   (it "can go backward through (case)"
-    (check "hover.fnl" 22 22 "```fnl\n{:AB :CD}\n```")))
+    (check "hover.fnl" 22 22 "```fnl\n{:AB :CD}\n```"))
+
+  (it "hovers over a special"
+    (check "hover.fnl" 5 2 "```fnl\n(let [name1 val1 ... nameN valN] ...)\n```\nIntroduces a new scope in which a given set of local bindings are used.")))
diff --git a/test/is.fnl b/test/is.fnl
index b95d1bb..75ea419 100644
--- a/test/is.fnl
+++ b/test/is.fnl
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 (local {: view} (require :fennel))
 (local {: expect} (require :test.lust))
 ;; lust uses weird terminology, but equal is by __eq, same is by recursively having the same contents
-(setmetatable {:equal  #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :be) $2) true)
-               :same  #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :equal) $2) true)
+(setmetatable {:equal #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :be) $2) true)
+               :same  #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :equal) $2 $3) true)
                :nil #(do ((. (expect $1) :to_not :exist)) true)
                :not {:nil #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :exist)) true)}
                :truthy #(do ((. (expect $1) :to :be :truthy)) true)}
diff --git a/test/lust.lua b/test/lust.lua
index b522f6a..73216c3 100644
--- a/test/lust.lua
+++ b/test/lust.lua
@@ -147,10 +147,10 @@ local paths = {
     end
   },
   equal = {
-    test = function(v, x)
+    test = function(v, x, message)
       return strict_eq(v, x),
-        'expected ' .. tostring(v) .. ' and ' .. tostring(x) .. ' to be exactly equal',
-        'expected ' .. tostring(v) .. ' and ' .. tostring(x) .. ' to not be exactly equal'
+        message or 'expected ' .. tostring(v) .. ' and ' .. tostring(x) .. ' to be exactly equal',
+        message or 'expected ' .. tostring(v) .. ' and ' .. tostring(x) .. ' to not be exactly equal'
     end
   },
   have = {