diff --git a/src/algos/whats-alf.ts b/src/algos/whats-alf.ts
index ece91fac1..1aeb04e7c 100644
--- a/src/algos/whats-alf.ts
+++ b/src/algos/whats-alf.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ export const handler = async (ctx: AppContext, params: QueryParams) => {
     .limit(params.limit)
 
   if (params.cursor) {
+    const [indexedAt, cid] = params.cursor.split('::')
+    if (!indexedAt || !cid) {
+      throw new InvalidRequestError('malformed cursor')
+    }
     const timeStr = new Date(parseInt(params.cursor, 10)).toISOString()
     builder = builder.where('post.indexedAt', '<', timeStr)
   }
diff --git a/src/db/migrations.ts b/src/db/migrations.ts
index be720eede..73fe548bb 100644
--- a/src/db/migrations.ts
+++ b/src/db/migrations.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ migrations['001'] = {
       .addColumn('uri', 'varchar', (col) => col.primaryKey())
       .addColumn('cid', 'varchar', (col) => col.notNull())
       .addColumn('indexedAt', 'varchar', (col) => col.notNull())
+      .addColumn('postText', 'varchar')
       .execute()
     await db.schema
       .createTable('sub_state')
diff --git a/src/subscription.ts b/src/subscription.ts
index 0422a03cb..2ddb23961 100644
--- a/src/subscription.ts
+++ b/src/subscription.ts
@@ -19,16 +19,13 @@ export class FirehoseSubscription extends FirehoseSubscriptionBase {
 
     const postsToDelete = ops.posts.deletes.map((del) => del.uri)
     const postsToCreate = ops.posts.creates
-      .filter((create) => {
-        // only alf-related posts
-        return create.record.text.toLowerCase().includes('alf')
-      })
       .map((create) => {
         // map alf-related posts to a db row
         return {
           uri: create.uri,
           cid: create.cid,
           indexedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+          postText: create.record.text.toLowerCase()
         }
       })