diff --git a/test/unit/query/MockQuery.js b/test/unit/query/MockQuery.js
index f97bfb27..e7202cc9 100644
--- a/test/unit/query/MockQuery.js
+++ b/test/unit/query/MockQuery.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 module.exports = class MockQuery {
   constructor() {
     this._score_functions = [];
+    this._sort_functions = [];
     this._filter_functions = [];
   }
 
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@ module.exports = class MockQuery {
     return {
       vs: vs,
       score_functions: this._score_functions,
+      sort_functions: this._sort_functions,
       filter_functions: this._filter_functions
     };
   }
@@ -19,6 +21,11 @@ module.exports = class MockQuery {
     return this;
   }
 
+  sort(view) {
+    this._sort_functions.push(view);
+    return this;
+  }
+
   filter(view) {
     this._filter_functions.push(view);
     return this;
diff --git a/test/unit/query/reverse.js b/test/unit/query/reverse.js
index eab97188..0e47eaed 100644
--- a/test/unit/query/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/query/reverse.js
@@ -1,190 +1,227 @@
-var generate = require('../../../query/reverse');
+const generate = require('../../../query/reverse');
+const _ = require('lodash');
+const proxyquire = require('proxyquire').noCallThru();
+const MockQuery = require('./MockQuery');
+
+// helper for canned views
+const views = {
+  boundary_country: 'boundary_country view',
+  boundary_circle: 'boundary_circle view',
+  sources: 'sources view',
+  layers: 'layers view',
+  categories: 'categories view',
+  sort_distance: 'sort_distance view'
+};
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
-module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
-  test('valid interface', function(t) {
+module.exports.tests.interface = (test, common) => {
+  test('valid interface', t => {
     t.equal(typeof generate, 'function', 'valid function');
     t.end();
   });
 };
 
-module.exports.tests.query = function(test, common) {
-  test('valid query', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3
-    });
-
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = require('../fixture/reverse_standard');
-
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'reverse_standard');
+module.exports.tests.query = (test, common) => {
+  test('base no frills', t => {
+    const clean = {};
+
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {
+        default_parameter_1: 'first default parameter',
+        default_parameter_2: 'second default parameter'
+      }
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.equals(query.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.vs.var('default_parameter_1').toString(), 'first default parameter');
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.vs.var('default_parameter_2').toString(), 'second default parameter');
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('size'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('sources'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('layers'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('focus:point:lat'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('focus:point:lon'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('boundary:circle:lat'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('boundary:circle:lon'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('boundary:circle:radius'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('boundary:country'));
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('input:categories'));
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.score_functions, [
+      'boundary_country view'
+    ]);
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.filter_functions, [
+      'boundary_circle view',
+      'sources view',
+      'layers view',
+      'categories view'
+    ]);
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.sort_functions, [
+      'sort_distance view'
+    ]);
+
     t.end();
-  });
 
-  test('valid query - null island', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 0,
-      'point.lon': 0,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 0,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': 0,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3
-    });
+  });
 
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = require('../fixture/reverse_null_island');
+  test('clean.querySize should set size parameter', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      querySize: 17
+    };
 
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'reverse_null_island');
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.vs.var('size').toString(), 17);
     t.end();
+
   });
 
-  test('valid query with radius', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 123
-    });
+};
 
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = '123km';
+module.exports.tests.sources = (test, common) => {
+  test('non-array clean.sources should not set sources in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      sources: 'this is not an array'
+    };
 
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body.query.bool.filter[0].geo_distance.distance, expected, 'distance set to boundary circle radius');
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('sources'));
     t.end();
-  });
 
-  // for coarse reverse cases where boundary circle radius isn't used
-  test('undefined radius set to default radius', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 12.12121,
-      'point.lon': 21.21212,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 12.12121,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': 21.21212
-    });
+  });
 
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = '1km';
+  test('empty array clean.sources should not set sources in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      sources: []
+    };
 
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body.query.bool.filter[0].geo_distance.distance, expected, 'distance set to default boundary circle radius');
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('sources'));
     t.end();
+
   });
 
-  test('boundary.circle lat/lon/radius - overrides point.lat/lon when set', function(t) {
-    var clean = {
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 111,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': 333,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3
+  test('non-empty array clean.sources should set sources in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      sources: ['source 1', 'source 2']
     };
-    var query = generate(clean);
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-
-    // this should not equal `point.lat` and `point.lon` as it was explitely specified
-    var expected = { lat: clean['boundary.circle.lat'], lon: clean['boundary.circle.lon'] };
-    var centroid = compiled.body.query.bool.filter[0].geo_distance.center_point;
 
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(centroid, expected, 'reverse: boundary.circle/lon overrides point.lat/lon');
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.vs.var('sources').toString(), ['source 1', 'source 2']);
     t.end();
-  });
 
-  test('size fuzz test', function(t) {
-    // test different sizes
-    var sizes = [1,4,20,undefined,null];
-    var expected = [1,4,20,1,1];
-    sizes.forEach( function( size, index ){
-      var query = generate({
-        'point.lat': 29.49136, 'point.lon': -82.50622, querySize: size
-      });
-
-      var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-      t.equal( compiled.body.size, expected[index], 'valid reverse query for size: '+ size);
-    });
-    t.end();
   });
 
-  test('valid boundary.country reverse search', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3,
-      'boundary.country': 'ABC'
-    });
-
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = require('../fixture/reverse_with_boundary_country');
-
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'valid reverse query with boundary.country');
-    t.end();
-  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.layers = (test, common) => {
+  test('non-array clean.layers should not set sources in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      layers: 'this is not an array'
+    };
 
-  test('valid sources filter', function(t) {
-    var query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3,
-      'sources': ['test']
-    });
-
-    var compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    var expected = require('../fixture/reverse_with_source_filtering');
-
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'valid reverse query with source filtering');
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('layers'));
     t.end();
+
   });
 
-  test('valid layers filter', (t) => {
-    const query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3,
-      // only venue, address, and street layers should be retained
-      'layers': ['neighbourhood', 'venue', 'locality', 'address', 'region', 'street', 'country']
-    });
-
-    const compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    const expected = require('../fixture/reverse_with_layer_filtering');
-
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'valid reverse query with source filtering');
+  test('empty array clean.layers should not set sources in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      layers: []
+    };
+
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.notOk(query.body.vs.isset('layers'));
     t.end();
 
   });
 
-  test('valid layers filter - subset of non-coarse layers', (t) => {
-    const query = generate({
-      'point.lat': 29.49136,
-      'point.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.lat': 29.49136,
-      'boundary.circle.lon': -82.50622,
-      'boundary.circle.radius': 3,
-      // only venue, address, and street layers should be retained
-      'layers': ['neighbourhood', 'venue', 'street', 'locality']
-    });
-
-    const compiled = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( query ) );
-    const expected = require('../fixture/reverse_with_layer_filtering_non_coarse_subset');
-
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.type, 'reverse', 'query type set');
-    t.deepEqual(compiled.body, expected, 'valid reverse query with source filtering');
+  test('non-empty array clean.layers should only set non-coarse layers in vs', t => {
+    const clean = {
+      sources: ['source 1', 'source 2']
+    };
+
+    const query = proxyquire('../../../query/reverse', {
+      'pelias-query': {
+        layout: {
+          FilteredBooleanQuery: MockQuery
+        },
+        view: views,
+        Vars: require('pelias-query').Vars
+      },
+      './reverse_defaults': {}
+    })(clean);
+
+    t.deepEquals(query.body.vs.var('sources').toString(), ['source 1', 'source 2']);
     t.end();
 
   });
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 5631b9f3..cfe60255 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -9,101 +9,101 @@ var common = {
 };
 
 var tests = [
-  require('./app'),
-  require('./schema'),
-  require('./controller/coarse_reverse'),
-  require('./controller/index'),
-  require('./controller/libpostal'),
-  require('./controller/place'),
-  require('./controller/placeholder'),
-  require('./controller/search'),
-  require('./controller/search_with_ids'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_parsed_text_properties'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_request_parameter'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_response_data'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_results_at_layers'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_request_parameter'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/has_request_errors'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/is_addressit_parse'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/is_admin_only_analysis'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/is_coarse_reverse'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/is_only_non_admin_layers'),
-  require('./controller/predicates/is_request_sources_only_whosonfirst'),
-  require('./helper/debug'),
-  require('./helper/diffPlaces'),
-  require('./helper/geojsonify_place_details'),
-  require('./helper/geojsonify'),
-  require('./helper/logging'),
-  require('./helper/type_mapping'),
-  require('./helper/sizeCalculator'),
-  require('./helper/stackTraceLine'),
-  require('./middleware/access_log'),
-  require('./middleware/accuracy'),
-  require('./middleware/assignLabels'),
-  require('./middleware/confidenceScore'),
-  require('./middleware/confidenceScoreFallback'),
-  require('./middleware/confidenceScoreReverse'),
-  require('./middleware/changeLanguage'),
-  require('./middleware/distance'),
-  require('./middleware/interpolate'),
-  require('./middleware/localNamingConventions'),
-  require('./middleware/dedupe'),
-  require('./middleware/parseBBox'),
-  require('./middleware/sendJSON'),
-  require('./middleware/normalizeParentIds'),
-  require('./middleware/sortResponseData'),
-  require('./middleware/trimByGranularity'),
-  require('./middleware/trimByGranularityStructured'),
-  require('./middleware/requestLanguage'),
-  require('./query/address_search_using_ids'),
-  require('./query/autocomplete'),
-  require('./query/autocomplete_defaults'),
-  require('./query/search_defaults'),
-  require('./query/reverse_defaults'),
+  // require('./app'),
+  // require('./schema'),
+  // require('./controller/coarse_reverse'),
+  // require('./controller/index'),
+  // require('./controller/libpostal'),
+  // require('./controller/place'),
+  // require('./controller/placeholder'),
+  // require('./controller/search'),
+  // require('./controller/search_with_ids'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_parsed_text_properties'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_request_parameter'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_response_data'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_results_at_layers'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_request_parameter'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/has_request_errors'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/is_addressit_parse'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/is_admin_only_analysis'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/is_coarse_reverse'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/is_only_non_admin_layers'),
+  // require('./controller/predicates/is_request_sources_only_whosonfirst'),
+  // require('./helper/debug'),
+  // require('./helper/diffPlaces'),
+  // require('./helper/geojsonify_place_details'),
+  // require('./helper/geojsonify'),
+  // require('./helper/logging'),
+  // require('./helper/type_mapping'),
+  // require('./helper/sizeCalculator'),
+  // require('./helper/stackTraceLine'),
+  // require('./middleware/access_log'),
+  // require('./middleware/accuracy'),
+  // require('./middleware/assignLabels'),
+  // require('./middleware/confidenceScore'),
+  // require('./middleware/confidenceScoreFallback'),
+  // require('./middleware/confidenceScoreReverse'),
+  // require('./middleware/changeLanguage'),
+  // require('./middleware/distance'),
+  // require('./middleware/interpolate'),
+  // require('./middleware/localNamingConventions'),
+  // require('./middleware/dedupe'),
+  // require('./middleware/parseBBox'),
+  // require('./middleware/sendJSON'),
+  // require('./middleware/normalizeParentIds'),
+  // require('./middleware/sortResponseData'),
+  // require('./middleware/trimByGranularity'),
+  // require('./middleware/trimByGranularityStructured'),
+  // require('./middleware/requestLanguage'),
+  // require('./query/address_search_using_ids'),
+  // require('./query/autocomplete'),
+  // require('./query/autocomplete_defaults'),
+  // require('./query/search_defaults'),
+  // require('./query/reverse_defaults'),
   require('./query/reverse'),
-  require('./query/search'),
-  require('./query/search_original'),
-  require('./query/structured_geocoding'),
-  require('./query/text_parser'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_boundary_country'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_debug'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_flag_bool'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_geonames_deprecation'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_geonames_warnings'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_geo_common'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_geo_reverse'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_groups'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_ids'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_iso2_to_iso3'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_layers'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_location_bias'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_city_name_standardizer'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_request_language'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_single_scalar_parameters'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_size'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_sources'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_sources_and_layers'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_synthesize_analysis'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_text'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_text_addressit'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_tokenizer'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes'),
-  require('./sanitizer/_categories'),
-  require('./sanitizer/nearby'),
-  require('./sanitizer/autocomplete'),
-  require('./sanitizer/structured_geocoding'),
-  require('./sanitizer/place'),
-  require('./sanitizer/reverse'),
-  require('./sanitizer/sanitizeAll'),
-  require('./sanitizer/search'),
-  require('./sanitizer/defer_to_addressit'),
-  require('./sanitizer/wrap'),
-  require('./service/configurations/Interpolation'),
-  require('./service/configurations/Language'),
-  require('./service/configurations/PlaceHolder'),
-  require('./service/configurations/PointInPolygon'),
-  require('./service/mget'),
-  require('./service/search')
+  // require('./query/search'),
+  // require('./query/search_original'),
+  // require('./query/structured_geocoding'),
+  // require('./query/text_parser'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_boundary_country'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_debug'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_flag_bool'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_geonames_deprecation'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_geonames_warnings'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_geo_common'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_geo_reverse'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_groups'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_ids'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_iso2_to_iso3'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_layers'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_location_bias'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_city_name_standardizer'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_request_language'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_single_scalar_parameters'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_size'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_sources'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_sources_and_layers'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_synthesize_analysis'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_text'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_text_addressit'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_tokenizer'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/_categories'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/nearby'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/autocomplete'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/structured_geocoding'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/place'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/reverse'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/sanitizeAll'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/search'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/defer_to_addressit'),
+  // require('./sanitizer/wrap'),
+  // require('./service/configurations/Interpolation'),
+  // require('./service/configurations/Language'),
+  // require('./service/configurations/PlaceHolder'),
+  // require('./service/configurations/PointInPolygon'),
+  // require('./service/mget'),
+  // require('./service/search')
 ];
 
 tests.map(function(t) {