diff --git a/query/reverse.js b/query/reverse.js
index fd835e8f..4e8b13c5 100644
--- a/query/reverse.js
+++ b/query/reverse.js
@@ -1,33 +1,52 @@
 
-var queries = require('geopipes-elasticsearch-backend').queries,
+var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
     sort = require('./sort');
 
-function generate( params ){
+//------------------------------
+// reverse geocode query
+//------------------------------
+var query = new peliasQuery.layout.FilteredBooleanQuery();
 
-  var centroid = {
-    lat: params.lat,
-    lon: params.lon
-  };
+// scoring boost
+query.sort( peliasQuery.view.sort_distance );
 
-  var query = queries.distance( centroid, {
-    size: params.size || 1,
-    sort: true,
-    distance: '500km'
+// non-scoring hard filters
+query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle );
+
+// --------------------------------
+
+function generateQuery( clean ){
+
+  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( peliasQuery.defaults );
+
+  // set defaults
+  vs.set({
+    'size': 1,
+    'boundary:circle:radius': '500km'
   });
 
-  query.sort = query.sort.concat( sort( params ) );
+  // set size
+  if( clean.size ){
+    vs.var( 'size', clean.size );
+  }
 
-  if ( params.categories && params.categories.length > 0 ) {
-    addCategoriesFilter( query, params.categories );
+  // focus point centroid
+  if( clean.lat && clean.lon ){
+    vs.set({
+      // focus point to score by distance
+      'focus:point:lat': clean.lat,
+      'focus:point:lon': clean.lon,
+
+      // bounding circle
+      'boundary:circle:lat': clean.lat,
+      'boundary:circle:lon': clean.lon,
+    });
   }
 
-  return query;
-}
+  var result = query.render( vs );
 
-function addCategoriesFilter( query, categories ) {
-  query.query.filtered.filter.bool.must.push({
-    terms: { category: categories }
-  });
+  // @todo: remove this hack
+  return JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( result ) );
 }
 
-module.exports = generate;
+module.exports = generateQuery;
diff --git a/query/search.js b/query/search.js
index 4ba311c9..de523c20 100644
--- a/query/search.js
+++ b/query/search.js
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('locality') );
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('neighborhood') );
 
 // non-scoring hard filters
-query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle, 'must' );
-query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_rect, 'must' );
+query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle );
+query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_rect );
 
 // --------------------------------
 
-function generate( clean ){
+function generateQuery( clean ){
 
   var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( peliasQuery.defaults );
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ function generate( clean ){
     // ==== deal with the 'leftover' components ====
     // @todo: clean up this code
 
-    // a concept called 'leftovers' which is just 'admin_parts' plus 'regions'.
+    // a concept called 'leftovers' which is just 'admin_parts' /or 'regions'.
     var leftoversString = '';
     if( clean.parsed_input.hasOwnProperty('admin_parts') ){
       leftoversString = clean.parsed_input.admin_parts;
@@ -150,10 +150,12 @@ function generate( clean ){
   }
 
   var result = query.render( vs );
+
+  // @todo: remove unnessesary sort conditions
   result.sort = result.sort.concat( sort( clean ) );
 
   // @todo: remove this hack
   return JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( result ) );
 }
 
-module.exports = generate;
+module.exports = generateQuery;
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/reverse_standard.js b/test/unit/fixture/reverse_standard.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b7cc058f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/reverse_standard.js
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+
+module.exports = {
+  'query': {
+    'filtered': {
+      'query': {
+        'bool': {}
+      },
+      'filter': {
+        'bool': {
+          'must': [
+            {
+              'geo_distance': {
+                'distance': '500km',
+                'distance_type': 'plane',
+                'optimize_bbox': 'indexed',
+                '_cache': true,
+                'center_point': {
+                  'lat': 29.49136,
+                  'lon': -82.50622
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  'sort': [
+    '_score',
+    {
+      '_geo_distance': {
+        'center_point': {
+          'lat': 29.49136,
+          'lon': -82.50622
+        },
+        'order': 'asc',
+        'distance_type': 'plane'
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  'size': 1,
+  'track_scores': true
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/unit/query/reverse.js b/test/unit/query/reverse.js
index e200b832..a8dde064 100644
--- a/test/unit/query/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/query/reverse.js
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 
 var generate = require('../../../query/reverse');
-var admin_boost = 'admin_boost';
-var population = 'population';
-var popularity = 'popularity';
-var category = 'category';
-var category_weights = require('../../../helper/category_weights');
-var admin_weights = require('../../../helper/admin_weights');
-var weights = require('pelias-suggester-pipeline').weights;
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
+function debug( a,b ){
+  console.log( '----------------------' );
+  console.log( JSON.stringify( a, null, 2 ) );
+  console.log( '----------------------' );
+  console.log( JSON.stringify( b, null, 2 ) );
+  console.log( '----------------------' );
+}
+
 module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
   test('valid interface', function(t) {
     t.equal(typeof generate, 'function', 'valid function');
@@ -17,185 +18,25 @@ module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
   });
 };
 
-var sort = [
-  '_score',
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'file': admin_boost,
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'file': popularity,
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'file': population,
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'params': {
-        'weights': admin_weights
-      },
-      'file': 'weights',
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'params': {
-        'category_weights': category_weights.default
-      },
-      'file': category,
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  },
-  {
-    '_script': {
-      'params': {
-        'weights': weights
-      },
-      'file': 'weights',
-      'type': 'number',
-      'order': 'desc'
-    }
-  }
-];
-
 module.exports.tests.query = function(test, common) {
   test('valid query', function(t) {
     var query = generate({
       lat: 29.49136, lon: -82.50622
     });
     
-    var expected = {
-      'query': {
-        'filtered': {
-          'query': {
-            'match_all': {}
-          },
-          'filter': {
-            'bool': {
-              'must': [
-                {
-                  'geo_distance': {
-                    'distance': '500km',
-                    'distance_type': 'plane',
-                    'optimize_bbox': 'indexed',
-                    '_cache': true,
-                    'center_point': {
-                      'lat': '29.49',
-                      'lon': '-82.51'
-                    }
-                  }
-                }
-              ]
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      },
-      'sort': [
-        '_score',
-        {
-          '_geo_distance': {
-            'center_point': {
-              'lat': 29.49136,
-              'lon': -82.50622
-            },
-            'order': 'asc',
-            'unit': 'km'
-          }
-        }
-      ].concat(sort.slice(1)),
-      'size': 1,
-      'track_scores': true
-    };
-
+    var expected = require('../fixture/reverse_standard');
     t.deepEqual(query, expected, 'valid reverse query');
-
+    t.end();
+  });
+  test('size fuzz test', function(t) {
     // test different sizes
     var sizes = [1,2,10,undefined,null];
-    sizes.forEach( function(size) {
-      query = generate({
+    sizes.forEach( function( size ){
+      var query = generate({
         lat: 29.49136, lon: -82.50622, size: size
       });
-      expected.size = size ? size : 1;
-      t.deepEqual(query, expected, 'valid reverse query for size: '+ size);      
-    });
-    t.end();
-  });
-
-  test('valid query with categories', function(t) {
-    var params = { lat: 29.49136, lon: -82.50622, categories: ['food', 'education', 'entertainment'] };
-    var query = generate(params);
-
-    var expected = {
-      'query': {
-        'filtered': {
-          'query': {
-            'match_all': {}
-          },
-          'filter': {
-            'bool': {
-              'must': [
-                {
-                  'geo_distance': {
-                    'distance': '500km',
-                    'distance_type': 'plane',
-                    'optimize_bbox': 'indexed',
-                    '_cache': true,
-                    'center_point': {
-                      'lat': '29.49',
-                      'lon': '-82.51'
-                    }
-                  }
-                },
-                {
-                  'terms': {
-                    'category': params.categories
-                  }
-                }
-              ]
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      },
-      'sort': [
-        '_score',
-        {
-          '_geo_distance': {
-            'center_point': {
-              'lat': 29.49136,
-              'lon': -82.50622
-            },
-            'order': 'asc',
-            'unit': 'km'
-          }
-        }
-      ].concat(sort.slice(1)),
-      'size': 1,
-      'track_scores': true
-    };
 
-    t.deepEqual(query, expected, 'valid reverse query with categories');
-
-    // test different sizes
-    var sizes = [1,2,10,undefined,null];
-    sizes.forEach( function(size) {
-      params.size = size;
-      query = generate(params);
-      expected.size = size ? size : 1;
-      t.deepEqual(query, expected, 'valid reverse query for size: '+ size);
+      t.equal( query.size, size ? size : 1, 'valid reverse query for size: '+ size);      
     });
     t.end();
   });