diff --git a/src/lib.go b/src/lib.go
index 4c427a3..5feac8d 100644
--- a/src/lib.go
+++ b/src/lib.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const (
 	NO   Deleted = 0
 	SOFT Deleted = 1
 	HARD Deleted = 2
+	INIT Deleted = 3 // data not written yet
 )
 
 type Record struct {
@@ -34,7 +35,10 @@ func toRecord(data []byte) Record {
 	var rec Record
 	ss := string(data)
 	rec.deleted = NO
-	if strings.HasPrefix(ss, "DELETED") {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(ss, "INIT") {
+		rec.deleted = INIT
+		ss = ss[3:]
+	} else if strings.HasPrefix(ss, "DELETED") {
 		rec.deleted = SOFT
 		ss = ss[7:]
 	}
@@ -51,7 +55,9 @@ func fromRecord(rec Record) []byte {
 	if rec.deleted == HARD {
 		panic("Can't put HARD delete in the database")
 	}
-	if rec.deleted == SOFT {
+	if rec.deleted == INIT {
+		cc = "INIT"
+	} else if rec.deleted == SOFT {
 		cc = "DELETED"
 	}
 	if len(rec.hash) == 32 {
diff --git a/src/server.go b/src/server.go
index 80e7e31..0434c14 100644
--- a/src/server.go
+++ b/src/server.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func (a *App) QueryHandler(key []byte, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// operation is first query parameter (e.g. ?list&limit=10)
 	operation := strings.Split(r.URL.RawQuery, "&")[0]
 	switch operation {
-	case "list", "unlinked":
+	case "list", "writing", "unlinked":
 		start := r.URL.Query().Get("start")
 		limit := 0
 		qlimit := r.URL.Query().Get("limit")
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ func (a *App) QueryHandler(key []byte, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		for iter.Next() {
 			rec := toRecord(iter.Value())
 			if (rec.deleted != NO && operation == "list") ||
+				(rec.deleted != INIT && operation == "writing") ||
 				(rec.deleted != SOFT && operation == "unlinked") {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ func (a *App) WriteToReplicas(key []byte, value io.Reader, valuelen int64) int {
 	kvolumes := key2volume(key, a.volumes, a.replicas, a.subvolumes)
 
 	// push to leveldb initially as deleted, and without a hash since we don't have it yet
-	if !a.PutRecord(key, Record{kvolumes, SOFT, ""}) {
+	if !a.PutRecord(key, Record{kvolumes, INIT, ""}) {
 		return 500
 	}
 
@@ -162,6 +163,8 @@ func (a *App) WriteToReplicas(key []byte, value io.Reader, valuelen int64) int {
 		if remote_put(remote, valuelen, body) != nil {
 			// we assume the remote wrote nothing if it failed
 			fmt.Printf("replica %d write failed: %s\n", i, remote)
+			// try not to leave key in INIT (writing) state
+			a.PutRecord(key, Record{kvolumes, SOFT, hash})
 			return 500
 		}
 	}
@@ -212,7 +215,7 @@ func (a *App) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			// note that the hash is always of the whole file, not the content requested
 			w.Header().Set("Content-Md5", rec.hash)
 		}
-		if rec.deleted == SOFT || rec.deleted == HARD {
+		if rec.deleted != NO {
 			if a.fallback == "" {
 				w.Header().Set("Content-Length", "0")
 				w.WriteHeader(404)