diff --git a/hecl/CMakeLists.txt b/hecl/CMakeLists.txt
index 7b805408b..22370cb9c 100644
--- a/hecl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/hecl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ set(BOO_INCLUDE_DIR extern/boo/include)
 add_subdirectory(bintoc)
 add_subdirectory(extern)
 add_definitions(${BOO_SYS_DEFINES})
-include_directories(include ${LOGVISOR_INCLUDE_DIR} ${ATHENA_INCLUDE_DIR} ${BOO_INCLUDE_DIR} ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR})
+include_directories(include blender ${LOGVISOR_INCLUDE_DIR} ${ATHENA_INCLUDE_DIR} ${BOO_INCLUDE_DIR} ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR})
 add_subdirectory(lib)
 add_subdirectory(blender)
 add_subdirectory(driver)
diff --git a/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.cpp b/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.cpp
index aefccc567..7e391e756 100644
--- a/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.cpp
+++ b/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ namespace hecl
 {
 
 logvisor::Module BlenderLog("BlenderConnection");
-BlenderConnection* SharedBlenderConnection = nullptr;
+BlenderToken SharedBlenderToken;
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__
 #define DEFAULT_BLENDER_BIN "/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS/blender"
@@ -952,4 +952,14 @@ void BlenderConnection::quitBlender()
     _readLine(lineBuf, sizeof(lineBuf));
 }
 
+BlenderConnection& BlenderConnection::SharedConnection()
+{
+    return SharedBlenderToken.getBlenderConnection();
+}
+
+void BlenderConnection::Shutdown()
+{
+    SharedBlenderToken.shutdown();
+}
+
 }
diff --git a/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.hpp b/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.hpp
index 4edafc93b..7ae7fd16a 100644
--- a/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.hpp
+++ b/hecl/blender/BlenderConnection.hpp
@@ -24,12 +24,13 @@
 #include "hecl/HMDLMeta.hpp"
 #include <athena/Types.hpp>
 #include <athena/MemoryWriter.hpp>
+#include <optional.hpp>
 
 namespace hecl
 {
 
 extern logvisor::Module BlenderLog;
-extern class BlenderConnection* SharedBlenderConnection;
+extern class BlenderToken SharedBlenderToken;
 class HMDLBuffers;
 
 class BlenderConnection
@@ -681,31 +682,35 @@ public:
 
     void quitBlender();
 
-    static BlenderConnection& SharedConnection()
-    {
-        if (!SharedBlenderConnection)
-            SharedBlenderConnection = new BlenderConnection(hecl::VerbosityLevel);
-        return *SharedBlenderConnection;
-    }
-
     void closeStream()
     {
         if (m_lock)
             deleteBlend();
     }
 
-    static void Shutdown()
+    static BlenderConnection& SharedConnection();
+    static void Shutdown();
+};
+
+class BlenderToken
+{
+    std::experimental::optional<BlenderConnection> m_conn;
+public:
+    BlenderConnection& getBlenderConnection()
     {
-        if (SharedBlenderConnection)
+        if (!m_conn)
+            m_conn.emplace();
+        return *m_conn;
+    }
+    void shutdown()
+    {
+        if (m_conn)
         {
-            SharedBlenderConnection->closeStream();
-            SharedBlenderConnection->quitBlender();
-            delete SharedBlenderConnection;
-            SharedBlenderConnection = nullptr;
+            m_conn->quitBlender();
+            m_conn = std::experimental::nullopt;
             BlenderLog.report(logvisor::Info, "BlenderConnection Shutdown Successful");
         }
     }
-
 };
 
 class HMDLBuffers
diff --git a/hecl/include/hecl/ClientProcess.hpp b/hecl/include/hecl/ClientProcess.hpp
index c55176caa..09ff5d28c 100644
--- a/hecl/include/hecl/ClientProcess.hpp
+++ b/hecl/include/hecl/ClientProcess.hpp
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #define HECL_CLIENT_PROCESS_HPP
 
 #include "hecl.hpp"
+#include "Database.hpp"
+#include "BlenderConnection.hpp"
 #include <list>
 #include <thread>
 #include <mutex>
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ public:
             Cook
         } m_type;
         bool m_complete = false;
-        virtual void run()=0;
+        virtual void run(BlenderToken& btok)=0;
         Transaction(ClientProcess& parent, Type tp) : m_parent(parent), m_type(tp) {}
     };
     struct BufferTransaction : Transaction
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ public:
         void* m_targetBuf;
         size_t m_maxLen;
         size_t m_offset;
-        void run();
+        void run(BlenderToken& btok);
         BufferTransaction(ClientProcess& parent, const ProjectPath& path,
                           void* target, size_t maxLen, size_t offset)
         : Transaction(parent, Type::Buffer),
@@ -45,10 +47,11 @@ public:
     struct CookTransaction : Transaction
     {
         ProjectPath m_path;
-        int m_returnVal = 0;
-        void run();
-        CookTransaction(ClientProcess& parent, const ProjectPath& path)
-        : Transaction(parent, Type::Cook), m_path(path) {}
+        Database::IDataSpec* m_dataSpec;
+        bool m_returnResult = false;
+        void run(BlenderToken& btok);
+        CookTransaction(ClientProcess& parent, const ProjectPath& path, Database::IDataSpec* spec)
+        : Transaction(parent, Type::Cook), m_path(path), m_dataSpec(spec) {}
     };
 private:
     std::list<std::unique_ptr<Transaction>> m_pendingQueue;
@@ -59,6 +62,7 @@ private:
     {
         ClientProcess& m_proc;
         std::thread m_thr;
+        BlenderToken m_blendTok;
         Worker(ClientProcess& proc);
         void proc();
     };
@@ -69,8 +73,8 @@ public:
     ~ClientProcess() {shutdown();}
     const BufferTransaction* addBufferTransaction(const hecl::ProjectPath& path, void* target,
                                                   size_t maxLen, size_t offset);
-    const CookTransaction* addCookTransaction(const hecl::ProjectPath& path);
-    int syncCook(const hecl::ProjectPath& path);
+    const CookTransaction* addCookTransaction(const hecl::ProjectPath& path, Database::IDataSpec* spec);
+    bool syncCook(const hecl::ProjectPath& path, Database::IDataSpec* spec, BlenderToken& btok);
     void swapCompletedQueue(std::list<std::unique_ptr<Transaction>>& queue);
     void shutdown();
 };
diff --git a/hecl/include/hecl/Database.hpp b/hecl/include/hecl/Database.hpp
index eec06e109..64b603e32 100644
--- a/hecl/include/hecl/Database.hpp
+++ b/hecl/include/hecl/Database.hpp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 
 namespace hecl
 {
+class BlenderToken;
+
 namespace Database
 {
 class Project;
@@ -64,7 +66,9 @@ public:
  */
 class IDataSpec
 {
+    const DataSpecEntry* m_specEntry;
 public:
+    IDataSpec(const DataSpecEntry* specEntry) : m_specEntry(specEntry) {}
     virtual ~IDataSpec() {}
     using FProgress = hecl::Database::FProgress;
     using FCookProgress = std::function<void(const SystemChar*)>;
@@ -100,13 +104,14 @@ public:
     virtual void doExtract(const ExtractPassInfo& info, FProgress progress)
     {(void)info;(void)progress;}
 
-    virtual bool canCook(const ProjectPath& path)
+    virtual bool canCook(const ProjectPath& path, BlenderToken& btok)
     {(void)path;LogModule.report(logvisor::Error, "not implemented");return false;}
-    virtual const DataSpecEntry* overrideDataSpec(const hecl::ProjectPath& path,
-                                                  const hecl::Database::DataSpecEntry* oldEntry)
+    virtual const DataSpecEntry* overrideDataSpec(const ProjectPath& path,
+                                                  const Database::DataSpecEntry* oldEntry,
+                                                  BlenderToken& btok)
     {(void)path;return oldEntry;}
     virtual void doCook(const ProjectPath& path, const ProjectPath& cookedPath,
-                        bool fast, FCookProgress progress)
+                        bool fast, BlenderToken& btok, FCookProgress progress)
     {(void)path;(void)cookedPath;(void)fast;(void)progress;}
 
     /**
@@ -130,6 +135,8 @@ public:
     {(void)info;(void)implicitsOut;}
     virtual void doPackage(const PackagePassInfo& info)
     {(void)info;}
+
+    const DataSpecEntry* getDataSpecEntry() const {return m_specEntry;}
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/hecl/lib/ClientProcess.cpp b/hecl/lib/ClientProcess.cpp
index cd662587f..09beac56a 100644
--- a/hecl/lib/ClientProcess.cpp
+++ b/hecl/lib/ClientProcess.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "hecl/ClientProcess.hpp"
 #include "hecl/Database.hpp"
 #include "athena/FileReader.hpp"
+#include "BlenderConnection.hpp"
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
@@ -13,115 +14,6 @@ namespace hecl
 {
 static logvisor::Module Log("hecl::ClientProcess");
 
-static bool ExecProcessAndWait(bool verbose,
-                               const SystemChar* exePath,
-                               const SystemChar* workDir,
-                               const SystemChar* args[],
-                               int& returnCode)
-{
-#if _WIN32
-    std::wstring cmdLine;
-    for (const SystemChar** it=args ; *it ; ++it)
-    {
-        if (it != args)
-            cmdLine.append(L' ');
-        cmdLine.append(*it);
-    }
-
-    STARTUPINFO sinfo = {sizeof(STARTUPINFO)};
-    HANDLE nulHandle = NULL;
-    if (!verbose)
-    {
-        SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sattrs = {sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES), NULL, TRUE};
-        nulHandle = CreateFileW(L"nul", GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ|FILE_SHARE_WRITE, &sattrs,
-                                OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
-        sinfo.hStdError = nulHandle;
-        sinfo.hStdOutput = nulHandle;
-        sinfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
-    }
-
-    PROCESS_INFORMATION pinfo;
-    if (!CreateProcessW(exePath, cmdLine.c_str(), NULL, NULL, TRUE, NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, NULL, workDir, &sinfo, &pinfo))
-    {
-        LPWSTR messageBuffer = nullptr;
-        size_t size = FormatMessageW(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
-            NULL, GetLastError(), MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT), (LPWSTR)&messageBuffer, 0, NULL);
-        Log.report(logvisor::Fatal, L"error launching '%s': %s", exePath, messageBuffer);
-    }
-
-    if (nulHandle)
-        CloseHandle(nulHandle);
-
-    CloseHandle(pinfo.hThread);
-    WaitForSingleObject(pinfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
-    DWORD exitCode;
-    GetExitCodeProcess(pinfo.hProcess, &exitCode);
-    returnCode = exitCode;
-    CloseHandle(pinfo.hProcess);
-
-    if (exitCode == 0)
-        return true;
-
-    return false;
-
-#else
-    /* Assemble command args */
-    std::vector<const SystemChar*> assembleArgs;
-    size_t argCount = 0;
-    for (const SystemChar** it=args ; *it ; ++it) ++argCount;
-    assembleArgs.reserve(argCount+2);
-    assembleArgs.push_back(exePath);
-    for (const SystemChar** it=args ; *it ; ++it) assembleArgs.push_back(*it);
-    assembleArgs.push_back(nullptr);
-
-    if (verbose)
-    {
-        printf("cd %s\n", workDir);
-        for (const SystemChar* arg : assembleArgs)
-            if (arg)
-                printf("%s ", arg);
-        printf("\n");
-        fflush(stdout);
-    }
-
-    pid_t pid = fork();
-    if (!pid)
-    {
-        chdir(workDir);
-
-        if (!verbose)
-        {
-            int devNull = open("/dev/null", O_WRONLY);
-            dup2(devNull, STDOUT_FILENO);
-            dup2(devNull, STDERR_FILENO);
-        }
-
-        if (execvp(exePath, (char*const*)assembleArgs.data()) < 0)
-        {
-            Log.report(logvisor::Fatal, _S("error execing '%s': %s"), exePath, strerror(errno));
-        }
-
-        exit(1);
-    }
-
-    int exitStatus;
-    if (waitpid(pid, &exitStatus, 0) < 0)
-        Log.report(logvisor::Fatal, "unable to wait for hecl process to complete: %s", strerror(errno));
-
-    if (WIFEXITED(exitStatus))
-    {
-        returnCode = WEXITSTATUS(exitStatus);
-        if (WEXITSTATUS(exitStatus) == 0)
-        {
-            return true;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return false;
-
-#endif
-}
-
 static int GetCPUCount()
 {
 #if _WIN32
@@ -133,7 +25,7 @@ static int GetCPUCount()
 #endif
 }
 
-void ClientProcess::BufferTransaction::run()
+void ClientProcess::BufferTransaction::run(BlenderToken& btok)
 {
     athena::io::FileReader r(m_path.getAbsolutePath(), 32 * 1024, false);
     if (r.hasError())
@@ -148,9 +40,9 @@ void ClientProcess::BufferTransaction::run()
     m_complete = true;
 }
 
-void ClientProcess::CookTransaction::run()
+void ClientProcess::CookTransaction::run(BlenderToken& btok)
 {
-    m_returnVal = m_parent.syncCook(m_path);
+    m_returnResult = m_parent.syncCook(m_path, m_dataSpec, btok);
     m_complete = true;
 }
 
@@ -170,7 +62,7 @@ void ClientProcess::Worker::proc()
             std::unique_ptr<Transaction> trans = std::move(m_proc.m_pendingQueue.front());
             m_proc.m_pendingQueue.pop_front();
             lk.unlock();
-            trans->run();
+            trans->run(m_blendTok);
             lk.lock();
             m_proc.m_completedQueue.push_back(std::move(trans));
         }
@@ -199,30 +91,28 @@ ClientProcess::addBufferTransaction(const ProjectPath& path, void* target,
 }
 
 const ClientProcess::CookTransaction*
-ClientProcess::addCookTransaction(const hecl::ProjectPath& path)
+ClientProcess::addCookTransaction(const hecl::ProjectPath& path, Database::IDataSpec* spec)
 {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(m_mutex);
-    CookTransaction* ret = new CookTransaction(*this, path);
+    CookTransaction* ret = new CookTransaction(*this, path, spec);
     m_pendingQueue.emplace_back(ret);
     m_cv.notify_one();
     return ret;
 }
 
-int ClientProcess::syncCook(const hecl::ProjectPath& path)
+bool ClientProcess::syncCook(const hecl::ProjectPath& path, Database::IDataSpec* spec, BlenderToken& btok)
 {
-    const SystemChar* workDir = path.getProject().getProjectWorkingPath().getAbsolutePath().c_str();
-    const SystemChar* args[] = {_S("cook"), path.getAbsolutePath().c_str(), nullptr};
-    int returnCode;
-    const SystemChar* heclOverride = hecl::GetEnv(_S("HECL_BIN"));
-    if (heclOverride)
+    if (spec->canCook(path, btok))
     {
-        if (ExecProcessAndWait(m_verbosity != 0, heclOverride, workDir, args, returnCode))
-            return returnCode;
+        const Database::DataSpecEntry* specEnt = spec->overrideDataSpec(path, spec->getDataSpecEntry(), btok);
+        if (specEnt)
+        {
+            hecl::ProjectPath cooked = path.getCookedPath(*specEnt);
+            spec->doCook(path, cooked, false, btok, [](const SystemChar*) {});
+            return true;
+        }
     }
-    if (!ExecProcessAndWait(m_verbosity != 0, _S("hecl"), workDir, args, returnCode))
-        Log.report(logvisor::Fatal, _S("unable to background-cook '%s'"),
-                   path.getAbsolutePath().c_str());
-    return returnCode;
+    return false;
 }
 
 void ClientProcess::swapCompletedQueue(std::list<std::unique_ptr<Transaction>>& queue)
diff --git a/hecl/lib/Database/Project.cpp b/hecl/lib/Database/Project.cpp
index b2127c370..3b7cba414 100644
--- a/hecl/lib/Database/Project.cpp
+++ b/hecl/lib/Database/Project.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "hecl/Database.hpp"
+#include "BlenderConnection.hpp"
 
 namespace hecl
 {
@@ -379,9 +380,9 @@ static void VisitFile(const ProjectPath& path, bool force, bool fast,
 {
     for (SpecInst& spec : specInsts)
     {
-        if (spec.second->canCook(path))
+        if (spec.second->canCook(path, hecl::SharedBlenderToken))
         {
-            const DataSpecEntry* override = spec.second->overrideDataSpec(path, spec.first);
+            const DataSpecEntry* override = spec.second->overrideDataSpec(path, spec.first, hecl::SharedBlenderToken);
             if (!override)
                 continue;
             ProjectPath cooked = path.getCookedPath(*override);
@@ -391,7 +392,7 @@ static void VisitFile(const ProjectPath& path, bool force, bool fast,
                 path.getModtime() > cooked.getModtime())
             {
                 progress.reportFile(override);
-                spec.second->doCook(path, cooked, fast,
+                spec.second->doCook(path, cooked, fast, hecl::SharedBlenderToken,
                 [&](const SystemChar* extra)
                 {
                     progress.reportFile(override, extra);