diff --git a/bite.pb.go b/bite.pb.go
index cdc67b5..a477f45 100644
--- a/bite.pb.go
+++ b/bite.pb.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ var _ = math.Inf
 const _ = proto.ProtoPackageIsVersion3 // please upgrade the proto package
 
 type Bite struct {
-	Key                  []byte   `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=key,proto3" json:"key,omitempty"`
+	Key                  string   `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=key,proto3" json:"key,omitempty"`
 	Start                uint64   `protobuf:"varint,2,opt,name=start,proto3" json:"start,omitempty"`
 	Data                 []byte   `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=data,proto3" json:"data,omitempty"`
 	XXX_NoUnkeyedLiteral struct{} `json:"-"`
@@ -54,11 +54,11 @@ func (m *Bite) XXX_DiscardUnknown() {
 
 var xxx_messageInfo_Bite proto.InternalMessageInfo
 
-func (m *Bite) GetKey() []byte {
+func (m *Bite) GetKey() string {
 	if m != nil {
 		return m.Key
 	}
-	return nil
+	return ""
 }
 
 func (m *Bite) GetStart() uint64 {
@@ -82,12 +82,12 @@ func init() {
 func init() { proto.RegisterFile("bite.proto", fileDescriptor_e1ec993646b17549) }
 
 var fileDescriptor_e1ec993646b17549 = []byte{
-	// 102 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
+	// 105 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
 	0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0xff, 0xe2, 0xe2, 0x4a, 0xca, 0x2c, 0x49,
 	0xd5, 0x2b, 0x28, 0xca, 0x2f, 0xc9, 0x17, 0x62, 0xc9, 0x4d, 0xcc, 0xcc, 0x53, 0x72, 0xe2, 0x62,
 	0x71, 0xca, 0x2c, 0x49, 0x15, 0x12, 0xe0, 0x62, 0xce, 0x4e, 0xad, 0x94, 0x60, 0x54, 0x60, 0xd4,
-	0xe0, 0x09, 0x02, 0x31, 0x85, 0x44, 0xb8, 0x58, 0x8b, 0x4b, 0x12, 0x8b, 0x4a, 0x24, 0x98, 0x14,
+	0xe0, 0x0c, 0x02, 0x31, 0x85, 0x44, 0xb8, 0x58, 0x8b, 0x4b, 0x12, 0x8b, 0x4a, 0x24, 0x98, 0x14,
 	0x18, 0x35, 0x58, 0x82, 0x20, 0x1c, 0x21, 0x21, 0x2e, 0x96, 0x94, 0xc4, 0x92, 0x44, 0x09, 0x66,
-	0xb0, 0x42, 0x30, 0x3b, 0x89, 0x0d, 0x6c, 0xa0, 0x31, 0x20, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xa3, 0xe1,
-	0xe5, 0xfe, 0x5e, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+	0x05, 0x46, 0x0d, 0x9e, 0x20, 0x30, 0x3b, 0x89, 0x0d, 0x6c, 0xa0, 0x31, 0x20, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff,
+	0xff, 0x28, 0xbd, 0x24, 0x95, 0x5e, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 }
diff --git a/bite.proto b/bite.proto
index 7c4523c..720edd0 100644
--- a/bite.proto
+++ b/bite.proto
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ syntax = "proto3";
 package main;
 
 message Bite {
-  bytes key = 1;
+  string key = 1;
   uint64 start = 2;
   bytes data = 3;
 }