diff --git a/veilid-core/src/storage_manager/tasks/check_active_watches.rs b/veilid-core/src/storage_manager/tasks/check_active_watches.rs
index 5ce1917c..89c37903 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/storage_manager/tasks/check_active_watches.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/storage_manager/tasks/check_active_watches.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use super::*;
 
 impl StorageManager {
-    // Flush records stores to disk and remove dead records and send watch notifications
+    // Check if watches either have dead nodes or if the watch has expired
     #[instrument(level = "trace", skip(self), err)]
     pub(super) async fn check_active_watches_task_routine(
         self,
@@ -44,8 +44,15 @@ impl StorageManager {
                         }
                     }
                 }
+                // See if the watch is expired
+                if !is_dead && active_watch.expiration_ts <= cur_ts {
+                    // Watch has expired
+                    is_dead = true;
+                }
 
                 if is_dead {
+                    v.clear_active_watch();
+
                     if let Some(update_callback) = opt_update_callback.clone() {
                         // Send valuechange with dead count and no subkeys
                         update_callback(VeilidUpdate::ValueChange(Box::new(VeilidValueChange {
@@ -55,8 +62,6 @@ impl StorageManager {
                             value: ValueData::default(),
                         })));
                     }
-
-                    v.clear_active_watch();
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/veilid-flutter/example/pubspec.lock b/veilid-flutter/example/pubspec.lock
index 73fc4fc6..28671d7b 100644
--- a/veilid-flutter/example/pubspec.lock
+++ b/veilid-flutter/example/pubspec.lock
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ packages:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: collection
-      sha256: f092b211a4319e98e5ff58223576de6c2803db36221657b46c82574721240687
+      sha256: ee67cb0715911d28db6bf4af1026078bd6f0128b07a5f66fb2ed94ec6783c09a
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "1.17.2"
+    version: "1.18.0"
   convert:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
@@ -220,10 +220,10 @@ packages:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: meta
-      sha256: "3c74dbf8763d36539f114c799d8a2d87343b5067e9d796ca22b5eb8437090ee3"
+      sha256: a6e590c838b18133bb482a2745ad77c5bb7715fb0451209e1a7567d416678b8e
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "1.9.1"
+    version: "1.10.0"
   path:
     dependency: "direct main"
     description:
@@ -329,18 +329,18 @@ packages:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: stack_trace
-      sha256: c3c7d8edb15bee7f0f74debd4b9c5f3c2ea86766fe4178eb2a18eb30a0bdaed5
+      sha256: "73713990125a6d93122541237550ee3352a2d84baad52d375a4cad2eb9b7ce0b"
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "1.11.0"
+    version: "1.11.1"
   stream_channel:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: stream_channel
-      sha256: "83615bee9045c1d322bbbd1ba209b7a749c2cbcdcb3fdd1df8eb488b3279c1c8"
+      sha256: ba2aa5d8cc609d96bbb2899c28934f9e1af5cddbd60a827822ea467161eb54e7
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "2.1.1"
+    version: "2.1.2"
   string_scanner:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
@@ -377,10 +377,10 @@ packages:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: test_api
-      sha256: "75760ffd7786fffdfb9597c35c5b27eaeec82be8edfb6d71d32651128ed7aab8"
+      sha256: "5c2f730018264d276c20e4f1503fd1308dfbbae39ec8ee63c5236311ac06954b"
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "0.6.0"
+    version: "0.6.1"
   typed_data:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
@@ -408,10 +408,10 @@ packages:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
       name: web
-      sha256: dc8ccd225a2005c1be616fe02951e2e342092edf968cf0844220383757ef8f10
+      sha256: afe077240a270dcfd2aafe77602b4113645af95d0ad31128cc02bce5ac5d5152
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
-    version: "0.1.4-beta"
+    version: "0.3.0"
   win32:
     dependency: transitive
     description:
@@ -437,5 +437,5 @@ packages:
     source: hosted
     version: "3.5.0"
 sdks:
-  dart: ">=3.1.0-185.0.dev <4.0.0"
+  dart: ">=3.2.0-194.0.dev <4.0.0"
   flutter: ">=3.10.6"
diff --git a/veilid-flutter/lib/routing_context.dart b/veilid-flutter/lib/routing_context.dart
index c94fd476..46e3ada6 100644
--- a/veilid-flutter/lib/routing_context.dart
+++ b/veilid-flutter/lib/routing_context.dart
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ abstract class VeilidRoutingContext {
   Future<void> deleteDHTRecord(TypedKey key);
   Future<ValueData?> getDHTValue(TypedKey key, int subkey, bool forceRefresh);
   Future<ValueData?> setDHTValue(TypedKey key, int subkey, Uint8List data);
-  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys,
-      Timestamp expiration, int count);
-  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys);
+  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key,
+      {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys, Timestamp? expiration, int? count});
+  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(TypedKey key, {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys});
 }
diff --git a/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_ffi.dart b/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_ffi.dart
index c439d93a..66dcf8c0 100644
--- a/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_ffi.dart
+++ b/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_ffi.dart
@@ -671,8 +671,14 @@ class VeilidRoutingContextFFI extends VeilidRoutingContext {
   }
 
   @override
-  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys,
-      Timestamp expiration, int count) async {
+  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key,
+      {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys,
+      Timestamp? expiration,
+      int? count}) async {
+    subkeys ??= [];
+    expiration ??= Timestamp(value: BigInt.zero);
+    count ??= 0xFFFFFFFF;
+
     _ctx.ensureValid();
     final nativeKey = jsonEncode(key).toNativeUtf8();
     final nativeSubkeys = jsonEncode(subkeys).toNativeUtf8();
@@ -688,8 +694,10 @@ class VeilidRoutingContextFFI extends VeilidRoutingContext {
   }
 
   @override
-  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(
-      TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys) async {
+  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(TypedKey key,
+      {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys}) async {
+    subkeys ??= [];
+
     _ctx.ensureValid();
     final nativeKey = jsonEncode(key).toNativeUtf8();
     final nativeSubkeys = jsonEncode(subkeys).toNativeUtf8();
diff --git a/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_js.dart b/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_js.dart
index 99649a5f..7cbd345b 100644
--- a/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_js.dart
+++ b/veilid-flutter/lib/veilid_js.dart
@@ -185,8 +185,14 @@ class VeilidRoutingContextJS extends VeilidRoutingContext {
   }
 
   @override
-  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys,
-      Timestamp expiration, int count) async {
+  Future<Timestamp> watchDHTValues(TypedKey key,
+      {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys,
+      Timestamp? expiration,
+      int? count}) async {
+    subkeys ??= [];
+    expiration ??= Timestamp(value: BigInt.zero);
+    count ??= 0xFFFFFFFF;
+
     final id = _ctx.requireId();
     final ts = await _wrapApiPromise<String>(js_util.callMethod(
         wasm, 'routing_context_watch_dht_values', [
@@ -200,7 +206,9 @@ class VeilidRoutingContextJS extends VeilidRoutingContext {
   }
 
   @override
-  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(TypedKey key, List<ValueSubkeyRange> subkeys) {
+  Future<bool> cancelDHTWatch(TypedKey key, {List<ValueSubkeyRange>? subkeys}) {
+    subkeys ??= [];
+
     final id = _ctx.requireId();
     return _wrapApiPromise(js_util.callMethod(
         wasm,