diff --git a/src/backend/init.go b/src/backend/init.go
index bcaf3df..c35b704 100644
--- a/src/backend/init.go
+++ b/src/backend/init.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 // TempInit ensures libmutton directories exist and writes the libmutton configuration file
 func TempInit(configFileMap map[string]string) {
 	// create EntryRoot and ConfigDir
-	dirInit()
+	DirInit()
 
 	// remove existing config file
 	removeFile(ConfigPath)
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ func TempInit(configFileMap map[string]string) {
 	for key, value := range configFileMap {
 		configFile.WriteString(key + " = " + value + "\n")
 	}
-
-	os.Exit(0)
 }
 
 // GpgUIDListGen generates a list of all GPG key IDs on the system and returns them as a slice of strings
diff --git a/src/backend/initUNIX.go b/src/backend/initUNIX.go
index 93bbfc2..12be570 100644
--- a/src/backend/initUNIX.go
+++ b/src/backend/initUNIX.go
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import (
 
 const FallbackEditor = "vi" // vi is pre-installed on most UNIX systems
 
-// dirInit creates the libmutton directories
-func dirInit() {
+// DirInit creates the libmutton directories
+func DirInit() {
 	// create EntryRoot
 	err := os.MkdirAll(EntryRoot, 0700)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/backend/initWIN.go b/src/backend/initWIN.go
index b4c1aa8..f402e18 100644
--- a/src/backend/initWIN.go
+++ b/src/backend/initWIN.go
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import (
 
 const FallbackEditor = "nvim" // since there is no pre-installed CLI editor on Windows, default to the most popular one
 
-// dirInit creates the libmutton directories
-func dirInit() {
+// DirInit creates the libmutton directories
+func DirInit() {
 	// create EntryRoot (includes config directory on Windows)
 	err := os.MkdirAll(EntryRoot, 0700)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/sync/client.go b/src/sync/client.go
index f2f0851..0c8272f 100644
--- a/src/sync/client.go
+++ b/src/sync/client.go
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ const (
 	ansiUpload   = "\033[38;5;4m"
 )
 
-// getSSHOutput runs a command over SSH and returns the output
+// GetSSHOutput runs a command over SSH and returns the output
 // currently only supports password-less key-based authentication TODO add password support, still require key
-func getSSHOutput(cmd string, manualSync bool) string {
+func GetSSHOutput(cmd string, manualSync bool) string {
 	// get SSH config info, exit if not configured (displaying an error if the sync job was called manually)
 	var sshUserIPPortIdentity []string
 	if manualSync {
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func getSSHOutput(cmd string, manualSync bool) string {
 // getRemoteDataFromClient returns a map of remote entries to their modification times, a list of remote folders, and a list of queued deletions
 func getRemoteDataFromClient(manualSync bool) (map[string]int64, []string, []string) {
 	// get remote output over SSH
-	output := getSSHOutput("libmuttonserver fetch", manualSync)
+	output := GetSSHOutput("libmuttonserver fetch", manualSync)
 
 	// split output into slice based on occurrences of "\x1d"
 	outputSlice := strings.Split(output, "\x1d")
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func syncLists(localEntryModMap, remoteEntryModMap map[string]int64) {
 
 	// iterate over remaining entries in remoteEntryModMap
 	for entry := range remoteEntryModMap {
-		fmt.Println(ansiDownload+entry+backend.AnsiReset, "does not exist on server, downloading...")
+		fmt.Println(ansiDownload+entry+backend.AnsiReset, "does not exist on client, downloading...")
 		// TODO entry does not exist on client, download
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/sync/common.go b/src/sync/common.go
index f83ffcb..6554d3f 100644
--- a/src/sync/common.go
+++ b/src/sync/common.go
@@ -90,13 +90,11 @@ func Shear(targetLocationIncomplete string, deviceID string) {
 				}
 			}
 		}
-	} else {
-		backend.ReadConfig([]string{"sshUser"}, "0") // exits if value does not exist (indicates offline mode)
-		// if running on the client in online mode...
+	} else { // if running on the client... (online mode determined dynamically in GetSSHOutput, will simply exit if not in online mode)
 		// determine client device ID (to send to server, avoids creating a deletion file for the client device)
 		deviceID = deviceIDList[0].Name()
 		// below: deviceID and targetLocationIncomplete are separated by \x1d, path separators are replaced with \x1e, and spaces are replaced with \x1f
-		getSSHOutput("libmuttonserver shear "+deviceID+"\x1d"+strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(targetLocationIncomplete, backend.PathSeparator, "\x1e"), " ", "\x1f"), true)
+		GetSSHOutput("libmuttonserver shear "+deviceID+"\x1d"+strings.ReplaceAll(strings.ReplaceAll(targetLocationIncomplete, backend.PathSeparator, "\x1e"), " ", "\x1f"), false)
 	}
 
 	os.Exit(0)