diff --git a/src/modes/get.rs b/src/modes/get.rs
index ba897a5..7722b0f 100644
--- a/src/modes/get.rs
+++ b/src/modes/get.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub fn mode_get(
         }
     }
 
-    let item_service = ItemService::new(data_path);
+    let item_service = ItemService::new(data_path.clone());
     let item_with_meta = item_service.find_item(conn, ids, tags, &meta)
         .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Unable to find matching item in database: {}", e))?;
     
diff --git a/src/services/async_item_service.rs b/src/services/async_item_service.rs
index c62e29e..7fb593f 100644
--- a/src/services/async_item_service.rs
+++ b/src/services/async_item_service.rs
@@ -208,12 +208,52 @@ impl AsyncItemService {
             }
         }
         
-        // Create a stream that reads the content in chunks
-        let stream = ReaderStream::new(reader);
+        // Convert the reader into an async stream manually
+        // Since ReaderStream requires AsyncRead, we'll create our own implementation
+        use tokio_stream::StreamExt;
+        use tokio_util::bytes::Bytes;
+        use std::io::Error;
+        
+        // Create a channel to stream data between the blocking thread and async runtime
+        let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel(1);
+        
+        // Spawn a blocking task to read from the reader and send chunks
+        tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+            let mut buffer = [0; 8192];
+            loop {
+                match reader.read(&mut buffer) {
+                    Ok(0) => break, // EOF
+                    Ok(n) => {
+                        let chunk = Bytes::copy_from_slice(&buffer[..n]);
+                        // Block on sending to the channel
+                        if tx.blocking_send(Ok(chunk)).is_err() {
+                            break; // Receiver dropped
+                        }
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        let _ = tx.blocking_send(Err(e));
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        });
+        
+        // Convert the receiver into a stream
+        let stream = tokio_stream::wrappers::ReceiverStream::new(rx);
         
         // If length is specified, we need to limit the stream
         let limited_stream = if length > 0 {
-            Box::pin(stream.take(length as usize))
+            // We need to track how many bytes we've sent
+            let mut bytes_sent = 0;
+            Box::pin(stream.take_while(move |result| {
+                if bytes_sent >= length {
+                    return std::future::ready(false);
+                }
+                if let Ok(chunk) = result {
+                    bytes_sent += chunk.len() as u64;
+                }
+                std::future::ready(true)
+            }))
         } else {
             Box::pin(stream)
         };
diff --git a/src/services/compression_service.rs b/src/services/compression_service.rs
index 3a31b3e..ddfa328 100644
--- a/src/services/compression_service.rs
+++ b/src/services/compression_service.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ impl CompressionService {
 
         let reader = engine.open(item_path.clone())
             .map_err(|e| CoreError::Other(anyhow!("Failed to open item file {:?}: {}", item_path, e)))?;
-        Ok(Box::new(reader))
+        Ok(reader)
     }
 }