diff --git a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/akd_storage_config.rs b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/akd_storage_config.rs
index 1a3d666477..2ad19564d8 100644
--- a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/akd_storage_config.rs
+++ b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/akd_storage_config.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 use akd::{directory::ReadOnlyDirectory, storage::StorageManager, Directory};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use thiserror::Error;
-use tracing::error;
+use tracing::{error, instrument};
 
 use crate::{
     db_config::DbConfig, publish_queue_config::PublishQueueConfig, vrf_key_config::VrfKeyConfig,
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ impl AkdStorageConfig {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    #[instrument(skip(self), level = "info")]
     pub async fn initialize_directory<TDirectoryConfig: akd::Configuration>(
         &self,
     ) -> Result<
diff --git a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/ms_sql/mod.rs b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/ms_sql/mod.rs
index 353ae9101c..206958d062 100644
--- a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/ms_sql/mod.rs
+++ b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/ms_sql/mod.rs
@@ -81,7 +81,12 @@ impl MsSql {
         MsSqlBuilder::new(connection_string)
     }
 
-    #[instrument(skip(connection_string), fields(pool_size))]
+    #[instrument(
+        skip(connection_string),
+        fields(pool_size),
+        name = "ms_sql_new",
+        level = "info"
+    )]
     pub async fn new(connection_string: String, pool_size: u32) -> Result<Self, StorageError> {
         info!(pool_size, "Creating MS SQL storage");
         let connection_manager = MsSqlConnectionManager::new(connection_string);
diff --git a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/vrf_key_database.rs b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/vrf_key_database.rs
index 2930ecc641..fbe4a48d2e 100644
--- a/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/vrf_key_database.rs
+++ b/akd/crates/akd_storage/src/vrf_key_database.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use chacha20poly1305::{
 };
 use rsa::{pkcs1::DecodeRsaPrivateKey, Pkcs1v15Encrypt};
 use thiserror::Error;
-use tracing::{error, info};
+use tracing::{error, info, instrument};
 
 use crate::{db_config::DatabaseType, vrf_key_config::VrfKeyConfig};
 
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ pub struct VrfKeyDatabase {
 }
 
 impl VrfKeyDatabase {
+    #[instrument(skip(db, config), level = "info", name = "vrf_key_database_new")]
     pub async fn new(
         db: DatabaseType,
         config: VrfKeyConfig,
@@ -178,6 +179,7 @@ impl From<VrfRootKeyType> for i16 {
 pub(crate) struct VrfKey(pub Vec<u8>);
 
 impl VrfKeyTableData {
+    #[instrument(skip_all, level = "info", name = "vrf_key_table_data_new")]
     pub async fn new(config: &VrfKeyConfig) -> Result<(Self, VrfKey), VrfKeyCreationError> {
         info!("Generating new VRF key and table data");
         // handle constant key case separately to avoid unnecessary key generation / parsing
diff --git a/akd/crates/publisher/src/lib.rs b/akd/crates/publisher/src/lib.rs
index c4ab711523..24972a0f25 100644
--- a/akd/crates/publisher/src/lib.rs
+++ b/akd/crates/publisher/src/lib.rs
@@ -65,33 +65,7 @@ async fn start_publisher(
     let mut next_epoch = tokio::time::Instant::now()
         + std::time::Duration::from_millis(config.publisher.epoch_duration_ms as u64);
     loop {
-        trace!("Processing publish queue for epoch");
-
-        // Pull items from publish queue
-        let (ids, items) = publish_queue
-            .peek(config.publisher.epoch_update_limit)
-            .await?
-            .into_iter()
-            .fold((vec![], vec![]), |mut acc, i| {
-                acc.0.push(i.0);
-                acc.1.push(i.1);
-                acc
-            });
-
-        let result: Result<()> = {
-            // Apply items to directory
-            directory
-                .publish(items)
-                .await
-                .context("AKD publish failed")?;
-
-            // Remove processed items from publish queue
-            publish_queue
-                .remove(ids)
-                .await
-                .context("Failed to remove processed publish queue items")?;
-            Ok(())
-        };
+        let result = check_publish_queue(&directory, &publish_queue, config).await;
 
         if let Err(e) = result {
             error!(%e, "Error processing publish queue items");
@@ -122,6 +96,46 @@ async fn start_publisher(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+#[instrument(skip_all, level = "info")]
+async fn check_publish_queue(
+    directory: &BitAkdDirectory,
+    publish_queue: &PublishQueueType,
+    config: &ApplicationConfig,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    trace!("Processing publish queue for epoch");
+
+    // Pull items from publish queue
+    let items = publish_queue
+        .peek(config.publisher.epoch_update_limit)
+        .await
+        .context("Failed to peek publish queue")?;
+
+    if items.is_empty() {
+        info!("No items in publish queue to process");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    trace!(num_items = items.len(), "Publishing items to AKD");
+    let (ids, items) = items.into_iter().fold((vec![], vec![]), |mut acc, i| {
+        acc.0.push(i.0);
+        acc.1.push(i.1);
+        acc
+    });
+
+    // Apply items to directory
+    directory
+        .publish(items)
+        .await
+        .context("AKD publish failed")?;
+
+    // Remove processed items from publish queue
+    publish_queue
+        .remove(ids)
+        .await
+        .context("Failed to remove processed publish queue items")?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[instrument(skip_all)]
 async fn start_web(
     publish_queue: PublishQueueType,