diff --git a/src/data/mod.rs b/src/data/mod.rs
index 7494792bc..175aedba5 100644
--- a/src/data/mod.rs
+++ b/src/data/mod.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ impl Data {
         let path = options.db_path.clone();
         let indexer_opts = options.indexer_options.clone();
         create_dir_all(&path)?;
-        let index_controller = LocalIndexController::new(&path, indexer_opts)?;
+        let index_controller = LocalIndexController::new(
+            &path,
+            indexer_opts,
+            options.max_mdb_size.get_bytes(),
+            options.max_udb_size.get_bytes(),
+        )?;
         let indexes = Arc::new(index_controller);
 
         let mut api_keys = ApiKeys {
diff --git a/src/data/updates.rs b/src/data/updates.rs
index d05617361..880579bf6 100644
--- a/src/data/updates.rs
+++ b/src/data/updates.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ use futures_util::stream::StreamExt;
 use tokio::io::AsyncWriteExt;
 
 use super::Data;
-use crate::index_controller::{IndexController, UpdateStatusResponse, Settings};
+use crate::index_controller::{IndexController, Settings, UpdateResult, UpdateMeta};
+use crate::index_controller::updates::UpdateStatus;
 
 impl Data {
         pub async fn add_documents<B, E, S>(
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ impl Data {
         method: IndexDocumentsMethod,
         format: UpdateFormat,
         mut stream: impl futures::Stream<Item=Result<B, E>> + Unpin,
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatusResponse>
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>>
     where
         B: Deref<Target = [u8]>,
         E: std::error::Error + Send + Sync + 'static,
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ impl Data {
         &self,
         index: S,
         settings: Settings
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatusResponse> {
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>> {
         let indexes = self.index_controller.clone();
         let update = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || indexes.update_settings(index, settings)).await??;
         Ok(update.into())
diff --git a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/index_store.rs b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/index_store.rs
index bfe63459a..4c9a98472 100644
--- a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/index_store.rs
+++ b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/index_store.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::fs::create_dir_all;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use dashmap::DashMap;
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ use milli::Index;
 use rayon::ThreadPool;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 use serde::{Serialize, Deserialize};
+use log::warn;
 
 use super::update_store::UpdateStore;
 use super::update_handler::UpdateHandler;
@@ -15,8 +17,8 @@ use crate::option::IndexerOpts;
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
 struct IndexMeta {
-    update_size: usize,
-    index_size: usize,
+    update_size: u64,
+    index_size: u64,
     uid: Uuid,
 }
 
@@ -30,12 +32,15 @@ impl IndexMeta {
         let update_path = make_update_db_path(&path, &self.uid);
         let index_path = make_index_db_path(&path, &self.uid);
 
+        create_dir_all(&update_path)?;
+        create_dir_all(&index_path)?;
+
         let mut options = EnvOpenOptions::new();
-        options.map_size(self.index_size);
+        options.map_size(self.index_size as usize);
         let index = Arc::new(Index::new(options, index_path)?);
 
         let mut options = EnvOpenOptions::new();
-        options.map_size(self.update_size);
+        options.map_size(self.update_size as usize);
         let handler = UpdateHandler::new(opt, index.clone(), thread_pool)?;
         let update_store = UpdateStore::open(options, update_path, handler)?;
         Ok((index, update_store))
@@ -132,8 +137,8 @@ impl IndexStore {
 
     pub fn get_or_create_index(
         &self, name: impl AsRef<str>,
-        update_size: usize,
-        index_size: usize,
+        update_size: u64,
+        index_size: u64,
         ) -> anyhow::Result<(Arc<Index>, Arc<UpdateStore>)> {
         let mut txn = self.env.write_txn()?;
         match self._get_index(&txn, name.as_ref())? {
@@ -141,17 +146,39 @@ impl IndexStore {
             None => {
                 let uid = Uuid::new_v4();
                 // TODO: clean in case of error
-                Ok(self.create_index(&mut txn, uid, name, update_size, index_size)?)
+                let result = self.create_index(&mut txn, uid, name, update_size, index_size);
+                match result {
+                    Ok((index, update_store)) => {
+                        match txn.commit() {
+                            Ok(_) => Ok((index, update_store)),
+                            Err(e) => {
+                                self.clean_uid(&uid);
+                                Err(anyhow::anyhow!("error creating index: {}", e))
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        self.clean_uid(&uid);
+                        Err(e)
+                    }
+                }
             },
         }
     }
 
+    /// removes all data acociated with an index Uuid. This is called when index creation failed
+    /// and outstanding files and data need to be cleaned.
+    fn clean_uid(&self, _uid: &Uuid) {
+        // TODO!
+        warn!("creating cleanup is not yet implemented");
+    }
+
     fn create_index( &self,
         txn: &mut RwTxn,
         uid: Uuid,
         name: impl AsRef<str>,
-        update_size: usize,
-        index_size: usize,
+        update_size: u64,
+        index_size: u64,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<(Arc<Index>, Arc<UpdateStore>)> {
         let meta = IndexMeta { update_size, index_size, uid: uid.clone() };
 
diff --git a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/mod.rs b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/mod.rs
index dc26d0da8..00a6cc363 100644
--- a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/mod.rs
+++ b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/mod.rs
@@ -11,30 +11,46 @@ use milli::Index;
 
 use crate::option::IndexerOpts;
 use super::IndexController;
+use super::updates::UpdateStatus;
+use super::{UpdateMeta, UpdateResult};
 
 pub struct LocalIndexController {
     indexes: IndexStore,
+    update_db_size: u64,
+    index_db_size: u64,
 }
 
 impl LocalIndexController {
-    pub fn new(path: impl AsRef<Path>, opt: IndexerOpts) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(
+        path: impl AsRef<Path>,
+        opt: IndexerOpts,
+        index_db_size: u64,
+        update_db_size: u64,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
         let indexes = IndexStore::new(path, opt)?;
-        Ok(Self { indexes })
+        Ok(Self { indexes, index_db_size, update_db_size })
     }
 }
 
 impl IndexController for LocalIndexController {
     fn add_documents<S: AsRef<str>>(
         &self,
-        _index: S,
-        _method: milli::update::IndexDocumentsMethod,
-        _format: milli::update::UpdateFormat,
-        _data: &[u8],
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<super::UpdateStatusResponse> {
-        todo!()
+        index: S,
+        method: milli::update::IndexDocumentsMethod,
+        format: milli::update::UpdateFormat,
+        data: &[u8],
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>> {
+        let (_, update_store) = self.indexes.get_or_create_index(&index, self.update_db_size, self.index_db_size)?;
+        let meta = UpdateMeta::DocumentsAddition { method, format };
+        let pending = update_store.register_update(meta, data).unwrap();
+        Ok(pending.into())
     }
 
-    fn update_settings<S: AsRef<str>>(&self, _index_uid: S, _settings: super::Settings) -> anyhow::Result<super::UpdateStatusResponse> {
+    fn update_settings<S: AsRef<str>>(
+        &self,
+        _index_uid: S,
+        _settings: super::Settings
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>> {
         todo!()
     }
 
diff --git a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/update_handler.rs b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/update_handler.rs
index fae3ad0ae..24b9ab405 100644
--- a/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/update_handler.rs
+++ b/src/index_controller/local_index_controller/update_handler.rs
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ impl HandleUpdate<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String> for UpdateHandler {
     ) -> Result<Processed<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult>, Failed<UpdateMeta, String>> {
         use UpdateMeta::*;
 
+        println!("handling update {}", update_id);
+
         let update_builder = self.update_buidler(update_id);
 
         let result = match meta.meta() {
@@ -197,6 +199,8 @@ impl HandleUpdate<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String> for UpdateHandler {
             Facets(levels) => self.update_facets(levels, update_builder),
         };
 
+        println!("{:?}", result);
+
         match result {
             Ok(result) => Ok(meta.process(result)),
             Err(e) => Err(meta.fail(e.to_string())),
diff --git a/src/index_controller/mod.rs b/src/index_controller/mod.rs
index d59575f7d..0907ba0c8 100644
--- a/src/index_controller/mod.rs
+++ b/src/index_controller/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 mod local_index_controller;
-mod updates;
+pub mod updates;
 
 pub use local_index_controller::LocalIndexController;
 
@@ -12,9 +12,8 @@ use milli::Index;
 use milli::update::{IndexDocumentsMethod, UpdateFormat, DocumentAdditionResult};
 use serde::{Serialize, Deserialize, de::Deserializer};
 
-use updates::{Processed, Processing, Failed, Pending, Aborted};
+use updates::{Processed, Processing, Failed, UpdateStatus};
 
-pub type UpdateStatusResponse = UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(tag = "type")]
@@ -33,15 +32,6 @@ pub struct Facets {
     pub min_level_size: Option<NonZeroUsize>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
-#[serde(tag = "type")]
-pub enum UpdateStatus<M, P, N> {
-    Pending { update_id: u64, meta: Pending<M> },
-    Progressing { update_id: u64, meta: P },
-    Processed { update_id: u64, meta: Processed<M, N> },
-    Aborted { update_id: u64, meta: Aborted<M> },
-}
-
 fn deserialize_some<'de, T, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Option<T>, D::Error>
 where T: Deserialize<'de>,
       D: Deserializer<'de>
@@ -116,11 +106,11 @@ pub trait IndexController {
         method: IndexDocumentsMethod,
         format: UpdateFormat,
         data: &[u8],
-    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatusResponse>;
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>>;
 
     /// Updates an index settings. If the index does not exist, it will be created when the update
     /// is applied to the index.
-    fn update_settings<S: AsRef<str>>(&self, index_uid: S, settings: Settings) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatusResponse>;
+    fn update_settings<S: AsRef<str>>(&self, index_uid: S, settings: Settings) -> anyhow::Result<UpdateStatus<UpdateMeta, UpdateResult, String>>;
 
     /// Create an index with the given `index_uid`.
     fn create_index<S: AsRef<str>>(&self, index_uid: S) -> Result<()>;