diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 359eaea..920b980 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "24unix/bindapi",
   "description": "manage Bind9 DNS server via REST API",
   "version": "1.0.7",
-  "build_number": "349",
+  "build_number": "350",
   "authors": [
     {
       "name": "Micha Espey",
diff --git a/src/Controller/CLIController.php b/src/Controller/CLIController.php
index 93e3ef6..322d339 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CLIController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CLIController.php
@@ -919,13 +919,34 @@ class CLIController
             }
             exit(1);
         }
+
         if (!$this->panelRepository->findByID(id: $id)) {
             if (!$this->quiet) {
                 echo "Panel with ID : $id doesn't exist." . PHP_EOL;
             }
             exit(1);
         }
+
         if ($apikey) {
+            // sanity check for panel apikey
+            if (!str_contains(haystack: $apikey, needle: '.')) {
+                $this->exitInvalidPanelApiKey();
+            } else {
+                [$prefix, $key] = explode(separator: '.', string: $apikey);
+
+                $prefixLen = strlen(string: $prefix);
+                if ($prefixLen != 8) {
+                    $errorMessage = 'The prefix must be 8 characters long';
+                    $this->exitInvalidPanelApiKey(details: $errorMessage);
+
+                }
+
+                var_dump($prefix, $key);
+                echo 'Length of prefix: ' . strlen($prefix) . PHP_EOL;
+                echo 'Length of key: ' . strlen($key) . PHP_EOL;
+
+                die();
+            }
             $panel = new Panel(name: $name, id: $id, a: $a, aaaa: $aaaa, passphrase: $apikey, self: $self);
         } else {
             $panel = new Panel(name: $name, id: $id, a: $a, aaaa: $aaaa, self: $self);
@@ -1100,7 +1121,9 @@ class CLIController
                     if ($result['data'] == 'pong') {
                         echo ' ' . COLOR_GREEN . $result['data'];
                     } else {
-                        echo COLOR_BLUE . ' skip' . COLOR_DEFAULT;
+                        var_dump($result);
+                        die;
+                        echo COLOR_BLUE . ' xxskip' . COLOR_DEFAULT;
                         if (!$this->configController->getConfig(configKey: 'quiet')) {
                             echo ' ' . $result['data'];
                         }
@@ -1657,8 +1680,24 @@ class CLIController
         $this->domainController->checkDomains();
     }
 
+    public function exitInvalidPanelApiKey(string $details = null): void
+    {
+        if (!$this->quiet) {
+            if ($details) {
+                echo COLOR_YELLOW . $details . COLOR_DEFAULT . PHP_EOL;
+            }
+            echo 'This is no valid panel apikey. A valid key looks like this one:' . PHP_EOL;
+            echo COLOR_YELLOW . 'A7hjZx52.u8Rzj2S5KUvqozPlQwh4k3eDCrLikL8ZYlcdPr488QkbOW2JaS6Hg5syNllgnNOpQv6TntNMzt62LiH5CTlrMovRQhMcwZzM5dOfLKzqEePFRv1y6qZ7CT9' . PHP_EOL;
+        }
+        exit(1);
+    }
 
-    /**
+    public function exitInvalidNameserverApiKey(string $details = null): void
+    {
+        echo 'fixme';
+    }
+
+        /**
      */
     private function dynDnsPush(): void
     {
@@ -1775,7 +1814,7 @@ class CLIController
             }
 
             if (!empty($result['error'])) {
-                echo $result['data'] . PHP_EOL;
+                echo 'Error: ' . $result['data'] . PHP_EOL;
                 exit(1);
             }
             if (!empty($result['data'])) {
diff --git a/src/Controller/DomainController.php b/src/Controller/DomainController.php
index 20e94e9..cb0b60b 100644
--- a/src/Controller/DomainController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/DomainController.php
@@ -111,10 +111,15 @@ class DomainController
             if (!$this->quiet) {
                 echo 'Removing stale zone: ' . COLOR_YELLOW . $zone . COLOR_DEFAULT . PHP_EOL;
             }
+            echo $zone . PHP_EOL;
             unlink(filename: $zone);
         }
 
-		$this->createIncludeFile();
+        $semaphore = $this->localZonesDir . 'zones.flag';
+        if (file_exists(filename: $semaphore)) {
+            unlink(filename: $semaphore);
+            $this->createIncludeFile();
+        }
 	}
 	
 	
@@ -323,7 +328,9 @@ class DomainController
 	 */
 	public function createSlaveZoneFile(Domain $domain): bool
 	{
-		$domainName = $domain->getName();
+        touch(filename: $this->localZonesDir . 'zones.flag');
+
+        $domainName = $domain->getName();
 		$this->logger->info(message: "createZoneFile($domainName)");
 		
 		// check if we're a master zone