diff --git a/harnessed_reasoning/__pycache__/core.cpython-311.pyc b/harnessed_reasoning/__pycache__/core.cpython-311.pyc
index bfeb034..fac4359 100644
Binary files a/harnessed_reasoning/__pycache__/core.cpython-311.pyc and b/harnessed_reasoning/__pycache__/core.cpython-311.pyc differ
diff --git a/harnessed_reasoning/core.py b/harnessed_reasoning/core.py
index e518c44..5f7df9a 100644
--- a/harnessed_reasoning/core.py
+++ b/harnessed_reasoning/core.py
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@ class HermesReasoningEngine:
 
         try:
             async with self.db.sqlorContext(dbname) as sor:
-                rows = await sor.R('harnessed_reasoning_config', {},
-                                   orderby='updated_at DESC', limit=1)
+                sql = "SELECT * FROM harnessed_reasoning_config ORDER BY updated_at DESC LIMIT 1"
+                rows = await sor.sqlExe(sql, {})
                 if rows:
                     return rows[0]
         except Exception as e:
@@ -196,13 +196,15 @@ class HermesReasoningEngine:
         try:
             async with self.db.sqlorContext('default') as sor:
                 for kw in list(keywords)[:3]:
-                    rows = await sor.R('hermes_skills', {
-                        'user_id': user_id,
-                        '$or': [
-                            {'name': {'$like': f'%{kw}%'}},
-                            {'description': {'$like': f'%{kw}%'}},
-                        ]
-                    }, limit=2)
+                    sql = """SELECT * FROM hermes_skills 
+                             WHERE user_id = :user_id 
+                             AND (name LIKE :kw1 OR description LIKE :kw2) 
+                             LIMIT 2"""
+                    rows = await sor.sqlExe(sql, {
+                        'user_id': user_id, 
+                        'kw1': f'%{kw}%', 
+                        'kw2': f'%{kw}%'
+                    })
                     skills.extend(rows)
 
                 # Deduplicate
@@ -687,9 +689,8 @@ class HermesReasoningEngine:
 
         try:
             async with self.db.sqlorContext('default') as sor:
-                rows = await sor.R('harnessed_reasoning_sessions',
-                                   {'user_id': user_id},
-                                   orderby='created_at DESC', limit=limit, offset=offset)
+                sql = f"SELECT * FROM harnessed_reasoning_sessions WHERE user_id = :user_id ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT {limit} OFFSET {offset}"
+                rows = await sor.sqlExe(sql, {'user_id': user_id})
 
                 sessions = []
                 for s in rows: