diff --git a/src/update.rs b/src/update.rs
index ab11ff9..d01be80 100644
--- a/src/update.rs
+++ b/src/update.rs
@@ -4,76 +4,41 @@ use std::collections::HashSet;
 
 use anyhow::anyhow;
 use futures::TryStreamExt;
-use gix::{ObjectId, Repository};
+use gix::{traverse::commit::Info, ObjectId, Repository};
 use sqlx::{prelude::*, SqliteConnection, SqlitePool};
-use tracing::{debug, debug_span, error, Instrument};
+use tracing::{debug, debug_span, error, info, Instrument};
 
 use crate::state::AppState;
 
 /// Add new commits from the repo to the database, marked as new.
-///
-/// Starts at the known refs and advances depth-first until it hits a commit
-/// that is already in the db.
-///
-/// Uses a transaction because batch inserts in sqlite are a lot faster in
-/// transactions.
 // TODO Initialize tracked refs?
 // TODO Update tracked refs?
 async fn add_new_commits_to_db(db: &SqlitePool, repo: &Repository) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    debug!("Adding new commits to the db");
+    debug!("Adding new commits to db");
     let mut tx = db.begin().await?;
     let conn = tx.acquire().await?;
 
+    let old = get_all_commits_from_db(&mut *conn).await?;
+    debug!("Loaded {} commits from the db", old.len());
+
+    let new = get_new_commits_from_repo(repo, &old)?;
+    debug!("Found {} new commits in repo", new.len());
+
     // Defer foreign key checks until the end of the transaction to improve
     // insert performance.
     sqlx::query!("PRAGMA defer_foreign_keys=1")
         .execute(&mut *conn)
         .await?;
 
-    let commits = get_all_commits_from_db(&mut *conn).await?;
-    debug!("Loaded {} commits from the db", commits.len());
+    // Inserts are grouped by table so sqlite can process them *a lot* faster
+    // than if they were grouped by commit (insert commit and parents, then next
+    // commit and so on).
+    insert_new_commits(conn, &new).await?;
+    insert_new_commit_links(conn, &new).await?;
+    debug!("Inserted {} new commits into db", new.len());
 
-    let mut references = vec![];
-    for reference in repo.references()?.prefixed("refs")? {
-        let id: ObjectId = reference
-            .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?
-            .into_fully_peeled_id()?
-            .into();
-        references.push(id);
-    }
-    debug!("Found {} refs in repo", references.len());
-
-    let new_commits = repo
-        .rev_walk(references)
-        .selected(|c| !commits.contains(c))?
-        .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
-    debug!("Found {} new commits in repo", new_commits.len());
-
-    for commit in &new_commits {
-        let hash = commit.id.to_string();
-        sqlx::query!("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO commits (hash) VALUES (?)", hash)
-            .execute(&mut *conn)
-            .await?;
-    }
-    debug!("Inserted commits");
-
-    for commit in &new_commits {
-        let hash = commit.id.to_string();
-        for parent in commit.parent_ids() {
-            let parent_hash = parent.to_string();
-            sqlx::query!(
-                "INSERT INTO commit_links (parent, child) VALUES (?, ?)",
-                parent_hash,
-                hash
-            )
-            .execute(&mut *conn)
-            .await?;
-        }
-    }
-    debug!("Inserted commit links");
-
-    debug!("Finished adding new commits to the db");
     tx.commit().await?;
+    debug!("Finished adding new commits to db");
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -88,7 +53,59 @@ async fn get_all_commits_from_db(conn: &mut SqliteConnection) -> anyhow::Result<
     Ok(hashes)
 }
 
+fn get_new_commits_from_repo(
+    repo: &Repository,
+    old: &HashSet<ObjectId>,
+) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<Info>> {
+    // Collect all references starting with "refs"
+    let mut all_references = vec![];
+    for reference in repo.references()?.prefixed("refs")? {
+        let id: ObjectId = reference
+            .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?
+            .into_fully_peeled_id()?
+            .into();
+        all_references.push(id);
+    }
+
+    // Walk from those until hitting old references
+    let new_commits = repo
+        .rev_walk(all_references)
+        .selected(|c| !old.contains(c))?
+        .map(|r| r.map(|i| i.detach()))
+        .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
+
+    Ok(new_commits)
+}
+
+async fn insert_new_commits(conn: &mut SqliteConnection, new: &[Info]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    for commit in new {
+        let hash = commit.id.to_string();
+        sqlx::query!("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO commits (hash) VALUES (?)", hash)
+            .execute(&mut *conn)
+            .await?;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+async fn insert_new_commit_links(conn: &mut SqliteConnection, new: &[Info]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    for commit in new {
+        let child = commit.id.to_string();
+        for parent in &commit.parent_ids {
+            let parent = parent.to_string();
+            sqlx::query!(
+                "INSERT INTO commit_links (parent, child) VALUES (?, ?)",
+                parent,
+                child
+            )
+            .execute(&mut *conn)
+            .await?;
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 async fn update_repo(state: &AppState) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    info!("Updating repo");
     let repo = state.repo.to_thread_local();
 
     add_new_commits_to_db(&state.db, &repo)
@@ -102,7 +119,7 @@ pub async fn repeatedly(state: AppState) {
     loop {
         async {
             if let Err(e) = update_repo(&state).await {
-                error!("{e:?}");
+                error!("Error updating repo:\n{e:?}");
             }
         }
         .instrument(debug_span!("update repo"))