diff --git a/src/ThreadPipeline.h b/src/ThreadPipeline.h
index 4d74390..63e79e6 100644
--- a/src/ThreadPipeline.h
+++ b/src/ThreadPipeline.h
@@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ template <class T> struct ThreadPipeline {
       using reference = value_type &;
 
       reference operator*() const {
-        return (*ring)[index & (ring->size() - 1)];
+        return (*ring)[index_ & (ring->size() - 1)];
       }
       pointer operator->() const {
-        return &(*ring)[index & (ring->size() - 1)];
+        return &(*ring)[index_ & (ring->size() - 1)];
       }
       Iterator &operator++() {
-        ++index;
+        ++index_;
         return *this;
       }
       Iterator operator++(int) {
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ template <class T> struct ThreadPipeline {
         return tmp;
       }
       Iterator &operator--() {
-        --index;
+        --index_;
         return *this;
       }
       Iterator operator--(int) {
@@ -107,61 +107,66 @@ template <class T> struct ThreadPipeline {
         return tmp;
       }
       Iterator &operator+=(difference_type n) {
-        index += n;
+        index_ += n;
         return *this;
       }
       Iterator &operator-=(difference_type n) {
-        index -= n;
+        index_ -= n;
         return *this;
       }
       Iterator operator+(difference_type n) const {
-        return Iterator(index + n, ring);
+        return Iterator(index_ + n, ring);
       }
       Iterator operator-(difference_type n) const {
-        return Iterator(index - n, ring);
+        return Iterator(index_ - n, ring);
       }
       difference_type operator-(const Iterator &rhs) const {
         assert(ring == rhs.ring);
-        return static_cast<difference_type>(index) -
-               static_cast<difference_type>(rhs.index);
+        return static_cast<difference_type>(index_) -
+               static_cast<difference_type>(rhs.index_);
       }
       reference operator[](difference_type n) const {
-        return (*ring)[(index + n) & (ring->size() - 1)];
+        return (*ring)[(index_ + n) & (ring->size() - 1)];
       }
       friend Iterator operator+(difference_type n, const Iterator &iter) {
         return iter + n;
       }
       friend bool operator==(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
-        return lhs.index == rhs.index;
+        return lhs.index_ == rhs.index_;
       }
       friend bool operator!=(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
-        return lhs.index != rhs.index;
+        return lhs.index_ != rhs.index_;
       }
       friend bool operator<(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
         // Handle potential uint32_t wraparound by using signed difference
-        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index - rhs.index) < 0;
+        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index_ - rhs.index_) < 0;
       }
       friend bool operator<=(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
-        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index - rhs.index) <= 0;
+        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index_ - rhs.index_) <= 0;
       }
       friend bool operator>(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
-        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index - rhs.index) > 0;
+        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index_ - rhs.index_) > 0;
       }
       friend bool operator>=(const Iterator &lhs, const Iterator &rhs) {
         assert(lhs.ring == rhs.ring);
-        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index - rhs.index) >= 0;
+        return static_cast<int32_t>(lhs.index_ - rhs.index_) >= 0;
       }
 
+      /// Returns the ring buffer index (0 to ring->size()-1) for this iterator
+      /// position. Useful for distributing work across multiple threads by
+      /// using modulo operations.
+      uint32_t index() const { return index_ & (ring->size() - 1); }
+
     private:
       Iterator(uint32_t index, std::vector<T> *const ring)
-          : index(index), ring(ring) {}
+          : index_(index), ring(ring) {}
       friend struct Batch;
-      uint32_t index;
+      uint32_t index_;
       std::vector<T> *const ring;
     };
 
diff --git a/src/http_handler.cpp b/src/http_handler.cpp
index 5a7f3a4..ea8c61e 100644
--- a/src/http_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/http_handler.cpp
@@ -51,6 +51,22 @@ void HttpHandler::on_write_progress(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr) {
   }
 }
 
+void HttpHandler::on_post_batch(std::span<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> batch) {
+  int readyCount = 0;
+  for (int i = 0; i < int(batch.size()); ++i) {
+    readyCount += batch[i] && batch[i]->outgoingBytesQueued() > 0;
+  }
+  if (readyCount > 0) {
+    auto guard = pipeline.push(readyCount, /*block=*/true);
+    auto outIter = guard.batch.begin();
+    for (int i = 0; i < int(batch.size()); ++i) {
+      if (batch[i] && batch[i]->outgoingBytesQueued() > 0) {
+        *outIter++ = std::move(batch[i]);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 void HttpHandler::on_data_arrived(std::string_view data,
                                   std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr) {
   auto *state = static_cast<HttpConnectionState *>(conn_ptr->user_data);
@@ -112,13 +128,6 @@ void HttpHandler::on_data_arrived(std::string_view data,
       handleNotFound(*conn_ptr, *state);
       break;
     }
-
-    {
-      auto guard = ok_pipeline.push(1, true);
-      for (auto &c : guard.batch) {
-        c = std::move(conn_ptr);
-      }
-    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/http_handler.hpp b/src/http_handler.hpp
index 1f2555e..01af22c 100644
--- a/src/http_handler.hpp
+++ b/src/http_handler.hpp
@@ -61,33 +61,46 @@ struct HttpConnectionState {
  * Supports the WeaselDB REST API endpoints with enum-based routing.
  */
 class HttpHandler : public ConnectionHandler {
-  ThreadPipeline<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> ok_pipeline{10, {1}};
-  std::thread ok_thread{[this]() {
-    pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), "stage-0");
-    for (;;) {
-      auto guard = ok_pipeline.acquire(0, 0);
-      for (auto &c : guard.batch) {
-        if (!c) {
-          return;
-        }
-        auto *state = static_cast<HttpConnectionState *>(c->user_data);
-        TRACE_EVENT("http", "pipeline thread",
-                    perfetto::Flow::Global(state->request_id));
-        Server::releaseBackToServer(std::move(c));
-      }
-    }
-  }};
+  static constexpr int kFinalStageThreads = 2;
+  static constexpr int kLogSize = 12;
+  ThreadPipeline<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> pipeline{kLogSize,
+                                                       {kFinalStageThreads}};
+  std::vector<std::thread> finalStageThreads;
 
 public:
-  HttpHandler() = default;
+  HttpHandler() {
+    for (int threadId = 0; threadId < kFinalStageThreads; ++threadId) {
+      finalStageThreads.emplace_back([this, threadId]() {
+        pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(),
+                           ("stage-0-" + std::to_string(threadId)).c_str());
+        for (;;) {
+          auto guard = pipeline.acquire(0, threadId);
+          for (auto it = guard.batch.begin(); it != guard.batch.end(); ++it) {
+            if ((it.index() % kFinalStageThreads) == threadId) {
+              auto &c = *it;
+              if (!c) {
+                return;
+              }
+              auto *state = static_cast<HttpConnectionState *>(c->user_data);
+              TRACE_EVENT("http", "pipeline thread",
+                          perfetto::Flow::Global(state->request_id));
+              Server::releaseBackToServer(std::move(c));
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      });
+    }
+  }
   ~HttpHandler() {
     {
-      auto guard = ok_pipeline.push(1, true);
+      auto guard = pipeline.push(kFinalStageThreads, true);
       for (auto &c : guard.batch) {
         c = {};
       }
     }
-    ok_thread.join();
+    for (auto &thread : finalStageThreads) {
+      thread.join();
+    }
   }
 
   void on_connection_established(Connection &conn) override;
@@ -95,6 +108,7 @@ public:
   void on_data_arrived(std::string_view data,
                        std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr) override;
   void on_write_progress(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr) override;
+  void on_post_batch(std::span<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> /*batch*/) override;
 
   // Route parsing (public for testing)
   static HttpRoute parseRoute(std::string_view method, std::string_view url);
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 99fd688..6ae6637 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -411,8 +411,8 @@ void Server::start_io_threads(std::vector<std::thread> &threads) {
   }
 }
 
-void Server::process_connection_io(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
-                                   int events) {
+void Server::process_connection_reads(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
+                                      int events) {
   assert(conn);
   // Handle EPOLLIN - read data and process it
   if (events & EPOLLIN) {
@@ -440,7 +440,11 @@ void Server::process_connection_io(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
       return;
     }
   }
+}
 
+void Server::process_connection_writes(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
+                                       int events) {
+  assert(conn);
   // Send immediately if we have outgoing messages (either from EPOLLOUT or
   // after reading)
   if ((events & EPOLLOUT) || ((events & EPOLLIN) && conn->hasMessages())) {
@@ -469,10 +473,18 @@ void Server::process_connection_io(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn,
 void Server::process_connection_batch(
     int epollfd, std::span<std::unique_ptr<Connection>> batch,
     std::span<const int> events) {
-  // First process I/O for each connection
+
+  // First process writes for each connection
   for (size_t i = 0; i < batch.size(); ++i) {
     if (batch[i]) {
-      process_connection_io(batch[i], events[i]);
+      process_connection_writes(batch[i], events[i]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Then process reads for each connection
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < batch.size(); ++i) {
+    if (batch[i]) {
+      process_connection_reads(batch[i], events[i]);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/server.hpp b/src/server.hpp
index 268ec51..33afae7 100644
--- a/src/server.hpp
+++ b/src/server.hpp
@@ -153,7 +153,10 @@ private:
   int get_epoll_for_thread(int thread_id) const;
 
   // Helper for processing connection I/O
-  void process_connection_io(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr, int events);
+  void process_connection_reads(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr,
+                                int events);
+  void process_connection_writes(std::unique_ptr<Connection> &conn_ptr,
+                                 int events);
 
   // Helper for processing a batch of connections with their events
   void process_connection_batch(int epollfd,
diff --git a/test_config.toml b/test_config.toml
index 924ba30..2915869 100644
--- a/test_config.toml
+++ b/test_config.toml
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ port = 8080
 # Maximum request size in bytes (for 413 Content Too Large responses)
 max_request_size_bytes = 1048576  # 1MB
 # Number of I/O threads for handling connections and network events
-io_threads = 12
+io_threads = 8
+epoll_instances = 8
 # Event batch size for epoll processing
-event_batch_size = 32
+event_batch_size = 64
 
 [commit]
 # Minimum length for request_id to ensure sufficient entropy