diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/raw_request_body.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/raw_request_body.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a35b8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/raw_request_body.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+module RawRequestBody
+  extend ActiveSupport::Concern
+
+  private
+
+  def raw_request_body
+    request.body.rewind
+    request.body.read.force_encoding("UTF-8")
+  ensure
+    request.body.rewind
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller.rb b/app/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller.rb
index 85f93ae..10ee80a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller.rb
@@ -1,33 +1,33 @@
-class Messages::Boosts::ByBotsController < ApplicationController
+class Messages::Boosts::ByBotsController < Messages::BoostsController
+  include RawRequestBody
+
   allow_bot_access only: :create
 
+  before_action :ensure_content_present
+
   def create
-    set_message
-    @boost = @message.boosts.create!(content: read_body)
+    @boost = @message.boosts.create!(boost_params)
 
     broadcast_create
-    head :created
-  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
-    head :not_found
+    render :show, status: :created
   end
 
   private
     def set_message
-      @room = Current.user.rooms.find(params[:room_id])
-      @message = @room.messages.find(params[:message_id])
+      if room = Current.user.rooms.find_by(id: params[:room_id])
+        @message = room.messages.find_by(id: params[:message_id])
+      end
+
+      head :not_found unless @message
     end
 
-    def read_body
-      request.body.rewind
-      request.body.read.force_encoding("UTF-8")
-    ensure
-      request.body.rewind
+    def ensure_content_present
+      if raw_request_body.blank?
+        head :unprocessable_content
+      end
     end
 
-    def broadcast_create
-      @boost.broadcast_append_to @boost.message.room, :messages,
-        target: "boosts_message_#{@boost.message.client_message_id}",
-        partial: "messages/boosts/boost",
-        attributes: { maintain_scroll: true }
+    def boost_params
+      { content: raw_request_body }
     end
 end
diff --git a/app/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller.rb b/app/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller.rb
index ff398ca..f225e51 100644
--- a/app/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller.rb
@@ -1,73 +1,57 @@
 class Messages::ByBotsController < MessagesController
+  include RawRequestBody
+
   allow_bot_access only: %i[ index create ]
 
+  before_action :set_room
+  before_action :ensure_body_or_attachment_present, only: :create
+
   def index
-    set_room
     @messages = find_paged_messages
-    render json: messages_as_json(@messages)
-  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
-    head :not_found
+    set_pagination_headers
   end
 
   def create
-    set_room
-    @message = @room.messages.create_with_attachment!(message_params)
-    @message.broadcast_create
-    deliver_webhooks_to_bots
+    super
     head :created, location: message_url(@message)
-  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
-    head :not_found
   end
 
   private
-    def messages_as_json(messages)
-      {
-        room: {
-          id: @room.id,
-          name: @room.name
-        },
-        messages: messages.map { |m| message_as_json(m) },
-        pagination: pagination_info(messages)
-      }
+    def set_room
+      @room = Current.user.rooms.find_by(id: params[:room_id])
+
+      head :not_found unless @room
     end
 
-    def message_as_json(message)
-      {
-        id: message.id,
-        body: {
-          plain: message.plain_text_body,
-          html: message.body&.body&.to_s
-        },
-        created_at: message.created_at.iso8601,
-        creator: {
-          id: message.creator.id,
-          name: message.creator.name,
-          is_bot: message.creator.bot?
-        }
-      }
+    def ensure_body_or_attachment_present
+      if params[:attachment].blank? && raw_request_body.blank?
+        head :unprocessable_content
+      end
     end
 
-    def pagination_info(messages)
-      return {} if messages.empty?
-      {
-        oldest_id: messages.last.id,
-        newest_id: messages.first.id,
-        has_more: messages.size == Message::PAGE_SIZE
-      }
+    def set_pagination_headers
+      headers["X-Total-Count"] = @room.messages.count.to_s
+
+      if next_page = next_page_params
+        headers["Link"] = %(<#{room_bot_messages_url(@room, params[:bot_key], **next_page)}>; rel="next")
+      end
+    end
+
+    def next_page_params
+      if @messages.any?
+        if params[:after].present?
+          { after: @messages.last.id } if @room.messages.after(@messages.last).exists?
+        else
+          { before: @messages.first.id } if @room.messages.before(@messages.first).exists?
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     def message_params
       if params[:attachment]
         params.permit(:attachment)
       else
-        reading(request.body) { |body| { body: body } }
+        { body: raw_request_body }
       end
     end
-
-    def reading(io)
-      io.rewind
-      yield io.read.force_encoding("UTF-8")
-    ensure
-      io.rewind
-    end
 end
diff --git a/app/views/messages/_message.json.jbuilder b/app/views/messages/_message.json.jbuilder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8abfa6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/messages/_message.json.jbuilder
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+json.cache! message do
+  json.(message, :id)
+
+  json.created_at message.created_at.utc
+
+  json.body do
+    json.plain_text message.plain_text_body
+    json.html message.body.to_s
+  end
+
+  json.creator message.creator, partial: "users/user", as: :user
+
+  json.room do
+    json.id message.room_id
+  end
+
+  json.url room_message_url(message.room, message)
+end
diff --git a/app/views/messages/boosts/_boost.json.jbuilder b/app/views/messages/boosts/_boost.json.jbuilder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3392b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/messages/boosts/_boost.json.jbuilder
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+json.cache! boost do
+  json.(boost, :id, :content)
+
+  json.created_at boost.created_at.utc
+
+  json.booster boost.booster, partial: "users/user", as: :user
+
+  json.message do
+    json.id boost.message_id
+    json.url room_message_url(boost.message.room, boost.message)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/views/messages/boosts/by_bots/show.json.jbuilder b/app/views/messages/boosts/by_bots/show.json.jbuilder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3acc9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/messages/boosts/by_bots/show.json.jbuilder
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+json.partial! "messages/boosts/boost", boost: @boost
diff --git a/app/views/messages/by_bots/index.json.jbuilder b/app/views/messages/by_bots/index.json.jbuilder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27db314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/messages/by_bots/index.json.jbuilder
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+json.array! @messages, partial: "messages/message", as: :message
diff --git a/app/views/users/_user.json.jbuilder b/app/views/users/_user.json.jbuilder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4425302
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/users/_user.json.jbuilder
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+json.cache! user do
+  json.(user, :id, :name, :role)
+
+  json.avatar_url fresh_user_avatar_url(user)
+end
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 26afbcb..03466a1 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -62,10 +62,13 @@ Rails.application.routes.draw do
   resources :rooms do
     resources :messages
 
-    # Bot API endpoints - authenticated via bot_key in URL
-    get ":bot_key/messages", to: "messages/by_bots#index", as: :bot_messages_index
-    post ":bot_key/messages", to: "messages/by_bots#create", as: :bot_messages
-    post ":bot_key/messages/:message_id/boosts", to: "messages/boosts/by_bots#create", as: :bot_message_boosts
+    nested do
+      scope path: ":bot_key", as: :bot, defaults: { format: :json } do
+        resources :messages, controller: "messages/by_bots", only: %i[ index create ] do
+          resources :boosts, controller: "messages/boosts/by_bots", only: :create
+        end
+      end
+    end
 
     scope module: "rooms" do
       resource :refresh, only: :show
diff --git a/test/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller_test.rb
index 09dfd86..a2487e5 100644
--- a/test/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/messages/boosts/by_bots_controller_test.rb
@@ -3,27 +3,29 @@ require "test_helper"
 class Messages::Boosts::ByBotsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
   setup do
     @room = rooms(:watercooler)
-    @message = messages(:fourth)  # Message in watercooler room where bender bot is a member
+    @message = messages(:fourth)
     @bot = users(:bender)
   end
 
-  test "create adds a boost to the message" do
+  test "create adds a boost to the message and returns it" do
     assert_difference -> { @message.boosts.count }, +1 do
       post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, @message), params: +"👀"
       assert_response :created
     end
 
-    assert_equal "👀", @message.boosts.last.content
+    boost = @message.boosts.last
+    assert_equal "👀", boost.content
+    assert_equal @bot, boost.booster
+
+    json = JSON.parse(response.body)
+    assert_equal boost.id, json["id"]
+    assert_equal "👀", json["content"]
+    assert_equal @bot.id, json["booster"]["id"]
+    assert_equal @message.id, json["message"]["id"]
+    assert_equal room_message_url(@room, @message), json["message"]["url"]
   end
 
-  test "create with emoji reaction" do
-    assert_difference -> { Boost.count }, +1 do
-      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, @message), params: +"🎉"
-      assert_response :created
-    end
-  end
-
-  test "create with text reaction" do
+  test "create with text content" do
     assert_difference -> { Boost.count }, +1 do
       post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, @message), params: +"Nice!"
       assert_response :created
@@ -38,35 +40,39 @@ class Messages::Boosts::ByBotsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
     end
   end
 
-  test "create requires valid bot key" do
+  test "create without content" do
+    assert_no_difference -> { Boost.count } do
+      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, @message)
+      assert_response :unprocessable_content
+
+      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, @message), params: +"   "
+      assert_response :unprocessable_content
+    end
+  end
+
+  test "create requires a valid bot key" do
     assert_no_difference -> { Boost.count } do
       post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, "invalid-bot-key", @message), params: +"👀"
     end
-    assert_response :redirect  # Redirects to login
+    assert_response :redirect
   end
 
-  test "create returns not_found for room bot is not a member of" do
-    room_without_bot = rooms(:designers)
-    message_in_other_room = messages(:first)  # Message in designers room
-
+  test "create is not found for a room the bot is not a member of" do
     assert_no_difference -> { Boost.count } do
-      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(room_without_bot, @bot.bot_key, message_in_other_room), params: +"👀"
+      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(rooms(:designers), @bot.bot_key, messages(:first)), params: +"👀"
     end
     assert_response :not_found
   end
 
-  test "create returns not_found for message not in the room" do
-    message_in_other_room = messages(:first)  # Message in designers room, not watercooler
-
+  test "create is not found for a message outside the room" do
     assert_no_difference -> { Boost.count } do
-      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, message_in_other_room), params: +"👀"
+      post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, @bot.bot_key, messages(:first)), params: +"👀"
     end
     assert_response :not_found
   end
 
-  test "create can't be abused to post boosts as regular user" do
-    user = users(:kevin)
-    bot_key = "#{user.id}-"
+  test "create can't be abused to post boosts as a regular user" do
+    bot_key = "#{users(:kevin).id}-"
 
     assert_no_difference -> { Boost.count } do
       post room_bot_message_boosts_url(@room, bot_key, @message), params: +"👀"
diff --git a/test/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller_test.rb
index f1122da..0c145e7 100644
--- a/test/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/messages/by_bots_controller_test.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 require "test_helper"
 
-class Messages::ByBotsControlleTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
+class Messages::ByBotsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
   setup do
     @room = rooms(:watercooler)
   end
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ class Messages::ByBotsControlleTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
     end
   end
 
+  test "create without a body or attachment" do
+    assert_no_difference -> { Message.count } do
+      post room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
+      assert_response :unprocessable_content
+
+      post room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key), params: +"   "
+      assert_response :unprocessable_content
+    end
+  end
+
   test "create can't be abused to post messages as any user" do
     user = users(:kevin)
     bot_key = "#{user.id}-"
@@ -51,77 +61,90 @@ class Messages::ByBotsControlleTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
     assert_response :redirect
   end
 
-  test "index returns messages as JSON" do
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
+  test "index returns the room's messages in the order they were sent" do
+    get room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
     assert_response :success
 
     json = JSON.parse(response.body)
-    assert json["room"]["id"].present?
-    assert json["room"]["name"].present?
-    assert json["messages"].is_a?(Array)
-    assert json["pagination"].present?
+    assert_equal @room.messages.ordered.map(&:id), json.map { it["id"] }
   end
 
   test "index includes message details" do
-    # Create a message in the room first
-    post room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key), params: +"Test message for index"
+    post room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key), params: +"Hello from Bender!"
 
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
+    get room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
+    assert_response :success
+
+    message = Message.last
+    json_message = JSON.parse(response.body).last
+    assert_equal message.id, json_message["id"]
+    assert_equal "Hello from Bender!", json_message["body"]["plain_text"]
+    assert_includes json_message["body"]["html"], "Hello from Bender!"
+    assert_equal message.created_at.utc.iso8601(3), json_message["created_at"]
+    assert_equal users(:bender).id, json_message["creator"]["id"]
+    assert_equal "Bender Bot", json_message["creator"]["name"]
+    assert_equal "bot", json_message["creator"]["role"]
+    assert_equal @room.id, json_message["room"]["id"]
+    assert_equal room_message_url(@room, message), json_message["url"]
+  end
+
+  test "index pages through older messages with the Link header" do
+    (Message::PAGE_SIZE - @room.messages.count + 1).times do |i|
+      @room.messages.create!(body: "Filler #{i}", creator: users(:jason), client_message_id: "filler-#{i}")
+    end
+
+    get room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key)
     assert_response :success
 
     json = JSON.parse(response.body)
-    message = json["messages"].find { |m| m["body"]["plain"] == "Test message for index" }
-    assert message.present?, "Expected to find the test message"
-    assert message["id"].present?
-    assert message["created_at"].present?
-    assert message["creator"]["id"].present?
-    assert message["creator"]["name"].present?
-  end
+    assert_equal Message::PAGE_SIZE, json.size
+    assert_equal "41", response.headers["X-Total-Count"]
+    assert_not_includes json.map { it["id"] }, messages(:fourth).id
 
-  test "index supports pagination with before parameter" do
-    # Use a message from the watercooler room (where bender is a member)
-    message_in_room = messages(:thirteenth)  # Latest message in watercooler
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key, before: message_in_room.id)
+    get response.headers["Link"][/<(.*)>/, 1]
     assert_response :success
+
+    json = JSON.parse(response.body)
+    assert_equal [ messages(:fourth).id ], json.map { it["id"] }
+    assert_nil response.headers["Link"]
   end
 
-  test "index supports pagination with after parameter" do
-    # Use a message from the watercooler room (where bender is a member)
-    message_in_room = messages(:fourth)  # First message in watercooler
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key, after: message_in_room.id)
+  test "index pages newer messages with after" do
+    get room_bot_messages_url(@room, users(:bender).bot_key, after: messages(:tenth).id)
     assert_response :success
+
+    json = JSON.parse(response.body)
+    assert_equal %i[ eleventh twelfth thirteenth ].map { messages(it).id }, json.map { it["id"] }
+    assert_nil response.headers["Link"]
   end
 
-  test "index requires valid bot key" do
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(@room, "invalid-bot-key")
-    assert_response :redirect  # Redirects to login
+  test "index in a room with no messages" do
+    get room_bot_messages_url(rooms(:bender_and_kevin), users(:bender).bot_key)
+    assert_response :success
+
+    assert_equal [], JSON.parse(response.body)
+    assert_equal "0", response.headers["X-Total-Count"]
+    assert_nil response.headers["Link"]
   end
 
-  test "index returns not_found for room bot is not a member of" do
-    # bender bot is NOT a member of the designers room
-    room_without_bot = rooms(:designers)
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(room_without_bot, users(:bender).bot_key)
+  test "index requires a valid bot key" do
+    get room_bot_messages_url(@room, "invalid-bot-key")
+    assert_response :redirect
+  end
+
+  test "index is not found for a room the bot is not a member of" do
+    get room_bot_messages_url(rooms(:designers), users(:bender).bot_key)
     assert_response :not_found
   end
 
-  test "index works for room bot IS a member of" do
-    # bender bot IS a member of watercooler
-    room_with_bot = rooms(:watercooler)
-    get room_bot_messages_index_url(room_with_bot, users(:bender).bot_key)
-    assert_response :success
-  end
-
-  test "create returns not_found for room bot is not a member of" do
-    # bender bot is NOT a member of the designers room - verify create matches index behavior
-    room_without_bot = rooms(:designers)
+  test "create is not found for a room the bot is not a member of" do
     assert_no_difference -> { Message.count } do
-      post room_bot_messages_url(room_without_bot, users(:bender).bot_key), params: +"Hello!"
+      post room_bot_messages_url(rooms(:designers), users(:bender).bot_key), params: +"Hello!"
     end
     assert_response :not_found
   end
 
-  test "regular messages index still denied for bots" do
-    # The standard messages endpoint (not the bot-specific one) should still be forbidden
+  test "regular messages index remains denied for bots" do
     get room_messages_url(@room, bot_key: users(:bender).bot_key)
     assert_response :forbidden
   end