diff --git a/android/build.gradle b/android/build.gradle
index 9a50a442e..ff3fe7eb6 100644
--- a/android/build.gradle
+++ b/android/build.gradle
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ repositories {
 dependencies {
   implementation project(':expo-modules-core')
   implementation "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk7:${getKotlinVersion()}"
-  implementation "org.xmtp:android:0.14.6"
+  implementation "org.xmtp:android:0.14.7"
   implementation 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.10.1'
   implementation 'com.facebook.react:react-native:0.71.3'
   implementation "com.daveanthonythomas.moshipack:moshipack:1.0.1"
diff --git a/example/ios/Podfile.lock b/example/ios/Podfile.lock
index a9dcd42cb..a5aa4f20e 100644
--- a/example/ios/Podfile.lock
+++ b/example/ios/Podfile.lock
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ PODS:
     - GenericJSON (~> 2.0)
     - Logging (~> 1.0.0)
     - secp256k1.swift (~> 0.1)
-  - XMTP (0.13.5):
+  - XMTP (0.13.6):
     - Connect-Swift (= 0.12.0)
     - GzipSwift
     - LibXMTP (= 0.5.4-beta4)
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ PODS:
     - ExpoModulesCore
     - MessagePacker
     - secp256k1.swift
-    - XMTP (= 0.13.5)
+    - XMTP (= 0.13.6)
   - Yoga (1.14.0)
 
 DEPENDENCIES:
@@ -763,8 +763,8 @@ SPEC CHECKSUMS:
   secp256k1.swift: a7e7a214f6db6ce5db32cc6b2b45e5c4dd633634
   SwiftProtobuf: 407a385e97fd206c4fbe880cc84123989167e0d1
   web3.swift: 2263d1e12e121b2c42ffb63a5a7beb1acaf33959
-  XMTP: 476b406c10c2c19183794b670790912545cc7699
-  XMTPReactNative: d172e052907d373f40348ed091cdbf7c6da4a331
+  XMTP: aeeff5ecac80f7ec9a2ba4f732d439ab600545ed
+  XMTPReactNative: 7a5fb82f5e8392ea53b5231edceb87ed07761e0b
   Yoga: e71803b4c1fff832ccf9b92541e00f9b873119b9
 
 PODFILE CHECKSUM: 95d6ace79946933ecf80684613842ee553dd76a2
diff --git a/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts b/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
index 09bafb78b..8dd1513b9 100644
--- a/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
+++ b/example/src/tests/groupTests.ts
@@ -27,10 +27,15 @@ function test(name: string, perform: () => Promise<boolean>) {
 
 test('can make a MLS V3 client', async () => {
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
+  const keyBytes = new Uint8Array([
+    233, 120, 198, 96, 154, 65, 132, 17, 132, 96, 250, 40, 103, 35, 125, 64,
+    166, 83, 208, 224, 254, 44, 205, 227, 175, 49, 234, 129, 74, 252, 135, 145,
+  ])
   const client = await Client.createRandom({
     env: 'local',
     appVersion: 'Testing/0.0.0',
     enableV3: true,
+    dbEncryptionKey: keyBytes,
   })
 
   return true
@@ -591,6 +596,8 @@ test('unpublished messages handling', async () => {
   if (preparedMessageId !== messages[0].id) {
     throw new Error(`Message ID should match the prepared message ID`)
   }
+
+  return true
 })
 
 test('can add members to a group', async () => {
diff --git a/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec b/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
index 8c63e8189..000df1533 100644
--- a/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
+++ b/ios/XMTPReactNative.podspec
@@ -26,5 +26,5 @@ Pod::Spec.new do |s|
   s.source_files = "**/*.{h,m,swift}"
   s.dependency 'secp256k1.swift'
 	s.dependency "MessagePacker"
-  s.dependency "XMTP", "= 0.13.5"
+  s.dependency "XMTP", "= 0.13.6"
 end
diff --git a/src/hooks/useClient.ts b/src/hooks/useClient.ts
index df6390773..26c0495a4 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useClient.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useClient.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { DefaultContentTypes } from '../lib/types/DefaultContentType'
 
 interface InitializeClientOptions {
   signer: Signer | null
-  options?: ClientOptions
+  options: ClientOptions
 }
 
 export const useClient = <
diff --git a/src/lib/Client.ts b/src/lib/Client.ts
index 864baea88..4cc9373b9 100644
--- a/src/lib/Client.ts
+++ b/src/lib/Client.ts
@@ -52,10 +52,14 @@ export class Client<
     ContentCodecs extends DefaultContentTypes = DefaultContentTypes,
   >(
     wallet: Signer | WalletClient | null,
-    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
+    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
   ): Promise<Client<ContentCodecs>> {
-    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
-
+    if (
+      options.dbEncryptionKey === undefined ||
+      options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32
+    ) {
+      throw new Error('Must pass an encryption key that is exactly 32 bytes.')
+    }
     const { enableSubscription, createSubscription } =
       this.setupSubscriptions(options)
     const signer = getSigner(wallet)
@@ -109,7 +113,7 @@ export class Client<
                 message.address,
                 message.inboxId as InboxId,
                 message.installationId,
-                opts?.codecs || []
+                options.codecs || []
               )
             )
           }
@@ -152,9 +156,14 @@ export class Client<
    * @returns {Promise<Client>} A Promise that resolves to a new Client instance with a random address.
    */
   static async createRandom<ContentTypes extends DefaultContentTypes>(
-    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentTypes }
+    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentTypes }
   ): Promise<Client<ContentTypes>> {
-    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
+    if (
+      options.dbEncryptionKey === undefined ||
+      options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32
+    ) {
+      throw new Error('Must pass an encryption key that is exactly 32 bytes.')
+    }
     const { enableSubscription, createSubscription } =
       this.setupSubscriptions(options)
     const client = await XMTPModule.createRandom(
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ export class Client<
       client['address'],
       client['inboxId'],
       client['installationId'],
-      opts?.codecs || []
+      options?.codecs || []
     )
   }
 
@@ -192,9 +201,14 @@ export class Client<
     ContentCodecs extends DefaultContentTypes = [],
   >(
     keyBundle: string,
-    opts?: Partial<ClientOptions> & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
+    options: ClientOptions & { codecs?: ContentCodecs }
   ): Promise<Client<ContentCodecs>> {
-    const options = defaultOptions(opts)
+    if (
+      options.dbEncryptionKey === undefined ||
+      options.dbEncryptionKey.length !== 32
+    ) {
+      throw new Error('Must pass an encryption key that is exactly 32 bytes.')
+    }
     const client = await XMTPModule.createFromKeyBundle(
       keyBundle,
       options.env,
@@ -209,7 +223,7 @@ export class Client<
       client['address'],
       client['inboxId'],
       client['installationId'],
-      opts?.codecs || []
+      options.codecs || []
     )
   }
 
@@ -507,7 +521,7 @@ export type ClientOptions = {
    */
   enableV3?: boolean
   /**
-   * OPTIONAL specify the encryption key for the database. The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.
+   * REQUIRED specify the encryption key for the database. The encryption key must be exactly 32 bytes.
    */
   dbEncryptionKey?: Uint8Array
   /**