diff --git a/backend/api/backendruntime/runtime.go b/backend/api/backendruntime/runtime.go
index 52e280d..8d5ca7a 100644
--- a/backend/api/backendruntime/runtime.go
+++ b/backend/api/backendruntime/runtime.go
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/log"
 )
 
+// TODO TODO TODO(imterah):
+// This code is a mess. This NEEDS to be rearchitected and refactored to work better. Or at the very least, this code needs to be documented heavily.
+
 func handleCommand(command interface{}, sock net.Conn, rtcChan chan interface{}) error {
 	bytes, err := commonbackend.Marshal(command)
 
@@ -160,6 +163,9 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) goRoutineHandler() error {
 
 		OuterLoop:
 			for {
+				_ = <-runtime.startProcessingNotification
+				runtime.isRuntimeCurrentlyProcessing = true
+
 				for chanIndex, messageData := range runtime.messageBuffer {
 					if messageData == nil {
 						continue
@@ -177,6 +183,8 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) goRoutineHandler() error {
 
 					runtime.messageBuffer[chanIndex] = nil
 				}
+
+				runtime.isRuntimeCurrentlyProcessing = false
 			}
 
 			sock.Close()
@@ -235,6 +243,7 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) Start() error {
 	runtime.messageBuffer = make([]*messageForBuf, 10)
 	runtime.messageBufferLock = sync.Mutex{}
 
+	runtime.startProcessingNotification = make(chan bool)
 	runtime.processRestartNotification = make(chan bool, 1)
 
 	runtime.logger = &writeLogger{
@@ -322,6 +331,10 @@ SchedulingLoop:
 		schedulingAttempts++
 	}
 
+	if !runtime.isRuntimeCurrentlyProcessing {
+		runtime.startProcessingNotification <- true
+	}
+
 	// Fetch response and close Channel
 	response, ok := <-commandChannel
 
diff --git a/backend/api/backendruntime/struct.go b/backend/api/backendruntime/struct.go
index cd30182..cd4b3b8 100644
--- a/backend/api/backendruntime/struct.go
+++ b/backend/api/backendruntime/struct.go
@@ -16,15 +16,18 @@ type Backend struct {
 
 type messageForBuf struct {
 	Channel chan interface{}
+	// TODO(imterah): could this be refactored to just be a []byte instead? Look into this
 	Message interface{}
 }
 
 type Runtime struct {
-	isRuntimeRunning           bool
-	logger                     *writeLogger
-	currentProcess             *exec.Cmd
-	currentListener            net.Listener
-	processRestartNotification chan bool
+	isRuntimeRunning             bool
+	isRuntimeCurrentlyProcessing bool
+	startProcessingNotification  chan bool
+	logger                       *writeLogger
+	currentProcess               *exec.Cmd
+	currentListener              net.Listener
+	processRestartNotification   chan bool
 
 	messageBufferLock sync.Mutex
 	messageBuffer     []*messageForBuf