diff --git a/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/friends/my-friends-page.cy.js b/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/friends/my-friends-page.cy.js
index fe9e28ced..a97dbbab8 100644
--- a/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/friends/my-friends-page.cy.js
+++ b/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/friends/my-friends-page.cy.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ const closeSidePanel = () => {
   cy.get('[data-testid=profileSidePanel] .modal-header button.close').click();
 };
 
-describe.only('Friends page without data', () => {
+describe('Friends page without data', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     cy.stubAuthenticate();
     // cy.intercept('POST', /\S+\/filter/, {
diff --git a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMyFriends.js b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMyFriends.js
index 977fb4fc9..1b7ca4da3 100644
--- a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMyFriends.js
+++ b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMyFriends.js
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export const JKMyFriends = () => {
         .then(async response => {
           const data = await response.json();
           const friendIds = data.map(friend => friend.id);
+          console.log('friendIds', friendIds);
           //fetch friends with associated data
           dispatch(filterFriendsByIds({ userId: currentUser.id, ids: friendIds }));
           //fetch latencies for friends
diff --git a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKPeopleFilter.js b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKPeopleFilter.js
index e4f13b7b7..c7ba885da 100644
--- a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKPeopleFilter.js
+++ b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKPeopleFilter.js
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ function JKPeopleFilter() {
   };
 
   const onSubmit = (data) => {
+    console.log("_DEBUG_ data", data)
     console.log("_DEBUG_ page.current", page.current)
     let genres = [];
     let joined_within_days = '';
diff --git a/jam-ui/src/components/profile/JKMessageModal.js b/jam-ui/src/components/profile/JKMessageModal.js
index e304257b5..d947bf6bf 100644
--- a/jam-ui/src/components/profile/JKMessageModal.js
+++ b/jam-ui/src/components/profile/JKMessageModal.js
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ const JKMessageModal = props => {
         goToBottom();
       }
     } catch (err) {
-      console.log('ERROR', err);
+      console.error('Error when fetching messages', err);
     } finally {
       setFetching(false);
     }
@@ -100,32 +100,32 @@ const JKMessageModal = props => {
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (scrollbar && scrollbar.current) {
-      if (!fetching && !scrollAtTop()) {
-        if (messages[messages.length - 1]['senderId'] !== currentUser.id) {
-          if (!scrolledToBottom.current) {
+      if (!fetching && !scrollAtTop()) { // if not data fetching and scroll is not at top
+        if (messages[messages.length - 1]['senderId'] !== currentUser.id) { // if last message is not sent by current user
+          if (!scrolledToBottom.current) { // if not scrolled to bottom
             setMessagesArrived(true);
           } else {
-            goToBottom();
+            //goToBottom(); // a new message has arrived, scroll to bottom
           }
         } else {
-          goToBottom();
+          //goToBottom();
         }
       }
     }
   }, [messages]);
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (!messagesArrived) {
-      setMessagesArrived(false);
-      goToBottom();
-    }
-  }, [messagesArrived]);
+  // useEffect(() => {
+  //   if (!messagesArrived) {
+  //     setMessagesArrived(false);
+  //     goToBottom();
+  //   }
+  // }, [messagesArrived]);
 
   const handleScrollStop = scrollValues => {
     scrolledToBottom.current = false;
-    if (scrollValues.scrollTop === 0) {
+    if (scrollValues.scrollTop === 0) { // if scrolled to top
       setOffset(prev => prev + 1);
-    } else if (scrollValues.scrollTop === scrollValues.scrollHeight - scrollValues.clientHeight) {
+    } else if (scrollValues.scrollTop === scrollValues.scrollHeight - scrollValues.clientHeight) { // if scrolled to bottom
       scrolledToBottom.current = true;
       setMessagesArrived(false);
     }
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ const JKMessageModal = props => {
             { isIterableArray(messages) && 
               messages.map((message, index) => (
                 <div className="d-flex mb-3 mr-1 text-message-row" key={message.id}>
-                  <div className="avatar avatar-2xl d-inline-block">
+                  <div className="avatar avatar-2xl d-inline-block mr-2">
                     <JKProfileAvatar
                       src={message.receiverId === currentUser.id ?  userPhotoUrl : currentUserPhotoUrl }
                     />
diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/musician_filter.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/musician_filter.rb
index 1f300dff4..d30d16442 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/musician_filter.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/musician_filter.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ module JamRuby
         inst = []
         instruments.each do |ii|
           proficiency_levels.each do |pl|
-            inst << { id: ii[:value], proficiency: pl}
+            inst << { instrument_id: ii[:value], proficiency_level: pl}
           end
         end
         filter_params.merge!(instruments: inst) 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ module JamRuby
         raise exception 
       end
     end
-     
+
     def self.users_latency_data(user_obj, remote_ip, latency_good, latency_fair, latency_high, filter_opts, offset, limit)
       uri = URI(latency_url)
       begin
diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/base_search.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/base_search.rb
index 7ba937f47..25b9e8366 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/base_search.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/base_search.rb
@@ -180,8 +180,7 @@ module JamRuby
     end
 
     def _joined_within(rel)
-      #debugger
-      if 0 < (val = json[KEY_JOINED_WITHIN].to_i)
+      if json[KEY_JOINED_WITHIN].present? && 0 < (val = json[KEY_JOINED_WITHIN].to_i)
         rel = rel.where("users.created_at >= ?", val.days.ago.at_beginning_of_day)
       end 
       rel
diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/musician_search.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/musician_search.rb
index 31321066a..0a505a0fd 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/musician_search.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/musician_search.rb
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ module JamRuby
     end
 
     def _active_within(rel)
-      if 0 <= (val = json[KEY_ACTIVE_WITHIN].to_i)
+      if json[KEY_ACTIVE_WITHIN].present? && 0 <= (val = json[KEY_ACTIVE_WITHIN].to_i)
         rel = rel.where("users.id IN (SELECT users.id FROM users GROUP BY id HAVING GREATEST(updated_at, last_jam_updated_at) >= ?)", val.days.ago.at_beginning_of_day)
       end 
       rel
@@ -163,6 +163,11 @@ module JamRuby
     def do_filter(user_ids)
       rel = User.musicians.where('users.id <> ?', self.user.id)
 
+      rel = self._genres(rel)
+      rel = self._instruments(rel)
+      rel = self._joined_within(rel)
+      rel = self._active_within(rel)
+
       #user_ids: users returned from neo4j latency data service. #if this variable is not null, that means we are calling this method with neo4j latency data (currently this call only comes from api_search_controller#filter)
       #debugger