diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef5b6371..d049198c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ For more details, see http://loopback.io/.
 In addition to the [main LoopBack module](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback), LoopBack consists of numerous other modules that implement specific functionality, 
 as illustrated below:
 
-![LoopBack modules](./docs/assets/lb-modules.png "LoopBack modules")
+![LoopBack modules](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback/raw/master/docs/assets/lb-modules.png "LoopBack modules")
 
 * Frameworks
   * [loopback](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback)
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ as illustrated below:
   * [loopback-connector-mongodb](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-mongodb)
   * [loopback-connector-mysql](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-mysql)
   * [loopback-connector-oracle](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-oracle)
+  * [loopback-connector-mssql](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-mssql)
   * [loopback-connector-postgresql](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-postgresql)
   * [loopback-connector-rest](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-rest)
   * [loopback-connector-soap](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-connector-soap) 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ as illustrated below:
   * [loopback-example-access-control](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-example-access-control)
   * [loopback-example-proxy](https://github.com/strongloop/loopback-example-proxy)
   * [strongloop-community/loopback-example-datagraph](https://github.com/strongloop-community/loopback-example-datagraph)
-  * [strongloop-community/loopback-mysql-example](https://github.com/strongloop-community/loopback-mysql-example)
+  * [strongloop-community/loopback-example-database](https://github.com/strongloop-community/loopback-example-database)
   * [strongloop-community/loopback-examples-ios](https://github.com/strongloop-community/loopback-examples-ios)
   * [strongloop-community/loopback-example-ssl](https://github.com/strongloop-community/loopback-example-ssl)
 
diff --git a/docs/assets/lb-modules.png b/docs/assets/lb-modules.png
index 24c7bcee..390b86ea 100644
Binary files a/docs/assets/lb-modules.png and b/docs/assets/lb-modules.png differ
diff --git a/lib/application.js b/lib/application.js
index d14d6db1..3eb7a974 100644
--- a/lib/application.js
+++ b/lib/application.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ var DataSource = require('loopback-datasource-juggler').DataSource
   , compat = require('./compat')
   , assert = require('assert')
   , fs = require('fs')
+  , extend = require('util')._extend
   , _ = require('underscore')
   , RemoteObjects = require('strong-remoting')
   , swagger = require('strong-remoting/ext/swagger')
@@ -197,9 +198,30 @@ app.models = function () {
 app.dataSource = function (name, config) {
   this.dataSources[name] =
   this.dataSources[classify(name)] =
-  this.dataSources[camelize(name)] = dataSourcesFromConfig(config);
+  this.dataSources[camelize(name)] =
+    dataSourcesFromConfig(config, this.connectors);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Register a connector.
+ *
+ * When a new data-source is being added via `app.dataSource`, the connector
+ * name is looked up in the registered connectors first.
+ *
+ * Connectors are required to be explicitly registered only for applications
+ * using browserify, because browserify does not support dynamic require,
+ * which is used by LoopBack to automatically load the connector module.
+ *
+ * @param {String} name Name of the connector, e.g. 'mysql'.
+ * @param {Object} connector Connector object as returned
+ *   by `require('loopback-connector-{name}')`.
+ */
+app.connector = function(name, connector) {
+  this.connectors[name] =
+  this.connectors[classify(name)] =
+  this.connectors[camelize(name)] = connector;
+};
+
 /**
  * Get all remote objects.
  * @returns {Object} [Remote objects](http://apidocs.strongloop.com/strong-remoting/#remoteobjectsoptions).
@@ -451,10 +473,10 @@ app.boot = function(options) {
     app.set('port', appConfig.port);
   }
 
-  assert(appConfig.restApiRoot !== undefined, 'app.restBasePath is required');
-  assert(typeof appConfig.restApiRoot === 'string', 'app.restBasePath must be a string');
-  assert(/^\//.test(appConfig.restApiRoot), 'app.restBasePath must start with "/"');
-  app.set('restApiRoot', appConfig.restBasePath);
+  assert(appConfig.restApiRoot !== undefined, 'app.restApiRoot is required');
+  assert(typeof appConfig.restApiRoot === 'string', 'app.restApiRoot must be a string');
+  assert(/^\//.test(appConfig.restApiRoot), 'app.restApiRoot must start with "/"');
+  app.set('restApiRoot', appConfig.restApiRoot);
 
   for(var configKey in appConfig) {
     var cur = app.get(configKey);
@@ -519,17 +541,22 @@ function camelize(str) {
   return stringUtils.camelize(str);
 }
 
-function dataSourcesFromConfig(config) {
+function dataSourcesFromConfig(config, connectorRegistry) {
   var connectorPath;
 
   assert(typeof config === 'object', 
     'cannont create data source without config object');
 
   if(typeof config.connector === 'string') {
-    connectorPath = path.join(__dirname, 'connectors', config.connector+'.js');
+    var name = config.connector;
+    if (connectorRegistry[name]) {
+      config.connector = connectorRegistry[name];
+    } else {
+      connectorPath = path.join(__dirname, 'connectors', name + '.js');
 
-    if(fs.existsSync(connectorPath)) {
-      config.connector = require(connectorPath);
+      if (fs.existsSync(connectorPath)) {
+        config.connector = require(connectorPath);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -537,7 +564,10 @@ function dataSourcesFromConfig(config) {
 }
 
 function modelFromConfig(name, config, app) {
-  var ModelCtor = require('./loopback').createModel(name, config.properties, config.options);
+  var options = buildModelOptionsFromConfig(config);
+  var properties = config.properties;
+
+  var ModelCtor = require('./loopback').createModel(name, properties, options);
   var dataSource = config.dataSource;
 
   if(typeof dataSource === 'string') {
@@ -550,6 +580,26 @@ function modelFromConfig(name, config, app) {
   return ModelCtor;
 }
 
+function buildModelOptionsFromConfig(config) {
+  var options = extend({}, config.options);
+  for (var key in config) {
+    if (['properties', 'options', 'dataSource'].indexOf(key) !== -1) {
+      // Skip items which have special meaning
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (options[key] !== undefined) {
+      // When both `config.key` and `config.options.key` are set,
+      // use the latter one to preserve backwards compatibility
+      // with loopback 1.x
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    options[key] = config[key];
+  }
+  return options;
+}
+
 function requireDir(dir, basenames) {
   assert(dir, 'cannot require directory contents without directory name');
 
diff --git a/lib/loopback.js b/lib/loopback.js
index 3a027713..a7a4c5da 100644
--- a/lib/loopback.js
+++ b/lib/loopback.js
@@ -76,6 +76,18 @@ function createApplication() {
     return proto.models.apply(this, arguments);
   };
 
+  // Create a new instance of datasources registry per each app instance
+  app.datasources = app.dataSources = {};
+
+  // Create a new instance of connector registry per each app instance
+  app.connectors = {};
+
+  // Register built-in connectors. It's important to keep this code
+  // hand-written, so that all require() calls are static
+  // and thus browserify can process them (include connectors in the bundle)
+  app.connector('memory', loopback.Memory);
+  app.connector('remote', loopback.Remote);
+
   return app;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/middleware/rest.js b/lib/middleware/rest.js
index 9ddef750..3f87c126 100644
--- a/lib/middleware/rest.js
+++ b/lib/middleware/rest.js
@@ -15,17 +15,37 @@ module.exports = rest;
  */
 
 function rest() {
+  var tokenParser = null;
   return function (req, res, next) {
     var app = req.app;
     var handler = app.handler('rest');
-    
+
     if(req.url === '/routes') {
       res.send(handler.adapter.allRoutes());
     } else if(req.url === '/models') {
       return res.send(app.remotes().toJSON());
+    } else if (app.isAuthEnabled) {
+      if (!tokenParser) {
+        // NOTE(bajtos) It would be better to search app.models for a model
+        // of type AccessToken instead of searching all loopback models.
+        // Unfortunately that's not supported now.
+        // Related discussions:
+        // https://github.com/strongloop/loopback/pull/167
+        // https://github.com/strongloop/loopback/commit/f07446a
+        var AccessToken = loopback.getModelByType(loopback.AccessToken);
+        tokenParser = loopback.token({ model: AccessToken });
+      }
+
+      tokenParser(req, res, function(err) {
+        if (err) {
+          next(err);
+        } else {
+          handler(req, res, next);
+        }
+      });
     } else {
       handler(req, res, next);
     }
-  }
+  };
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/middleware/token.js b/lib/middleware/token.js
index 185a71ce..88a93c24 100644
--- a/lib/middleware/token.js
+++ b/lib/middleware/token.js
@@ -53,12 +53,14 @@ function token(options) {
   assert(TokenModel, 'loopback.token() middleware requires a AccessToken model');
   
   return function (req, res, next) {
+    if (req.accessToken !== undefined) return next();
     TokenModel.findForRequest(req, options, function(err, token) {
       if(err) return next(err);
       if(token) {
         req.accessToken = token;
         next();
       } else {
+        req.accessToken = null;
         return next();
       }
     });
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f56510f7..4b1b9e96 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,13 +1,29 @@
 {
   "name": "loopback",
-  "description": "LoopBack: Open Mobile Platform for Node.js",
+  "description": "LoopBack: Open API Framework for Node.js",
   "homepage": "http://loopback.io",
   "keywords": [
+    "restful",
+    "rest",
+    "api",
+    "express",
+    "restify",
+    "koa",
+    "auth",
+    "security",
+    "oracle",
+    "mysql",
+    "nosql",
+    "mongo",
+    "mongodb",
+    "sqlserver",
+    "mssql",
+    "postgres",
+    "postgresql",
+    "soap",
     "StrongLoop",
-    "LoopBack",
-    "Mobile",
-    "Backend",
-    "Platform",
+    "framework",
+    "mobile",
     "mBaaS"
   ],
   "version": "2.0.0-beta2",
@@ -15,19 +31,19 @@
     "test": "mocha -R spec"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "debug": "~0.7.4",
-    "express": "~3.4.8",
+    "debug": "~0.8.1",
+    "express": "~3.5.0",
     "strong-remoting": "~1.4.0",
     "inflection": "~1.3.5",
     "passport": "~0.2.0",
-    "passport-local": "~0.1.6",
-    "nodemailer": "~0.6.0",
-    "ejs": "~0.8.5",
+    "passport-local": "~1.0.0",
+    "nodemailer": "~0.6.5",
+    "ejs": "~1.0.0",
     "bcryptjs": "~0.7.12",
     "underscore.string": "~2.3.3",
     "underscore": "~1.6.0",
     "uid2": "0.0.3",
-    "async": "~0.2.10",
+    "async": "~0.9.0",
     "canonical-json": "0.0.3"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
@@ -35,26 +51,26 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "loopback-datasource-juggler": "2.0.0-beta1",
-    "mocha": "~1.17.1",
+    "mocha": "~1.18.0",
     "strong-task-emitter": "0.0.x",
-    "supertest": "~0.9.0",
-    "chai": "~1.9.0",
+    "supertest": "~0.12.1",
+    "chai": "~1.9.1",
     "loopback-testing": "~0.1.2",
-    "browserify": "~3.41.0",
-    "grunt": "~0.4.2",
-    "grunt-browserify": "~1.3.1",
-    "grunt-contrib-uglify": "~0.3.2",
-    "grunt-contrib-jshint": "~0.8.0",
-    "grunt-contrib-watch": "~0.5.3",
+    "browserify": "~4.1.5",
+    "grunt": "~0.4.5",
+    "grunt-browserify": "~2.1.0",
+    "grunt-contrib-uglify": "~0.4.0",
+    "grunt-contrib-jshint": "~0.10.0",
+    "grunt-contrib-watch": "~0.6.1",
     "karma-script-launcher": "~0.1.0",
-    "karma-chrome-launcher": "~0.1.2",
+    "karma-chrome-launcher": "~0.1.3",
     "karma-firefox-launcher": "~0.1.3",
     "karma-html2js-preprocessor": "~0.1.0",
-    "karma-phantomjs-launcher": "~0.1.2",
-    "karma": "~0.10.9",
+    "karma-phantomjs-launcher": "~0.1.4",
+    "karma": "~0.12.16",
     "karma-browserify": "~0.2.0",
-    "karma-mocha": "~0.1.1",
-    "grunt-karma": "~0.6.2",
+    "karma-mocha": "~0.1.3",
+    "grunt-karma": "~0.8.3"
     "loopback-explorer": "~1.1.0"
   },
   "repository": {
diff --git a/test/access-token.test.js b/test/access-token.test.js
index de5f030b..cd4bc0d6 100644
--- a/test/access-token.test.js
+++ b/test/access-token.test.js
@@ -32,6 +32,27 @@ describe('loopback.token(options)', function() {
           .end(done);
       });
   });
+
+  it('should skip when req.token is already present', function(done) {
+    var tokenStub = { id: 'stub id' };
+    app.use(function(req, res, next) {
+      req.accessToken = tokenStub;
+      next();
+    });
+    app.use(loopback.token({ model: Token }));
+    app.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
+      res.send(req.accessToken);
+    });
+
+    request(app).get('/')
+      .set('Authorization', this.token.id)
+      .expect(200)
+      .end(function(err, res) {
+        if (err) return done(err);
+        expect(res.body).to.eql(tokenStub);
+        done();
+      });
+  });
 });
 
 describe('AccessToken', function () {
diff --git a/test/acl.test.js b/test/acl.test.js
index 0f4f8597..bf7bdb86 100644
--- a/test/acl.test.js
+++ b/test/acl.test.js
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ function checkResult(err, result) {
   assert(!err);
 }
 
-describe('security scopes', function () {
+var ds = null;
+before(function() {
+  ds = loopback.createDataSource({connector: loopback.Memory});
+});
 
+describe('security scopes', function () {
   beforeEach(function() {
     var ds = this.ds = loopback.createDataSource({connector: loopback.Memory});
     testModel = loopback.DataModel.extend('testModel');
@@ -156,7 +160,6 @@ describe('security ACLs', function () {
   });
 
   it("should honor defaultPermission from the model", function () {
-    var ds = this.ds;
     var Customer = ds.createModel('Customer', {
       name: {
         type: String,
@@ -188,7 +191,6 @@ describe('security ACLs', function () {
   });
 
   it("should honor static ACLs from the model", function () {
-    var ds = this.ds;
     var Customer = ds.createModel('Customer', {
       name: {
         type: String,
@@ -226,7 +228,6 @@ describe('security ACLs', function () {
   it("should check access against LDL, ACL, and Role", function () {
     // var log = console.log;
     var log = function() {};
-    var ds = this.ds;
 
     // Create
     User.create({name: 'Raymond', email: 'x@y.com', password: 'foobar'}, function (err, user) {
diff --git a/test/app.test.js b/test/app.test.js
index 41d6285c..35f9e46d 100644
--- a/test/app.test.js
+++ b/test/app.test.js
@@ -69,9 +69,11 @@ describe('app', function() {
     });
   });
 
-  describe('app.model(name, properties, options)', function () {
-    it('Sugar for defining a fully built model', function () {
-      var app = loopback();
+  describe('app.model(name, config)', function () {
+    var app;
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      app = loopback();
       app.boot({
         app: {port: 3000, host: '127.0.0.1'},
         dataSources: {
@@ -80,20 +82,44 @@ describe('app', function() {
           }
         }
       });
+    });
 
+    it('Sugar for defining a fully built model', function () {
       app.model('foo', {
         dataSource: 'db'
       });
 
       var Foo = app.models.foo;
-      var f = new Foo;
+      var f = new Foo();
 
       assert(f instanceof loopback.Model);
     });
+
+    it('interprets extra first-level keys as options', function() {
+      app.model('foo', {
+        dataSource: 'db',
+        base: 'User'
+      });
+
+      expect(app.models.foo.definition.settings.base).to.equal('User');
+    });
+
+    it('prefers config.options.key over config.key', function() {
+      app.model('foo', {
+        dataSource: 'db',
+        base: 'User',
+        options: {
+          base: 'Application'
+        }
+      });
+
+      expect(app.models.foo.definition.settings.base).to.equal('Application');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('app.models', function() {
     it('is unique per app instance', function() {
+      app.dataSource('db', { connector: 'memory' });
       var Color = app.model('Color', { dataSource: 'db' });
       expect(app.models.Color).to.equal(Color);
       var anotherApp = loopback();
@@ -101,6 +127,23 @@ describe('app', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('app.dataSources', function() {
+    it('is unique per app instance', function() {
+      app.dataSource('ds', { connector: 'memory' });
+      expect(app.datasources.ds).to.not.equal(undefined);
+      var anotherApp = loopback();
+      expect(anotherApp.datasources.ds).to.equal(undefined);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('app.dataSource', function() {
+    it('looks up the connector in `app.connectors`', function() {
+      app.connector('custom', loopback.Memory);
+      app.dataSource('custom', { connector: 'custom' });
+      expect(app.dataSources.custom.name).to.equal(loopback.Memory.name);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('app.boot([options])', function () {
     beforeEach(function () {
       app.boot({
@@ -475,4 +518,39 @@ describe('app', function() {
         });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('app.connectors', function() {
+    it('is unique per app instance', function() {
+      app.connectors.foo = 'bar';
+      var anotherApp = loopback();
+      expect(anotherApp.connectors.foo).to.equal(undefined);
+    });
+
+    it('includes Remote connector', function() {
+      expect(app.connectors.remote).to.equal(loopback.Remote);
+    });
+
+    it('includes Memory connector', function() {
+      expect(app.connectors.memory).to.equal(loopback.Memory);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('app.connector', function() {
+     // any connector will do
+    it('adds the connector to the registry', function() {
+      app.connector('foo-bar', loopback.Memory);
+      expect(app.connectors['foo-bar']).to.equal(loopback.Memory);
+    });
+
+    it('adds a classified alias', function() {
+      app.connector('foo-bar', loopback.Memory);
+      expect(app.connectors.FooBar).to.equal(loopback.Memory);
+    });
+
+    it('adds a camelized alias', function() {
+      app.connector('FOO-BAR', loopback.Memory);
+      console.log(app.connectors);
+      expect(app.connectors.FOOBAR).to.equal(loopback.Memory);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/rest.middleware.test.js b/test/rest.middleware.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c1e9886
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/rest.middleware.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+describe('loopback.rest', function() {
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    app.dataSource('db', { connector: loopback.Memory });
+  });
+
+  it('works out-of-the-box', function(done) {
+    app.model('MyModel', { dataSource: 'db' });
+    app.use(loopback.rest());
+    request(app).get('/mymodels')
+      .expect(200)
+      .end(done);
+  });
+
+  it('includes loopback.token when necessary', function(done) {
+    givenUserModelWithAuth();
+    app.enableAuth();
+    app.use(loopback.rest());
+
+    givenLoggedInUser(function(err, token) {
+      if (err) return done(err);
+      expect(token).instanceOf(app.models.accessToken);
+      request(app).get('/users/' + token.userId)
+        .set('Authorization', token.id)
+        .expect(200)
+        .end(done);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('does not include loopback.token when auth not enabled', function(done) {
+    var User = givenUserModelWithAuth();
+    User.getToken = function(req, cb) {
+      cb(null, req.accessToken ? req.accessToken.id : null);
+    };
+    loopback.remoteMethod(User.getToken, {
+      accepts: [{ type: 'object', http: { source: 'req' } }],
+      returns: [{ type: 'object', name: 'id' }]
+    });
+
+    app.use(loopback.rest());
+    givenLoggedInUser(function(err, token) {
+      if (err) return done(err);
+      request(app).get('/users/getToken')
+        .set('Authorization', token.id)
+        .expect(200)
+        .end(function(err, res) {
+          if (err) return done(err);
+          expect(res.body.id).to.equal(null);
+          done();
+        });
+    });
+  });
+
+  function givenUserModelWithAuth() {
+    // NOTE(bajtos) It is important to create a custom AccessToken model here,
+    // in order to overwrite the entry created by previous tests in
+    // the global model registry
+    app.model('accessToken', {
+      options: {
+        base: 'AccessToken'
+      },
+      dataSource: 'db'
+    });
+    return app.model('user', {
+      options: {
+        base: 'User',
+        relations: {
+          accessTokens: {
+            model: 'accessToken',
+            type: 'hasMany',
+            foreignKey: 'userId'
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      dataSource: 'db'
+    });
+  }
+  function givenLoggedInUser(cb) {
+    var credentials = { email: 'user@example.com', password: 'pwd' };
+    var User = app.models.user;
+    User.create(credentials,
+      function(err, user) {
+        if (err) return done(err);
+        User.login(credentials, cb);
+      });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/test/user.test.js b/test/user.test.js
index 7f5cedbb..25b1df8f 100644
--- a/test/user.test.js
+++ b/test/user.test.js
@@ -51,16 +51,15 @@ describe('User', function(){
 
     it('Email is required', function (done) {
       User.create({password: '123'}, function (err) {
-        assert.deepEqual(err, {name: "ValidationError",
-            message: "The Model instance is not valid. See `details` "
-              + "property of the error object for more info.",
-            statusCode: 422,
-            details: {
-              context: "user",
-              codes: {email: ["presence", "format.blank", "uniqueness"]},
-              messages: {email: ["can't be blank", "is blank",
-                "Email already exists"]}}}
-        );
+        assert(err);
+        assert.equal(err.name, "ValidationError");
+        assert.equal(err.statusCode, 422);
+        assert.equal(err.details.context, "user");
+        assert.deepEqual(err.details.codes.email, [
+          'presence',
+          'format.blank',
+          'uniqueness'
+        ]);
 
         done();
       });