diff --git a/my/core/__main__.py b/my/core/__main__.py
index 8755c0c..1787538 100644
--- a/my/core/__main__.py
+++ b/my/core/__main__.py
@@ -378,13 +378,14 @@ def query_hpi_functions(
         pprint(res)
     else:
         # output == 'repl'
+        eprint(f"\nInteract with the results by using the {click.style('res', fg='green')} variable\n")
         try:
             import IPython  # type: ignore[import]
         except ModuleNotFoundError:
-            eprint("'repl' requires ipython, install it with 'python3 -m pip install ipython'")
-            sys.exit(1)
+            eprint("'repl' typically uses ipython, install it with 'python3 -m pip install ipython'. falling back to stdlib...")
+            import code
+            code.interact(local=locals())
         else:
-            eprint(f"\nInteract with the results by using the {click.style('res', fg='green')} variable\n")
             IPython.embed()
 
 
@@ -502,35 +503,35 @@ def module_install_cmd(user: bool, module: str) -> None:
 @click.option('-k',
               '--order-key',
               default=None,
-              type=click.STRING,
+              type=str,
               help='order by an object attribute or dict key on the individual objects returned by the HPI function')
 @click.option('-t',
               '--order-type',
               default=None,
-              type=click.Choice(['datetime', 'int', 'float']),
+              type=click.Choice(['datetime', 'date', 'int', 'float']),
               help='order by searching for some type on the iterable')
 @click.option('--after',
               default=None,
-              type=click.STRING,
+              type=str,
               help='while ordering, filter items for the key or type larger than or equal to this')
 @click.option('--before',
               default=None,
-              type=click.STRING,
+              type=str,
               help='while ordering, filter items for the key or type smaller than this')
 @click.option('--within',
               default=None,
-              type=click.STRING,
+              type=str,
               help="a range 'after' or 'before' to filter items by. see above for further explanation")
 @click.option('--recent',
               default=None,
-              type=click.STRING,
+              type=str,
               help="a shorthand for '--order-type datetime --reverse --before now --within'. e.g. --recent 5d")
 @click.option('--reverse/--no-reverse',
               default=False,
               help='reverse the results returned from the functions')
 @click.option('--limit',
               default=None,
-              type=click.INT,
+              type=int,
               help='limit the number of items returned from the (functions)')
 @click.option('--drop-unsorted',
               default=False,
@@ -592,11 +593,13 @@ def query_cmd(
     hpi query --order-type datetime --after '2016-01-01 00:00:00' --before '2019-01-01 00:00:00' my.reddit.comments
     '''
 
-    from datetime import datetime
+    from datetime import datetime, date
 
     chosen_order_type: Optional[Type]
     if order_type == "datetime":
         chosen_order_type = datetime
+    if order_type == "date":
+        chosen_order_type = date
     elif order_type == "int":
         chosen_order_type = int
     elif order_type == "float":
@@ -606,7 +609,7 @@ def query_cmd(
 
     if recent is not None:
         before = "now"
-        chosen_order_type = datetime
+        chosen_order_type = chosen_order_type or datetime  # dont override if the user specified date
         within = recent
         reverse = not reverse
 
diff --git a/my/core/common.py b/my/core/common.py
index a891a18..dacdd76 100644
--- a/my/core/common.py
+++ b/my/core/common.py
@@ -352,21 +352,12 @@ class classproperty(Generic[_R]):
 tzdatetime = datetime
 
 
-fromisoformat: Callable[[str], datetime]
-import sys
-if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 7):
-    # prevent mypy on py3.6 from complaining...
-    fromisoformat_real = datetime.fromisoformat
-    fromisoformat = fromisoformat_real
-else:
-    from .py37 import fromisoformat
-
-
 # TODO doctests?
 def isoparse(s: str) -> tzdatetime:
     """
     Parses timestamps formatted like 2020-05-01T10:32:02.925961Z
     """
+    from .compat import fromisoformat
     # TODO could use dateutil? but it's quite slow as far as I remember..
     # TODO support non-utc.. somehow?
     assert s.endswith('Z'), s
diff --git a/my/core/compat.py b/my/core/compat.py
index eb973fa..4a0d79f 100644
--- a/my/core/compat.py
+++ b/my/core/compat.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Some backwards compatibility stuff/deprecation helpers
 '''
 from types import ModuleType
+from typing import Callable
+from datetime import datetime
 
 from . import warnings
 from .common import LazyLogger
@@ -10,6 +12,16 @@ from .common import LazyLogger
 logger = LazyLogger('my.core.compat')
 
 
+fromisoformat: Callable[[str], datetime]
+import sys
+if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 7):
+    # prevent mypy on py3.6 from complaining...
+    fromisoformat_real = datetime.fromisoformat
+    fromisoformat = fromisoformat_real
+else:
+    from .py37 import fromisoformat
+
+
 def pre_pip_dal_handler(
         name: str,
         e: ModuleNotFoundError,
diff --git a/my/core/error.py b/my/core/error.py
index 33ba96a..e11103e 100644
--- a/my/core/error.py
+++ b/my/core/error.py
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def attach_dt(e: Exception, *, dt: Optional[datetime]) -> Exception:
 
 # todo it might be problematic because might mess with timezones (when it's converted to string, it's converted to a shift)
 def extract_error_datetime(e: Exception) -> Optional[datetime]:
-    from .common import fromisoformat
+    from .compat import fromisoformat
     import re
     for x in reversed(e.args):
         if isinstance(x, datetime):
diff --git a/my/core/query_range.py b/my/core/query_range.py
index cbaedba..1b8f040 100644
--- a/my/core/query_range.py
+++ b/my/core/query_range.py
@@ -24,14 +24,8 @@ from .query import (
     ET,
 )
 
-fromisoformat: Callable[[str], datetime]
-import sys
-if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 7):
-    # prevent mypy on py3.6 from complaining...
-    fromisoformat_real = datetime.fromisoformat
-    fromisoformat = fromisoformat_real
-else:
-    from .py37 import fromisoformat
+from .compat import fromisoformat
+from .common import isoparse
 
 
 timedelta_regex = re.compile(r"^((?P<weeks>[\.\d]+?)w)?((?P<days>[\.\d]+?)d)?((?P<hours>[\.\d]+?)h)?((?P<minutes>[\.\d]+?)m)?((?P<seconds>[\.\d]+?)s)?$")
@@ -82,10 +76,11 @@ def parse_datetime_float(date_str: str) -> float:
         # isoformat - default format when you call str() on datetime
         return fromisoformat(ds).timestamp()
     except ValueError:
+        pass
+    try:
+        return isoparse(ds).timestamp()
+    except (AssertionError, ValueError):
         raise QueryException(f"Was not able to parse {ds} into a datetime")
-    # todo: add isoparse from my.core.common? not sure how it handles
-    # timezones and this purposefully avoids that by converting all
-    # datelike items to floats instead
 
 
 # probably DateLike input? but a user could specify an order_key
@@ -329,7 +324,7 @@ Specify a type or a key to order the value by""")
             # sort the iterable by the generated order_by_chosen function
             itr = select(itr, order_by=order_by_chosen, drop_unsorted=True)
             filter_func: Optional[Where]
-            if order_by_value_type == datetime:
+            if order_by_value_type in [datetime, date]:
                 filter_func = _create_range_filter(
                     unparsed_range=unparsed_range,
                     end_parser=parse_datetime_float,