diff --git a/plugin/deploy/git.go b/plugin/deploy/git.go
index d26d89cf..451dc841 100644
--- a/plugin/deploy/git.go
+++ b/plugin/deploy/git.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func (g *Git) Write(f *buildfile.Buildfile) {
 		// that need to be deployed to git remote.
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git add -A"))
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git commit -m 'add build artifacts'"))
-		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push deploy $COMMIT:%s --force", destinationBranch))
+		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push deploy HEAD:%s --force", destinationBranch))
 	case false:
 		// otherwise we just do a standard git push
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push deploy $COMMIT:%s", destinationBranch))
diff --git a/plugin/deploy/heroku.go b/plugin/deploy/heroku.go
index 8379e0fc..3c90ed82 100644
--- a/plugin/deploy/heroku.go
+++ b/plugin/deploy/heroku.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (h *Heroku) Write(f *buildfile.Buildfile) {
 		// that need to be deployed to Heroku.
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git add -A"))
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git commit -m 'adding build artifacts'"))
-		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push heroku $COMMIT:master --force"))
+		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push heroku HEAD:master --force"))
 	case false:
 		// otherwise we just do a standard git push
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push heroku $COMMIT:master"))
diff --git a/plugin/deploy/tsuru.go b/plugin/deploy/tsuru.go
index a54954fa..2a074b5d 100644
--- a/plugin/deploy/tsuru.go
+++ b/plugin/deploy/tsuru.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (t *Tsuru) Write(f *buildfile.Buildfile) {
 		// that need to be deployed to Tsuru.
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git add -A"))
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git commit -m 'adding build artifacts'"))
-		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push tsuru $COMMIT:master --force"))
+		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push tsuru HEAD:master --force"))
 	case false:
 		// otherwise we just do a standard git push
 		f.WriteCmd(fmt.Sprintf("git push tsuru $COMMIT:master"))
diff --git a/plugin/notify/slack.go b/plugin/notify/slack.go
index 9d20cee7..708618d2 100644
--- a/plugin/notify/slack.go
+++ b/plugin/notify/slack.go
@@ -3,15 +3,14 @@ package notify
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/drone/drone/shared/model"
+	"net/url"
 )
 
 const (
 	slackEndpoint       = "https://%s.slack.com/services/hooks/incoming-webhook?token=%s"
-	slackStartedMessage = "*Building* %s, commit <%s|%s>, author %s"
-	slackSuccessMessage = "*Success* %s, commit <%s|%s>, author %s"
-	slackFailureMessage = "*Failed* %s, commit <%s|%s>, author %s"
+	slackStartedMessage = "*Building* %s <%s|%s>, by %s:\n> %s"
+	slackSuccessMessage = "*Success* %s <%s|%s>, by %s:\n> %s"
+	slackFailureMessage = "*Failed* %s <%s|%s>, by %s:\n> %s"
 )
 
 type Slack struct {
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ type Slack struct {
 	Failure  bool   `yaml:"on_failure,omitempty"`
 }
 
-func (s *Slack) Send(context *model.Request) error {
+func (s *Slack) Send(context *Context) error {
 	switch {
 	case context.Commit.Status == "Started" && s.Started:
 		return s.sendStarted(context)
@@ -37,21 +36,36 @@ func (s *Slack) Send(context *model.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (s *Slack) getMessage(context *model.Request, message string) string {
+func getBuildUrl(context *Context) string {
+	branchQuery := url.Values{}
+	if context.Commit.Branch != "" {
+		branchQuery.Set("branch", context.Commit.Branch)
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/commit/%s?%s", context.Host, context.Repo.Slug, context.Commit.Hash, branchQuery.Encode())
+}
+
+func getMessage(context *Context, message string) string {
 	url := getBuildUrl(context)
-	return fmt.Sprintf(message, context.Repo.Name, url, context.Commit.ShaShort(), context.Commit.Author)
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		message,
+		context.Repo.Name,
+		url,
+		context.Commit.HashShort(),
+		context.Commit.Author,
+		context.Commit.Message)
 }
 
-func (s *Slack) sendStarted(context *model.Request) error {
-	return s.send(s.getMessage(context, slackStartedMessage), "warning")
+func (s *Slack) sendStarted(context *Context) error {
+	return s.send(getMessage(context, slackStartedMessage), "warning")
 }
 
-func (s *Slack) sendSuccess(context *model.Request) error {
-	return s.send(s.getMessage(context, slackSuccessMessage), "good")
+func (s *Slack) sendSuccess(context *Context) error {
+	return s.send(getMessage(context, slackSuccessMessage), "good")
 }
 
-func (s *Slack) sendFailure(context *model.Request) error {
-	return s.send(s.getMessage(context, slackFailureMessage), "danger")
+func (s *Slack) sendFailure(context *Context) error {
+	return s.send(getMessage(context, slackFailureMessage), "danger")
 }
 
 // helper function to send HTTP requests
@@ -86,8 +100,7 @@ func (s *Slack) send(msg string, color string) error {
 
 	// send payload
 	url := fmt.Sprintf(slackEndpoint, s.Team, s.Token)
-
-	go sendJson(url, payload, nil)
+	go sendJson(url, payload)
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/shared/build/build.go b/shared/build/build.go
index 9c314a18..1f0084e6 100644
--- a/shared/build/build.go
+++ b/shared/build/build.go
@@ -244,6 +244,8 @@ func (b *Builder) setup() error {
 		if err := b.dockerClient.Images.Pull(b.Build.Image); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	} else if err != nil {
+		log.Errf("failed to inspect image %s", b.Build.Image)
 	}
 
 	// create the Docker image
@@ -439,7 +441,7 @@ func (b *Builder) writeDockerfile(dir string) error {
 	switch {
 	case strings.HasPrefix(b.Build.Image, "bradrydzewski/"),
 		strings.HasPrefix(b.Build.Image, "drone/"):
-		// the default user for all official Drone imnage
+		// the default user for all official Drone image
 		// is the "ubuntu" user, since all build images
 		// inherit from the ubuntu cloud ISO
 		dockerfile.WriteUser("ubuntu")
diff --git a/shared/build/build_test.go b/shared/build/build_test.go
index df35938b..bf05a355 100644
--- a/shared/build/build_test.go
+++ b/shared/build/build_test.go
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ func TestWriteBuildScript(t *testing.T) {
 	f.WriteEnv("CI_BRANCH", "master")
 	f.WriteEnv("CI_PULL_REQUEST", "123")
 	f.WriteHost("127.0.0.1")
-	f.WriteCmd("git clone --depth=0 --recursive --branch=master git://github.com/drone/drone.git /var/cache/drone/github.com/drone/drone")
+	f.WriteCmd("git clone --depth=0 --recursive git://github.com/drone/drone.git /var/cache/drone/github.com/drone/drone")
 	f.WriteCmd("git fetch origin +refs/pull/123/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/123")
 	f.WriteCmd("git checkout -qf -b pr/123 origin/pr/123")
 
diff --git a/shared/build/images.go b/shared/build/images.go
index 16ef64a5..bcd409fc 100644
--- a/shared/build/images.go
+++ b/shared/build/images.go
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ var builders = map[string]*image{
 	"gcc4.8": {Tag: "bradrydzewski/gcc:4.8"},
 
 	// Golang build images
-	"go":    {Tag: "bradrydzewski/go:1.2"},
+	"go":    {Tag: "bradrydzewski/go:1.3"},
 	"go1":   {Tag: "bradrydzewski/go:1.0"},
 	"go1.1": {Tag: "bradrydzewski/go:1.1"},
 	"go1.2": {Tag: "bradrydzewski/go:1.2"},
diff --git a/shared/build/repo/repo.go b/shared/build/repo/repo.go
index 6c9c4ea7..0a5746ee 100644
--- a/shared/build/repo/repo.go
+++ b/shared/build/repo/repo.go
@@ -103,21 +103,18 @@ func (r *Repo) Commands() []string {
 	}
 
 	cmds := []string{}
-	cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git clone --depth=%d --recursive --branch=%s %s %s", r.Depth, branch, r.Path, r.Dir))
-
-	switch {
-	// if a specific commit is provided then we'll
-	// need to clone it.
-	case len(r.PR) > 0:
-
+	if len(r.PR) > 0 {
+		// If a specific PR is provided then we need to clone it.
+		cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git clone --depth=%d --recursive %s %s", r.Depth, r.Path, r.Dir))
 		cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git fetch origin +refs/pull/%s/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/%s", r.PR, r.PR))
 		cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git checkout -qf -b pr/%s origin/pr/%s", r.PR, r.PR))
-		//cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git fetch origin +refs/pull/%s/merge:", r.PR))
-		//cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git checkout -qf %s", "FETCH_HEAD"))
-	// if a specific commit is provided then we'll
-	// need to clone it.
-	case len(r.Commit) > 0:
-		cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git checkout -qf %s", r.Commit))
+	} else {
+		// Otherwise just clone the branch.
+		cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git clone --depth=%d --recursive --branch=%s %s %s", r.Depth, branch, r.Path, r.Dir))
+		// If a specific commit is provided then we'll need to check it out.
+		if len(r.Commit) > 0 {
+			cmds = append(cmds, fmt.Sprintf("git checkout -qf %s", r.Commit))
+		}
 	}
 
 	return cmds