diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 93ac4f5..5bf8f3f 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+## v3.2
+
+Updating action parameters
+
+### breaking
+
+- the `merge` action now takes 4 parameters: `session_id`, `context`, `entities`, `msg`
+- the `error` action now takes `context` as second parameter
+- custom actions now take 2 parameters: `session_id`, `context`
+
 ## v3.1
 
 - allows for custom logging
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 90b36fd..1e61567 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,16 +45,17 @@ actions = {
   :say => -> (session_id, msg) {
     p msg
   },
-  :merge => -> (context, entities) {
+  :merge => -> (session_id, context, entities, msg) {
     return context
   },
-  :error => -> (session_id, msg) {
+  :error => -> (session_id, context) {
     p 'Oops I don\'t know what to do.'
   },
 }
 ```
 
-A custom action takes one parameter:
+A custom action takes the following parameters:
+* `session_id` - a unique identifier describing the user session
 * `context` - the `Hash` representing the session state
 
 Example:
diff --git a/examples/joke.rb b/examples/joke.rb
index 58275b0..1615fc4 100644
--- a/examples/joke.rb
+++ b/examples/joke.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def first_entity_value(entities, entity)
   :say => -> (session_id, msg) {
     p msg
   },
-  :merge => -> (context, entities) {
+  :merge => -> (session_id, context, entities, msg) {
     new_context = context.clone
     new_context.delete 'joke'
     new_context.delete 'ack'
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ def first_entity_value(entities, entity)
     new_context['ack'] = sentiment == 'positive' ? 'Glad you liked it.' : 'Hmm.' unless sentiment.nil?
     return new_context
   },
-  :error => -> (session_id, msg) {
+  :error => -> (session_id, context) {
     p 'Oops I don\'t know what to do.'
   },
-  :'select-joke' => -> (context) {
+  :'select-joke' => -> (session_id, context) {
     new_context = context.clone
     new_context['joke'] = all_jokes[new_context['cat'] || 'default'].sample
     return new_context
diff --git a/examples/quickstart.rb b/examples/quickstart.rb
index b509d21..e3b4364 100644
--- a/examples/quickstart.rb
+++ b/examples/quickstart.rb
@@ -16,16 +16,16 @@ def first_entity_value(entities, entity)
   :say => -> (session_id, msg) {
     p msg
   },
-  :merge => -> (context, entities) {
+  :merge => -> (session_id, context, entities, msg) {
     new_context = context.clone
     loc = first_entity_value entities, 'location'
     new_context['loc'] = loc unless loc.nil?
     return new_context
   },
-  :error => -> (session_id, msg) {
+  :error => -> (session_id, context) {
     p 'Oops I don\'t know what to do.'
   },
-  :'fetch-weather' => -> (context) {
+  :'fetch-weather' => -> (session_id, context) {
     new_context = context.clone
     new_context['forecast'] = 'sunny'
     return new_context
diff --git a/examples/template.rb b/examples/template.rb
index d031524..051c7f4 100644
--- a/examples/template.rb
+++ b/examples/template.rb
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
   :say => -> (session_id, msg) {
     p msg
   },
-  :merge => -> (context, entities) {
+  :merge => -> (session_id, context, entities, msg) {
     return context
   },
-  :error => -> (session_id, msg) {
+  :error => -> (session_id, context) {
     p 'Oops I don\'t know what to do.'
   },
 }
diff --git a/lib/wit.rb b/lib/wit.rb
index 96301a5..ebcba34 100644
--- a/lib/wit.rb
+++ b/lib/wit.rb
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ def validate_actions(actions)
     raise WitException.new "The '#{k}' action name should be a symbol" unless k.is_a? Symbol
     raise WitException.new "The '#{k}' action should be a lambda function" unless v.respond_to? :call and v.lambda?
     raise WitException.new "The \'say\' action should take 2 arguments: session_id, msg. #{learn_more}" if k == :say and v.arity != 2
-    raise WitException.new "The \'merge\' action should take 2 arguments: context, entities. #{learn_more}" if k == :merge and v.arity != 2
-    raise WitException.new "The \'error\' action should take 2 arguments: session_id, msg. #{learn_more}" if k == :error and v.arity != 2
-    raise WitException.new "The '#{k}' action should take 1 argument: context. #{learn_more}" if k != :say and k != :merge and k != :error and v.arity != 1
+    raise WitException.new "The \'merge\' action should take 4 arguments: session_id, context, entities, msg. #{learn_more}" if k == :merge and v.arity != 4
+    raise WitException.new "The \'error\' action should take 2 arguments: session_id, context. #{learn_more}" if k == :error and v.arity != 2
+    raise WitException.new "The '#{k}' action should take 2 arguments: session_id, context. #{learn_more}" if k != :say and k != :merge and k != :error and v.arity != 2
   end
   return actions
 end
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def converse(session_id, msg, context={})
     req @access_token, Net::HTTP::Post, '/converse', params, context
   end
 
-  def run_actions(session_id, message, context={}, max_steps=DEFAULT_MAX_STEPS)
+  def run_actions_(session_id, message, context, max_steps, user_message)
     raise WitException.new 'max iterations reached' unless max_steps > 0
 
     rst = converse session_id, message, context
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def run_actions(session_id, message, context={}, max_steps=DEFAULT_MAX_STEPS)
     elsif type == 'merge'
       raise WitException.new 'unknown action: merge' unless @actions.has_key? :merge
       logger.info 'Executing merge'
-      context = @actions[:merge].call context, rst['entities']
+      context = @actions[:merge].call session_id, context, rst['entities'], user_message
       if context.nil?
         logger.warn 'missing context - did you forget to return it?'
         context = {}
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def run_actions(session_id, message, context={}, max_steps=DEFAULT_MAX_STEPS)
       action = rst['action'].to_sym
       raise WitException.new "unknown action: #{action}" unless @actions.has_key? action
       logger.info "Executing action #{action}"
-      context = @actions[action].call context
+      context = @actions[action].call session_id, context
       if context.nil?
         logger.warn 'missing context - did you forget to return it?'
         context = {}
@@ -112,10 +112,16 @@ def run_actions(session_id, message, context={}, max_steps=DEFAULT_MAX_STEPS)
     elsif type == 'error'
       raise WitException.new 'unknown action: error' unless @actions.has_key? :error
       logger.info 'Executing error'
-      @actions[:error].call session_id, 'unknown action: error'
+      @actions[:error].call session_id, context
     else
       raise WitException.new "unknown type: #{type}"
     end
     return run_actions session_id, nil, context, max_steps - 1
   end
+
+  def run_actions(session_id, message, context={}, max_steps=DEFAULT_MAX_STEPS)
+    return run_actions_ session_id, message, context, max_steps, message
+  end
+
+  private :run_actions_
 end
diff --git a/wit.gemspec b/wit.gemspec
index ee7804a..2a924fc 100644
--- a/wit.gemspec
+++ b/wit.gemspec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name = 'wit'
-  s.version = '3.1.0'
-  s.date = '2014-12-05'
+  s.version = '3.2.0'
+  s.date = Date.today.to_s
   s.summary = 'Ruby SDK for Wit.ai'
   s.description = 'Ruby SDK for Wit.ai'
   s.authors = ['The Wit Team']