diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/account_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/account_message.rb
index f020b1f..d0ef968 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/account_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/account_message.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module Skyfall
     #
     def initialize(type_object, data_object)
       super
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details") if @data_object['active'].nil?
+      check_if_not_nil :seq, :did, :time, :active
 
       @active = @data_object['active']
       @status = @data_object['status']&.to_sym
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/commit_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/commit_message.rb
index e56d960..f41da86 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/commit_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/commit_message.rb
@@ -15,9 +15,20 @@ module Skyfall
 
   class Firehose::CommitMessage < Firehose::Message
 
+    #
+    # @private
+    # @param type_object [Hash] first decoded CBOR frame with metadata
+    # @param data_object [Hash] second decoded CBOR frame with payload
+    # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
+    #
+    def initialize(type_object, data_object)
+      super
+      check_if_not_nil :seq, :repo, :commit, :blocks, :ops, :time
+    end
+
     # @return [CID] CID (Content Identifier) of the commit
     def commit
-      @commit ||= @data_object['commit'] && CID.from_cbor_tag(@data_object['commit'])
+      @commit ||= CID.from_cbor_tag(@data_object['commit'])
     end
 
     # @return [Skyfall::CarArchive] commit data in the form of a parsed CAR archive
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/identity_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/identity_message.rb
index 7c4b5f9..78e93d5 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/identity_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/identity_message.rb
@@ -15,9 +15,20 @@ module Skyfall
 
   class Firehose::IdentityMessage < Firehose::Message
 
-    # @return [String, nil] current handle assigned to the DID
-    def handle
-      @data_object['handle']
+    #
+    # @private
+    # @param type_object [Hash] first decoded CBOR frame with metadata
+    # @param data_object [Hash] second decoded CBOR frame with payload
+    # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
+    #
+    def initialize(type_object, data_object)
+      super
+      check_if_not_nil :seq, :did, :time
+
+      @handle = @data_object['handle']
     end
+
+    # @return [String, nil] current handle assigned to the DID
+    attr_reader :handle
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/info_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/info_message.rb
index a2d5e3e..4442b53 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/info_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/info_message.rb
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@ module Skyfall
     # @private
     # @param type_object [Hash] first decoded CBOR frame with metadata
     # @param data_object [Hash] second decoded CBOR frame with payload
+    # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
     #
     def initialize(type_object, data_object)
       super
+      check_if_not_nil :name
 
       @name = @data_object['name']
       @message = @data_object['message']
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/labels_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/labels_message.rb
index c72a91f..374849f 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/labels_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/labels_message.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module Skyfall
     #
     def initialize(type_object, data_object)
       super
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details") unless @data_object['labels'].is_a?(Array)
+      check_if_not_nil :seq, :labels
 
       @labels = @data_object['labels'].map { |x| Label.new(x) }
     end
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/firehose/message.rb b/lib/skyfall/firehose/message.rb
index 672e291..b13f6f3 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/firehose/message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/firehose/message.rb
@@ -145,6 +145,15 @@ module Skyfall
       instance_variables - [:@type_object, :@data_object, :@blocks]
     end
 
+    # Checks if all required fields are set in the data object.
+    # @param fields [Array<Symbol, String>] list of fields to check
+    # @raise [DecodeError] if any of the fields is nil or not set
+    def check_if_not_nil(*fields)
+      missing = fields.select { |f| @data_object[f.to_s].nil? }
+
+      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (#{missing.map(&:to_s).join(', ')})") if missing.length > 0
+    end
+
 
     private
 
@@ -163,11 +172,13 @@ module Skyfall
         raise SubscriptionError.new(data['error'], data['message'])
       end
 
-      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{type}") unless type.is_a?(Hash)
-      raise UnsupportedError.new("Unexpected CBOR object: #{type}") unless type['op'] == 1
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing data: #{type} #{objects.inspect}") unless type['op'] && type['t']
-      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid message type: #{type['t']}") unless type['t'].start_with?('#')
-      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{data}") unless data.is_a?(Hash)
+      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{type.inspect}") unless type.is_a?(Hash)
+      raise DecodeError.new("Missing data: #{type.inspect}") unless type['op'] && type['t']
+      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{type['op'].inspect}") unless type['op'].is_a?(Integer)
+      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{type['t'].inspect}") unless type['t'].is_a?(String)
+      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid message type: #{type['t'].inspect}") unless type['t'].start_with?('#')
+      raise UnsupportedError.new("Unsupported version: #{type['op']}") unless type['op'] == 1
+      raise DecodeError.new("Invalid object type: #{data.inspect}") unless data.is_a?(Hash)
 
       [type, data]
     end
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/account_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/account_message.rb
index a7803ca..85008c9 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/account_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/account_message.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module Skyfall
     # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
     #
     def initialize(json)
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details") if json['account'].nil?
+      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (account)") if json['account'].nil? || json['account']['active'].nil?
       super
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/commit_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/commit_message.rb
index 9ba6bea..fe5c5d7 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/commit_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/commit_message.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ module Skyfall
     # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
     #
     def initialize(json)
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details") if json['commit'].nil?
+      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (commit)") if json['commit'].nil?
+
+      %w(collection rkey operation).each { |f| raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (#{f})") if json['commit'][f].nil? }
+
       super
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/identity_message.rb b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/identity_message.rb
index 1ba5e41..3f527f0 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/identity_message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/identity_message.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module Skyfall
     # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
     #
     def initialize(json)
-      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details") if json['identity'].nil?
+      raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (identity)") if json['identity'].nil?
       super
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/message.rb b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/message.rb
index c67229a..81a15c0 100644
--- a/lib/skyfall/jetstream/message.rb
+++ b/lib/skyfall/jetstream/message.rb
@@ -72,8 +72,11 @@ module Skyfall
 
     #
     # @param json [Hash] message JSON decoded from the websocket message
+    # @raise [DecodeError] if the message doesn't include required data
     #
     def initialize(json)
+      %w(kind did time_us).each { |f| raise DecodeError.new("Missing event details (#{f})") if json[f].nil? }
+
       @json = json
       @type = @json['kind'].to_sym
       @did = @json['did']
@@ -122,7 +125,7 @@ module Skyfall
     # @return [Time]
     #
     def time
-      @time ||= @json['time_us'] && Time.at(@json['time_us'] / 1_000_000.0)
+      @time ||= Time.at(@time_us / 1_000_000.0)
     end
   end
 end