diff --git a/src/Runner.Common/BrokerServer.cs b/src/Runner.Common/BrokerServer.cs
index 5373694f9..891f0c359 100644
--- a/src/Runner.Common/BrokerServer.cs
+++ b/src/Runner.Common/BrokerServer.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ using GitHub.Runner.Common.Util;
 using GitHub.Services.WebApi;
 using GitHub.Services.Common;
 using GitHub.Runner.Sdk;
+using System.Net;
 using System.Net.Http;
 
 namespace GitHub.Runner.Common
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Common
     public interface IBrokerServer : IRunnerService
     {
         Task ConnectAsync(Uri serverUrl, CancellationToken cancellationToken);
-        Task<GitHub.DistributedTask.WebApi.TaskAgentMessage> GetMessageAsync(Int32 poolId, Guid sessionId, Int64? lastMessageId, CancellationToken cancellationToken);
+        Task<string> GetMessageAsync(int poolId, Guid sessionId, long? lastMessageId, CancellationToken cancellationToken);
     }
 
     public sealed class BrokerServer : RunnerService, IBrokerServer
@@ -29,10 +30,29 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Common
             await _httpClient.GetAsync("health", cancellationToken);
         }
 
-        public async Task<GitHub.DistributedTask.WebApi.TaskAgentMessage> GetMessageAsync(Int32 poolId, Guid sessionId, Int64? lastMessageId, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+        public async Task<string> GetMessageAsync(int poolId, Guid sessionId, long? lastMessageId, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
-            await _httpClient.GetAsync("message", cancellationToken);
-            return null;
+            var response = await _httpClient.GetAsync("message", cancellationToken);
+            if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
+            {
+                var content = default(string);
+                try
+                {
+                    content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
+                }
+                catch
+                {
+                }
+
+                var error = $"HTTP {(int)response.StatusCode} {Enum.GetName(typeof(HttpStatusCode), response.StatusCode)}";
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(content))
+                {
+                    error = $"{error}: {content}";
+                }
+                throw new Exception(error);
+            }
+
+            return await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Runner.Listener/MessageListener.cs b/src/Runner.Listener/MessageListener.cs
index 4e4767cfb..9dbd2c5fa 100644
--- a/src/Runner.Listener/MessageListener.cs
+++ b/src/Runner.Listener/MessageListener.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Listener
 
     public sealed class MessageListener : RunnerService, IMessageListener
     {
-        private long? _lastMessageId;
+        // private long? _lastMessageId;
         private RunnerSettings _settings;
         private ITerminal _term;
         private IRunnerServer _runnerServer;
@@ -222,17 +222,15 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Listener
             while (true)
             {
                 token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
-                TaskAgentMessage message = null;
+                string message = null;
                 try
                 {
-                    message = await _brokerServer.GetMessageAsync(_settings.PoolId, _session.SessionId, _lastMessageId, token);
-
-                    // Decrypt the message body if the session is using encryption
-                    message = DecryptMessage(message);
+                    message = await _brokerServer.GetMessageAsync(_settings.PoolId, _session.SessionId, null/*_lastMessageId*/, token);
 
+                    _term.WriteLine($"{DateTime.UtcNow:u}: {message}");
                     if (message != null)
                     {
-                        _lastMessageId = message.MessageId;
+                        // todo: _lastMessageId = message.MessageId;
                     }
 
                     if (encounteringError) //print the message once only if there was an error
@@ -298,23 +296,23 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Listener
                     }
                 }
 
-                if (message == null)
-                {
-                    if (heartbeat.Elapsed > TimeSpan.FromMinutes(30))
-                    {
-                        Trace.Info($"No message retrieved from session '{_session.SessionId}' within last 30 minutes.");
-                        heartbeat.Restart();
-                    }
-                    else
-                    {
-                        Trace.Verbose($"No message retrieved from session '{_session.SessionId}'.");
-                    }
+                // if (message == null)
+                // {
+                //     if (heartbeat.Elapsed > TimeSpan.FromMinutes(30))
+                //     {
+                //         Trace.Info($"No message retrieved from session '{_session.SessionId}' within last 30 minutes.");
+                //         heartbeat.Restart();
+                //     }
+                //     else
+                //     {
+                //         Trace.Verbose($"No message retrieved from session '{_session.SessionId}'.");
+                //     }
 
-                    continue;
-                }
+                //     continue;
+                // }
 
-                Trace.Info($"Message '{message.MessageId}' received from session '{_session.SessionId}'.");
-                return message;
+                // Trace.Info($"Message '{message.MessageId}' received from session '{_session.SessionId}'.");
+                // return message;
             }
         }
 #else