diff --git a/spec-inbox/stores/contact-store-spec.coffee b/spec-inbox/stores/contact-store-spec.coffee
index 52552f4b0..4b8398a88 100644
--- a/spec-inbox/stores/contact-store-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec-inbox/stores/contact-store-spec.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,111 @@
+_ = require 'underscore-plus'
+proxyquire = require 'proxyquire'
+Contact = require '../../src/flux/models/contact'
 ContactStore = require '../../src/flux/stores/contact-store'
+DatabaseStore = require '../../src/flux/stores/database-store'
+NamespaceStore = require '../../src/flux/stores/namespace-store'
 
 describe "ContactStore", ->
-  xit 'should return an empty array when there is no namespace', ->
-    r = ContactStore.searchContacts ''
-    expect(r.length).toBe 0
+  beforeEach ->
+    ContactStore._contactCache = []
+    ContactStore._fetchOffset = 0
+    ContactStore._namespaceId = null
+    ContactStore._lastNamespaceId = null
+    NamespaceStore._current =
+      id: "nsid"
+
+  it "initializes the cache from the DB", ->
+    spyOn(DatabaseStore, "findAll").andCallFake -> Promise.resolve([])
+    ContactStore.init()
+    expect(ContactStore._contactCache.length).toBe 0
+    expect(ContactStore._fetchOffset).toBe 0
+
+  describe "when the Namespace updates from null to valid", ->
+    beforeEach ->
+      spyOn(ContactStore, "_refreshDBFromAPI")
+      NamespaceStore.trigger()
+
+    it "triggers a database fetch", ->
+      expect(ContactStore._refreshDBFromAPI.calls.length).toBe 1
+
+    it "starts at the current offset", ->
+      args = ContactStore._refreshDBFromAPI.calls[0].args
+      expect(args[0].limit).toBe ContactStore.BATCH_SIZE
+      expect(args[0].offset).toBe 0
+
+  describe "when the Namespace updates but the ID doesn't change", ->
+    it "does nothing", ->
+      spyOn(ContactStore, "_refreshDBFromAPI")
+      ContactStore._contactCache = [1,2,3]
+      ContactStore._fetchOffset = 3
+      ContactStore._namespaceId = "nsid"
+      ContactStore._lastNamespaceId = "nsid"
+      NamespaceStore._current =
+        id: "nsid"
+      NamespaceStore.trigger()
+      expect(ContactStore._contactCache).toEqual [1,2,3]
+      expect(ContactStore._fetchOffset).toBe 3
+      expect(ContactStore._refreshDBFromAPI).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+  describe "When fetching from the API", ->
+    it "makes a request for the first batch", ->
+      batches = [[4,5,6], []]
+      spyOn(atom.inbox, "getCollection").andCallFake (nsid, type, params, opts) ->
+        opts.success(batches.shift())
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        ContactStore._refreshDBFromAPI().then ->
+          expect(atom.inbox.getCollection.calls.length).toBe 2
+
+    it "makes additional requests for future batches", ->
+      batches = [[1,2,3], [4,5,6], []]
+      spyOn(atom.inbox, "getCollection").andCallFake (nsid, type, params, opts) ->
+        opts.success(batches.shift())
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        ContactStore._refreshDBFromAPI().then ->
+          expect(atom.inbox.getCollection.calls.length).toBe 3
+
+  describe "when searching for a contact", ->
+    beforeEach ->
+      @c1 = new Contact(name: "", email: "1test@nilas.com")
+      @c2 = new Contact(name: "First", email: "2test@nilas.com")
+      @c3 = new Contact(name: "First Last", email: "3test@nilas.com")
+      @c4 = new Contact(name: "Fit", email: "fit@nilas.com")
+      @c5 = new Contact(name: "Fins", email: "fins@nilas.com")
+      @c6 = new Contact(name: "Fill", email: "fill@nilas.com")
+      @c7 = new Contact(name: "Fin", email: "fin@nilas.com")
+      ContactStore._contactCache = [@c1,@c2,@c3,@c4,@c5,@c6,@c7]
+
+    it "can find by first name", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("First")
+      expect(results.length).toBe 2
+      expect(results[0]).toBe @c2
+      expect(results[1]).toBe @c3
+
+    it "can find by last name", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("Last")
+      expect(results.length).toBe 1
+      expect(results[0]).toBe @c3
+
+    it "can find by email", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("1test")
+      expect(results.length).toBe 1
+      expect(results[0]).toBe @c1
+
+    it "is case insensitive", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("FIrsT")
+      expect(results.length).toBe 2
+      expect(results[0]).toBe @c2
+      expect(results[1]).toBe @c3
+
+    it "only returns the number requested", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("FIrsT", limit: 1)
+      expect(results.length).toBe 1
+      expect(results[0]).toBe @c2
+
+    it "returns no more than 5 by default", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("fi")
+      expect(results.length).toBe 5
+
+    it "can return more than 5 if requested", ->
+      results = ContactStore.searchContacts("fi", limit: 6)
+      expect(results.length).toBe 6
diff --git a/src/flux/inbox-api.coffee b/src/flux/inbox-api.coffee
index 3080adfe9..7e626f8db 100644
--- a/src/flux/inbox-api.coffee
+++ b/src/flux/inbox-api.coffee
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ class InboxAPI
         if objects.length > 0
           DatabaseStore.persistModels(objects)
         resolve(objects)
-      
+
   _shouldAcceptModel: (classname, model = null) ->
     return Promise.resolve() unless model
 
@@ -238,9 +238,9 @@ class InboxAPI
   getCalendars: (namespaceId) ->
     @getCollection(namespaceId, 'calendars', {})
 
-  getCollection: (namespaceId, collection, params={}) ->
+  getCollection: (namespaceId, collection, params={}, requestOptions={}) ->
     throw (new Error "getCollection requires namespaceId") unless namespaceId
-    @makeRequest
+    @makeRequest _.extend requestOptions,
       path: "/n/#{namespaceId}/#{collection}"
       qs: params
       returnsModel: true
diff --git a/src/flux/stores/contact-store.coffee b/src/flux/stores/contact-store.coffee
index 1c8685b30..afabc177f 100644
--- a/src/flux/stores/contact-store.coffee
+++ b/src/flux/stores/contact-store.coffee
@@ -6,26 +6,67 @@ NamespaceStore = require './namespace-store'
 _ = require 'underscore-plus'
 
 module.exports = ContactStore = Reflux.createStore
+
+  BATCH_SIZE: 500 # Num contacts to pull at once
+
   init: ->
-    @namespaceId = null
-    @listenTo NamespaceStore, @onNamespaceChanged
-    @listenTo DatabaseStore, @onDataChanged
+    @_contactCache = []
+    @_lastNamespaceId = null
+    @_namespaceId = null
+    @listenTo DatabaseStore, @_onDBChanged
+    @listenTo NamespaceStore, @_onNamespaceChanged
 
-  onNamespaceChanged: ->
-    @onDataChanged()
+    @_refreshCacheFromDB()
 
-  onDataChanged: (change) ->
-    return if change && change.objectClass != Contact.name
-    DatabaseStore.findAll(Contact).then (contacts) =>
-      @_all = contacts
-      @trigger(@)
-
-  searchContacts: (search) ->
+  searchContacts: (search, {limit}={}) ->
+    limit ?= 5
+    limit = Math.max(limit, 0)
     return [] if not search or search.length is 0
     search = search.toLowerCase()
-    matches = _.filter @_all, (contact) ->
-      return true if contact.email?.toLowerCase().indexOf(search) == 0
-      return true if contact.name?.toLowerCase().indexOf(search) == 0
+    matches = _.filter @_contactCache, (contact) ->
+      return true if contact.email?.toLowerCase().indexOf(search) is 0
+      name = contact.name?.toLowerCase() ? ""
+      for namePart in name.split(/\s/)
+        return true if namePart.indexOf(search) is 0
       false
-    matches = matches[0..4] if matches.length > 5
+    matches = matches[0..limit-1] if matches.length > limit
     matches
+
+  _refreshCacheFromDB: ->
+    new Promise (resolve, reject) =>
+      DatabaseStore.findAll(Contact)
+      .then (contacts=[]) =>
+        @_contactCache = contacts
+        @trigger()
+        resolve()
+      .catch(reject)
+
+  _refreshDBFromAPI: (params={}) ->
+    new Promise (resolve, reject) =>
+      requestOptions =
+        success: (json) =>
+          if json.length > 0
+            @_refreshDBFromAPI
+              limit: @BATCH_SIZE
+              offset: params.offset + json.length
+            .then(resolve).catch(reject)
+          else resolve(json)
+        error: reject
+      atom.inbox.getCollection(@_namespaceId, "contacts", params, requestOptions)
+
+  _onDBChanged: (change) ->
+    return unless change?.objectClass is Contact.name
+    @_refreshCacheFromDB()
+
+  _resetCache: ->
+    @_contactCache = []
+    @trigger(@)
+
+  _onNamespaceChanged: ->
+    @_namespaceId = NamespaceStore.current()?.id
+    if @_namespaceId?
+      if @_namespaceId isnt @_lastNamespaceId
+        @_refreshDBFromAPI(limit: @BATCH_SIZE, offset: 0)
+    else
+      @_resetCache()
+    @_lastNamespaceId = @_namespaceId
diff --git a/src/flux/stores/namespace-store.coffee b/src/flux/stores/namespace-store.coffee
index 30977a997..0bddcd6bb 100644
--- a/src/flux/stores/namespace-store.coffee
+++ b/src/flux/stores/namespace-store.coffee
@@ -18,13 +18,10 @@ NamespaceStore = Reflux.createStore
 
   populateItems: ->
     DatabaseStore.findAll(Namespace).then (namespaces) =>
-      @_items = namespaces
-      @_current = _.find @_items, (n) -> n.id == @_current?.id
+      @_namespaces = namespaces
+      @_current = _.find @_namespaces, (n) -> n.id == @_current?.id
 
-      unless @_current
-        @_current = @_items?[0]
-        if @_current
-          atom.inbox.getCollection(@_current.id, "contacts")
+      @_current = @_namespaces?[0] unless @_current
 
       @trigger(@)
 
@@ -35,13 +32,13 @@ NamespaceStore = Reflux.createStore
     @populateItems()
 
   onSelectNamespaceId: (id) ->
-    @_current = _.find @_items, (n) -> n.id == @_current.id
+    @_current = _.find @_namespaces, (n) -> n.id == @_current.id
     @trigger(@)
 
   # Exposed Data
 
   items: ->
-    @_items
+    @_namespaces
 
   current: ->
     @_current