diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5a37693..1cbf611 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+## 3.5.3 - 2026-02-08
+
+1. fix: Fix Railtie middleware insertion crashing on Rails initialization — changed `insert_middleware_after` from a class method to an instance method (matching how Rails executes initializer blocks via `instance_exec`), and removed the unsupported `include?` query on `MiddlewareStackProxy` ([#97](https://github.com/PostHog/posthog-ruby/issues/97))
+2. fix: Prevent sending empty batches and handle non-JSON response bodies gracefully in transport layer ([#87](https://github.com/PostHog/posthog-ruby/issues/87))
+3. fix: Use `$current_url` property (instead of `$request_url`) so exception URLs appear correctly in the PostHog UI
+4. fix: Only include source context lines for in-app exception frames, avoiding unnecessary reads of gem source files ([#88](https://github.com/PostHog/posthog-ruby/issues/88))
+
 ## 3.5.2 - 2026-02-06
 
 1. fix: Filter out failed flag evaluations to prevent cached values from being overwritten during transient server errors ([#96](https://github.com/PostHog/posthog-ruby/pull/96))
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 9291bc8..4aa32b8 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ group :development, :test do
   gem 'commander', '~> 5.0'
   gem 'oj', '~> 3.16.10'
   gem 'prettier'
+  gem 'railties', '~> 7.1'
   gem 'rake', '~> 13.2.1'
   gem 'rspec', '~> 3.13'
   gem 'rubocop', '~> 1.75.6'
diff --git a/lib/posthog/exception_capture.rb b/lib/posthog/exception_capture.rb
index 3bccfef..73976de 100644
--- a/lib/posthog/exception_capture.rb
+++ b/lib/posthog/exception_capture.rb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def self.parse_backtrace_line(line)
         'platform' => 'ruby'
       }
 
-      add_context_lines(frame, file, lineno) if File.exist?(file)
+      add_context_lines(frame, file, lineno) if frame['in_app'] && File.exist?(file)
 
       frame
     end
diff --git a/lib/posthog/send_worker.rb b/lib/posthog/send_worker.rb
index 589f5b9..5e1fa8f 100644
--- a/lib/posthog/send_worker.rb
+++ b/lib/posthog/send_worker.rb
@@ -43,8 +43,10 @@ def run
           consume_message_from_queue! until @batch.full? || @queue.empty?
         end
 
-        res = @transport.send @api_key, @batch
-        @on_error.call(res.status, res.error) unless res.status == 200
+        unless @batch.empty?
+          res = @transport.send @api_key, @batch
+          @on_error.call(res.status, res.error) unless res.status == 200
+        end
 
         @lock.synchronize { @batch.clear }
       end
diff --git a/lib/posthog/transport.rb b/lib/posthog/transport.rb
index cc9bf52..77ea1ec 100644
--- a/lib/posthog/transport.rb
+++ b/lib/posthog/transport.rb
@@ -50,7 +50,12 @@ def send(api_key, batch)
       last_response, exception =
         retry_with_backoff(@retries) do
           status_code, body = send_request(api_key, batch)
-          error = JSON.parse(body)['error']
+          error =
+            begin
+              JSON.parse(body)['error']
+            rescue JSON::ParserError
+              body
+            end
           should_retry = should_retry_request?(status_code, body)
           logger.debug("Response status code: #{status_code}")
           logger.debug("Response error: #{error}") if error
diff --git a/lib/posthog/version.rb b/lib/posthog/version.rb
index 0a5f628..00464c0 100644
--- a/lib/posthog/version.rb
+++ b/lib/posthog/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module PostHog
-  VERSION = '3.5.2'
+  VERSION = '3.5.3'
 end
diff --git a/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/capture_exceptions.rb b/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/capture_exceptions.rb
index c17534e..657ab0e 100644
--- a/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/capture_exceptions.rb
+++ b/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/capture_exceptions.rb
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def extract_user_id(user)
       def build_properties(request, env)
         properties = {
           '$exception_source' => 'rails',
-          '$request_url' => safe_serialize(request.url),
+          '$current_url' => safe_serialize(request.url),
           '$request_method' => safe_serialize(request.method),
           '$request_path' => safe_serialize(request.path)
         }
diff --git a/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/railtie.rb b/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/railtie.rb
index 292731d..62bb72a 100644
--- a/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/railtie.rb
+++ b/posthog-rails/lib/posthog/rails/railtie.rb
@@ -111,13 +111,11 @@ def ensure_initialized!
         at_exit { PostHog.client&.shutdown if PostHog.initialized? }
       end
 
-      def self.insert_middleware_after(app, target, middleware)
-        if app.config.middleware.include?(target)
-          app.config.middleware.insert_after(target, middleware)
-        else
-          # Fallback: append to stack if target middleware is missing (e.g., API-only apps)
-          app.config.middleware.use(middleware)
-        end
+      def insert_middleware_after(app, target, middleware)
+        # During initialization, app.config.middleware is a MiddlewareStackProxy
+        # which only supports recording operations (insert_after, use, etc.)
+        # and does NOT support query methods like include?.
+        app.config.middleware.insert_after(target, middleware)
       end
 
       def self.register_error_subscriber
diff --git a/spec/posthog/exception_capture_spec.rb b/spec/posthog/exception_capture_spec.rb
index daef028..8136fac 100644
--- a/spec/posthog/exception_capture_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/posthog/exception_capture_spec.rb
@@ -25,6 +25,28 @@ module PostHog
 
         expect(frame['in_app']).to be false
       end
+
+      it 'does not add context lines for non-in_app frames' do
+        # Use a gem-style path that points to this real file so File.exist? would be true
+        # but in_app should be false, so context lines should not be added
+        gem_line = "#{__FILE__}:10:in `gem_method'"
+                   .gsub(%r{/spec/}, '/gems/ruby/spec/')
+        frame = described_class.parse_backtrace_line(gem_line)
+
+        expect(frame['in_app']).to be false
+        expect(frame['context_line']).to be_nil
+        expect(frame['pre_context']).to be_nil
+        expect(frame['post_context']).to be_nil
+      end
+
+      it 'adds context lines for in_app frames' do
+        # Use a real in_app path so File.exist? is true and in_app is true
+        app_line = "#{__FILE__}:10:in `app_method'"
+        frame = described_class.parse_backtrace_line(app_line)
+
+        expect(frame['in_app']).to be true
+        expect(frame['context_line']).not_to be_nil
+      end
     end
 
     describe '#add_context_lines' do
diff --git a/spec/posthog/rails/railtie_spec.rb b/spec/posthog/rails/railtie_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..340a344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/posthog/rails/railtie_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Minimal requires for testing the Railtie in isolation
+require 'posthog'
+require 'rails/railtie'
+
+# The posthog-rails lib has its own gemspec and isn't in the default load path,
+# so we add it manually for testing.
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.expand_path('../../../posthog-rails/lib', __dir__)
+
+# Load just enough of posthog-rails to define the Railtie.
+# Middleware classes (CaptureExceptions, etc.) are only referenced inside
+# initializer blocks, not at file-load time, so we don't need them here.
+require 'posthog/rails/configuration'
+require 'posthog/rails/railtie'
+
+RSpec.describe PostHog::Rails::Railtie do
+  describe 'posthog.insert_middlewares initializer' do
+    it 'has insert_middleware_after accessible from initializer context' do
+      # Rails initializer blocks are executed via instance_exec on the Railtie
+      # instance (see railties/lib/rails/initializable.rb). This means `self`
+      # inside the block is the Railtie INSTANCE, not the class.
+      #
+      # Any method called without an explicit receiver in the block must be
+      # defined as an instance method (or delegated to one).
+      railtie = PostHog::Rails::Railtie.instance
+      expect(railtie).to respond_to(:insert_middleware_after)
+    end
+
+    it 'successfully calls insert_middleware_after when the initializer runs' do
+      # Stub the middleware constants referenced in the initializer block
+      stub_const('ActionDispatch::DebugExceptions', Class.new)
+      stub_const('ActionDispatch::ShowExceptions', Class.new)
+      stub_const('PostHog::Rails::RescuedExceptionInterceptor', Class.new)
+      stub_const('PostHog::Rails::CaptureExceptions', Class.new)
+
+      # Find the initializer by name
+      initializer = PostHog::Rails::Railtie.initializers.find { |i| i.name == 'posthog.insert_middlewares' }
+      expect(initializer).not_to be_nil
+
+      # During initialization, app.config.middleware is a MiddlewareStackProxy
+      # which only supports recording operations — NOT query methods like include?.
+      # The mock must reflect this accurately.
+      middleware_proxy = double('MiddlewareStackProxy', insert_after: true)
+      app = double('app', config: double('config', middleware: middleware_proxy))
+
+      # Reproduce the exact execution context: the block is run via instance_exec
+      # on the Railtie instance, with the app passed as the block argument.
+      # This is how Rails runs initializer blocks internally.
+      railtie = PostHog::Rails::Railtie.instance
+      expect do
+        railtie.instance_exec(app, &initializer.block)
+      end.not_to raise_error
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/posthog/transport_spec.rb b/spec/posthog/transport_spec.rb
index 7dcaa48..7e7b18a 100644
--- a/spec/posthog/transport_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/posthog/transport_spec.rb
@@ -225,21 +225,21 @@ module PostHog
           it_behaves_like('non-retried request', 400, '{}')
         end
 
-        context 'request or parsing of response results in an exception' do
+        context 'response body is malformed JSON' do
           let(:response_body) { 'Malformed JSON ---' }
 
           subject { described_class.new(retries: 0) }
 
-          it 'returns a -1 for status' do
-            expect(subject.send(api_key, batch).status).to eq(-1)
+          it 'returns the HTTP status code' do
+            expect(subject.send(api_key, batch).status).to eq(200)
           end
 
-          it 'has a connection error' do
+          it 'uses the raw body as the error' do
             error = subject.send(api_key, batch).error
-            expect(error).to match(/unexpected character.*Malformed/)
+            expect(error).to eq('Malformed JSON ---')
           end
 
-          it_behaves_like('retried request', 200, 'Malformed JSON ---')
+          it_behaves_like('non-retried request', 200, 'Malformed JSON ---')
         end
       end
     end