diff --git a/examples/ezmsg_generator.py b/examples/ezmsg_generator.py
index cb58295..065ea65 100644
--- a/examples/ezmsg_generator.py
+++ b/examples/ezmsg_generator.py
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 """
+.. note::
+    This example demonstrates legacy generator-based patterns from
+    ``ezmsg.util.generator``. New code should use ``ezmsg.baseproc``
+    (BaseTransformer, BaseProducer, etc.) instead.
+
 This ezmsg example showcases a design pattern where core computational
     logic is encapsulated within a Python generator. This approach is
     beneficial for several reasons:
@@ -22,14 +27,61 @@
 """
 
 import asyncio
+import traceback
 import ezmsg.core as ez
 import numpy as np
 from typing import Any
-from collections.abc import Generator
+from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator, Callable, Generator
+from functools import wraps, reduce
 from ezmsg.util.messages.axisarray import AxisArray, replace
 from ezmsg.util.debuglog import DebugLog
 from ezmsg.util.gen_to_unit import gen_to_unit
-from ezmsg.util.generator import consumer, compose, Gen
+
+
+# --- Inlined helpers (previously from ezmsg.util.generator, now deprecated) ---
+
+def consumer(func):
+    """Prime a generator by advancing it to the first yield statement."""
+    @wraps(func)
+    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
+        gen = func(*args, **kwargs)
+        next(gen)
+        return gen
+    return wrapper
+
+
+def compose(*funcs):
+    """Compose a chain of generator functions into a single callable."""
+    return lambda x: reduce(lambda f, g: g.send(f), list(funcs), x)
+
+
+class GenState(ez.State):
+    gen: Generator[Any, Any, None]
+
+
+class Gen(ez.Unit):
+    STATE = GenState
+
+    INPUT = ez.InputStream(Any)
+    OUTPUT = ez.OutputStream(Any)
+
+    async def initialize(self) -> None:
+        self.construct_generator()
+
+    def construct_generator(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @ez.subscriber(INPUT)
+    @ez.publisher(OUTPUT)
+    async def on_message(self, message: Any) -> AsyncGenerator:
+        try:
+            ret = self.STATE.gen.send(message)
+            if ret is not None:
+                yield self.OUTPUT, ret
+        except (StopIteration, GeneratorExit):
+            ez.logger.debug(f"Generator closed in {self.address}")
+        except Exception:
+            ez.logger.info(traceback.format_exc())
 
 
 @consumer
diff --git a/src/ezmsg/util/__init__.py b/src/ezmsg/util/__init__.py
index c722ac6..04a26a3 100644
--- a/src/ezmsg/util/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ezmsg/util/__init__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 Key modules:
 - :mod:`ezmsg.util.debuglog`: Debug logging utilities
-- :mod:`ezmsg.util.generator`: Generator-based message processing decorators
+- :mod:`ezmsg.util.generator`: Generator-based message processing decorators (for newer code, use ``ezmsg.baseproc`` instead)
 - :mod:`ezmsg.util.messagecodec`: JSON encoding/decoding for message logging
 - :mod:`ezmsg.util.messagegate`: Message flow control and gating
 - :mod:`ezmsg.util.messagelogger`: File-based message logging
diff --git a/src/ezmsg/util/generator.py b/src/ezmsg/util/generator.py
index 7dc04ec..53fb3c7 100644
--- a/src/ezmsg/util/generator.py
+++ b/src/ezmsg/util/generator.py
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+"""
+Generator-based message processing decorators (legacy).
+
+.. note::
+    For new code, prefer ``ezmsg.baseproc`` (BaseTransformer, BaseProducer, etc.)
+    over the generator pattern in this module. The baseproc classes provide a cleaner
+    separation of state management, hashing, and processing, and are the recommended
+    approach for all new ezmsg units.
+
+    This module is maintained for backward compatibility and simple stateless use cases.
+"""
+
 import ezmsg.core as ez
 import traceback
 from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator, Callable, Generator
diff --git a/src/ezmsg/util/messages/modify.py b/src/ezmsg/util/messages/modify.py
index 49a9bf9..7cf434d 100644
--- a/src/ezmsg/util/messages/modify.py
+++ b/src/ezmsg/util/messages/modify.py
@@ -1,73 +1,93 @@
-from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator, Generator
-import traceback
+import warnings
+from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator
 
 import numpy as np
 
 import ezmsg.core as ez
 from .axisarray import AxisArray, replace
-from ..generator import consumer, GenState
 
 
-@consumer
-def modify_axis(
-    name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None = None,
-) -> Generator[AxisArray, AxisArray, None]:
+class ModifyAxisSettings(ez.Settings):
     """
-    Modify an AxisArray's axes and dims according to a name_map.
+    Settings for ModifyAxisTransformer and ModifyAxis unit.
 
     :param name_map: A dictionary where the keys are the names of the old dims and the values are the new names.
         Use None as a value to drop the dimension. If the dropped dimension is not len==1 then an error is raised.
     :type name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None
-    :return: A primed generator object ready to yield an AxisArray with modified axes for each .send(axis_array).
-    :rtype: collections.abc.Generator[AxisArray, AxisArray, None]
     """
-    # State variables
-    axis_arr_in = AxisArray(np.array([]), dims=[""])
-    axis_arr_out = AxisArray(np.array([]), dims=[""])
-
-    while True:
-        axis_arr_in = yield axis_arr_out
-
-        if name_map is not None:
-            new_dims = [name_map.get(old_k, old_k) for old_k in axis_arr_in.dims]
-            new_axes = {
-                name_map.get(old_k, old_k): v for old_k, v in axis_arr_in.axes.items()
-            }
-            drop_ax_ix = [
-                ix
-                for ix, old_dim in enumerate(axis_arr_in.dims)
-                if new_dims[ix] is None
-            ]
-            if len(drop_ax_ix) > 0:
-                # Rewrite new_dims and new_axes without the dropped axes
-                new_dims = [_ for _ in new_dims if _ is not None]
-                new_axes.pop(None, None)
-                # Reshape data
-                # np.squeeze will raise ValueError if not len==1
-                axis_arr_out = replace(
-                    axis_arr_in,
-                    data=np.squeeze(axis_arr_in.data, axis=tuple(drop_ax_ix)),
-                    dims=new_dims,
-                    axes=new_axes,
-                )
-            else:
-                axis_arr_out = replace(axis_arr_in, dims=new_dims, axes=new_axes)
-        else:
-            axis_arr_out = axis_arr_in
 
+    name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None = None
 
-class ModifyAxisSettings(ez.Settings):
+
+class ModifyAxisTransformer:
+    """
+    Modify an AxisArray's axes and dims according to a name_map.
+
+    This is a stateless transformer that renames dimensions and axes, with support
+    for dropping length-1 dimensions.
+
+    :param settings: Settings for the transformer.
+    :type settings: ModifyAxisSettings
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, settings: ModifyAxisSettings = ModifyAxisSettings()):
+        self.settings = settings
+
+    def __call__(self, message: AxisArray) -> AxisArray:
+        name_map = self.settings.name_map
+        if name_map is None:
+            return message
+
+        new_dims = [name_map.get(old_k, old_k) for old_k in message.dims]
+        new_axes = {
+            name_map.get(old_k, old_k): v for old_k, v in message.axes.items()
+        }
+        drop_ax_ix = [
+            ix
+            for ix, old_dim in enumerate(message.dims)
+            if new_dims[ix] is None
+        ]
+        if len(drop_ax_ix) > 0:
+            new_dims = [d for d in new_dims if d is not None]
+            new_axes.pop(None, None)
+            return replace(
+                message,
+                data=np.squeeze(message.data, axis=tuple(drop_ax_ix)),
+                dims=new_dims,
+                axes=new_axes,
+            )
+        return replace(message, dims=new_dims, axes=new_axes)
+
+    _send_warned: bool = False
+
+    def send(self, message: AxisArray) -> AxisArray:
+        """Alias for __call__. Deprecated — use ``__call__`` directly instead."""
+        if not ModifyAxisTransformer._send_warned:
+            ModifyAxisTransformer._send_warned = True
+            warnings.warn(
+                "ModifyAxisTransformer.send() is deprecated. Use __call__() instead.",
+                DeprecationWarning,
+                stacklevel=2,
+            )
+        return self(message)
+
+
+def modify_axis(
+    name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None = None,
+) -> ModifyAxisTransformer:
     """
-    Settings for ModifyAxis unit.
+    Create a :class:`ModifyAxisTransformer` instance.
 
-    Configuration for modifying axis names and dimensions of AxisArray messages.
+    This function exists for backward compatibility with code that previously used
+    the generator-based ``modify_axis``. The returned object supports ``.send(msg)``.
 
     :param name_map: A dictionary where the keys are the names of the old dims and the values are the new names.
         Use None as a value to drop the dimension. If the dropped dimension is not len==1 then an error is raised.
     :type name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None
+    :return: A ModifyAxisTransformer instance.
+    :rtype: ModifyAxisTransformer
     """
-
-    name_map: dict[str, str | None] | None = None
+    return ModifyAxisTransformer(ModifyAxisSettings(name_map=name_map))
 
 
 class ModifyAxis(ez.Unit):
@@ -75,62 +95,28 @@ class ModifyAxis(ez.Unit):
     Unit for modifying axis names and dimensions of AxisArray messages.
 
     Renames dimensions and axes according to a name mapping, with support for
-    dropping dimensions. Uses zero-copy operations for efficient processing.
+    dropping dimensions.
     """
 
-    STATE = GenState
     SETTINGS = ModifyAxisSettings
 
     INPUT_SIGNAL = ez.InputStream(AxisArray)
     OUTPUT_SIGNAL = ez.OutputStream(AxisArray)
     INPUT_SETTINGS = ez.InputStream(ModifyAxisSettings)
 
-    async def initialize(self) -> None:
-        """
-        Initialize the ModifyAxis unit.
-
-        Sets up the generator for axis modification operations.
-        """
-        self.construct_generator()
+    _transformer: ModifyAxisTransformer
 
-    def construct_generator(self):
-        """
-        Construct the axis-modifying generator with current settings.
-
-        Creates a new modify_axis generator instance using the unit's name mapping.
-        """
-        self.STATE.gen = modify_axis(name_map=self.SETTINGS.name_map)
+    async def initialize(self) -> None:
+        self._transformer = ModifyAxisTransformer(self.SETTINGS)
 
     @ez.subscriber(INPUT_SETTINGS)
     async def on_settings(self, msg: ez.Settings) -> None:
-        """
-        Handle incoming settings updates.
-
-        :param msg: New settings to apply.
-        :type msg: ez.Settings
-        """
         self.apply_settings(msg)
-        self.construct_generator()
+        self._transformer = ModifyAxisTransformer(self.SETTINGS)
 
     @ez.subscriber(INPUT_SIGNAL, zero_copy=True)
     @ez.publisher(OUTPUT_SIGNAL)
     async def on_message(self, message: AxisArray) -> AsyncGenerator:
-        """
-        Process incoming AxisArray messages and modify their axes.
-
-        Uses zero-copy operations to efficiently modify axis names and dimensions
-        while preserving data integrity.
-
-        :param message: Input AxisArray to modify.
-        :type message: AxisArray
-        :return: Async generator yielding AxisArray with modified axes.
-        :rtype: collections.abc.AsyncGenerator
-        """
-        try:
-            ret = self.STATE.gen.send(message)
-            if ret is not None:
-                yield self.OUTPUT_SIGNAL, ret
-        except (StopIteration, GeneratorExit):
-            ez.logger.debug(f"ModifyAxis closed in {self.address}")
-        except Exception:
-            ez.logger.info(traceback.format_exc())
+        ret = self._transformer(message)
+        if ret is not None:
+            yield self.OUTPUT_SIGNAL, ret
diff --git a/tests/test_generator.py b/tests/test_generator.py
index 7736567..0c01965 100644
--- a/tests/test_generator.py
+++ b/tests/test_generator.py
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# NOTE: This file tests the legacy ezmsg.util.generator module.
+# While this pattern is typically not recommended, it has some narrow use cases.
+# The @consumer usages here are the subject of the tests and should remain.
 from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator, Generator
 import copy
 import json