diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 9751d890..cffc9c1a 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "PEPSKit"
 uuid = "52969e89-939e-4361-9b68-9bc7cde4bdeb"
-authors = ["Maarten Vandamme", "Paul Brehmer", "Lander Burgelman", "Rui-Zhen Huang", "Daan Maertens", "Lukas Devos <lukas.devos@ugent.be"]
-version = "0.2.2"
+authors = ["Paul Brehmer", "Lander Burgelman", "Lukas Devos <ldevos98@gmail.com>"]
+version = "0.3.0"
 
 [deps]
 Accessors = "7d9f7c33-5ae7-4f3b-8dc6-eff91059b697"
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Random = "1"
 Statistics = "1"
 TensorKit = "0.12.5"
 TensorOperations = "4"
-VectorInterface = "0.4"
+VectorInterface = "0.4, 0.5"
 Zygote = "0.6"
 julia = "1.10"
 
diff --git a/src/algorithms/contractions/localoperator.jl b/src/algorithms/contractions/localoperator.jl
index fef30e20..324bb028 100644
--- a/src/algorithms/contractions/localoperator.jl
+++ b/src/algorithms/contractions/localoperator.jl
@@ -237,9 +237,10 @@ end
         end
     end
 
-    return quote
+    returnex = quote
         @tensor opt = $opt_ex $multiplication_ex
     end
+    return macroexpand(@__MODULE__, returnex)
 end
 
 """
@@ -445,7 +446,8 @@ end
         end
     end
 
-    return quote
+    returnex = quote
         @tensor opt = $opt_ex $multiplication_ex
     end
+    return macroexpand(@__MODULE__, returnex)
 end
diff --git a/src/algorithms/peps_opt.jl b/src/algorithms/peps_opt.jl
index b84467da..39e138a1 100644
--- a/src/algorithms/peps_opt.jl
+++ b/src/algorithms/peps_opt.jl
@@ -142,13 +142,13 @@ The function returns a `NamedTuple` which contains the following entries:
 - `numfg`: total number of calls to the energy function
 """
 function fixedpoint(
-    ψ₀::InfinitePEPS{T},
+    ψ₀::InfinitePEPS{F},
     H,
     alg::PEPSOptimize,
-    env₀::CTMRGEnv=CTMRGEnv(ψ₀, field(T)^20);
+    env₀::CTMRGEnv=CTMRGEnv(ψ₀, field(F)^20);
     (finalize!)=OptimKit._finalize!,
     symmetrization=nothing,
-) where {T}
+) where {F}
     if isnothing(symmetrization)
         retract = peps_retract
     else
@@ -157,6 +157,13 @@ function fixedpoint(
         finalize! = (x, f, g, numiter) -> fin!(symm_finalize!(x, f, g, numiter)..., numiter)
     end
 
+    if scalartype(env₀) <: Real
+        env₀ = complex(env₀)
+        @warn "the provided real environment was converted to a complex environment since\
+        :fixed mode generally produces complex gauges; use :diffgauge mode instead to work\
+        with purely real environments"
+    end
+
     (peps, env), E, ∂E, numfg, convhistory = optimize(
         (ψ₀, env₀), alg.optimizer; retract, inner=real_inner, finalize!
     ) do (peps, envs)
diff --git a/src/environments/ctmrg_environments.jl b/src/environments/ctmrg_environments.jl
index 460faf5b..c026762b 100644
--- a/src/environments/ctmrg_environments.jl
+++ b/src/environments/ctmrg_environments.jl
@@ -380,6 +380,9 @@ function eachcoordinate(x::CTMRGEnv, dirs)
     return collect(Iterators.product(dirs, axes(x, 2), axes(x, 3)))
 end
 
+Base.real(env::CTMRGEnv) = CTMRGEnv(real.(env.corners), real.(env.edges))
+Base.complex(env::CTMRGEnv) = CTMRGEnv(complex.(env.corners), complex.(env.edges))
+
 # In-place update of environment
 function update!(env::CTMRGEnv{C,T}, env´::CTMRGEnv{C,T}) where {C,T}
     env.corners .= env´.corners
diff --git a/src/operators/derivatives.jl b/src/operators/derivatives.jl
index 36c0d149..dd025411 100644
--- a/src/operators/derivatives.jl
+++ b/src/operators/derivatives.jl
@@ -48,11 +48,9 @@ end
 (H::PEPS_∂∂C)(x) = MPSKit.∂C(x, H.GL, H.GR)
 (H::PEPS_∂∂AC)(x) = MPSKit.∂AC(x, (H.top, H.bot), H.GL, H.GR)
 
-function MPSKit.∂AC(x::RecursiveVec, O::Tuple, GL, GR)
-    return RecursiveVec(
-        circshift(
-            map((v, O1, O2, l, r) -> ∂AC(v, (O1, O2), l, r), x.vecs, O[1], O[2], GL, GR), 1
-        ),
+function MPSKit.∂AC(x::Vector, O::Tuple, GL, GR)
+    return circshift(
+        map((v, O1, O2, l, r) -> ∂AC(v, (O1, O2), l, r), x, O[1], O[2], GL, GR), 1
     )
 end
 
@@ -203,20 +201,12 @@ end
 (H::PEPO_∂∂C)(x) = MPSKit.∂C(x, H.GL, H.GR)
 (H::PEPO_∂∂AC)(x) = MPSKit.∂AC(x, (H.top, H.bot, H.mid), H.GL, H.GR)
 
-function MPSKit.∂AC(x::RecursiveVec, O::Tuple{T,T,P}, GL, GR) where {T,P}
-    return RecursiveVec(
-        circshift(
-            map(
-                (v, O1, O2, O3, l, r) -> ∂AC(v, (O1, O2, O3), l, r),
-                x.vecs,
-                O[1],
-                O[2],
-                O[3],
-                GL,
-                GR,
-            ),
-            1,
+function MPSKit.∂AC(x::Vector, O::Tuple{T,T,P}, GL, GR) where {T,P}
+    return circshift(
+        map(
+            (v, O1, O2, O3, l, r) -> ∂AC(v, (O1, O2, O3), l, r), x, O[1], O[2], O[3], GL, GR
         ),
+        1,
     )
 end