diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 8040bd0..24ca420 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@
             "mode": "auto",
             "buildFlags": "-tags webui",
             "program": "./cmd/webapi",
-            "args": [
-                "--db-filename", "/home/marco/wasa/wasadata/wasaphoto.db", "--data-path", "/home/marco/wasa/wasadata/data"
-            ]
+            //"args": [
+            //    "--db-filename", "/home/marco/wasa/wasadata/wasaphoto.db", "--data-path", "/home/marco/wasa/wasadata/data"
+            //]
         }
     ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/webapi/main.go b/cmd/webapi/main.go
index 490fec3..81a8bbb 100644
--- a/cmd/webapi/main.go
+++ b/cmd/webapi/main.go
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ func run() error {
 
 	logger.Infof("application initializing")
 
+	// Create the directories if they don't exist
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(cfg.Data.Path, 0755); err != nil {
+		logger.WithError(err).Error("error creating data directory")
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating data directory: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	// Start Database
 	logger.Println("initializing database support")
 	dbconn, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", cfg.DB.Filename)
@@ -120,6 +126,8 @@ func run() error {
 		logger.WithError(err).Error("error creating the API server instance")
 		return fmt.Errorf("creating the API server instance: %w", err)
 	}
+
+
 	router := apirouter.Handler()
 
 	router, err = registerWebUI(router)
diff --git a/service/database/database.go b/service/database/database.go
index 0aeb9ad..2796d56 100644
--- a/service/database/database.go
+++ b/service/database/database.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ func New(db *sql.DB) (AppDatabase, error) {
 	//todo: check for all the tables, not just users
 	err := db.QueryRow(`SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='users';`).Scan(&tableName)
 	if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
+		//fmt.Println("database is empty, creating structure")
 		sqlStmt := `CREATE TABLE "users" (
 			"uid"	TEXT NOT NULL,
 			"name"	TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,