Data Store

Citadel uses a JSON file-based data store — no database required. All data lives in the data/ directory.

Files

File	Contents	Description
`servers.json`	Server profiles	Server configurations, connection details, provider settings
`users.json`	User accounts	Usernames, hashed passwords, roles, MFA settings
`audit.json`	Audit trail	Action log with who, what, when, result
`webhooks.json`	Webhook configs	Discord and HTTP webhook configurations
`leaderboard.json`	Leaderboard cache	Player stats leaderboard data
`bans.json`	Global ban database	Centralized ban list with UUID IDs, synced to all server `ban.txt` files
`setup_complete.json`	Setup state	Tracks whether initial setup has been completed

Backup & Restore

Manual Backup

Copy the entire data/ directory:

Copy-Item -Recurse data\ data-backup-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd)\

API Backup

Download individual config files via the REST API:

# Download server configs
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:3001/api/backup/servers > servers-backup.json

# Restore
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @servers-backup.json \
  http://localhost:3001/api/restore/servers

Available backup types: servers, users, roles, webhooks

Ban Database Export/Import

The global ban database can be exported and imported via dedicated API endpoints:

# Export bans
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:3001/api/bans/export > bans-backup.json

# Import bans (merges with existing, deduplicates by Steam ID)
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @bans-backup.json \
  http://localhost:3001/api/bans/import

Each ban has a UUID that can be shared with other server owners for cross-community ban sharing.

Data Safety

The data store uses atomic writes to prevent corruption during crashes
If a JSON file becomes corrupted, restore from a backup or delete it to reset to defaults
The data/ directory is created automatically on first startup

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