diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fb342cc..b58e450 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 # stereo.cat backend  
   
 written in Go, uses Gin.
+
+## database shit  
+  
+Instead of using Discord oAuth as a database, we instead use it as a login source, only using it to source a username/id, avatar data and a secure login/registration flow.  
+We store these attributes alongside stereo.cat specific attributes in our own database. There is a trade-off however: this means that avatar & username data is not updated in real-time, only when the oauth flow is executed.
diff --git a/internal/api/routes/auth.go b/internal/api/routes/auth.go
index a6a634f..53082dc 100644
--- a/internal/api/routes/auth.go
+++ b/internal/api/routes/auth.go
@@ -31,11 +31,21 @@ func RegisterAuthRoutes(cfg *types.StereoConfig, api *gin.RouterGroup) {
 			panic(err)
 		}
 
-		c.String(http.StatusOK, jwt)
+		res := cfg.Database.FirstOrCreate(&user)
+
+		if res.Error != nil {
+			panic(res.Error)
+		}
+
+		// TODO: redirect to dashboard
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{
+			"jwt":   jwt,
+			"known": res.RowsAffected == 0,
+		})
 	})
 
 	api.GET("/auth/me", auth.JwtMiddleware(cfg.JWTSecret), func(c *gin.Context) {
-        claims, _ := c.Get("claims")
+		claims, _ := c.Get("claims")
 		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, claims)
 	})
 }