diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 30ded59..ace63ae 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ use serde_json::json;
 use std::env;
 use std::env::Args;
 use std::error::Error;
-
-mod db;
 mod rpc;
+mod settings;
 
 const UNAUTHORIZED_ACTIONS: [&str; 2] = ["login", "help"];
 
@@ -23,8 +22,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
         .next()
         .ok_or("you need to provide an action, run btcmap-cli help to see all supported actions")?;
     let action = action.as_str();
-    let password = db::query_settings_string("password", &db::connect()?)?;
-    if password.is_empty() && !UNAUTHORIZED_ACTIONS.contains(&action) {
+    if settings::get_str("password")?.is_empty() && !UNAUTHORIZED_ACTIONS.contains(&action) {
         Err("you need to login first, run btcmap-cli login <password>")?;
     }
     match action {
@@ -37,12 +35,12 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
                 "dev" => "http://127.0.0.1:8000/rpc",
                 _ => url,
             };
-            db::insert_settings_string("api_url", &url, &db::connect()?)?;
+            settings::put_str("api_url", &url)?;
             println!("saved {url} as a server for all future actions");
         }
         "login" => {
             let token = get_arg(&mut args)?;
-            db::insert_settings_string("password", &token, &db::connect()?)?;
+            settings::put_str("password", &token)?;
             println!("saved {token} as a password for all future actions");
         }
         "get-element" => {
diff --git a/src/rpc.rs b/src/rpc.rs
index efa2f01..e1ce5aa 100644
--- a/src/rpc.rs
+++ b/src/rpc.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use crate::db;
+use crate::settings;
 use crate::Result;
 use colored_json::ToColoredJson;
 use serde_json::{json, Value};
@@ -7,14 +7,11 @@ pub fn call_remote_procedure(name: &str, mut params: Value) -> Result<()> {
     let params = params
         .as_object_mut()
         .ok_or("params value is not a valid JSON object")?;
-    params.insert(
-        "password".into(),
-        db::query_settings_string("password", &db::connect()?)?.into(),
-    );
+    params.insert("password".into(), settings::get_str("password")?.into());
     let args = json!(
         {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": name, "params": params, "id": 1}
     );
-    let mut api_url = db::query_settings_string("api_url", &db::connect()?)?;
+    let mut api_url = settings::get_str("api_url")?;
     if api_url.trim().is_empty() {
         api_url = "https://api.btcmap.org/rpc".into();
     }
diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/settings.rs
similarity index 86%
rename from src/db.rs
rename to src/settings.rs
index d3d900c..3fd6128 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/settings.rs
@@ -3,21 +3,16 @@ use dirs::data_dir;
 use rusqlite::{params, Connection};
 use std::{fs::create_dir, path::PathBuf};
 
-pub fn connect() -> Result<Connection> {
-    let conn = Connection::open(path()?)?;
-    init(&conn)?;
-    Ok(conn)
-}
-
-pub fn insert_settings_string(name: &str, value: &str, conn: &Connection) -> Result<()> {
-    conn.execute(
+pub fn put_str(name: &str, value: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    connect()?.execute(
         &format!("UPDATE settings SET json = json_set(json, '$.{name}', ?1);"),
         params![value],
     )?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
-pub fn query_settings_string(name: &str, conn: &Connection) -> Result<String> {
+pub fn get_str(name: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    let conn = connect()?;
     let mut stmt = conn.prepare(&format!(
         "SELECT json_extract(json, '$.{name}') FROM settings;"
     ))?;
@@ -29,6 +24,12 @@ pub fn query_settings_string(name: &str, conn: &Connection) -> Result<String> {
     Ok(res)
 }
 
+fn connect() -> Result<Connection> {
+    let conn = Connection::open(path()?)?;
+    init(&conn)?;
+    Ok(conn)
+}
+
 fn path() -> Result<PathBuf> {
     let data_dir = data_dir().ok_or("failed to locate system app data directory")?;
     let data_dir = data_dir.join("btcmap-cli");