diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1a3c8a3..bbffe28 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -158,8 +158,12 @@ cython_debug/
 #  be found at https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/Global/JetBrains.gitignore
 #  and can be added to the global gitignore or merged into this file.  For a more nuclear
 #  option (not recommended) you can uncomment the following to ignore the entire idea folder.
-#.idea/
+.idea/
 
 *DS_Store
 
-test/data/output/*
\ No newline at end of file
+test/data/output/*
+
+.pytest_cache
+.ruff_cache
+*.ipynb
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/notebooks/README.md b/notebooks/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a73e4e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notebooks/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Placeholder to store some notebooks. Gitignored
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/auth.py b/src/hellocomputer/auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c97564b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from starlette.requests import Request
+from .config import settings
+
+
+def get_user(request: Request) -> dict:
+    if settings.auth:
+        return request.session.get("user")
+    else:
+        return {"email": "test@test.com"}
+
+
+def get_user_email(request: Request) -> str:
+    if settings.auth:
+        return request.session.get("user").get("email")
+    else:
+        return "test@test.com"
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/db/__init__.py b/src/hellocomputer/db/__init__.py
index be93fa7..113e4e3 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/db/__init__.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/db/__init__.py
@@ -48,8 +48,9 @@ class DDB:
                     """
                         )
                     )
+                    conn.execute(text("LOAD httpfs"))
 
-                self.path_prefix = f"gcs://{bucket}"
+                self.path_prefix = f"gs://{bucket}"
             else:
                 raise ValueError(
                     "With GCS storage engine you need to provide "
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/db/sessions.py b/src/hellocomputer/db/sessions.py
index 95de577..a728334 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/db/sessions.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/db/sessions.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class SessionDB(DDB):
         self.sid = sid
         # Override storage engine for sessions
         if storage_engine == StorageEngines.gcs:
-            self.path_prefix = f"gcs://{bucket}/sessions/{sid}"
+            self.path_prefix = f"gs://{bucket}/sessions/{sid}"
         elif storage_engine == StorageEngines.local:
             self.path_prefix = path / "sessions" / sid
 
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/db/users.py b/src/hellocomputer/db/users.py
index 5a166ad..088e6ed 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/db/users.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/db/users.py
@@ -24,11 +24,13 @@ class UserDB(DDB):
         super().__init__(storage_engine, path, gcs_access, gcs_secret, bucket, **kwargs)
 
         if storage_engine == StorageEngines.gcs:
-            self.path_prefix = f"gcs://{bucket}/users"
+            self.path_prefix = f"gs://{bucket}/users"
 
         elif storage_engine == StorageEngines.local:
             self.path_prefix = path / "users"
 
+        self.storage_engine = storage_engine
+
     def dump_user_record(self, user_data: dict, record_id: UUID | None = None):
         df = pl.from_dict(user_data)  # noqa
         record_id = uuid4() if record_id is None else record_id
@@ -36,9 +38,12 @@ class UserDB(DDB):
 
         try:
             self.db.sql(query)
-        except duckdb.duckdb.IOException:
-            os.makedirs(self.path_prefix)
-            self.db.sql(query)
+        except duckdb.duckdb.IOException as e:
+            if self.storage_engine == StorageEngines.local:
+                os.makedirs(self.path_prefix)
+                self.db.sql(query)
+            else:
+                raise e
 
         return user_data
 
@@ -64,7 +69,7 @@ class OwnershipDB(DDB):
         super().__init__(storage_engine, path, gcs_access, gcs_secret, bucket, **kwargs)
 
         if storage_engine == StorageEngines.gcs:
-            self.path_prefix = f"gcs://{bucket}/owners"
+            self.path_prefix = f"gs://{bucket}/owners"
 
         elif storage_engine == StorageEngines.local:
             self.path_prefix = path / "owners"
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/main.py b/src/hellocomputer/main.py
index 0fb807a..f4ab99a 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/main.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/main.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import json
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import FastAPI
@@ -9,6 +8,7 @@ from starlette.requests import Request
 
 import hellocomputer
 
+from .auth import get_user
 from .config import settings
 from .routers import analysis, auth, files, health, sessions
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ app.add_middleware(SessionMiddleware, secret_key=settings.app_secret_key)
 
 @app.get("/")
 async def homepage(request: Request):
-    user = request.session.get("user")
+    user = get_user(request)
     if user:
         return RedirectResponse("/app")
 
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/models.py b/src/hellocomputer/models.py
index 09f6c9a..511b3b8 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/models.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/models.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from enum import StrEnum
 
-from langchain_fireworks import Fireworks
 from langchain_core.prompts import PromptTemplate
+from langchain_fireworks import Fireworks
 
 
 class AvailableModels(StrEnum):
diff --git a/src/hellocomputer/routers/sessions.py b/src/hellocomputer/routers/sessions.py
index b67af48..c1fcfd9 100644
--- a/src/hellocomputer/routers/sessions.py
+++ b/src/hellocomputer/routers/sessions.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from hellocomputer.db import StorageEngines
 from hellocomputer.db.users import OwnershipDB
 
 from ..config import settings
+from ..auth import get_user_email
 
 # Scheme for the Authorization header
 
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ async def get_greeting() -> str:
 
 @router.get("/sessions")
 async def get_sessions(request: Request) -> List[str]:
-    user_email = request.session.get("user").get("email")
+    user_email = get_user_email(request)
     ownership = OwnershipDB(
         StorageEngines.gcs,
         gcs_access=settings.gcs_access,
diff --git a/test/test_query.py b/test/test_query.py
index 07d42b3..759ae69 100644
--- a/test/test_query.py
+++ b/test/test_query.py
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import hellocomputer
-import pytest
 import polars as pl
+import pytest
 from hellocomputer.config import settings
 from hellocomputer.db import StorageEngines
+from hellocomputer.db.sessions import SessionDB
 from hellocomputer.extraction import extract_code_block
 from hellocomputer.models import Chat
-from hellocomputer.db.sessions import SessionDB
 
 TEST_STORAGE = StorageEngines.local
 TEST_OUTPUT_FOLDER = Path(hellocomputer.__file__).parents[2] / "test" / "output"