diff --git a/brain/utility/HandleCors.inc.php b/brain/utility/HandleCors.inc.php
index a5a6c7e..86fa7b0 100644
--- a/brain/utility/HandleCors.inc.php
+++ b/brain/utility/HandleCors.inc.php
@@ -2,50 +2,55 @@
 
 class handleCors
 {
-  public function __construct()
-  {
-    //check settings to see if external api access is allowed
-    $config = new Settings();
-    $settings = $config->getSettings();
-    if ($settings["global"]["externalAPI"]) {
-      //echo "API STATUS: " . $settings["global"]["externalAPI"];
-      if ($settings["global"]["externalAPI"] == "true") {
-        //echo "API ACCESS ACTIVE";
-        // checks to see if origin is set
-        if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ORIGIN"])) {
-          // You can decide if the origin in $_SERVER['HTTP_ORIGIN'] is something you want to allow, or as we do here, just allow all
-          header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: {$_SERVER["HTTP_ORIGIN"]}");
-        } else {
-          //No HTTP_ORIGIN set, so we allow any. You can disallow if needed here
-          //never allow just any domain, so turn CORS off if no No HTTP_ORIGIN is set
-          //header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
-        }
+    public function __construct()
+    {
+        //look to see if settings file exists. kinda important
+        if (file_exists("../config/settings.json")) {
+            //check settings to see if external api access is allowed
+            $config = new Settings();
+            $settings = $config->getSettings();
+            if ($settings["global"]["externalAPI"]) {
+                //echo "API STATUS: " . $settings["global"]["externalAPI"];
+                if ($settings["global"]["externalAPI"] == "true") {
+                    //echo "API ACCESS ACTIVE";
+                    // checks to see if origin is set
+                    if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ORIGIN"])) {
+                        // You can decide if the origin in $_SERVER['HTTP_ORIGIN'] is something you want to allow, or as we do here, just allow all
+                        header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: {$_SERVER["HTTP_ORIGIN"]}");
+                    } else {
+                        //No HTTP_ORIGIN set, so we allow any. You can disallow if needed here
+                        //never allow just any domain, so turn CORS off if no No HTTP_ORIGIN is set
+                        //header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
+                    }
 
-        header("Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true");
-        header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 600"); // cache for 10 minutes
+                    header("Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true");
+                    header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 600"); // cache for 10 minutes
 
-        if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "OPTIONS") {
-          if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_METHOD"])) {
-            header(
-              "Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST, GET, OPTIONS, DELETE, PUT"
-            );
-          } //Make sure you remove those you do not want to support
+                    if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "OPTIONS") {
+                        if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_METHOD"])) {
+                            header(
+                                "Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST, GET, OPTIONS, DELETE, PUT"
+                            );
+                        } //Make sure you remove those you do not want to support
 
-          if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS"])) {
-            header(
-              "Access-Control-Allow-Headers: {$_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS"]}"
-            );
-          }
+                        if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS"])) {
+                            header(
+                                "Access-Control-Allow-Headers: {$_SERVER["HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS"]}"
+                            );
+                        }
 
-          //Just exit with 200 OK with the above headers for OPTIONS method
-          exit(0);
+                        //Just exit with 200 OK with the above headers for OPTIONS method
+                        exit(0);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    //echo "API ACCESS ACTIVE";
+                }
+            } else {
+                //value doesn't exist, so whatevs
+                //echo "API ACCESS VALUE NOT PRESENT";
+            }
+        } else {
+            //init state, so chill
         }
-      } else {
-        //echo "API ACCESS ACTIVE";
-      }
-    } else {
-      //value doesn't exist, so whatevs
-      //echo "API ACCESS VALUE NOT PRESENT";
     }
-  }
 }