diff --git a/prepdb.sh b/prepdb.sh
index c359189..6519f8a 100644
--- a/prepdb.sh
+++ b/prepdb.sh
@@ -10,15 +10,9 @@ replace_in_sqlite_db() {
         return 1
     fi
 
-    # Check if jq is installed
-    if ! command -v jq &> /dev/null; then
-        echo "Error: 'jq' is not installed. Please install it first (e.g., 'sudo apt install jq')."
-        return 1
-    fi
+    echo "Starting brute-force replacement of '$OLD_STRING' with '$NEW_STRING' in '$DB_PATH'..."
 
-    echo "Starting replacement of '$OLD_STRING' with '$NEW_STRING' in all string-based columns in '$DB_PATH'..."
-
-    # Escape single quotes in the strings for SQL
+    # Escape single quotes for SQL
     local OLD_STRING_ESC=$(echo "$OLD_STRING" | sed "s/'/''/g")
     local NEW_STRING_ESC=$(echo "$NEW_STRING" | sed "s/'/''/g")
 
@@ -31,71 +25,23 @@ replace_in_sqlite_db() {
         echo "Processing table: $TABLE"
 
         # Get a list of all columns in the table
-        sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "PRAGMA table_info($TABLE);" | awk -F'|' '{print $2","$3}' | while IFS=, read -r COLUMN COLUMN_TYPE; do
-            # Skip empty lines
-            if [ -z "$COLUMN" ]; then
-                continue
-            fi
+        local COLUMNS
+        COLUMNS=$(sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "PRAGMA table_info($TABLE);" | awk -F'|' '{print $2}' | grep -v '^$')
 
-            # Check if the column is a string-based type (TEXT, VARCHAR, CHAR, CLOB, etc.)
-            if [[ "$COLUMN_TYPE" =~ [Tt][Ee][Xx][Tt]|[Vv][Aa][Rr][Cc][Hh][Aa][Rr]|[Cc][Hh][Aa][Rr]|[Cc][Ll][Oo][Bb]|[Ss][Tt][Rr][Ii][Nn][Gg] ]]; then
-                echo "  Processing column: $COLUMN (type: $COLUMN_TYPE)"
+        # Loop through each column
+        for COLUMN in $COLUMNS; do
+            echo "  Processing column: $COLUMN"
 
-                # Check if the column contains JSON data
-                local IS_JSON=$(sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
-                    SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $TABLE
-                    WHERE json_valid($COLUMN) = 1 LIMIT 1;
-                ")
-
-                if [ "$IS_JSON" -gt 0 ]; then
-                    echo "    Detected JSON data in column $COLUMN. Processing with jq..."
-
-                    # Create a temporary table to store updated JSON
-                    sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
-                    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS temp_$TABLE (rowid INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, new_$COLUMN TEXT);
-                    "
-
-                    # Export JSON data, modify with jq, and store in temp table
-                    sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "SELECT rowid, $COLUMN FROM $TABLE WHERE json_valid($COLUMN) = 1;" | while read -r ROWID JSON_DATA; do
-                        # Skip the header line (rowid|column)
-                        if [ "$ROWID" != "rowid" ]; then
-                            # Replace the string in the JSON using jq
-                            local MODIFIED_JSON
-                            MODIFIED_JSON=$(echo "$JSON_DATA" | jq --arg old_str "$OLD_STRING" --arg new_str "$NEW_STRING" '
-                                walk(if type == "string" then gsub($old_str; $new_str) else . end)
-                            ')
-
-                            # Insert the modified JSON into the temp table
-                            sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
-                            INSERT INTO temp_$TABLE (rowid, new_$COLUMN) VALUES ($ROWID, '$MODIFIED_JSON');
-                            "
-                        fi
-                    done
-
-                    # Update the original table with the modified JSON
-                    sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
-                    UPDATE $TABLE
-                    SET $COLUMN = (SELECT new_$COLUMN FROM temp_$TABLE WHERE temp_$TABLE.rowid = $TABLE.rowid)
-                    WHERE rowid IN (SELECT rowid FROM temp_$TABLE);
-                    "
-
-                    # Drop the temporary table
-                    sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "DROP TABLE temp_$TABLE;"
-                else
-                    echo "    Column $COLUMN is not JSON. Using replace()."
-
-                    # Use replace() for non-JSON strings
-                    sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
-                    UPDATE $TABLE
-                    SET $COLUMN = replace($COLUMN, '$OLD_STRING_ESC', '$NEW_STRING_ESC')
-                    WHERE $COLUMN LIKE '%$OLD_STRING_ESC%';
-                    "
-                fi
-            fi
+            # Update every cell in the column, casting to TEXT to force string replacement
+            sqlite3 "$DB_PATH" "
+            UPDATE $TABLE
+            SET $COLUMN = replace(CAST($COLUMN AS TEXT), '$OLD_STRING_ESC', '$NEW_STRING_ESC')
+            WHERE CAST($COLUMN AS TEXT) LIKE '%$OLD_STRING_ESC%';
+            "
         done
     done
 
-    echo "Replacement completed for all string-based columns (including JSON) in '$DB_PATH'."
+    echo "replacement of '$OLD_STRING' with '$NEW_STRING' completed in '$DB_PATH'."
 }
 
 #set script directory
diff --git a/stacks/npm/data/database-post.sqlite b/stacks/npm/data/database-post.sqlite
deleted file mode 100644
index 8bf369f..0000000
Binary files a/stacks/npm/data/database-post.sqlite and /dev/null differ