diff --git a/planetwars-server/migrations/2021-12-18-130837_bots/up.sql b/planetwars-server/migrations/2021-12-18-130837_bots/up.sql
index 22e250b..a23fbf7 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/migrations/2021-12-18-130837_bots/up.sql
+++ b/planetwars-server/migrations/2021-12-18-130837_bots/up.sql
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ CREATE UNIQUE INDEX bots_index ON bots(owner_id, name);
 
 CREATE TABLE code_bundles (
     id serial PRIMARY KEY,
-    bot_id integer REFERENCES bots(id) NOT NULL,
+    bot_id integer REFERENCES bots(id),
     path text NOT NULL,
     created_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
 );
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/db/bots.rs b/planetwars-server/src/db/bots.rs
index f7d8373..baabd5a 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/src/db/bots.rs
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/db/bots.rs
@@ -42,14 +42,14 @@ pub fn find_all_bots(conn: &PgConnection) -> QueryResult<Vec<Bot>> {
 #[derive(Insertable)]
 #[table_name = "code_bundles"]
 pub struct NewCodeBundle<'a> {
-    pub bot_id: i32,
+    pub bot_id: Option<i32>,
     pub path: &'a str,
 }
 
 #[derive(Queryable, Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
 pub struct CodeBundle {
     pub id: i32,
-    pub bot_id: i32,
+    pub bot_id: Option<i32>,
     pub path: String,
     pub created_at: chrono::NaiveDateTime,
 }
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/lib.rs b/planetwars-server/src/lib.rs
index b74525b..89b3d7a 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/lib.rs
@@ -3,15 +3,17 @@ extern crate diesel;
 
 pub mod db;
 pub mod db_types;
+pub mod modules;
 pub mod routes;
 pub mod schema;
+pub mod util;
 
 use std::ops::Deref;
 
 use axum;
-use bb8::PooledConnection;
+use bb8::{Pool, PooledConnection};
 use bb8_diesel::{self, DieselConnectionManager};
-use diesel::PgConnection;
+use diesel::{Connection, PgConnection};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
 use axum::{
@@ -29,9 +31,14 @@ const MAPS_DIR: &str = "./data/maps";
 
 type ConnectionPool = bb8::Pool<DieselConnectionManager<PgConnection>>;
 
-pub async fn api(configuration: Configuration) -> Router {
-    let manager = DieselConnectionManager::<PgConnection>::new(configuration.database_url);
+pub async fn prepare_db(database_url: &str) -> Pool<DieselConnectionManager<PgConnection>> {
+    let manager = DieselConnectionManager::<PgConnection>::new(database_url);
     let pool = bb8::Pool::builder().build(manager).await.unwrap();
+    return pool;
+}
+
+pub async fn api(configuration: Configuration) -> Router {
+    let db_pool = prepare_db(&configuration.database_url).await;
 
     let api = Router::new()
         .route("/register", post(routes::users::register))
@@ -57,7 +64,7 @@ pub async fn api(configuration: Configuration) -> Router {
             get(routes::matches::get_match_log),
         )
         .route("/submit_bot", post(routes::demo::submit_bot))
-        .layer(AddExtensionLayer::new(pool));
+        .layer(AddExtensionLayer::new(db_pool));
     api
 }
 
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/modules/bots.rs b/planetwars-server/src/modules/bots.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..843e48d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/modules/bots.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use diesel::{PgConnection, QueryResult};
+
+use crate::{db, util::gen_alphanumeric, BOTS_DIR};
+
+pub fn save_code_bundle(
+    bot_code: &str,
+    bot_id: Option<i32>,
+    conn: &PgConnection,
+) -> QueryResult<db::bots::CodeBundle> {
+    let bundle_name = gen_alphanumeric(16);
+
+    let code_bundle_dir = PathBuf::from(BOTS_DIR).join(&bundle_name);
+    std::fs::create_dir(&code_bundle_dir).unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(code_bundle_dir.join("bot.py"), bot_code).unwrap();
+
+    let new_code_bundle = db::bots::NewCodeBundle {
+        bot_id,
+        path: &bundle_name,
+    };
+    db::bots::create_code_bundle(&new_code_bundle, conn)
+}
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/modules/mod.rs b/planetwars-server/src/modules/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57c1ef5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/modules/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// This module implements general domain logic, not directly
+// tied to the database or API layers.
+pub mod bots;
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/routes/bots.rs b/planetwars-server/src/routes/bots.rs
index 0edfaa9..66b4d82 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/src/routes/bots.rs
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/routes/bots.rs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ pub async fn upload_code_multipart(
         .map_err(|_| StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST)?;
 
     let bundle = bots::NewCodeBundle {
-        bot_id: bot.id,
+        bot_id: Some(bot.id),
         path: &folder_name,
     };
     let code_bundle =
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/routes/demo.rs b/planetwars-server/src/routes/demo.rs
index dbcdb64..28eab97 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/src/routes/demo.rs
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/routes/demo.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 use crate::db::matches::{self, MatchState};
+use crate::modules::bots::save_code_bundle;
+use crate::util::gen_alphanumeric;
 use crate::{ConnectionPool, BOTS_DIR, MAPS_DIR, MATCHES_DIR};
 use axum::extract::Extension;
 use axum::Json;
 use hyper::StatusCode;
 use planetwars_matchrunner::{docker_runner::DockerBotSpec, run_match, MatchConfig, MatchPlayer};
-use rand::{distributions::Alphanumeric, Rng};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ const SIMPLEBOT_PATH: &'static str = "../simplebot";
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
 pub struct SubmitBotParams {
+    pub bot_name: Option<String>,
     pub code: String,
 }
 
@@ -32,14 +34,12 @@ pub async fn submit_bot(
 ) -> Result<Json<SubmitBotResponse>, StatusCode> {
     let conn = pool.get().await.expect("could not get database connection");
 
-    let uploaded_bot_uuid: String = gen_alphanumeric(16);
+    let code_bundle = save_code_bundle(&params.code, None, &conn)
+        // TODO: can we recover from this?
+        .expect("could not save bot code");
+
     let log_file_name = format!("{}.log", gen_alphanumeric(16));
-
-    // store uploaded bot
-    let uploaded_bot_dir = PathBuf::from(BOTS_DIR).join(&uploaded_bot_uuid);
-    std::fs::create_dir(&uploaded_bot_dir).unwrap();
-    std::fs::write(uploaded_bot_dir.join("bot.py"), params.code.as_bytes()).unwrap();
-
+    let uploaded_bot_dir = PathBuf::from(BOTS_DIR).join(&code_bundle.path);
     // play the match
     let match_config = MatchConfig {
         map_path: PathBuf::from(MAPS_DIR).join("hex.json"),
@@ -95,11 +95,3 @@ async fn run_match_task(match_id: i32, match_config: MatchConfig, connection_poo
     matches::set_match_state(match_id, MatchState::Finished, &conn)
         .expect("failed to update match state");
 }
-
-pub fn gen_alphanumeric(length: usize) -> String {
-    rand::thread_rng()
-        .sample_iter(&Alphanumeric)
-        .take(length)
-        .map(char::from)
-        .collect()
-}
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/schema.rs b/planetwars-server/src/schema.rs
index e67ef3a..0ebddf3 100644
--- a/planetwars-server/src/schema.rs
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/schema.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ table! {
 
     code_bundles (id) {
         id -> Int4,
-        bot_id -> Int4,
+        bot_id -> Nullable<Int4>,
         path -> Text,
         created_at -> Timestamp,
     }
diff --git a/planetwars-server/src/util.rs b/planetwars-server/src/util.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44fcf1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/planetwars-server/src/util.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+use rand::{distributions::Alphanumeric, Rng};
+
+pub fn gen_alphanumeric(length: usize) -> String {
+    rand::thread_rng()
+        .sample_iter(&Alphanumeric)
+        .take(length)
+        .map(char::from)
+        .collect()
+}