diff --git a/.github/workflows/generate-data.yaml b/.github/workflows/generate-data.yaml
index 1429684..10dc0dc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/generate-data.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/generate-data.yaml
@@ -26,10 +26,20 @@ jobs:
     name: "Generate Data"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     continue-on-error: true
-    strategy: 
-      matrix: 
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
         site: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.repos) }}
     steps:
+      - id: is-bot
+        name: "Check if we are running a bot"
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ secrets.id }}" = "none" ]]; then
+            bot=false
+          else
+            bot=true
+          fi
+          echo "bot=$bot" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        shell: bash
       - id: id
         name: "setup run variables"
         run: |
@@ -52,6 +62,7 @@ jobs:
           pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install git+https://github.com/hubverse-org/hub-dashboard-predtimechart
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.is-bot.outputs.bot) }}
         id: token
         with:
           app-id: ${{ secrets.id }}
@@ -63,7 +74,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
-          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
           repository: ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}
           sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
           sparse-checkout: |
@@ -77,11 +88,24 @@ jobs:
             echo "::error title=Missing config (${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }})::No predtimechart-config.yml file found. Exiting."
             exit 1
           fi
+      - id: check-branch
+        name: "check for ptc/data branch"
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
+        run: | 
+          exists=$(gh api -X GET "repos/${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}/branches" --jq '.[].name | select(. == "ptc/data")')
+          if [[ "$exists" = "ptc/data" ]]; then
+            fetch=true
+          else
+            fetch=false
+          fi
+          echo "fetch=$fetch" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - id: checkout-data
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.check-branch.outputs.fetch) }}
         name: "Checkout ptc/data branch"
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
           persist-credentials: false
           repository: ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}
           ref: 'ptc/data'
@@ -142,6 +166,16 @@ jobs:
       matrix: 
         site: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.repos) }}
     steps:
+      - id: is-bot
+        name: "Check if we are running a bot"
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ secrets.id }}" = "none" ]]; then
+            bot=false
+          else
+            bot=true
+          fi
+          echo "bot=$bot" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        shell: bash
       - id: checkout-this-here-repo-scripts
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -157,6 +191,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "repo=$owner/$name" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "file=$owner-$name-data" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.is-bot.outputs.bot) }}
         id: token
         with:
           app-id: ${{ secrets.id }}
@@ -173,7 +208,7 @@ jobs:
             "${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}" \
             "${{ inputs.slug }}" \
             "${{ inputs.email }}" \
-            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}"
+            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}"
       - id: checkout-pages
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -181,7 +216,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}
           ref: ptc/data
           path: 'data'
-          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
       - id: fetch-artifact
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
@@ -195,4 +230,4 @@ jobs:
             "${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}" \
             "${{ inputs.slug }}" \
             "${{ inputs.email }}" \
-            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}"
+            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/generate-site.yaml b/.github/workflows/generate-site.yaml
index 463b583..7689bc9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/generate-site.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/generate-site.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,19 @@ jobs:
       volumes:
         - ${{ github.workspace }}:/site
     steps:
+      - id: is-bot
+        name: "Check if we are running a bot"
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ secrets.id }}" = "none" ]]; then
+            bot=false
+          else
+            bot=true
+          fi
+          echo "bot is $bot"
+          echo "bot=$bot" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        shell: bash
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.is-bot.outputs.bot) }}
         name: "Generate App Token (if no token present)"
         id: token
         with:
@@ -53,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
         name: "Fetch ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}"
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
           persist-credentials: false
           repository: ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}
       - id: check-configs
@@ -81,7 +93,7 @@ jobs:
           && echo "success=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT \
           || echo "success=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       - name: Upload artifact
-        # if: ${{ steps.build-site.outputs.success == true }}
+        # if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.build-site.outputs.success) }}
         id: upload
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
@@ -89,7 +101,7 @@ jobs:
           path: '/site/pages/'
           retention-days: 1
       # - name: signal success
-      #   # if: ${{ steps.build-site.outputs.success == true }}
+      #   # if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.build-site.outputs.success) }}
       #   run: |
       #     touch "${{runner.temp}}/${{steps.id.outputs.file}}.success" 
   push-site:
@@ -122,7 +134,18 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
           sparse-checkout: |
             scripts
+      - id: is-bot
+        name: "Check if we are running a bot"
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ secrets.id }}" = "none" ]]; then
+            bot=false
+          else
+            bot=true
+          fi
+          echo "bot=$bot" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        shell: bash
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.is-bot.outputs.bot) }}
         id: token
         with:
           app-id: ${{ secrets.id }}
@@ -132,14 +155,14 @@ jobs:
       - id: check-branch
         name: "check for gh-pages branch and create if needed"
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
         run: | 
           bash -x "${{ github.workspace }}/scripts/check-branch.sh" \
             "gh-pages" \
             "${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}" \
             "${{ inputs.slug }}" \
             "${{ inputs.email }}" \
-            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}"
+            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}"
       - id: checkout-pages
         name: "Fetch ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}"
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -148,7 +171,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}
           ref: gh-pages
           path: 'pages'
-          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}
+          token: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}
       - id: fetch-artifact
         name: "Load changes"
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
@@ -162,4 +185,4 @@ jobs:
             "${{ steps.id.outputs.repo }}" \
             "${{ inputs.slug }}" \
             "${{ inputs.email }}" \
-            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}"
+            "${{ steps.token.outputs.token || secrets.key }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/rebuild-data.yaml b/.github/workflows/rebuild-data.yaml
index 3d57f80..9368955 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rebuild-data.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rebuild-data.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
       repos: '${{ needs.repos.outputs.repos }}'
       slug: '${{ needs.repos.outputs.slug }}'
       email: '${{ needs.repos.outputs.email }}'
-      regenerate: ${{ github.event.client_payload.regenerate }}
+      regenerate: ${{ github.event.client_payload.regenerate || false }}
     secrets:
       id: ${{ vars.APP_ID }}
       key: ${{ secrets.PRIVATE_KEY }}
diff --git a/appHelper.py b/appHelper.py
index 52367c3..ce66b30 100644
--- a/appHelper.py
+++ b/appHelper.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def get_slug_id():
     app = ghapp["app"]
     app_usr = gh.get_user(app.slug+"[bot]")
     email = f'{app_usr.id}+{app_usr.login}@users.noreply.github.com'
-    write_string("slug", app.slug)
+    write_string("slug", app.slug + "[bot]")
     write_string("email", email)
     write_string("id", app_usr.id)
 
diff --git a/scripts/check-branch.sh b/scripts/check-branch.sh
index 11236f1..cdaf881 100644
--- a/scripts/check-branch.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-branch.sh
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ exists=$(gh api -X GET "repos/${repo}/branches" --jq '.[].name | select(. == "${
 if [[ "$exists" != "${branch}" ]]; then
   tmp=$(mktemp --directory)
   cd "$tmp"
-  git config --global user.name "${slug}[bot]"
+  git config --global user.name "${slug}"
   git config --global user.email "${email}"
   git init
   git switch -c "${branch}"
-  git remote add origin https://${slug}[bot]:${token}@github.com/${repo}.git
-  git commit --allow-empty -m 'initial ${branch} commit'
+  git remote add origin https://${slug}:${token}@github.com/${repo}.git
+  git commit --allow-empty -m "initial ${branch} commit"
   git push --set-upstream origin "${branch}"
   cd
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/pushit.sh b/scripts/pushit.sh
index 23bcce9..c6f9cd2 100644
--- a/scripts/pushit.sh
+++ b/scripts/pushit.sh
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ else
 fi
 
 cd "$dir" || (echo "Directory '$dir' not found" && exit 1)
-git config --global user.name "${slug}[bot]"
+git config --global user.name "${slug}"
 git config --global user.email "${email}"
-git remote set-url origin "https://${slug}[bot]:${token}@github.com/${repo}.git"
+git remote set-url origin "https://${slug}:${token}@github.com/${repo}.git"
 ls
 git status
 if [[ "${amend}" == "true" ]]; then