diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97635f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+    "python.linting.pylintEnabled": true,
+    "python.linting.pycodestyleEnabled": false,
+    "python.linting.enabled": true
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/helper_scripts/db_backup.sh b/helper_scripts/db_backup.sh
index 1d822a5..9fd5f25 100755
--- a/helper_scripts/db_backup.sh
+++ b/helper_scripts/db_backup.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ backup_dir="$HOME/backup"
 docker exec postgres pg_dump -U aqi | gzip > "$backup_dir/pg_$time_stamp.gz"
 
 # rotate
-find "$backup_dir" -type f -name "pg_*.gz" | sort -r | tail -n +15 | xargs --no-run-if-empty trash
+find "$backup_dir" -type f -name "pg_*.gz" | sort -r | tail -n +7 | xargs --no-run-if-empty trash
 
 # log
 log_file="$backup_dir/pg_status.log"
diff --git a/helper_scripts/example_post.py b/helper_scripts/example_post.py
index 8759ff8..9d0d45c 100755
--- a/helper_scripts/example_post.py
+++ b/helper_scripts/example_post.py
@@ -1,31 +1,36 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-""" 
+"""
 script to post data to the ingest route with simulated data for testing
 
 """
-
-import requests
 import json
-import configparser
+import requests
+
+
+def get_config():
+    """ read config file """
+    config_path = 'flask_aqi/config.json'
+
+    with open(config_path, 'r') as config_file:
+        data = config_file.read()
+
+    config = json.loads(data)
+
+    return config
 
 # get auth
-config_parser = configparser.ConfigParser()
-config_parser.read('../backend/flask/config')
-user_name = config_parser.get('aqi_monitor', "authUsername")
-user_pass = config_parser.get('aqi_monitor', "authPassword")
+
+CONFIG = get_config()
+user_name = CONFIG['aqi_monitor']['authUsername']
+user_pass = CONFIG['aqi_monitor']['authPassword']
+
 
 # example json data as from the esp8266
-json_data = {
-  "uptime": 1476,
-  "temperature": 28.46,
-  "pressure": 995.0873,
-  "humidity": 10.52051,
-  "pm25": 56.5,
-  "pm10": 64.4
-}
+example_data = '{"uptime":33,"temperature":35.36,"pressure":970.9545,"humidity":41.44336,"pm25":4.5,"pm10":6.2,"sensor_id":1}'
+
 
 # make the call
-response = requests.post("https://data.lpb-air.com/ingest", json=json_data, auth = (user_name, user_pass))
+response = requests.post("http://localhost:5000/data/in", json=example_data, auth = (user_name, user_pass))
 
 # print result
 print(response)