diff --git a/apps/server/src/api-data/db/db.controller.ts b/apps/server/src/api-data/db/db.controller.ts
index f406d96e1..a9eec754c 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/api-data/db/db.controller.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/api-data/db/db.controller.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,10 @@ import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import type { Request, Response } from 'express';
 
 import { failEmptyObjects } from '../../utils/routerUtils.js';
-import { resolveDbDirectory, resolveProjectsDirectory } from '../../setup/index.js';
+import { resolveDbDirectory } from '../../setup/index.js';
 
 import * as projectService from '../../services/project-service/ProjectService.js';
 import { doesProjectExist, upload, validateProjectFiles } from '../../services/project-service/projectServiceUtils.js';
-import { generateUniqueFileName } from '../../utils/generateUniqueFilename.js';
 import { appStateProvider } from '../../services/app-state-service/AppStateService.js';
 import { oscIntegration } from '../../services/integration-service/OscIntegration.js';
 import { httpIntegration } from '../../services/integration-service/HttpIntegration.js';
@@ -53,27 +52,20 @@ export async function patchPartialProjectFile(req: Request, res: Response<Databa
  *                         or a 500 status with an error message in case of an exception.
  */
 export async function createProjectFile(req: Request, res: Response<{ filename: string } | ErrorResponse>) {
+  const newProjectData: ProjectData = {
+    title: req.body?.title ?? '',
+    description: req.body?.description ?? '',
+    publicUrl: req.body?.publicUrl ?? '',
+    publicInfo: req.body?.publicInfo ?? '',
+    backstageUrl: req.body?.backstageUrl ?? '',
+    backstageInfo: req.body?.backstageInfo ?? '',
+  };
+
   try {
-    const filename = generateUniqueFileName(resolveProjectsDirectory, req.body.filename);
-    const errors = validateProjectFiles({ newFilename: filename });
-
-    if (errors.length) {
-      return res.status(409).send({ message: 'Project with title already exists' });
-    }
-
-    const newProjectData: ProjectData = {
-      title: req.body?.title ?? '',
-      description: req.body?.description ?? '',
-      publicUrl: req.body?.publicUrl ?? '',
-      publicInfo: req.body?.publicInfo ?? '',
-      backstageUrl: req.body?.backstageUrl ?? '',
-      backstageInfo: req.body?.backstageInfo ?? '',
-    };
-
-    await projectService.createProjectFile(filename, newProjectData);
+    const newFileName = await projectService.createProject(req.body.filename, newProjectData);
 
     res.status(200).send({
-      filename,
+      filename: newFileName,
     });
   } catch (error) {
     const message = getErrorMessage(error);
diff --git a/apps/server/src/services/project-service/ProjectService.ts b/apps/server/src/services/project-service/ProjectService.ts
index 96980893f..e98544aa9 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/services/project-service/ProjectService.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/services/project-service/ProjectService.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import { dbModel } from '../../models/dataModel.js';
 import { deleteFile } from '../../utils/parserUtils.js';
 import { switchDb } from '../../setup/loadDb.js';
 import { getPathToProject, getProjectFiles } from './projectServiceUtils.js';
+import { parseJson } from '../../utils/parser.js';
+import { generateUniqueFileName } from '../../utils/generateUniqueFilename.js';
 
 // init dependencies
 init();
@@ -36,8 +38,10 @@ export async function applyProjectFile(name: string, options?: Options) {
   const filePath = getPathToProject(name);
   const data = parseProjectFile(filePath);
 
+  const result = parseJson(data);
+
   // change LowDB to point to new file
-  await switchDb(name);
+  await switchDb(filePath, result.data);
 
   // apply data model
   await applyDataModel(data, options);
@@ -89,8 +93,8 @@ export async function renameProjectFile(existingProjectFile: string, newName: st
 /**
  * Creates a new project file and applies its result
  */
-export async function createProjectFile(filename: string, projectData: ProjectData) {
-  const data = {
+export async function createProject(filename: string, projectData: ProjectData) {
+  const data: DatabaseModel = {
     ...dbModel,
     project: {
       ...dbModel.project,
@@ -98,18 +102,20 @@ export async function createProjectFile(filename: string, projectData: ProjectDa
     },
   };
 
-  // create new file
-  await writeFile(newFile, JSON.stringify(data));
-  const newFile = getPathToProject(filename);
+  const uniqueFileName = generateUniqueFileName(resolveProjectsDirectory, filename);
+  const newFile = getPathToProject(uniqueFileName);
 
   // change LowDB to point to new file
-  await switchDb(filename);
+  await switchDb(newFile, data);
 
-  // apply its data
+  // apply data to running services
+  // we dont need to parse since we are creating a new file
   await applyDataModel(data);
 
   // update app state to point to new value
-  appStateProvider.updateDatabaseConfig(filename);
+  appStateProvider.updateDatabaseConfig(uniqueFileName);
+
+  return uniqueFileName;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -144,6 +150,7 @@ export async function getInfo(): Promise<GetInfo> {
 /**
  * applies a partial database model
  */
+// TODO: should be private as part of a load
 export async function applyDataModel(data: Partial<DatabaseModel>, _options?: Options) {
   runtimeService.stop();
 
diff --git a/apps/server/src/setup/loadDb.ts b/apps/server/src/setup/loadDb.ts
index 1a8dd9824..9bd928ba5 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/setup/loadDb.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/setup/loadDb.ts
@@ -88,10 +88,10 @@ const init = async () => {
 /**
  * Allows to switch the database to a new file
  */
-export const switchDb = async (newFileName: string) => {
-  const { db: newDb, data: newData } = await loadDb(resolveDbDirectory, newFileName);
+export const switchDb = async (filePath: string, data: DatabaseModel) => {
+  const newDb = await JSONFilePreset<DatabaseModel>(filePath, data);
   db = newDb;
-  data = newData;
+  data = newDb.data;
 };
 
 init();