diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 505a3b1..b2a6283 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ wheels/
 
 # Virtual environments
 .venv
+state.json
diff --git a/config.toml b/config.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index c759ace..0000000
--- a/config.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-#config 
-#file with global options 
-#key = "val"
-[CTF-DATA]
-current-challenge = "testChal"
-current-comp = "testComp"
-key-format = "SKY-aaaa-0000"
-#comments ignored
diff --git a/src/ctf/main.py b/src/ctf/main.py
index 7f8299f..327e3ba 100644
--- a/src/ctf/main.py
+++ b/src/ctf/main.py
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
 # Parses and calls commands
 
 import argparse
-from ctf import commands
-from ctf import utils
+from ctf.utils import state
+state.testVal = 123
 def main():
     print("Hello from ctf!")
-    utils.load_config()
-    commands.test()
+    print(f"Stored: {state.testVal}")
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/src/ctf/utils.py b/src/ctf/utils.py
index e433674..0a99c42 100644
--- a/src/ctf/utils.py
+++ b/src/ctf/utils.py
@@ -2,12 +2,50 @@
 # basic utilities
 
 import tomllib
+import json
 from pathlib import Path
 from platformdirs import user_config_dir
+from platformdirs import user_data_dir
 # Parse config file
-CONFIG_DIR = Path(user_config_dir("ctf")) #config directory is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctf/
+# CONFIG_DIR = Path(user_config_dir("ctf")) #config directory is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctf/
 CONFIG_DIR = Path("/home/venus/code/ctf/")
 CONFIG_FILE = CONFIG_DIR / "config.toml"
 
+
 def load_config():
-    print(CONFIG_FILE)
+    if not CONFIG_FILE.exists():
+        print("nothing in config, relying on default opts")
+        #this is where to declare default vals if not otherwise specified
+        return {}
+
+class StateManager:
+    _state_file : Path
+    _data: dict
+    def __init__(self):
+        # DATA_DIR = Path(user_data_dir("ctf")) #config directory is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctf/
+        data_dir = Path("/home/venus/code/ctf/")
+        data_dir.mkdir(parents = True, exist_ok = True)
+
+        object.__setattr__(self, "_state_file", data_dir / "state.json") # set self._path to data_dir safely
+        object.__setattr__(self, "_data", self._load()) # load objects into self
+
+    def _load(self):
+        if self._state_file.exists():
+            with open(self._state_file, "r") as f:
+                return json.load(f)
+        return{}
+
+    def __getattr__(self, name):
+        # use state.challenge to return value for challenge from dictionary
+        return self._data.get(name)
+
+    def __setattr__(self, name, value):
+        # use state.challenge = "run" to set challenge and run to dictionary
+        # writes the whole dict to disk
+        self._data[name] = value
+        with open(self._state_file, "w",) as f:
+            json.dump(self._data, f, indent=4)
+
+
+state = StateManager()
+