diff --git a/cmd/horsebot/main.go b/cmd/horsebot/main.go
index fdd64f7..7b33ea7 100644
--- a/cmd/horsebot/main.go
+++ b/cmd/horsebot/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
@@ -26,10 +27,7 @@ import (
 
 func main() {
 	var (
-		// data options
-		skillsFile      string
-		skillGroupsFile string
-		// discord bot options
+		dataDir   string
 		tokenFile string
 		// http api options
 		addr   string
@@ -39,8 +37,7 @@ func main() {
 		level   slog.Level
 		textfmt string
 	)
-	flag.StringVar(&skillsFile, "skills", "", "json `file` containing skill data")
-	flag.StringVar(&skillGroupsFile, "skill-groups", "", "json `file` containing skill group data")
+	flag.StringVar(&dataDir, "data", "", "`dir`ectory containing exported json data")
 	flag.StringVar(&tokenFile, "token", "", "`file` containing the Discord bot token")
 	flag.StringVar(&addr, "http", "", "`address` to bind HTTP API server")
 	flag.StringVar(&route, "route", "/interactions/callback", "`path` to serve HTTP API calls")
@@ -61,8 +58,8 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	slog.SetDefault(slog.New(lh))
 
-	byID, byName, err := loadSkills(skillsFile)
-	groups, err2 := loadSkillGroups(skillGroupsFile)
+	byID, byName, err := loadSkills(filepath.Join(dataDir, "skill.json"))
+	groups, err2 := loadSkillGroups(filepath.Join(dataDir, "skill-group.json"))
 	if err = errors.Join(err, err2); err != nil {
 		slog.Error("loading data", slog.Any("err", err))
 		os.Exit(1)