diff --git a/libs/ktem/ktem/db/base_models.py b/libs/ktem/ktem/db/base_models.py
index ea0cbfc1..4b1398d7 100644
--- a/libs/ktem/ktem/db/base_models.py
+++ b/libs/ktem/ktem/db/base_models.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class BaseConversation(SQLModel):
             datetime.datetime.now(get_localzone()).strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
         )
     )
-    user: int = Field(default=0)  # For now we only have one user
+    user: str = Field(default="")  # For now we only have one user
 
     is_public: bool = Field(default=False)
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class BaseSettings(SQLModel):
     id: str = Field(
         default_factory=lambda: uuid.uuid4().hex, primary_key=True, index=True
     )
-    user: int = Field(default=0)
+    user: str = Field(default="")
     setting: dict = Field(default={}, sa_column=Column(JSON))
 
 
@@ -97,4 +97,4 @@ class BaseIssueReport(SQLModel):
     issues: dict = Field(default={}, sa_column=Column(JSON))
     chat: Optional[dict] = Field(default=None, sa_column=Column(JSON))
     settings: Optional[dict] = Field(default=None, sa_column=Column(JSON))
-    user: Optional[int] = Field(default=None)
+    user: Optional[str] = Field(default=None)
diff --git a/libs/ktem/ktem/index/file/index.py b/libs/ktem/ktem/index/file/index.py
index 9092d488..46b00492 100644
--- a/libs/ktem/ktem/index/file/index.py
+++ b/libs/ktem/ktem/index/file/index.py
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ from kotaemon.storages import BaseDocumentStore, BaseVectorStore
 from .base import BaseFileIndexIndexing, BaseFileIndexRetriever
 
 
+def generate_uuid():
+    return str(uuid.uuid4())
+
+
 class FileIndex(BaseIndex):
     """
     File index to store and allow retrieval of files
@@ -76,7 +80,7 @@ class FileIndex(BaseIndex):
                     "date_created": Column(
                         DateTime(timezone=True), default=datetime.now(get_localzone())
                     ),
-                    "user": Column(Integer, default=1),
+                    "user": Column(String, default=""),
                     "note": Column(
                         MutableDict.as_mutable(JSON),  # type: ignore
                         default={},
@@ -101,7 +105,7 @@ class FileIndex(BaseIndex):
                     "date_created": Column(
                         DateTime(timezone=True), default=datetime.now(get_localzone())
                     ),
-                    "user": Column(Integer, default=1),
+                    "user": Column(String, default=""),
                     "note": Column(
                         MutableDict.as_mutable(JSON),  # type: ignore
                         default={},
@@ -125,7 +129,12 @@ class FileIndex(BaseIndex):
             (Base,),
             {
                 "__tablename__": f"index__{self.id}__group",
-                "id": Column(Integer, primary_key=True, autoincrement=True),
+                "id": Column(
+                    String,
+                    primary_key=True,
+                    default=lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()),
+                    unique=True,
+                ),
                 "date_created": Column(
                     DateTime(timezone=True), default=datetime.now(get_localzone())
                 ),