diff --git a/extra/admin-api/outputs.nix b/extra/admin-api/outputs.nix
index 94d7c3118..4c7ad3f54 100644
--- a/extra/admin-api/outputs.nix
+++ b/extra/admin-api/outputs.nix
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ nixpkgs.lib.recursiveUpdate (
           name = "Spacebar.Models.Api";
           projectFile = "Spacebar.Models.Api.csproj";
           srcRoot = Models/Spacebar.Models.Api;
+          projectReferences = [ proj.Spacebar-Models-Generic ];
         };
         Spacebar-Models-AdminApi = buildSpacebarDotnetModule {
           name = "Spacebar.Models.AdminApi";
diff --git a/src/database/entities/Categories.ts b/src/database/entities/Categories.ts
index 3a7e133ff..b305b2fff 100644
--- a/src/database/entities/Categories.ts
+++ b/src/database/entities/Categories.ts
@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@
 	along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
 
-import { Column, Entity, PrimaryColumn } from "typeorm";
+import { Column, Entity, PrimaryGeneratedColumn } from "typeorm";
 import { BaseClassWithoutId } from "./BaseClass";
+import { DiscoveryCategory } from "@spacebar/schemas";
 
-// TODO: categories:
+// was this an old response format? Keeping for completeness sake
 // [{
 // 	"id": 16,
 // 	"default": "Anime & Manga",
@@ -31,7 +32,6 @@ import { BaseClassWithoutId } from "./BaseClass";
 // 	},
 // 	"is_primary": false/true
 // }]
-// Also populate discord default categories
 
 @Entity({
     name: "categories",
@@ -39,19 +39,34 @@ import { BaseClassWithoutId } from "./BaseClass";
 export class Categories extends BaseClassWithoutId {
     // Not using snowflake
 
-    @PrimaryColumn({ type: "int4" })
+    @PrimaryGeneratedColumn({ type: "int2" })
     id: number;
 
     @Column({ nullable: true })
     name: string;
 
     @Column({ type: "jsonb" })
-    localizations: string;
+    localizations: CategoryLocalization;
 
     // Whether to show the category prominently (e.g. in a sidebar) instead of only secondary (e.g. in search results)
     @Column({ nullable: true })
     is_primary: boolean;
 
+    // TODO: was this removed?
     @Column({ nullable: true })
     icon?: string;
+
+    public toDiscoveryCategory(locale?: string): DiscoveryCategory {
+        locale ??= "en-US";
+        let name = this.name;
+        if (locale in this.localizations) name = this.localizations[locale] ?? this.name;
+
+        return {
+            id: this.id,
+            name: name,
+            is_primary: this.is_primary,
+        } satisfies DiscoveryCategory;
+    }
 }
+
+export type CategoryLocalization = { [locale: string]: string };
diff --git a/src/database/entities/Guild.ts b/src/database/entities/Guild.ts
index d111f5e0f..d7a82667c 100644
--- a/src/database/entities/Guild.ts
+++ b/src/database/entities/Guild.ts
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ export class Guild extends BaseClass {
     features: string[] = []; //TODO use enum
     //TODO: https://discord.com/developers/docs/resources/guild#guild-object-guild-features
 
-    @Column({ type: "int8", nullable: true })
-    primary_category_id?: string; // TODO: this was number?
+    @Column({ type: "int2", nullable: true })
+    primary_category_id?: number;
 
     @Column({ nullable: true })
     icon?: string;
diff --git a/src/database/migration/postgres/1786139482251-Int2CategoryId.ts b/src/database/migration/postgres/1786139482251-Int2CategoryId.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa94fd442
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/database/migration/postgres/1786139482251-Int2CategoryId.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { MigrationInterface, QueryRunner } from "typeorm";
+
+export class Int2CategoryId1786139482251 implements MigrationInterface {
+    name = "Int2CategoryId1786139482251";
+
+    public async up(queryRunner: QueryRunner): Promise<void> {
+        await queryRunner.query(`ALTER TABLE guilds ALTER COLUMN primary_category_id TYPE int2 USING primary_category_id::int2`);
+        await queryRunner.query(`ALTER TABLE categories ALTER COLUMN id TYPE smallserial USING id::smallserial`);
+    }
+
+    public async down(queryRunner: QueryRunner): Promise<void> {
+        await queryRunner.query(`ALTER TABLE guilds ALTER COLUMN primary_category_id TYPE bigint USING primary_category_id::bigint`);
+        await queryRunner.query(`ALTER TABLE categories ALTER COLUMN id TYPE bigint USING id::bigint`);
+    }
+}