diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/bin/recreate_db b/spiffworkflow-backend/bin/recreate_db
index 14b23cf8f..13a3bede6 100755
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/bin/recreate_db
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/bin/recreate_db
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ if [[ -z "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR:-}" ]]; then
   export SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR
 fi
 
+database_host="localhost"
+if [[ -n "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_URI:-}" ]]; then
+  database_host=$(grep -oP "^[^:]+://.*@\K(.+?)[:/]" <<<"$SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_URI" | sed -E 's/[:\/]$//')
+fi
+
 tasks=""
 if [[ "${1:-}" == "clean" ]]; then
   subcommand="${2:-}"
@@ -37,8 +42,8 @@ if [[ "${1:-}" == "clean" ]]; then
   if [[ "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_TYPE:-mysql}" != "mysql" ]]; then
     rm -f ./src/instance/*.sqlite3
   else
-    mysql -uroot -e "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_local_development"
-    mysql -uroot -e "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_unit_testing"
+    mysql -h "$database_host" -uroot -e "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_local_development"
+    mysql -h "$database_host" -uroot -e "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_unit_testing"
   fi
 
   # TODO: check to see if the db already exists and we can connect to it. also actually clean it up.
@@ -74,8 +79,8 @@ else
 fi
 
 if [[ "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_TYPE:-mysql}" == "mysql" ]]; then
-  mysql -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_local_development"
-  mysql -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_unit_testing"
+  mysql -h "$database_host" -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_local_development"
+  mysql -h "$database_host" -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_unit_testing"
 fi
 
 for task in $tasks; do
@@ -85,7 +90,7 @@ done
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=unit_testing FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db upgrade
 if [[ -n "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV:-}" ]] && ! grep -Eq '^(local_development|unit_testing)$' <<< "$SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"; then
   if [[ "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_TYPE:-mysql}" == "mysql" ]]; then
-    mysql -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_$SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"
+    mysql -h "$database_host" -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_$SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"
   fi
   FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db upgrade
 fi
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
index 224791108..cc2a9c1f3 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from spiffworkflow_backend.services.logging_service import setup_logger
 
 
 class ConfigurationError(Exception):
-    """ConfigurationError."""
+    pass
 
 
 def setup_database_configs(app: Flask) -> None:
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_model_test_runner_service.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_model_test_runner_service.py
index 811615485..4b833139a 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_model_test_runner_service.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_model_test_runner_service.py
@@ -17,18 +17,6 @@ from SpiffWorkflow.task import TaskState
 from spiffworkflow_backend.services.custom_parser import MyCustomParser
 
 
-# workflow json for test case
-# 1. default action is load xml from disk and use spiff like normal and get back workflow json
-# 2. do stuff from disk cache
-
-# find all process models
-# find all json test cases for each
-# for each test case, fire up something like spiff
-# for each task, if there is something special in the test case definition,
-#   do it (provide data for user task, mock service task, etc)
-# when the thing is complete, check workflow data against expected data
-
-
 class UnrunnableTestCaseError(Exception):
     pass
 
@@ -71,25 +59,36 @@ DEFAULT_NSMAP = {
 }
 
 
-# input:
-#   BPMN_TASK_IDENTIIFER:
-#       can be either task bpmn identifier or in format:
-#       [BPMN_PROCESS_ID]:[TASK_BPMN_IDENTIFIER]
-#       example: 'BasicServiceTaskProcess:service_task_one'
-#       this allows for tasks to share bpmn identifiers across models
-#       which is useful for call activities
-#
-#   json_file:
-# {
-#     [TEST_CASE_NAME]: {
-#         "tasks": {
-#             [BPMN_TASK_IDENTIIFER]: {
-#               "data": [DATA]
-#             }
-#         },
-#         "expected_output_json": [DATA]
-#     }
-# }
+"""
+JSON file name:
+    The name should be in format "test_BPMN_FILE_NAME_IT_TESTS.json".
+
+BPMN_TASK_IDENTIIFER:
+    can be either task bpmn identifier or in format:
+    [BPMN_PROCESS_ID]:[TASK_BPMN_IDENTIFIER]
+    example: 'BasicServiceTaskProcess:service_task_one'
+    this allows for tasks to share bpmn identifiers across models
+    which is useful for call activities
+
+DATA for tasks:
+    This is an array of task data. This allows for the task to
+    be called multiple times and given different data each time.
+    This is useful for testing loops where each iteration needs
+    different input. The test will fail if the task is called
+    multiple times without task data input for each call.
+
+JSON file format:
+{
+    TEST_CASE_NAME: {
+        "tasks": {
+            BPMN_TASK_IDENTIIFER: {
+            "data": [DATA]
+            }
+        },
+        "expected_output_json": DATA
+    }
+}
+"""
 class ProcessModelTestRunner:
     """Generic test runner code. May move into own library at some point.