diff --git a/data/generate_undos.pl b/data/generate_undos.pl
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..df2b5d0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/generate_undos.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+
+# generate initial .undo file for existing factoids
+# FIXME all paths throughout this file are hardcoded...
+
+use warnings;
+use strict;
+
+use Storable;
+
+require "../PBot/DualIndexHashObject.pm";
+
+
+sub safe_filename {
+  my $name = shift;
+  my $safe = '';
+
+  while ($name =~ m/(.)/gms) {
+    if ($1 eq '&') {
+      $safe .= '&';
+    } elsif ($1 eq '/') {
+      $safe .= '&fslash;';
+    } else {
+      $safe .= $1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return $safe;
+}
+
+
+my $factoids = PBot::DualIndexHashObject->new(name => 'Factoids', filename => 'factoids');
+
+$factoids->load;
+
+foreach my $channel (sort keys %{ $factoids->hash }) {
+  foreach my $trigger (sort keys %{ $factoids->hash->{$channel} }) {
+    my $channel_path = $channel;
+    $channel_path = 'global' if $channel_path eq '.*';
+
+    print "Checking [$channel_path] [$trigger] ... ";
+    
+    my $channel_path_encoded = safe_filename $channel_path;
+    my $trigger_encoded = safe_filename $trigger;
+
+    my $undo = eval { retrieve("factlog/$trigger_encoded.$channel_path_encoded.undo"); };
+
+    if (not $undo) {
+      print "creating initial undo state to [$channel_path_encoded] [$trigger_encoded]\n";
+      $undo = { idx => 0, list => [ $factoids->hash->{$channel}->{$trigger} ] };
+      eval {
+        store($undo, "factlog/$trigger_encoded.$channel_path_encoded.undo");
+      };
+      if ($@) {
+        print "error: $@\n";
+      }
+    } else {
+      print "good.\n";
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+print "Done.\n";