You can serve static data over HTTP

The story goes like this: we're prototyping small tool for whatever and we're at the point where there is a visible need to store some static data. "Yeah, let's just put it into a JSON file and serve it over web server." You don't need a full blown web application back-end. You don't need an over-featured database engine that can provide its own REST API endpoints with data. You don't need a complex ORM library and couple your data model to it and write your own endpoints. You don't need any of these and possibly others. You may need them, but never let your habits decide your designs.