To address this knowledge gap, we created DarkcideS 1.0, A global database for bats in karsts and caves to advance global bat cave vulnerability and conservation mapping initiatives. The creation of the dataset primarily aims to map and digitise the distribution of cave-dwelling bats to facilitate the assessment of their vulnerability to landscape threats. DarkCideS 1.0 represents a publicly available database of cave-dwelling bats across time and space including their estimated population (e.g., counts), geographical distribution (latitude and longitude), ecological traits, levels of endemism, conservation status, and threatening processes. The purpose of the DarkCideS 1.0 initiative is to centralise and develop an open-access platform for information exchange among bat researchers and conservation biologists to advance the development of targeted conservation measures and macroecological studies (Figures 1, 5). Potential applications of the database include assessing species conservation status and extinction risks; understanding drivers of extinction, cave conditions, and landscape threats; accurately developing species distribution models; and determining long-term cave conservation priorities at regional to global scales.