diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 70d051b..bd780f2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@
 __build__/
 __pycache__/
 /dist/
-/.idea/
\ No newline at end of file
+/.idea/
+pillar_tool.toml
diff --git a/migrations/README b/migrations/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98e4f9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/README
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Generic single-database configuration.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/migrations/env.py b/migrations/env.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2adb551
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/env.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import tomllib
+from logging.config import fileConfig
+
+from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config
+from sqlalchemy import pool
+
+from alembic import context
+
+# this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
+# access to the values within the .ini file in use.
+config = context.config
+
+# Interpret the config file for Python logging.
+# This line sets up loggers basically.
+if config.config_file_name is not None:
+    fileConfig(config.config_file_name)
+
+# add your model's MetaData object here
+# for 'autogenerate' support
+# from myapp import mymodel
+# target_metadata = mymodel.Base.metadata
+target_metadata = None
+
+# other values from the config, defined by the needs of env.py,
+# can be acquired:
+# my_important_option = config.get_main_option("my_important_option")
+# ... etc.
+
+
+def run_migrations_offline() -> None:
+    """Run migrations in 'offline' mode.
+
+    This configures the context with just a URL
+    and not an Engine, though an Engine is acceptable
+    here as well.  By skipping the Engine creation
+    we don't even need a DBAPI to be available.
+
+    Calls to context.execute() here emit the given string to the
+    script output.
+
+    """
+    with open("./pillar_tool.toml", 'rb') as f:
+        data = tomllib.load(f)
+        user = data['db']['user']
+        password = data['db']['password']
+        host = data['db']['host']
+        port = data['db']['port']
+        database = data['db']['database']
+        url = f"postgresql://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/{database}"
+    #url = config.get_main_option("sqlalchemy.url")
+    context.configure(
+        url=url,
+        target_metadata=target_metadata,
+        literal_binds=True,
+        dialect_opts={"paramstyle": "named"},
+    )
+
+    with context.begin_transaction():
+        context.run_migrations()
+
+
+def run_migrations_online() -> None:
+    """Run migrations in 'online' mode.
+
+    In this scenario we need to create an Engine
+    and associate a connection with the context.
+
+    """
+    connectable = engine_from_config(
+        config.get_section(config.config_ini_section, {}),
+        prefix="sqlalchemy.",
+        poolclass=pool.NullPool,
+    )
+
+    with connectable.connect() as connection:
+        context.configure(
+            connection=connection, target_metadata=target_metadata
+        )
+
+        with context.begin_transaction():
+            context.run_migrations()
+
+
+if context.is_offline_mode():
+    run_migrations_offline()
+else:
+    run_migrations_online()
diff --git a/migrations/script.py.mako b/migrations/script.py.mako
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1101630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/script.py.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""${message}
+
+Revision ID: ${up_revision}
+Revises: ${down_revision | comma,n}
+Create Date: ${create_date}
+
+"""
+from typing import Sequence, Union
+
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+${imports if imports else ""}
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision: str = ${repr(up_revision)}
+down_revision: Union[str, Sequence[str], None] = ${repr(down_revision)}
+branch_labels: Union[str, Sequence[str], None] = ${repr(branch_labels)}
+depends_on: Union[str, Sequence[str], None] = ${repr(depends_on)}
+
+
+def upgrade() -> None:
+    """Upgrade schema."""
+    ${upgrades if upgrades else "pass"}
+
+
+def downgrade() -> None:
+    """Downgrade schema."""
+    ${downgrades if downgrades else "pass"}
diff --git a/pillar_tool.toml.example b/pillar_tool.toml.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6d8919
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pillar_tool.toml.example
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[db]
+user = "db user"
+password = "db password"
+host = "db host"
+post = 5432
+database = "db name"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pillar_tool/__init__.py b/pillar_tool/__init__.py
index 18f2ebc..563ef3f 100644
--- a/pillar_tool/__init__.py
+++ b/pillar_tool/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
+
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from starlette.middleware.authentication import AuthenticationMiddleware
 from starlette.requests import Request
@@ -5,6 +7,18 @@ from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse, PlainTextResponse
 from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
 
 from pillar_tool.middleware.basicauth_backend import BasicAuthBackend
+from pillar_tool.util import load_config, config
+from pillar_tool.db import run_db_migrations
+
+# load config so everything else can work
+load_config()
+
+
+@asynccontextmanager
+async def app_lifespan(app: FastAPI):
+    run_db_migrations()
+
+    yield
 
 
 def on_auth_error(request: Request, exc: Exception):
@@ -17,10 +31,11 @@ def on_general_error(request: Request, exc: Exception):
     print("wtf?")
     response = PlainTextResponse(str(exc), status_code=500)
 
-app = FastAPI()
+app = FastAPI(lifespan=app_lifespan)
 app.add_middleware(AuthenticationMiddleware, backend=BasicAuthBackend(), on_error=on_auth_error)
 app.exception_handler(Exception)(on_general_error)
 
+
 @app.get("/")
 async def root():
     return {"message": "Hello World"}
diff --git a/pillar_tool/db/__init__.py b/pillar_tool/db/__init__.py
index e69de29..fdebf28 100644
--- a/pillar_tool/db/__init__.py
+++ b/pillar_tool/db/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import os
+
+import alembic
+
+from alembic.config import Config
+from alembic.command import upgrade
+from pillar_tool.util import config
+
+
+from models import *
+
+cfg = config()
+user = cfg.db.user
+password = cfg.db.password
+host = cfg.db.host
+port = cfg.db.port
+database = cfg.db.database
+alembic_cfg = Config()
+alembic_cfg.set_main_option('script_location', f'{os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))}/migrations')
+alembic_cfg.set_main_option('sqlalchemy.url', f'postgres://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/{database}')
+alembic_cfg.set_main_option('prepend_sys_path', '.')
+
+
+def run_db_migrations():
+    upgrade(config=alembic_cfg, revision='head')
diff --git a/pillar_tool/db/database.py b/pillar_tool/db/database.py
index 5ea226f..ba8004e 100644
--- a/pillar_tool/db/database.py
+++ b/pillar_tool/db/database.py
@@ -1,12 +1,33 @@
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, sessionmaker, declarative_base
+from sqlalchemy.sql.annotation import Annotated
 
+from pillar_tool.util import config
+
+
+cfg = config()
+SessionLocal = sessionmaker(
+    autocommit=False,
+    autoflush=False,
+    bind=create_engine(
+        url=f"postgresql+psycopg2://{cfg.db.user}:{cfg.db.password}@{cfg.host}:{cfg.port}/{cfg.database}"
+    )
+)
+
+Base = declarative_base()
 
 def get_connection():
-    db_user = "pillar_tool"
-    db_password = "pillar_tool"
-    db_host = "127.0.0.1"
-    db_port = "5432"
-    db_name = "pillar_tool"
-    return create_engine(
-        url=f"postgresql://{db_user}:{db_password}@{db_host}:{db_port}/{db_name}"
-    )
\ No newline at end of file
+    session = SessionLocal()
+    # noinspection PyBroadException
+    try:
+        yield session
+    except:
+        session.rollback()
+        session.close()
+    else:
+        session.commit()
+        session.close()
+
+
+DB = Annotated[Session, get_connection()]
+
diff --git a/pillar_tool/db/models.py b/pillar_tool/db/models.py
deleted file mode 100644
index fd40910..0000000
--- a/pillar_tool/db/models.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-
-
-
-
diff --git a/pillar_tool/db/models/__init__.py b/pillar_tool/db/models/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82da278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pillar_tool/db/models/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from .user import *
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pillar_tool/db/models/user.py b/pillar_tool/db/models/user.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fde37e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pillar_tool/db/models/user.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from pydantic import UUID4
+from sqlalchemy import Column, String
+
+from pillar_tool.db.database import Base
+
+
+
+class User(Base):
+    __tablename__ = 'users'
+    id = Column(UUID4, primary_key=True)
+    username = Column(String, nullable=False)
+    pw_hash = Column(String, nullable=False)
+    pw_salt = Column(String, nullable=False)
+
+