diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3e700cb..7d31c53 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -17,6 +17,18 @@ version = "2.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "512761e0bb2578dd7380c6baaa0f4ce03e84f95e960231d1dec8bf4d7d6e2627"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ahash"
+version = "0.8.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e89da841a80418a9b391ebaea17f5c112ffaaa96f621d2c285b5174da76b9011"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "once_cell",
+ "version_check",
+ "zerocopy",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "atomic"
 version = "0.6.0"
@@ -207,6 +219,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "futures-util",
  "problem_details",
+ "rusqlite",
+ "rusqlite_migration",
  "serde",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-util",
@@ -311,6 +325,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.59.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "fallible-iterator"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2acce4a10f12dc2fb14a218589d4f1f62ef011b2d0cc4b3cb1bba8e94da14649"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "fallible-streaming-iterator"
+version = "0.1.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7360491ce676a36bf9bb3c56c1aa791658183a54d2744120f27285738d90465a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fastrand"
 version = "2.3.0"
@@ -498,12 +524,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashbrown"
+version = "0.14.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e5274423e17b7c9fc20b6e7e208532f9b19825d82dfd615708b70edd83df41f1"
+dependencies = [
+ "ahash",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.15.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "bf151400ff0baff5465007dd2f3e717f3fe502074ca563069ce3a6629d07b289"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashlink"
+version = "0.9.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6ba4ff7128dee98c7dc9794b6a411377e1404dba1c97deb8d1a55297bd25d8af"
+dependencies = [
+ "hashbrown 0.14.5",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "headers"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -824,7 +868,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "62f822373a4fe84d4bb149bf54e584a7f4abec90e072ed49cda0edea5b95471f"
 dependencies = [
  "equivalent",
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.15.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -880,6 +924,17 @@ version = "0.2.169"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b5aba8db14291edd000dfcc4d620c7ebfb122c613afb886ca8803fa4e128a20a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libsqlite3-sys"
+version = "0.30.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2e99fb7a497b1e3339bc746195567ed8d3e24945ecd636e3619d20b9de9e9149"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "pkg-config",
+ "vcpkg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "linux-raw-sys"
 version = "0.4.15"
@@ -1233,6 +1288,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.52.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rusqlite"
+version = "0.32.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7753b721174eb8ff87a9a0e799e2d7bc3749323e773db92e0984debb00019d6e"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
+ "fallible-iterator",
+ "fallible-streaming-iterator",
+ "hashlink",
+ "libsqlite3-sys",
+ "smallvec",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rusqlite_migration"
+version = "1.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "923b42e802f7dc20a0a6b5e097ba7c83fe4289da07e49156fecf6af08aa9cd1c"
+dependencies = [
+ "log",
+ "rusqlite",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc-demangle"
 version = "0.1.24"
@@ -2128,6 +2207,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "synstructure",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "zerocopy"
+version = "0.7.35"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1b9b4fd18abc82b8136838da5d50bae7bdea537c574d8dc1a34ed098d6c166f0"
+dependencies = [
+ "zerocopy-derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerocopy-derive"
+version = "0.7.35"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fa4f8080344d4671fb4e831a13ad1e68092748387dfc4f55e356242fae12ce3e"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zerofrom"
 version = "0.1.5"
diff --git a/casket-backend/Cargo.toml b/casket-backend/Cargo.toml
index 49c474b..86d5061 100644
--- a/casket-backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/casket-backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,4 +18,8 @@ serde = { version = "1.0.217", features = ["derive"] }
 tracing = "0.1.41"
 tracing-log = "0.2.0"
 tracing-subscriber = "0.3.19"
-problem_details = { version = "0.7.0", features = ["axum"] }
\ No newline at end of file
+problem_details = { version = "0.7.0", features = ["axum"] }
+
+# database
+rusqlite = { version = "0.32.1", features = ["bundled"] }
+rusqlite_migration = "1.3.1"
diff --git a/casket-backend/src/config.rs b/casket-backend/src/config.rs
index 4d49115..a9ed25f 100644
--- a/casket-backend/src/config.rs
+++ b/casket-backend/src/config.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ pub const CONFIG_LOCATIONS: [&str; 2] = ["casket-backend/casket.toml", "/config/
 pub struct Config {
     pub server: Server,
     pub files: Files,
-    pub oidc: Oidc
+    pub oidc: Oidc,
+    pub database: Database,
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Clone, Debug)]
@@ -27,6 +28,12 @@ pub struct Oidc {
     pub oidc_endpoint: String
 }
 
+#[derive(Deserialize, Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct Database {
+    pub path: PathBuf,
+}
+
+
 pub fn get_config() -> figment::Result<Config> {
     CONFIG_LOCATIONS
         .iter()
diff --git a/casket-backend/src/db/mod.rs b/casket-backend/src/db/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8d6933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/casket-backend/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+pub mod repository;
+pub mod sqlite;
diff --git a/casket-backend/src/db/repository.rs b/casket-backend/src/db/repository.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..127f79d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/casket-backend/src/db/repository.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+use crate::db::repository::insert::File;
+use crate::db::repository::models::{FileModel, UserModel};
+use problem_details::ProblemDetails;
+
+pub trait Repository {
+    fn migrate(&self) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Result<(), ProblemDetails>> + Send;
+    fn get_or_create_user(&self, id: String) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Result<UserModel, ProblemDetails>> + Send;
+    fn create_file(&self, file: File) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Result<FileModel, ProblemDetails>> + Send;
+
+    fn bump_version(&self, file_model: FileModel) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Result<(), ProblemDetails>> + Send;
+
+    fn get_file(&self, user_id: String, path: String) -> impl std::future::Future<Output = Result<FileModel, ProblemDetails>> + Send;
+}
+
+pub mod models {
+    pub struct UserModel {
+        pub uuid: String,
+    }
+
+    pub struct FileModel {
+        pub id: u64,
+        pub user_id: String,
+        pub path: String,
+        pub version: u64,
+    }
+}
+
+pub mod insert {
+    pub struct File {
+        pub user_id: String,
+        pub path: String,
+        pub version: u64,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/casket-backend/src/db/sqlite.rs b/casket-backend/src/db/sqlite.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2272dce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/casket-backend/src/db/sqlite.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use crate::db::repository::insert::File;
+use crate::db::repository::models::{FileModel, UserModel};
+use crate::db::repository::Repository;
+use crate::errors::to_internal_error;
+use problem_details::ProblemDetails;
+use rusqlite::Connection;
+use rusqlite_migration::{Migrations, M};
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+use tokio::task::spawn_blocking;
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct Sqlite {
+    connection: Arc<Mutex<Connection>>,
+}
+
+impl Sqlite {
+    pub fn from_path(path: &PathBuf) -> Sqlite {
+        Sqlite {
+            connection: Arc::new(Mutex::new(Connection::open(path).unwrap())),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Repository for Sqlite {
+    async fn migrate(&self) -> Result<(), ProblemDetails> {
+        let migrations = Migrations::new(vec![
+            M::up("CREATE TABLE users(uuid TEXT PRIMARY KEY, created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);"),
+            M::up("CREATE TABLE files(id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, user_id TEXT, file_path TEXT, version INTEGER, FOREIGN KEY(user_id) REFERENCES users(uuid));"),
+            M::up("CREATE INDEX files_user_path_idx ON files(user_id, file_path);"),
+        ]);
+        let connection = self.connection.clone();
+        spawn_blocking(move || match connection.lock() {
+            Ok(mut conn) => {
+                migrations.to_latest(&mut conn).unwrap();
+            }
+            Err(err) => {
+                panic!("Failed to lock connection: {err}");
+            }
+        })
+        .await
+        .map_err(to_internal_error)
+    }
+
+    async fn get_or_create_user(&self, id: String) -> Result<UserModel, ProblemDetails> {
+        todo!()
+    }
+
+    async fn create_file(&self, file: File) -> Result<FileModel, ProblemDetails> {
+        todo!()
+    }
+
+    async fn bump_version(&self, file_model: FileModel) -> Result<(), ProblemDetails> {
+        todo!()
+    }
+
+    async fn get_file(&self, user_id: String, path: String) -> Result<FileModel, ProblemDetails> {
+        let conn = self.connection.clone();
+        spawn_blocking(move || {
+            match conn.lock() {
+                Ok(connection) => {
+                    let mut statement = connection.prepare("SELECT id, user_id, path, version FROM files WHERE user_id = ?1 AND path = ?2").unwrap();
+                    statement.query_row([user_id, path], |row| {
+                        Ok(FileModel {
+                            id: row.get(0).unwrap(),
+                            user_id: row.get(1).unwrap(),
+                            path: row.get(2).unwrap(),
+                            version: row.get(3).unwrap(),
+                        })
+                    }).unwrap()
+                }
+                Err(err) => {
+                    panic!("Failed to lock connection: {err}");
+                }
+            }
+        }).await
+            .map_err(to_internal_error)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/casket-backend/src/main.rs b/casket-backend/src/main.rs
index 18bf680..845a50f 100644
--- a/casket-backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/casket-backend/src/main.rs
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
 
 mod auth;
 mod config;
+mod db;
 mod errors;
 mod extractor_helper;
 mod files;
 mod routes;
 
 use crate::config::Config;
+use crate::db::repository::Repository;
+use crate::db::sqlite::Sqlite;
 use axum::{middleware, Router};
 use axum_jwks::Jwks;
 use std::env;
@@ -19,6 +22,13 @@ use tracing::{debug, error, info};
 pub struct AppState {
     config: config::Config,
     pub jwks: Jwks,
+    pub sqlite: Sqlite,
+}
+
+impl AppState {
+    pub fn get_repo(&self) -> &impl Repository {
+        &self.sqlite
+    }
 }
 
 #[tokio::main]
@@ -31,8 +41,13 @@ async fn main() {
         Ok(config) => {
             debug!("Config loaded {:?}", &config,);
             let jwks = load_jwks(&config).await;
+            let db = connect_database(&config).await;
             let bind = format!("{}:{}", &config.server.bind_address, &config.server.port);
-            let state = AppState { config, jwks };
+            let state: AppState = AppState {
+                config,
+                jwks,
+                sqlite: db,
+            };
             let app = Router::new()
                 .merge(routes::routes())
                 .route_layer(middleware::from_fn_with_state(
@@ -56,6 +71,12 @@ async fn main() {
     }
 }
 
+async fn connect_database(config: &Config) -> Sqlite {
+    let sqlite = db::sqlite::Sqlite::from_path(&config.database.path);
+    sqlite.migrate().await.unwrap();
+    sqlite
+}
+
 async fn load_jwks(config: &Config) -> Jwks {
     Jwks::from_oidc_url(&config.oidc.oidc_endpoint, None)
         .await