diff --git a/core/sql/0001_initial_schema.sql b/core/sql/0001_initial_schema.sql
index 1139c94..4fbf2a9 100644
--- a/core/sql/0001_initial_schema.sql
+++ b/core/sql/0001_initial_schema.sql
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ create table items(
     id text not null,
     created int not null default (unixepoch()),
     active int not null,
-    title text,
-    author text,
-    body text,
-    link text,
+    title text not null,
+    author text not null,
+    body text not null,
+    link text not null,
     time int,
     ttl int,
     ttd int,
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ create table channels(
 ) strict;
 create table password(
     id int not null,
-    hash text,
+    hash text not null,
     unique (id) on conflict replace
 ) strict;
 create table sessions(
@@ -50,3 +50,12 @@ create table sessions(
     expires int default 0,
     primary key (id)
 ) strict;
+
+-- user introduction
+insert into sources (name) values ('default');
+insert into channels (name, source) values ('home', 'default');
+insert into actions (source, name, argv) values ('default', 'fetch', jsonb('["true"]'));
+insert into items (source, id, active, title, author, body, link, time, ttl, ttd, tts, action)
+    values ('default', 'welcome', 1, 'Welcome to intake!', 'intake',
+    '<p>Click the "X" button on this item to deactivate it and hide it from the feed.</p>',
+    '', 1, 0, 0, 0, jsonb('null'))