diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a40cea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+)
+
+func InitDatabase(db *sql.DB) error {
+	db.Exec(`
+		create table migrations (name text) strict;
+	`)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func MigrateDatabase(db *sql.DB) error {
+	rows, err := db.Query(`
+		select name from migrations;
+	`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	complete := map[string]bool{}
+
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var name string
+		err = rows.Scan(&name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		complete[name] = true
+	}
+
+	if !complete["0000_initial_schema"] {
+		_, err = db.Exec(`
+			create table sources(name text) strict;
+			create table items(
+				source text not null,
+				id text not null,
+				created int not null default (unixepoch()),
+				active int,
+				title text,
+				author text,
+				body text,
+				link text,
+				time int,
+				primary key (source, id),
+				foreign key (source) references sources (name) on delete cascade
+			) strict;
+			insert into migrations (name) values ('0000_initial_schema');
+		`)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/db_test.go b/db_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f80e4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"testing"
+
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+)
+
+func TestMigrations(t *testing.T) {
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", ":memory:")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	err = InitDatabase(db)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	err = MigrateDatabase(db)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	var count int
+	row := db.QueryRow("select count(name) from migrations")
+	row.Scan(&count)
+	if count != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected migration count: %d", count)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 30e6e5e..404370e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ go 1.23.4
 
 require github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 
+require github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24
+
 require (
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 912390a..fc8e536 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.4/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 h1:wN+x4NVGpMsO7ErUn/mUI3vEoE6Jt13X2s0bqwp9tc8=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLfsEA9PFc4w1p2J65bw=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24 h1:tpSp2G2KyMnnQu99ngJ47EIkWVmliIizyZBfPrBWDRM=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24/go.mod h1:Uh1q+B4BYcTPb+yiD3kU8Ct7aC0hY9fxUwlHK0RXw+Y=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1 h1:e5/vxKd/rZsfSJMUX1agtjeTDf+qv1/JdBF8gg5k9ZM=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1/go.mod h1:wHxEcudfqmLYa8iTfL+OuZPbBZkmvliBWKIezN3kD9Y=