diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3b462cb..603d0b0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,3 +21,6 @@ Thumbs.db
 # Vite
 vite.config.js.timestamp-*
 vite.config.ts.timestamp-*
+
+# Database
+/data/
diff --git a/drizzle.config.ts b/drizzle.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..306904e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drizzle.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit';
+
+export default defineConfig({
+	schema: './src/lib/server/db/schema.ts',
+	out: './drizzle',
+	dialect: 'sqlite',
+	dbCredentials: {
+		url: process.env.DATABASE_PATH || './data/taskplaner.db'
+	}
+});
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 84979f4..128098c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@
 		"preview": "vite preview",
 		"prepare": "svelte-kit sync || echo ''",
 		"check": "svelte-kit sync && svelte-check --tsconfig ./tsconfig.json",
-		"check:watch": "svelte-kit sync && svelte-check --tsconfig ./tsconfig.json --watch"
+		"check:watch": "svelte-kit sync && svelte-check --tsconfig ./tsconfig.json --watch",
+		"db:generate": "drizzle-kit generate",
+		"db:migrate": "drizzle-kit migrate",
+		"db:push": "drizzle-kit push",
+		"db:studio": "drizzle-kit studio"
 	},
 	"devDependencies": {
 		"@sveltejs/adapter-auto": "^7.0.0",
diff --git a/src/lib/server/db/index.ts b/src/lib/server/db/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96b86fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/db/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/better-sqlite3';
+import * as schema from './schema';
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
+
+const DB_PATH = process.env.DATABASE_PATH || './data/taskplaner.db';
+
+// Ensure data directory exists
+const dbDir = dirname(DB_PATH);
+if (!existsSync(dbDir)) {
+	mkdirSync(dbDir, { recursive: true });
+}
+
+const sqlite = new Database(DB_PATH);
+
+// Enable WAL mode for better concurrent read performance
+sqlite.pragma('journal_mode = WAL');
+
+export const db = drizzle(sqlite, { schema });
+
+export { schema };
diff --git a/src/lib/server/db/schema.ts b/src/lib/server/db/schema.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a7fa17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/db/schema.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { sqliteTable, text, integer } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
+
+// Entry types: 'task' (actionable) or 'thought' (reference)
+export const entries = sqliteTable('entries', {
+	id: text('id').primaryKey(), // nanoid
+	title: text('title'),
+	content: text('content').notNull(),
+	type: text('type', { enum: ['task', 'thought'] }).notNull().default('thought'),
+	status: text('status', { enum: ['open', 'done', 'archived'] }).default('open'), // for tasks
+	pinned: integer('pinned', { mode: 'boolean' }).default(false),
+	dueDate: text('due_date'), // ISO date string, nullable
+	createdAt: text('created_at')
+		.notNull()
+		.$defaultFn(() => new Date().toISOString()),
+	updatedAt: text('updated_at')
+		.notNull()
+		.$defaultFn(() => new Date().toISOString())
+});
+
+// Type inference for TypeScript
+export type Entry = typeof entries.$inferSelect;
+export type NewEntry = typeof entries.$inferInsert;