diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1ad1678..38919d1 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -149,11 +149,23 @@ version = "1.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8c3c1a368f70d6cf7302d78f8f7093da241fb8e8807c05cc9e51a125895a6d5b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bincode"
+version = "1.3.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b1f45e9417d87227c7a56d22e471c6206462cba514c7590c09aff4cf6d1ddcad"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bitflags"
 version = "2.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b048fb63fd8b5923fc5aa7b340d8e156aec7ec02f0c78fa8a6ddc2613f6f71de"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "blake3"
@@ -183,6 +195,12 @@ version = "3.16.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "79296716171880943b8470b5f8d03aa55eb2e645a4874bdbb28adb49162e012c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "byteorder"
+version = "1.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1fd0f2584146f6f2ef48085050886acf353beff7305ebd1ae69500e27c67f64b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bytes"
 version = "1.6.1"
@@ -246,6 +264,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-queue"
+version = "0.3.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "df0346b5d5e76ac2fe4e327c5fd1118d6be7c51dfb18f9b7922923f287471e35"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-utils"
+version = "0.8.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "22ec99545bb0ed0ea7bb9b8e1e9122ea386ff8a48c0922e43f36d45ab09e0e80"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crypto-common"
 version = "0.1.6"
@@ -333,6 +366,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "litrs",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "doxygen-rs"
+version = "0.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "415b6ec780d34dcf624666747194393603d0373b7141eef01d12ee58881507d9"
+dependencies = [
+ "phf",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dyn-clone"
 version = "1.0.17"
@@ -525,6 +567,44 @@ version = "0.29.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "40ecd4077b5ae9fd2e9e169b102c6c330d0605168eb0e8bf79952b256dbefffd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "heed"
+version = "0.20.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2bc30da4a93ff8cb98e535d595d6de42731d4719d707bc1c86f579158751a24e"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "byteorder",
+ "heed-traits",
+ "heed-types",
+ "libc",
+ "lmdb-master-sys",
+ "once_cell",
+ "page_size",
+ "serde",
+ "synchronoise",
+ "url",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "heed-traits"
+version = "0.20.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eb3130048d404c57ce5a1ac61a903696e8fcde7e8c2991e9fcfc1f27c3ef74ff"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "heed-types"
+version = "0.20.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9d3f528b053a6d700b2734eabcd0fd49cb8230647aa72958467527b0b7917114"
+dependencies = [
+ "bincode",
+ "byteorder",
+ "heed-traits",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hermit-abi"
 version = "0.3.9"
@@ -664,6 +744,17 @@ version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b4ce301924b7887e9d637144fdade93f9dfff9b60981d4ac161db09720d39aa5"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "lmdb-master-sys"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "57640c190703d5ccf4a86aff4aeb749b2d287a8cb1723c76b51f39d77ab53b24"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "doxygen-rs",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.12"
@@ -803,6 +894,16 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b15813163c1d831bf4a13c3610c05c0d03b39feb07f7e09fa234dac9b15aaf39"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "page_size"
+version = "0.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "30d5b2194ed13191c1999ae0704b7839fb18384fa22e49b57eeaa97d79ce40da"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "winapi",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot"
 version = "0.12.3"
@@ -832,6 +933,48 @@ version = "2.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e3148f5046208a5d56bcfc03053e3ca6334e51da8dfb19b6cdc8b306fae3283e"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "phf"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ade2d8b8f33c7333b51bcf0428d37e217e9f32192ae4772156f65063b8ce03dc"
+dependencies = [
+ "phf_macros",
+ "phf_shared",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "phf_generator"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "48e4cc64c2ad9ebe670cb8fd69dd50ae301650392e81c05f9bfcb2d5bdbc24b0"
+dependencies = [
+ "phf_shared",
+ "rand",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "phf_macros"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3444646e286606587e49f3bcf1679b8cef1dc2c5ecc29ddacaffc305180d464b"
+dependencies = [
+ "phf_generator",
+ "phf_shared",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "phf_shared"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "90fcb95eef784c2ac79119d1dd819e162b5da872ce6f3c3abe1e8ca1c082f72b"
+dependencies = [
+ "siphasher",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project"
 version = "1.1.5"
@@ -950,6 +1093,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "axum",
  "bytes",
  "dirs-next",
+ "heed",
  "pkarr",
  "pubky-common",
  "tokio",
@@ -1278,6 +1422,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "siphasher"
+version = "0.3.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "38b58827f4464d87d377d175e90bf58eb00fd8716ff0a62f80356b5e61555d0d"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "slab"
 version = "0.4.9"
@@ -1351,6 +1501,15 @@ version = "1.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a7065abeca94b6a8a577f9bd45aa0867a2238b74e8eb67cf10d492bc39351394"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "synchronoise"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3dbc01390fc626ce8d1cffe3376ded2b72a11bb70e1c75f404a210e4daa4def2"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-queue",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "thiserror"
 version = "1.0.62"
diff --git a/pubky-homeserver/Cargo.toml b/pubky-homeserver/Cargo.toml
index 954daea..08d3b80 100644
--- a/pubky-homeserver/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pubky-homeserver/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ anyhow = "1.0.82"
 axum = "0.7.5"
 bytes = "1.6.1"
 dirs-next = "2.0.0"
+heed = "0.20.3"
 pkarr = { version = "2.1.0", features = ["async"] }
 pubky-common = { version = "0.1.0", path = "../pubky-common" }
 tokio = { version = "1.37.0", features = ["full"] }
diff --git a/pubky-homeserver/src/database.rs b/pubky-homeserver/src/database.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6332b0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pubky-homeserver/src/database.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use heed::{Env, EnvOpenOptions};
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct DB {
+    env: Env,
+}
+
+impl DB {
+    pub fn open(storage: &Path) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+        fs::create_dir_all(storage).unwrap();
+
+        let env = unsafe { EnvOpenOptions::new().open(storage) }?;
+
+        Ok(DB { env })
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pubky-homeserver/src/lib.rs b/pubky-homeserver/src/lib.rs
index eb51596..51852ec 100644
--- a/pubky-homeserver/src/lib.rs
+++ b/pubky-homeserver/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #![allow(unused)]
 
 pub mod config;
+mod database;
 mod error;
 mod extractors;
 mod pkarr;
diff --git a/pubky-homeserver/src/server.rs b/pubky-homeserver/src/server.rs
index 12fb90a..f167d05 100644
--- a/pubky-homeserver/src/server.rs
+++ b/pubky-homeserver/src/server.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use pkarr::{
     PkarrClient, PublicKey, Settings,
 };
 
-use crate::{config::Config, pkarr::publish_server_packet};
+use crate::{config::Config, database::DB, pkarr::publish_server_packet};
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Homeserver {
@@ -22,14 +22,18 @@ pub struct Homeserver {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub(crate) struct AppState {
     pub verifier: AuthnVerifier,
+    pub db: DB,
 }
 
 impl Homeserver {
     pub async fn start(config: Config) -> Result<Self> {
         let public_key = config.keypair().public_key();
 
+        let db = DB::open(&config.storage()?)?;
+
         let state = AppState {
             verifier: AuthnVerifier::new(public_key.clone()),
+            db,
         };
 
         let app = crate::routes::create_app(state);