diff --git a/server/db.js b/server/db.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50c9248
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/db.js
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import Database from "better-sqlite3";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
+import path from "path";
+import fs from "fs";
+
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const DATA_DIR = path.join(__dirname, "data");
+fs.mkdirSync(DATA_DIR, { recursive: true });
+
+const db = new Database(path.join(DATA_DIR, "spectre.db"));
+db.pragma("journal_mode = WAL");
+
+db.exec(`
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS admins (
+    id        INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    username  TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
+    pw_hash   TEXT NOT NULL,
+    created   TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now'))
+  );
+
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ghosts (
+    id        INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    name      TEXT NOT NULL,
+    gif_file  TEXT NOT NULL,         -- filename under /uploads
+    rarity    TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'common',  -- common | rare | legendary
+    scale     REAL NOT NULL DEFAULT 1.0,       -- billboard size multiplier
+    enabled   INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+    created   TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now'))
+  );
+
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sets (
+    id        INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    code      TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,  -- the QR payload that unlocks this set
+    title     TEXT NOT NULL,
+    enabled   INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+    created   TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now'))
+  );
+
+  -- which ghosts a given set can spawn (many-to-many)
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS set_ghosts (
+    set_id    INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES sets(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+    ghost_id  INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES ghosts(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+    PRIMARY KEY (set_id, ghost_id)
+  );
+`);
+
+export default db;