diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index ac2d43c..ff42bb4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ jobs:
           toolchain: ${{ matrix.rust-version }}
           override: true
 
+      - name: Install libpq (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          choco install postgresql12 --force --params '/Password:root'
+          echo '::add-path::C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\12\bin'
+          echo '::add-path::C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\12\lib'
+
       - uses: actions-rs/cargo@v1
         with:
           command: test
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 14835c8..77e11d6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -142,6 +142,17 @@ version = "0.1.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4785bdd1c96b2a846b2bd7cc02e86b6b3dbf14e7e53446c4f54c92a361040822"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "chrono"
+version = "0.4.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c74d84029116787153e02106bf53e66828452a4b325cc8652b788b5967c0a0b6"
+dependencies = [
+ "num-integer",
+ "num-traits",
+ "time",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cookie"
 version = "0.11.3"
@@ -185,7 +196,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "066ceb7928ca93a9bedc6d0e612a8a0424048b0ab1f75971b203d01420c055d7"
 dependencies = [
  "devise_core",
- "quote",
+ "quote 0.6.13",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -195,9 +206,32 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "cf41c59b22b5e3ec0ea55c7847e5f358d340f3a8d6d53a5cf4f1564967f96487"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn",
+ "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
+ "quote 0.6.13",
+ "syn 0.15.44",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "diesel"
+version = "1.4.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3e2de9deab977a153492a1468d1b1c0662c1cf39e5ea87d0c060ecd59ef18d8c"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "byteorder",
+ "diesel_derives",
+ "pq-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "diesel_derives"
+version = "1.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "45f5098f628d02a7a0f68ddba586fb61e80edec3bdc1be3b921f4ceec60858d3"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.19",
+ "quote 1.0.7",
+ "syn 1.0.35",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -555,6 +589,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi 0.3.9",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "num-integer"
+version = "0.1.43"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8d59457e662d541ba17869cf51cf177c0b5f0cbf476c66bdc90bf1edac4f875b"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+ "num-traits",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "num-traits"
+version = "0.2.12"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ac267bcc07f48ee5f8935ab0d24f316fb722d7a1292e2913f0cc196b29ffd611"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "num_cpus"
 version = "1.13.0"
@@ -586,9 +639,9 @@ version = "0.1.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "bfc1c836fdc3d1ef87c348b237b5b5c4dff922156fb2d968f57734f9669768ca"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn",
+ "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
+ "quote 0.6.13",
+ "syn 0.15.44",
  "version_check 0.9.2",
  "yansi",
 ]
@@ -621,13 +674,31 @@ version = "0.2.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "237a5ed80e274dbc66f86bd59c1e25edc039660be53194b5fe0a482e0f2612ea"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pq-sys"
+version = "0.4.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6ac25eee5a0582f45a67e837e350d784e7003bd29a5f460796772061ca49ffda"
+dependencies = [
+ "vcpkg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
 version = "0.4.30"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "cf3d2011ab5c909338f7887f4fc896d35932e29146c12c8d01da6b22a80ba759"
 dependencies = [
- "unicode-xid",
+ "unicode-xid 0.1.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro2"
+version = "1.0.19"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "04f5f085b5d71e2188cb8271e5da0161ad52c3f227a661a3c135fdf28e258b12"
+dependencies = [
+ "unicode-xid 0.2.1",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -636,7 +707,16 @@ version = "0.6.13"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6ce23b6b870e8f94f81fb0a363d65d86675884b34a09043c81e5562f11c1f8e1"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
+ "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "quote"
+version = "1.0.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "aa563d17ecb180e500da1cfd2b028310ac758de548efdd203e18f283af693f37"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.19",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -716,7 +796,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "devise",
  "glob",
  "indexmap",
- "quote",
+ "quote 0.6.13",
  "rocket_http",
  "version_check 0.9.2",
  "yansi",
@@ -749,7 +829,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "smallvec",
  "state",
  "time",
- "unicode-xid",
+ "unicode-xid 0.1.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -838,9 +918,20 @@ version = "0.15.44"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9ca4b3b69a77cbe1ffc9e198781b7acb0c7365a883670e8f1c1bc66fba79a5c5"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "unicode-xid",
+ "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
+ "quote 0.6.13",
+ "unicode-xid 0.1.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "syn"
+version = "1.0.35"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fb7f4c519df8c117855e19dd8cc851e89eb746fe7a73f0157e0d95fdec5369b0"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.19",
+ "quote 1.0.7",
+ "unicode-xid 0.2.1",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -919,6 +1010,12 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "fc72304796d0818e357ead4e000d19c9c174ab23dc11093ac919054d20a6a7fc"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unicode-xid"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f7fe0bb3479651439c9112f72b6c505038574c9fbb575ed1bf3b797fa39dd564"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "universal-hash"
 version = "0.3.0"
@@ -940,6 +1037,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "percent-encoding 1.0.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "vcpkg"
+version = "0.2.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6454029bf181f092ad1b853286f23e2c507d8e8194d01d92da4a55c274a5508c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "version_check"
 version = "0.1.5"
@@ -1026,6 +1129,8 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "xsnippet-api"
 version = "5.0.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "chrono",
+ "diesel",
  "rocket",
  "rocket_contrib",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 37205e7..328dc93 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,5 +16,7 @@ categories = [
 publish = false
 
 [dependencies]
+chrono = "0.4.13"
+diesel = { version = "1.4.5", features = ["postgres"] }
 rocket = "0.4.5"
 rocket_contrib = {version = "0.4.5", features = ["json"]}
diff --git a/diesel.toml b/diesel.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..104421e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diesel.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# For documentation on how to configure this file,
+# see diesel.rs/guides/configuring-diesel-cli
+
+[print_schema]
+file = "src/storage/sql/schema.rs"
+
+[migrations_directory]
+dir = "src/storage/sql/migrations"
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index cfd0e27..f5d7906 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 #![feature(proc_macro_hygiene, decl_macro)]
 
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate diesel;
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate rocket;
 #[macro_use]
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@ extern crate rocket_contrib;
 
 mod application;
 mod routes;
+mod storage;
 
 fn main() {
     let app = application::create_app();
diff --git a/src/storage/mod.rs b/src/storage/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d37751
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/storage/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Do not fail compilation until we've started using that code
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+pub mod sql;
diff --git a/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/down.sql b/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/down.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eac66f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+DROP TABLE tags;
+DROP TABLE changesets;
+DROP TABLE snippets;
diff --git a/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/up.sql b/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/up.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86584ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/storage/sql/migrations/2020-07-25-065258_create_snippets/up.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+CREATE TABLE snippets (
+    -- an internal autoincrementing identifier used in foreign keys.
+    -- Normally not visible publicly, except for the case when it is
+    -- used for looking legacy snippets up by id
+    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
+    -- a short unique snippet identifier visible to users
+    slug VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL,
+
+    title TEXT,
+    syntax TEXT,
+    created_at TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE DEFAULT NOW() NOT NULL,
+    updated_at TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE DEFAULT NOW() NOT NULL,
+
+    -- slugs must be unique (this will also automatically create a unique index)
+    CONSTRAINT uq_slug UNIQUE (slug)
+);
+
+
+-- will be used for pagination; slug guarantees uniqueness of the sorting key
+CREATE INDEX snippets_created_at_slug ON snippets (created_at, slug);
+CREATE INDEX snippets_updated_at_slug ON snippets (updated_at, slug);
+
+
+CREATE TABLE changesets (
+    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
+    snippet_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+
+    -- numeric index used to determine the ordering of changesets for a given snippet
+    version INTEGER DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    content TEXT NOT NULL,
+    created_at TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE DEFAULT NOW() NOT NULL,
+    updated_at TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE DEFAULT NOW() NOT NULL,
+
+    -- there can be multiple changesets per snippet
+    CONSTRAINT fk_snippet FOREIGN KEY (snippet_id) REFERENCES snippets(id),
+    -- but each one is supposed to have a unique version number
+    CONSTRAINT uq_version UNIQUE (snippet_id, version),
+    -- sanity check: do not allow empty changesets
+    CONSTRAINT check_not_empty CHECK (LENGTH(content) > 0),
+    -- sanity check: version numbers are non-negative integers
+    CONSTRAINT check_non_negative_version CHECK (version >= 0)
+);
+
+
+-- tags could have been associated with snippets as M:M via an auxiliary table,
+-- but Diesel only supports child-parent associations, so let's do that instead
+CREATE TABLE tags (
+    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
+    snippet_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+
+    value TEXT NOT NULL,
+
+    -- there can be multiple tags per snippet
+    CONSTRAINT fk_snippet FOREIGN KEY (snippet_id) REFERENCES snippets(id),
+    -- do not allow to abuse the tags for storing too much data
+    CONSTRAINT check_length CHECK (LENGTH(value) < 128),
+    -- do not allow repeated tags per snippet
+    CONSTRAINT uq_snippet_tag UNIQUE (snippet_id, value)
+);
diff --git a/src/storage/sql/mod.rs b/src/storage/sql/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6bde67a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/storage/sql/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+mod schema;
diff --git a/src/storage/sql/schema.rs b/src/storage/sql/schema.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eeaaedd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/storage/sql/schema.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// @generated automatically by Diesel CLI.
+
+diesel::table! {
+    changesets (id) {
+        id -> Int4,
+        snippet_id -> Int4,
+        version -> Int4,
+        content -> Text,
+        created_at -> Timestamptz,
+        updated_at -> Timestamptz,
+    }
+}
+
+diesel::table! {
+    snippets (id) {
+        id -> Int4,
+        slug -> Varchar,
+        title -> Nullable<Text>,
+        syntax -> Nullable<Text>,
+        created_at -> Timestamptz,
+        updated_at -> Timestamptz,
+    }
+}
+
+diesel::table! {
+    tags (id) {
+        id -> Int4,
+        snippet_id -> Int4,
+        value -> Text,
+    }
+}
+
+diesel::joinable!(changesets -> snippets (snippet_id));
+diesel::joinable!(tags -> snippets (snippet_id));
+
+diesel::allow_tables_to_appear_in_same_query!(changesets, snippets, tags,);