diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index df0e4ee..d2ee8de 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
 module codeflow.dananglin.me.uk/apollo/indieauth-server
 
 go 1.23.2
+
+require go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.3.11
+
+require golang.org/x/sys v0.4.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ff72eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1 h1:w7B6lhMri9wdJUVmEZPGGhZzrYTPvgJArz7wNPgYKsk=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1/go.mod h1:w2LPCIKwWwSfY2zedu0+kehJoqGctiVI29o6fzry7u4=
+go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.3.11 h1:yGEzV1wPz2yVCLsD8ZAiGHhHVlczyC9d1rP43/VCRJ0=
+go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.3.11/go.mod h1:dksAq7YMXoljX0xu6VF5DMZGbhYYoLUalEiSySYAS4I=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.5.0 h1:60k92dhOjHxJkrqnwsfl8KuaHbn/5dl0lUPUklKo3qE=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.5.0/go.mod h1:Czt+wKu1gCyEFDUtn0jG5QVvpJ6rzVqr5aXyt9drQfk=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.4.0 h1:Zr2JFtRQNX3BCZ8YtxRE9hNJYC8J6I1MVbMg6owUp18=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.4.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 8684b00..040da03 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -8,9 +8,14 @@ import (
 )
 
 type Config struct {
-	BindAddress string `json:"bindAddress"`
-	Port        int32  `json:"port"`
-	Domain      string `json:"domain"`
+	BindAddress string   `json:"bindAddress"`
+	Port        int32    `json:"port"`
+	Domain      string   `json:"domain"`
+	Database    Database `json:"database"`
+}
+
+type Database struct {
+	Path string `json:"path"`
 }
 
 func NewConfig(path string) (Config, error) {
diff --git a/internal/database/database.go b/internal/database/database.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e1ac57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/database/database.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package database
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"time"
+
+	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
+)
+
+const (
+	usersBucket string = "users"
+)
+
+func New(path string) (*bolt.DB, error) {
+	dir := filepath.Dir(path)
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o700); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create directory %q: %w", dir, err)
+	}
+
+	opts := bolt.Options{
+		Timeout: 1 * time.Second,
+	}
+
+	boltdb, err := bolt.Open(path, 0o600, &opts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"unable to open the database at %q: %w",
+			path,
+			err,
+		)
+	}
+
+	if err := ensureBuckets(boltdb); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"unable to ensure that the required buckets are present in the database: %w",
+			err,
+		)
+	}
+
+	return boltdb, nil
+}
+
+func ensureBuckets(boltdb *bolt.DB) error {
+	err := boltdb.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+		for _, bucket := range getBuckets() {
+			if _, err := tx.CreateBucketIfNotExists(bucket); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf(
+					"unable to ensure the existence of the %q bucket: %w",
+					string(bucket),
+					err,
+				)
+			}
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"error ensuring the existence of the buckets in the database: %w",
+			err,
+		)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func getBuckets() [][]byte {
+	return [][]byte{[]byte(usersBucket)}
+}
diff --git a/internal/database/users.go b/internal/database/users.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d477ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/database/users.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package database
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/gob"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
+)
+
+type User struct {
+	CreatedAt      time.Time
+	UpdatedAt      time.Time
+	HashedPassword string
+	Profile        Profile
+}
+
+type Profile struct {
+	Name  string
+	URL   string
+	Photo string
+	Email string
+}
+
+func UpdateUser(boltdb *bolt.DB, identifier string, user User) error {
+	bucketName := []byte(usersBucket)
+
+	err := boltdb.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+		bucket := tx.Bucket(bucketName)
+
+		if bucket == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the %s bucket does not exist", string(bucketName))
+		}
+
+		key := []byte(identifier)
+
+		buffer := new(bytes.Buffer)
+		if err := gob.NewEncoder(buffer).Encode(user); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"unable to encode the user data: %w",
+				err,
+			)
+		}
+
+		if err := bucket.Put(key, buffer.Bytes()); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"unable to update the user in the %s bucket: %w",
+				string(bucketName),
+				err,
+			)
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error updating the user in the database: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}