diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e7883f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+POSTGRES_USER=admin
+POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme
+POSTGRES_DB=postcard-im-app
+REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
+MINIO_ROOT_USER=minioadmin
+MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=changeme
+MINIO_BUCKET=media
+MINIO_ENDPOINT=http://minio:9000
+JWT_SECRET=changeme
+BACKEND_URL=http://backend:8080
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2eea525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Caddyfile b/Caddyfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a2eeb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Caddyfile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+:80 {
+    route /api/* {
+        reverse_proxy backend:8080
+    }
+    route /ws {
+        reverse_proxy backend:8080
+    }
+    route /* {
+        reverse_proxy web:3000
+    }
+}
diff --git a/api/Cargo.toml b/api/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc118c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[package]
+name = "backend"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[dependencies]
diff --git a/api/Containerfile b/api/Containerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e5ae42f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/Containerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
+FROM rust:1.82-slim AS builder
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY . .
+RUN cargo build --release
+
+FROM debian:trixie-slim
+WORKDIR /app
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y ca-certificates && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+COPY --from=builder /app/target/release/backend /app/backend
+EXPOSE 8080
+CMD ["/app/backend"]
diff --git a/api/src/main.rs b/api/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3244909
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+use std::time::Duration;
+use std::thread;
+
+fn main() {
+    println!("Backend stub started...");
+    loop {
+        thread::sleep(Duration::from_secs(60));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/migrations/001_initial.sql b/migrations/001_initial.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80b2465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/001_initial.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+CREATE TABLE users (
+    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    username VARCHAR(32) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
+    display_name VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
+    avatar_url TEXT,
+    password_hash TEXT NOT NULL,
+    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
+    updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now()
+);
+
+CREATE TABLE conversations (
+    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
+    updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
+    next_sequence BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0
+);
+
+CREATE TABLE conversation_participants (
+    conversation_id UUID REFERENCES conversations(id),
+    user_id UUID REFERENCES users(id),
+    last_read_seq BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+    joined_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
+    PRIMARY KEY (conversation_id, user_id),
+    UNIQUE (conversation_id, user_id)
+);
+
+CREATE TABLE messages (
+    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    conversation_id UUID REFERENCES conversations(id) NOT NULL,
+    sender_id UUID REFERENCES users(id) NOT NULL,
+    sequence BIGINT NOT NULL,
+    message_type VARCHAR(16) NOT NULL,
+    body TEXT,
+    media_metadata JSONB,
+    client_msg_id UUID NOT NULL,
+    status VARCHAR(16) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'sent',
+    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
+    UNIQUE (conversation_id, sequence),
+    UNIQUE (client_msg_id)
+);
+
+CREATE TABLE sticker_packs (
+    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    name VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
+    author VARCHAR(64),
+    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now()
+);
+
+CREATE TABLE stickers (
+    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    pack_id UUID REFERENCES sticker_packs(id) NOT NULL,
+    emoji_tag VARCHAR(8),
+    image_url TEXT NOT NULL,
+    thumbnail_url TEXT NOT NULL,
+    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now()
+);
diff --git a/migrations/002_indexes.sql b/migrations/002_indexes.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d12a4e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/002_indexes.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+-- Unique constraints on (conversation_id, sequence) and (client_msg_id) 
+-- inherently create indexes in PostgreSQL, so we only need to explicitly 
+-- define the remaining requested indexes.
+
+CREATE INDEX idx_messages_conv_created_at ON messages(conversation_id, created_at);
+CREATE INDEX idx_conv_participants_user_id ON conversation_participants(user_id);
+CREATE INDEX idx_stickers_pack_id ON stickers(pack_id);
diff --git a/migrations/003_functions.sql b/migrations/003_functions.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..363d900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/003_functions.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+-- Atomic sequence increment for message ordering
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION next_message_sequence(conv_id UUID)
+RETURNS BIGINT AS $$
+DECLARE
+  seq BIGINT;
+BEGIN
+  UPDATE conversations
+  SET next_sequence = next_sequence + 1, updated_at = now()
+  WHERE id = conv_id
+  RETURNING next_sequence INTO seq;
+  RETURN seq;
+END;
+$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
diff --git a/podman-compose.yml b/podman-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7c5b82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/podman-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+version: '3.8'
+
+services:
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:18
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER:-admin}
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-Lord5673}
+      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB:-postcard-im-app}
+    volumes:
+      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+      - ./migrations:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d:ro
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER:-admin} -d ${POSTGRES_DB:-postcard-im-app}"]
+      interval: 5s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+    ports:
+      - "5432:5432"
+
+  redis:
+    image: redis:8
+    ports:
+      - "6379:6379"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
+      interval: 5s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+
+  minio:
+    image: minio/minio:latest
+    environment:
+      MINIO_ROOT_USER: ${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-minioadmin}
+      MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-ChuckNorris52!}
+    volumes:
+      - minio_data:/data
+    command: server /data --console-address ":9001"
+    ports:
+      - "9000:9000"
+      - "9001:9001"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "mc", "ready", "local"]
+      interval: 5s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+
+  minio-init:
+    image: minio/mc:latest
+    depends_on:
+      minio:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    entrypoint: >
+      /bin/sh -c "
+      /usr/bin/mc alias set myminio http://minio:9000 ${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-minioadmin} ${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-ChuckNorris52!} &&
+      /usr/bin/mc mb myminio/${MINIO_BUCKET:-media} --ignore-existing &&
+      /usr/bin/mc anonymous set public myminio/${MINIO_BUCKET:-media}
+      "
+
+  backend:
+    build:
+      context: ./backend
+      dockerfile: Containerfile
+    environment:
+      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://${POSTGRES_USER:-admin}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-Lord5673}@postgres:5432/${POSTGRES_DB:-postcard-im-app}
+      - REDIS_URL=${REDIS_URL:-redis://redis:6379}
+      - MINIO_ENDPOINT=${MINIO_ENDPOINT:-http://minio:9000}
+      - MINIO_ROOT_USER=${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-minioadmin}
+      - MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-ChuckNorris52!}
+      - MINIO_BUCKET=${MINIO_BUCKET:-media}
+      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET:-changeme}
+    ports:
+      - "8080:8080"
+    depends_on:
+      postgres:
+        condition: service_healthy
+      redis:
+        condition: service_healthy
+      minio:
+        condition: service_healthy
+
+  web:
+    build:
+      context: ./web
+      dockerfile: Containerfile
+    environment:
+      - BACKEND_URL=${BACKEND_URL:-http://backend:8080}
+    ports:
+      - "3000:3000"
+    depends_on:
+      - backend
+
+  caddy:
+    image: caddy:latest
+    ports:
+      - "80:80"
+      - "443:443"
+    volumes:
+      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
+      - caddy_data:/data
+      - caddy_config:/config
+    depends_on:
+      - backend
+      - web
+
+volumes:
+  postgres_data:
+  minio_data:
+  caddy_data:
+  caddy_config: