diff --git a/app/database.py b/app/database.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..863d9b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/database.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncEngine, AsyncSession, create_async_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from app.config import settings
+from app.models import Base
+
+engine: AsyncEngine = create_async_engine(settings.database_url, echo=False)
+AsyncSessionLocal = sessionmaker(
+    bind=engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False
+)
+
+async def init_db():
+    async with engine.begin() as conn:
+        await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
+
+async def get_db():
+    async with AsyncSessionLocal() as session:
+        try:
+            yield session
+            await session.commit()
+        except Exception:
+            await session.rollback()
+            raise
+        finally:
+            await session.close()
diff --git a/app/models.py b/app/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1c7dad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, String, Text, DateTime, Float
+from sqlalchemy.orm import declarative_base
+
+Base = declarative_base()
+
+class Contact(Base):
+    __tablename__ = "contacts"
+
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True, index=True)
+    name = Column(String(255), nullable=False)
+    email = Column(String(255), nullable=False)
+    subject = Column(String(255), nullable=False)
+    message = Column(Text, nullable=False)
+    submitted_at = Column(DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow, nullable=False)
+    ip_address = Column(String(45), nullable=True)
+    recaptcha_score = Column(Float, nullable=True)
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac51bf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import pytest
+from app.config import Settings
+
+def test_settings_load_from_env(monkeypatch):
+    """Test that Settings loads from environment."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DATABASE_URL", "mysql+aiomysql://user:pass@localhost/db")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("SMTP_HOST", "smtp.test.com")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("SMTP_PORT", "587")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("SMTP_USER", "test@test.com")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("SMTP_PASSWORD", "password")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("RECAPTCHA_SECRET", "secret")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY", "site_key")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("GITBUCKET_URL", "http://test.com/api")
+
+    settings = Settings()
+    assert settings.database_url == "mysql+aiomysql://user:pass@localhost/db"
+    assert settings.smtp_host == "smtp.test.com"
diff --git a/tests/test_models.py b/tests/test_models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95983e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import pytest
+from app.models import Contact
+
+def test_contact_model_columns():
+    """Test that Contact model has required columns."""
+    contact = Contact(
+        name="Test User",
+        email="test@example.com",
+        subject="Test Subject",
+        message="Test message"
+    )
+    assert contact.name == "Test User"
+    assert contact.email == "test@example.com"
+    assert contact.subject == "Test Subject"
+    assert contact.message == "Test message"
+    assert contact.submitted_at is None  # default not set yet