diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2409604
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db.go
@@ -0,0 +1,351 @@
+package chipmunk
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
+	_ "github.com/lib/pq"
+)
+
+type DB struct {
+	db *sqlx.DB
+}
+
+func NewDB(dbhost, dbname string) (*DB, error) {
+	var err error
+	config := fmt.Sprintf(
+		"dbname=%s host=%s sslmode=disable",
+		dbname,
+		dbhost,
+	)
+	db, err := sqlx.Connect(
+		"postgres",
+		config,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	d := &DB{db}
+	d.initializeDB()
+	return d, nil
+}
+
+func (d *DB) initializeDB() {
+	// XXX ignoring errors
+	d.db.Exec(createdb)
+	d.db.Exec(primeCategories)
+}
+
+//func (d *DB) checkOwner(filename, client string) error {
+//	row := d.db.QueryRowx("SELECT client FROM pics WHERE filename = $1", filename)
+//	var owner string
+//	err := row.Scan(&owner)
+//	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+//		return errors.New("file not in DB")
+//	}
+//	if owner != strings.ToLower(client) {
+//		return errors.New("filename did not match owner")
+//	}
+//	return nil
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) getPic(filename string) (Pic, error) {
+//	p := Pic{}
+//	err := d.db.QueryRowx(
+//		`
+//		SELECT
+//			filename,
+//			category_id as category,
+//			client,
+//			categorized,
+//			reported
+//		FROM pics
+//		WHERE
+//			filename = $1
+//		LIMIT 1
+//		`,
+//		filename,
+//	).StructScan(&p)
+//	logs.Debug("%+v", p)
+//	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+//		return Pic{}, errors.New("pic not found")
+//	}
+//	return p, nil
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) votesForPic(filename string) ([]int, error) {
+//	results := []int{}
+//	rows, err := d.db.Queryx(`SELECT vote FROM votes WHERE filename = $1`, filename)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return []int{}, err
+//	}
+//	for rows.Next() {
+//		var result int
+//		err := rows.Scan(&result)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return []int{}, err
+//		}
+//		results = append(results, result)
+//	}
+//	return results, nil
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) closeVoting(filename string) error {
+//	_, err := d.db.Exec(
+//		`UPDATE pics SET categorized = true WHERE filename = $1`,
+//		filename,
+//	)
+//	return err
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) votingClosed(filename string) (bool, error) {
+//	row := d.db.QueryRow("SELECT categorized FROM pics WHERE filename = $1", filename)
+//	already := false
+//	err := row.Scan(&already)
+//	return already, err
+//}
+//
+//type Token string
+//
+//func (d *DB) tokenForFile(filename string) (Token, error) {
+//	row := d.db.QueryRow(`
+//	SELECT
+//		clients.token
+//	FROM pics, clients
+//	WHERE
+//		pics.client = clients.id
+//		AND pics.filename = $1
+//	`,
+//		filename,
+//	)
+//	token := sql.NullString{}
+//	err := row.Scan(&token)
+//	return Token(token.String), err
+//}
+//
+//type Pic struct {
+//	Filename    string `json:"filename"`
+//	Category    int    `json:"category"`
+//	Client      string `json:"client"`
+//	Categorized bool   `json:"categorized"db:"categorized"`
+//	Reported    bool   `json:"reported"db:"reported"`
+//}
+//
+//type PicDetails struct {
+//	// did the request work; this goes along with HTTP status codes
+//	Success bool `json:"success"`
+//
+//	Filename string `json:"filename"`
+//
+//	Message     string `json:"message"`
+//	Works       bool   `json:"works"`
+//	Categorized bool   `json:"categorized"`
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) getPicDetails(filename string) (PicDetails, error) {
+//	pd := PicDetails{
+//		Success:  false,
+//		Filename: filename,
+//		Message:  "unknown ranking",
+//	}
+//	votes, err := d.votesForPic(filename)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return pd, err
+//	}
+//	message, works, done, err := categorize(votes)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return pd, err
+//	}
+//	pd.Success = true
+//	pd.Message = message
+//	pd.Works = works
+//	pd.Categorized = done
+//	return pd, nil
+//}
+//
+//type VoteReq struct {
+//	Filename string `json:"filename"`
+//	Client   string `json:"client"`
+//	Value    int    `json:"value"`
+//}
+//
+//type Category struct {
+//	Id   int    `json:"id"db:"id"`
+//	Name string `json:"name"db:"name"`
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) getCategories() (map[string]int, error) {
+//	results := map[string]int{}
+//	rows, err := d.db.Queryx("SELECT id, name FROM categories")
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return nil, err
+//	}
+//	for rows.Next() {
+//		var result Category
+//		err := rows.StructScan(&result)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return nil, err
+//		}
+//		results[result.Name] = result.Id
+//	}
+//	return results, nil
+//}
+//
+//func (d *DB) flagPic(filename string, reporter string) (int, error) {
+//	logs.Debug("(%s, %s)", filename, reporter)
+//
+//	var count int
+//	row := d.db.QueryRow(
+//		"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM reports WHERE filename = $1 AND reporter = $2",
+//		filename,
+//		reporter,
+//	)
+//	err := row.Scan(&count)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
+//	}
+//	if count > 0 {
+//		return http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Errorf("%s already reported %s", reporter, filename)
+//	}
+//
+//	_, err = d.db.Exec(
+//		`INSERT INTO reports (filename, reporter) VALUES ($1, $2)`,
+//		filename,
+//		reporter,
+//	)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return http.StatusBadRequest, err
+//	}
+//
+//	var culprit string
+//	err = d.db.Get(&culprit, `
+//		SELECT
+//			client
+//		FROM pics, clients
+//		WHERE
+//			pics.client = clients.id AND
+//			pics.filename = $1
+//		`,
+//		filename,
+//	)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
+//	}
+//
+//	_, err = d.db.Exec(`
+//		UPDATE
+//			clients
+//		SET
+//			infractions = infractions + 1
+//		WHERE
+//			clients.id = $1
+//		`,
+//		culprit,
+//	)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
+//	}
+//
+//	_, err = d.db.Exec(`
+//		UPDATE
+//			pics
+//		SET
+//			reported = true
+//		WHERE
+//			filename = $1
+//		`,
+//		filename,
+//	)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
+//	}
+//	return http.StatusCreated, nil
+//}
+//
+//type client struct {
+//	Id          string
+//	Token       sql.NullString
+//	Infractions int
+//	db          *sqlx.DB
+//}
+//
+//const reportThreshold = 3
+//
+//func (c *client) isBlocked() bool {
+//	if c.Infractions >= reportThreshold {
+//		return true
+//	}
+//	return false
+//}
+//
+//func (c *client) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+//	r := struct {
+//		Id          string `json:"id"`
+//		Infractions int    `json:"infractions"`
+//	}{
+//		Id:          c.Id,
+//		Infractions: c.Infractions,
+//	}
+//
+//	return json.Marshal(r)
+//}
+//
+//func (c *client) SetToken(token string) error {
+//	_, err := c.db.Exec(
+//		`UPDATE clients SET token = $1 WHERE id = $2`,
+//		token,
+//		c.Id,
+//	)
+//	if err != nil {
+//		return err
+//	}
+//	c.Token = sql.NullString{
+//		String: token,
+//		Valid:  true,
+//	}
+//	return nil
+//}
+//
+//// getOrCreateClient performs db operations requisite to fetch current info or
+//// create a new client.
+////
+//// returns:
+//// *client, created or not, error
+//func (d *DB) getOrCreateClient(clientId string) (*client, bool, error) {
+//	var created bool
+//	c := &client{
+//		db: d.db,
+//	}
+//	err := d.db.QueryRowx(
+//		"SELECT * FROM clients WHERE id = $1",
+//		clientId,
+//	).StructScan(c)
+//	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+//		_, err = d.db.Exec(
+//			`INSERT INTO clients (id) VALUES ($1)`,
+//			clientId,
+//		)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf(
+//				"problem inserting client: %s: %+v",
+//				clientId,
+//				err,
+//			)
+//		}
+//		created = true
+//		err := d.db.QueryRowx(
+//			"SELECT * FROM clients WHERE id = $1",
+//			clientId,
+//		).StructScan(c)
+//		if err != nil {
+//			return nil, true, err
+//		}
+//	}
+//	return c, created, nil
+//}
+//
+//type UploadResp struct {
+//	Success bool   `json:"success"`
+//	Sha     string `json:"sha1"`
+//}