diff --git a/deckhand/db/__init__.py b/deckhand/db/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/deckhand/db/api_models.py b/deckhand/db/api_models.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ede62681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deckhand/db/api_models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Copyright 2017 AT&T Intellectual Property.  All other rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import json
+
+from oslo_db.sqlalchemy import models
+from oslo_utils import timeutils
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from sqlalchemy.ext import declarative
+from sqlalchemy import orm as sa_orm
+from sqlalchemy import types as sa_types
+
+
+class _DeckhandBase(models.ModelBase, models.TimestampMixin):
+    pass
+
+
+# Declarative base class which maintains a catalog of classes and tables
+# relative to that base.
+API_BASE = declarative.declarative_base(cls=_DeckhandBase)
+
+
+class JSONEncodedDict(sa_types.TypeDecorator):
+    """Represents an immutable structure as a json-encoded string.
+
+    Usage::
+
+        JSONEncodedDict(255)
+
+    """
+
+    impl = sa_types.VARCHAR
+
+    def process_bind_param(self, value, dialect):
+        if value is not None:
+            value = json.dumps(value)
+
+        return value
+
+    def process_result_value(self, value, dialect):
+        if value is not None:
+            value = json.loads(value)
+        return value
+
+
+class Document(API_BASE):
+    __tablename__ = 'document'
+
+    id = sa.Column(sa.String(255), primary_key=True, autoincrement=True)
+    document_schema = sa.Column(sa.String(64), nullable=False)
+    # Represents metadata.name parameter.
+    instance_key = sa.Column(sa.String(64), nullable=False, unique=True)
+    metadata = sa.Column(JSONEncodedDict(), nullable=False)
+    data = sa.Column(JSONEncodedDict(), nullable=False)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index a50fe325..e32b2d63 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 falcon==1.1.0
 
+SQLAlchemy!=1.1.5,!=1.1.6,!=1.1.7,!=1.1.8,>=1.0.10 # MIT
+jsonschema!=2.5.0,<3.0.0,>=2.0.0 # MIT
 pbr!=2.1.0,>=2.0.0 # Apache-2.0
 six>=1.9.0 # MIT
 stevedore>=1.20.0 # Apache-2.0
@@ -7,6 +9,7 @@ jsonschema!=2.5.0,<3.0.0,>=2.0.0 # MIT
 keystoneauth1>=2.21.0  # Apache-2.0
 oslo.config>=3.22.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.context>=2.14.0 # Apache-2.0
+oslo.db>=4.21.1 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.log>=3.22.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.serialization>=1.10.0  # Apache-2.0
 oslo.utils>=3.20.0 # Apache-2.0