diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index b0173f6..2c15c15 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ repos:
 
 - repo: https://github.com/charliermarsh/ruff-pre-commit
   # Ruff version.
-  rev: "v0.8.3"
+  rev: "v0.9.2"
   hooks:
     - id: ruff
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f901133..e7ebdeb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -508,7 +508,6 @@ Build Pygentic-AI from the source and intsall dependencies:
 	<!-- [docker-link]: https://www.docker.com/ -->
 
 	**Using [docker](https://www.docker.com/):**
-
 	```sh
 	❯ docker build -t fsecada01/Pygentic-AI .
 	```
@@ -521,7 +520,7 @@ Build Pygentic-AI from the source and intsall dependencies:
 	**Using [pip](https://pypi.org/project/pip/):**
 
 	```sh
-	❯ pip install -r core_requirements.in, core_requirements.txt, dev_requirements.in, dev_requirements.txt
+	❯ pip install -r core_requirements.in dev_requirements.in
 	```
 <!-- SHIELDS BADGE CURRENTLY DISABLED -->
 	<!-- [![uv][uv-shield]][uv-link] -->
diff --git a/src/app.py b/src/app.py
index e69de29..c6180a5 100644
--- a/src/app.py
+++ b/src/app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import os
+
+from fastapi import Request
+from fastapi.exceptions import RequestValidationError
+from starlette import status
+from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
+from starlette.staticfiles import StaticFiles
+
+from backend import create_app
+from backend.logger import logger
+from backend.settings import app_settings, debug_arg
+
+app = create_app(debug=debug_arg, settings_obj=app_settings)
+
+# app.logger = CustomizeLogger.make_logger(config_path)
+
+
+@app.exception_handler(RequestValidationError)
+async def validation_exception_handler(
+    request: Request, exc: RequestValidationError
+):
+    exc_str = f"{exc}".replace("\n", "; ").replace("  ", " ")
+    logger.error(f"{request}: {exc_str}")
+    content = {"status_code": 10422, "message": exc_str, "data": None}
+
+    return JSONResponse(
+        content=content, status_code=status.HTTP_422_UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY
+    )
+
+
+class UnicornException(Exception):
+    def __init__(self, name: str):
+        self.name = name
+
+
+@app.exception_handler(UnicornException)
+async def unicorn_exception_handler(request: Request, exc: UnicornException):
+    return JSONResponse(
+        status_code=418,
+        content={
+            "message": f"Oops! {exc.name} did something. "
+            "There goes a rainbow..."
+        },
+    )
+
+
+app.mount(
+    "/static",
+    StaticFiles(directory=os.path.join(app_settings.frontend_dir, "static")),
+    name="static",
+)
diff --git a/src/backend/__init__.py b/src/backend/__init__.py
index e69de29..221c97c 100644
--- a/src/backend/__init__.py
+++ b/src/backend/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+from fastapi import FastAPI
+
+
+def create_app(debug: bool = False, settings_obj=None):
+    """
+
+    :param debug:
+    :param settings_obj:
+    :return:
+    """
+    app = FastAPI(
+        title="API Service for 525 Ocean Parkway's Cooperative Board",
+        debug=debug,
+    )
+    if settings_obj:
+        app.settings = settings_obj
+
+    return app
diff --git a/src/backend/db/base.py b/src/backend/db/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f492664
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/db/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from typing import Any
+
+from backend.db.db import meta
+
+
+def get_base_class():
+    """
+    Generate base SQLModel class for project
+    :return:
+    """
+    from sqlmodel import SQLModel
+
+    class Base(SQLModel):
+        def __new__(cls, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
+            """
+            Updated to Pydantic V2.5 results in an error with
+            `__pydantic_extra__` attribute not being found. This is a workaround
+            taken from the GitHub issues page:
+            https://github.com/tiangolo/sqlmodel/pull/632#discussion_r1280895115
+            Args:
+                *args: positional args as tuple; explodes into Any type
+                **kwargs: keyword arguments as dict; explodes into Any type
+
+            Returns:
+                Any
+            """
+            new_obj = super().__new__(cls)
+            object.__setattr__(new_obj, "__pydantic_fields_set__", set())
+            object.__setattr__(new_obj, "__pydantic_extra__", {})
+            return new_obj
+
+    Base.metadata = meta
+
+    return Base
+
+
+Base = get_base_class()
+Base.__mapper_args = {"eager_defaults": True}
diff --git a/src/backend/db/db.py b/src/backend/db/db.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f833602
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/db/db.py
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+import asyncio
+import inspect
+from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator
+from typing import Annotated
+
+from fastapi import Form
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from sqlalchemy import MetaData, event
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncEngine, create_async_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import merge_frozen_result, sessionmaker
+from sqlalchemy.pool import NullPool
+from sqlmodel import Session, create_engine
+from sqlmodel.ext.asyncio.session import AsyncSession
+
+from backend.logger import logger
+from backend.utils import get_val
+
+# echo, create = True, True
+echo, create = False, False
+# echo, create = False, True
+# echo, create = True, False
+
+db_url = get_val("PROJECT_DB_URL")
+
+schema = "pygentic_ai"
+meta = MetaData(schema=schema)
+
+
+def as_form(cls: type[BaseModel]):
+    """
+
+    :param cls:
+    :return:
+    """
+    new_params = [
+        inspect.Parameter(
+            field_name,
+            inspect.Parameter.POSITIONAL_ONLY,
+            default=model_field.default,
+            annotation=Annotated[
+                model_field.annotation, *model_field.metadata, Form()
+            ],
+        )
+        for field_name, model_field in cls.model_fields.items()
+    ]
+
+    async def as_form_func(**data):
+        # logger.debug(pformat(data))
+        return cls(**data)
+
+    sig = inspect.signature(as_form_func)
+    sig = sig.replace(parameters=new_params)
+    as_form_func.__signature__ = sig  # type: ignore
+    cls.as_form = as_form_func
+
+    return cls
+
+
+async def get_async_session() -> AsyncGenerator[AsyncSession, None]:
+    """
+    Get async SQLA session via generator function
+    """
+    async with async_session_maker() as session_obj:
+        yield session_obj
+
+
+def get_sync_session():
+    """
+    Get SQLA session via generator function
+    """
+    with sessionmaker(db_url, expire_on_commit=False) as session:
+        yield session
+
+
+async def run_out_of_band(
+    async_sessionaker: sessionmaker,
+    session_inst: AsyncSession,
+    statement,
+    merge_results: bool = True,
+):
+    """
+
+    :param async_sessionaker:
+    :param session_inst:
+    :param statement:
+    :param merge_results:
+    :return:
+    """
+    async with async_sessionaker() as oob_session:
+        await oob_session.connection(
+            execution_options={"isolation_level": "AUTOCOMMIT"}
+        )
+
+    result = await oob_session.execute(statement)
+
+    if merge_results:
+        return (
+            await session_inst.run_sync(
+                merge_frozen_result, statement, result.freeze(), load=False
+            )
+        )()
+    else:
+        await result.close()
+
+
+async def check_db_exists(engine_inst):
+    """
+
+    :param engine_inst:
+    :return:
+    """
+    # async with Session(engine_inst) as conn:
+    async with engine_inst.connect() as conn:
+        from sqlalchemy import inspect  # noqa
+
+        tables = await conn.run_sync(
+            lambda sync_conn: inspect(sync_conn).get_table_names()
+        )
+        logger.info(tables)
+        if not tables:
+            return False
+        return True
+
+
+async def create_db(
+    engine_inst: AsyncEngine,
+    create_bool: bool = False,
+):
+    """
+
+    :param engine_inst:
+    :param create_bool:
+    :return:
+    """
+    url = engine_inst.url
+    exists = await check_db_exists(engine_inst)
+    if not exists or create_bool:
+        from backend.db.base_model import Base  # noqa
+
+        async with engine_inst.begin() as conn:
+            await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
+
+            logger.info(f"Database {url.database} created")
+
+    return engine_inst
+
+
+def create_db_engine(
+    db_url: str, async_bool: bool = False, echo_bool: bool = False
+):
+    """
+
+    :param db_url:
+    :param async_bool:
+    :param echo_bool:
+    :return:
+    """
+    engine_inst = (
+        create_engine(db_url, echo=echo_bool)
+        if async_bool is False
+        else create_async_engine(db_url, echo=echo_bool, poolclass=NullPool)
+    )
+
+    return engine_inst
+
+
+engine = create_db_engine(db_url, async_bool=True, echo_bool=False)
+
+
+@event.listens_for(engine.sync_engine, "connect", insert=True)
+def set_current_schema(dbapi_connection, connection_record):
+    """
+    This is a helper event listener to ensure that the current
+    schema is set when bootstrapping the database tables.
+    Taken from:
+
+    https://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/20/dialects/postgresql.html#setting-alternate
+    -search-paths-on-connect
+
+    :param dbapi_connection:
+    :param connection_record:
+    :return:
+    """
+    existing_autocommit = dbapi_connection.autocommit
+    dbapi_connection.autocommit = True
+    cursor_obj = dbapi_connection.cursor()
+    cursor_obj.execute("SET SESSION search_path='%s'" % schema)
+    cursor_obj.close()
+    dbapi_connection.autocommit = existing_autocommit
+
+
+sync_engine = create_db_engine(db_url, echo_bool=echo)
+
+session_inst = Session(sync_engine, expire_on_commit=False)
+
+async_session_maker = sessionmaker(
+    bind=engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False
+)
+
+session_maker = sessionmaker(
+    bind=engine, class_=Session, expire_on_commit=False
+)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import sys
+
+    from backend.db.models import *  # noqa F403
+
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(asyncio.WindowsSelectorEventLoopPolicy())
+
+    asyncio.run(create_db(engine_inst=engine, create_bool=True))
diff --git a/src/backend/logger.py b/src/backend/logger.py
index e69de29..5e38fd9 100644
--- a/src/backend/logger.py
+++ b/src/backend/logger.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+"""
+Custom Logger Using Loguru
+"""
+
+import json
+import logging
+import sys
+from datetime import date
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from loguru import logger
+
+from backend.settings.consts import BACKEND_DIR
+
+dir_path = Path(BACKEND_DIR).joinpath("logs")
+
+log_file = Path(dir_path).joinpath(f"log_{date.today()}.log")
+
+list(
+    map(
+        lambda x: logger.add(
+            Path(dir_path).joinpath(f"{x}_{log_file.name}"),
+            filter=lambda record: record["level"].name == x.upper(),
+            rotation="1 day",
+            retention="1 week",
+            enqueue=True,
+        ),
+        ["info", "debug", "error", "success", "warning", "critical"],
+    )
+)
+
+
+class InterceptHandler(logging.Handler):
+    loglevel_mapping = {
+        50: "CRITICAL",
+        40: "ERROR",
+        30: "WARNING",
+        20: "INFO",
+        10: "DEBUG",
+        0: "NOTSET",
+    }
+
+    def emit(self, record):
+        try:
+            level = logger.level(record.levelname).name
+        except AttributeError:
+            level = self.loglevel_mapping[record.levelno]
+
+        frame, depth = logging.currentframe(), 2
+        while frame.f_code.co_filename == logging.__file__:
+            frame = frame.f_back
+            depth += 1
+
+        log = logger.bind(request_id="app")
+        log.opt(depth=depth, exception=record.exc_info).log(
+            level, record.getMessage()
+        )
+
+
+class CustomizeLogger:
+    @classmethod
+    def make_logger(cls, config_path: Path):
+        config = cls.load_logging_config(config_path)
+        logging_config = config.get("logger")
+
+        logger = cls.customize_logging(
+            logging_config.get("path"),
+            level=logging_config.get("level"),
+            retention=logging_config.get("retention"),
+            rotation=logging_config.get("rotation"),
+            format=logging_config.get("format"),
+        )
+        return logger
+
+    @classmethod
+    def customize_logging(
+        cls,
+        filepath: Path,
+        level: str,
+        rotation: str,
+        retention: str,
+        format: str,
+    ):
+        logger.remove()
+        logger.add(
+            sys.stdout,
+            enqueue=True,
+            backtrace=True,
+            level=level.upper(),
+            format=format,
+        )
+        logger.add(
+            str(filepath),
+            rotation=rotation,
+            retention=retention,
+            enqueue=True,
+            backtrace=True,
+            level=level.upper(),
+            format=format,
+        )
+        logging.basicConfig(handlers=[InterceptHandler()], level=0)
+        logging.getLogger("uvicorn.access").handlers = [InterceptHandler()]
+        for _log in ["uvicorn", "uvicorn.error", "fastapi"]:
+            _logger = logging.getLogger(_log)
+            _logger.handlers = [InterceptHandler()]
+
+        return logger.bind(request_id=None, method=None)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def load_logging_config(cls, config_path):
+        config = None
+        with open(config_path) as config_file:
+            config = json.load(config_file)
+        return config
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/__init__.py b/src/backend/settings/__init__.py
index e69de29..440ba65 100644
--- a/src/backend/settings/__init__.py
+++ b/src/backend/settings/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import enum
+import os
+from functools import lru_cache
+
+from backend.settings.dev import Settings as DevSettings
+from backend.settings.prod import Settings as ProdSettings
+from backend.utils import get_val
+
+server_types = enum.StrEnum(
+    "ServerTypes", {x.upper(): x for x in ("dev", "uat", "staging", "prod")}
+)
+
+
+@lru_cache
+def get_settings(server: server_types = "dev", debug: bool = False):
+    if server == "dev":
+        settings = DevSettings()
+    else:
+        settings = ProdSettings()
+
+    if debug:
+        settings.DEBUG = debug
+
+    return settings
+
+
+debug_arg = get_val(val="DEBUG", default=False, cast=bool)
+env_arg = get_val("SERVER_ENV", default="dev")
+
+app_settings = get_settings(server=env_arg, debug=debug_arg)
+os.environ["PROJECT_DB_URL"] = app_settings.DB_URL
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/backend_options.py b/src/backend/settings/backend_options.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9fe2c4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/settings/backend_options.py
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+"""
+backend configuration variables for Django Database settings. Import these \
+into the appropriate settings file and then fit them into the value slot of \
+the DATABASES variable
+"""
+
+import os
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from backend.settings.consts import BASE_DIR, all_dialects
+from backend.utils import get_val
+
+
+@dataclass
+class DBConfs:
+    name: str | None
+    user: str | None
+    password: str | None
+    host: str | None
+    port: str | int | None
+
+
+# rebased for Flask and Tortoise ORM
+
+
+def get_db_val(
+    db_configs: DBConfs,
+    dialect: all_dialects = "sqlite",
+    ssl_dict: dict | None = None,
+    **kwargs,
+):
+    """
+    This utility function generates an SQL DB url based on provided parameters.
+    Dialects are checked against a whitelist composed of accepted entries from
+    SQLA 2.0's documentation. Further dialects to be added from MSSQL and
+    Oracle DBs.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    db_configs: DBConfs: dataclass
+    dialect: Literal[all_dialects]: defaults to `sqlite`
+    ssl_dict: Optional[dict]: defaults to None
+    kwargs: keyword_args that are compacted
+
+    Returns url: str
+    -------
+    """
+
+    if isinstance(db_configs.host, Path):
+        pass
+
+    schema_sep = "://" if "sqlite" not in dialect else ":///"
+
+    if "sqlite" in dialect and not any(
+        [
+            hasattr(db_configs, x)
+            for x in ("name", "user", "password", "host", "port", "kwargs")
+        ]
+    ):
+        url = f"{dialect}:{schema_sep}{db_configs.host}"
+    else:
+        url = (
+            f"{dialect}{schema_sep}{db_configs.user}:{db_configs.password}"
+            f"@{db_configs.host}:{db_configs.port}"
+            f"/{db_configs.name}"
+        )
+        if ssl_dict:
+            ssl_uri = "&".join([f"{k}={v}" for k, v in ssl_dict.items()])
+            url = f"{url}?{ssl_uri}"
+
+        if kwargs:
+            uri = "&".join([f"{k}={v}" for k, v in kwargs.items()])
+            url = f"{url}?{uri}"
+
+    return url
+
+
+cloud_backend = {
+    "name": get_val("CLOUD_DB_DB"),
+    "user": get_val("CLOUD_DB_UN"),
+    "password": get_val("CLOUD_DB_PW"),
+    "host": get_val("CLOUD_DB_HOST"),
+    "port": get_val("CLOUD_DB_PORT"),
+}
+
+local_db = {
+    "name": get_val("LOCAL_DB_DB"),
+    "user": get_val("LOCAL_DB_UN"),
+    "password": get_val("LOCAL_DB_PW"),
+    "host": get_val("LOCAL_DB_HOST"),
+    "port": get_val("LOCAL_DB_PORT"),
+}
+
+dialect = "postgresql+asyncpg"
+
+local_db_config = get_db_val(db_configs=DBConfs(**local_db), dialect=dialect)
+# local_db_config = get_db_val(**local_db, dialect="postgresql")
+cloud_db_config = get_db_val(
+    db_configs=DBConfs(**cloud_backend),
+    dialect=dialect,
+)
+
+sqlite_db_config = get_db_val(
+    db_configs=DBConfs(
+        name=None,
+        user=None,
+        password=None,
+        port=None,
+        host=os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "backend", "db.sqlite"),
+    ),
+    dialect="sqlite",
+)
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/base.py b/src/backend/settings/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..023c1b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/settings/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
+
+from backend.settings.consts import BACKEND_DIR, FRONTEND_DIR
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    backend_dir: str = BACKEND_DIR
+    frontend_dir: str = FRONTEND_DIR
+
+    DB_URL: str = "sqlite+aiosqlite:///backend/pygentic_ai.sqlite3"
+    DEBUG: bool = False
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/consts.py b/src/backend/settings/consts.py
index e69de29..b2b2a7b 100644
--- a/src/backend/settings/consts.py
+++ b/src/backend/settings/consts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import enum
+import os
+
+from decouple import config
+
+BASE_DIR = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname("__name__")))
+BACKEND_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "backend")
+FRONTEND_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "frontend")
+
+
+pg_dialects = [
+    "postgres",
+    "postgresql",
+    "postgresql+asyncpg",
+    "postgresql+pg8000",
+    "postgresql+psycopg",
+    "postgresql+psycopg2",
+    "postgresql+psycopg2cffi",
+    "postgresql+py-postgresql",
+    "postgresql+pygresql",
+]
+
+mysql_dialects = [
+    "mysql+mysqldb",
+    "mysql+pymysql",
+    "mariadb+mariadbconnector",
+    "mysql+mysqlconnector",
+    "mysql+asyncmy",
+    "mysql+aiomysql",
+    "mysql+cymysql",
+    "mysql+pyodbc",
+]
+
+sqlite_dialects = [
+    "sqlite",
+    "sqlite+pysqlite",
+    "sqlite+aiosqlite",
+    "sqlite+pysqlcipher",
+]
+
+all_dialects = enum.Enum(
+    "DatabaseDialect",
+    {
+        x.upper(): x
+        for x in [
+            *[
+                y
+                for x in (pg_dialects, mysql_dialects, sqlite_dialects)
+                for y in x
+            ]
+        ]
+    },
+)
+
+# TODO: include Oracle and MSSQL dialects
+SECRET_KEY: str = config("SECRET_KEY")
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/dev.py b/src/backend/settings/dev.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a859a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/settings/dev.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+from backend.settings.backend_options import local_db_config
+from backend.settings.base import Settings as BaseSettings
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    DB_URL: str = local_db_config
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL: str = local_db_config
+    DEBUG: bool = True
diff --git a/src/backend/settings/prod.py b/src/backend/settings/prod.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98f61d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/settings/prod.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+from backend.settings.backend_options import cloud_db_config
+from backend.settings.base import Settings as BaseSettings
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    DB_URL: str = cloud_db_config
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI: str = cloud_db_config
+    DEBUG: bool = False
diff --git a/src/backend/utils.py b/src/backend/utils.py
index e69de29..52b8733 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils.py
+++ b/src/backend/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import os
+
+from decouple import config
+
+
+def get_db_url(env: str = "dev"):
+    """
+
+    :param env:
+    :return:
+    """
+    if env == "dev":
+        un, pw, db, host, port = (
+            config(x)
+            for x in (
+                "LOCAL_DB_UN",
+                "LOCAL_DB_PW",
+                "LOCAL_DB_DB",
+                "LOCAL_DB_HOST",
+                "LOCAL_DB_PORT",
+            )
+        )
+
+        # url = f"mysql://{un}:{pw}@{host}:{port}/{db}"
+        # url = f"mariadb+pymysql://{un}:{pw}@{host}:{port}/{db}"
+    elif env == "prod":
+        un, pw, db, host, port = (
+            config(x)
+            for x in (
+                "POSTGRES_USER",
+                "POSTGRES_PASSWORD",
+                "POSTGRES_DB",
+                "db",
+                "5432",
+            )
+        )
+    else:
+        return None
+
+    url = f"postgresql://{un}:{pw}@{host}:{port}/{db}"
+    return url
+
+
+def get_val(val: str, default: str | int | bool | None = None, **kwargs):
+    """
+    A utility function that checks the platform environment or an .env file to
+    pull a key:value pair and return the value. If the value does not exist, a
+    ValueError will be raised
+    Args:
+        val: str
+        default: Union[str, None]: default is None
+
+    Returns val: str
+
+    """
+    if os.environ.get(val, None) is not None:
+        val = os.environ.get(val)
+    elif config(val, None, **kwargs) is not None:
+        val = config(val)
+    elif default:
+        val = default
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Env Var {val} is not populated in the environment "
+            f"or within the configuration files"
+        )
+
+    return val