diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bacead6..db6f177 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,11 +22,14 @@ cd backend
 python -m venv .venv
 source .venv/bin/activate
 pip install -r requirements.txt
+export DATABASE_URL="postgresql+psycopg2://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname"
 uvicorn app:app --reload --port 5000
 ```
 
 FastAPI will run on `http://localhost:5000`.
 
+Database health check is available at `http://localhost:5000/api/db/health`.
+
 ## Frontend
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index c8a0e14..1645ce0 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ COPY requirements.txt ./
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
 COPY app.py ./
+COPY db.py ./
 
 EXPOSE 5000
 
diff --git a/backend/app.py b/backend/app.py
index f4570e7..8021e75 100644
--- a/backend/app.py
+++ b/backend/app.py
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
-from fastapi import FastAPI
+from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+from sqlalchemy import insert
+from sqlalchemy.exc import SQLAlchemyError
+
+from db import check_database_connection, create_database_tables, engine, items_table
 
 app = FastAPI()
 app.add_middleware(
@@ -11,7 +16,46 @@ app.add_middleware(
 )
 
 
+class ItemCreate(BaseModel):
+    name: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=255)
+
+
+class ItemResponse(BaseModel):
+    id: int
+    name: str
+
+
+@app.on_event("startup")
+def on_startup() -> None:
+    create_database_tables()
+
+
 @app.get("/hello")
-@app.get("/api/hello")
 def hello():
     return {"message": "Hello from FastAPI bro"}
+
+
+@app.get("/db/health")
+def db_health():
+    try:
+        check_database_connection()
+    except SQLAlchemyError as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Database connection failed") from exc
+
+    return {"status": "ok"}
+
+
+@app.post("/items", response_model=ItemResponse, status_code=201)
+def create_item(payload: ItemCreate):
+    try:
+        with engine.begin() as connection:
+            result = connection.execute(
+                insert(items_table)
+                .values(name=payload.name)
+                .returning(items_table.c.id, items_table.c.name)
+            )
+            row = result.one()
+    except SQLAlchemyError as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Failed to create item") from exc
+
+    return {"id": row.id, "name": row.name}
diff --git a/backend/db.py b/backend/db.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66d161e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/db.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import os
+
+from sqlalchemy import (
+    Column,
+    DateTime,
+    Integer,
+    MetaData,
+    String,
+    Table,
+    create_engine,
+    text,
+)
+from sqlalchemy.sql import func
+
+DATABASE_URL = os.getenv(
+    "DATABASE_URL",
+    "postgresql+psycopg2://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/postgres",
+)
+
+engine = create_engine(DATABASE_URL, pool_pre_ping=True)
+
+metadata = MetaData()
+items_table = Table(
+    "items",
+    metadata,
+    Column("id", Integer, primary_key=True, autoincrement=True),
+    Column("name", String(255), nullable=False),
+    Column("created_at", DateTime(timezone=True), server_default=func.now()),
+)
+
+
+def check_database_connection() -> None:
+    with engine.connect() as connection:
+        connection.execute(text("SELECT 1"))
+
+
+def create_database_tables() -> None:
+    metadata.create_all(engine)
diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 3af9cb3..7187783 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 fastapi==0.111.0
+psycopg2-binary==2.9.9
+SQLAlchemy==2.0.31
 uvicorn[standard]==0.30.1
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..067537c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+services:
+  db:
+    image: docker.io/library/postgres:16
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+      POSTGRES_DB: postgres
+    ports:
+      - "5432:5432"
+    volumes:
+      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+
+  backend:
+    build: ./backend
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      DATABASE_URL: postgresql+psycopg2://postgres:postgres@db:5432/postgres
+    ports:
+      - "5000:5000"
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+
+  frontend:
+    build: ./frontend
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      BACKEND_URL: http://backend:5000
+    ports:
+      - "5173:80"
+    depends_on:
+      - backend
+
+volumes:
+  postgres_data:
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.css b/frontend/src/App.css
index d2e2a03..0a5952c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.css
+++ b/frontend/src/App.css
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@
   justify-content: center;
 }
 
+.card-grid {
+  display: grid;
+  gap: 24px;
+  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(260px, 1fr));
+  width: min(780px, 100%);
+}
+
 .card {
   border: 1px solid #d9dee7;
   border-radius: 12px;
@@ -36,3 +43,46 @@
   color: #b00020;
   margin-top: 8px;
 }
+
+.form {
+  display: grid;
+  gap: 12px;
+  margin-top: 12px;
+}
+
+.form-label {
+  font-weight: 600;
+  color: #2a3350;
+}
+
+.form-input {
+  border: 1px solid #ccd3df;
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  font-size: 1rem;
+}
+
+.form-input:focus {
+  outline: 2px solid #7f8cff;
+  border-color: transparent;
+}
+
+.form-button {
+  border: none;
+  border-radius: 999px;
+  padding: 10px 16px;
+  background: #1f2a44;
+  color: #ffffff;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+.form-button:hover {
+  background: #111a2b;
+}
+
+.status {
+  margin-top: 8px;
+  color: #1a7f37;
+  font-weight: 600;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.jsx b/frontend/src/App.jsx
index 933c952..7099df0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.jsx
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import "./App.css";
 function App() {
   const [message, setMessage] = useState("loading...");
   const [error, setError] = useState("");
+  const [itemName, setItemName] = useState("");
+  const [itemStatus, setItemStatus] = useState("");
+  const [itemError, setItemError] = useState("");
 
   useEffect(() => {
     let isMounted = true;
@@ -32,6 +35,31 @@ function App() {
     };
   }, []);
 
+  const handleSubmit = async (event) => {
+    event.preventDefault();
+    setItemStatus("Saving...");
+    setItemError("");
+
+    try {
+      const response = await fetch("/api/items", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+        body: JSON.stringify({ name: itemName }),
+      });
+
+      if (!response.ok) {
+        throw new Error(`Save failed: ${response.status}`);
+      }
+
+      const saved = await response.json();
+      setItemStatus(`Saved item #${saved.id}: ${saved.name}`);
+      setItemName("");
+    } catch (err) {
+      setItemError(err.message);
+      setItemStatus("");
+    }
+  };
+
   return (
     <div className="app">
       <header className="app-header">
@@ -41,10 +69,34 @@ function App() {
         </p>
       </header>
       <main className="app-main">
-        <div className="card">
-          <h2>API Response</h2>
-          <p className="message">{message}</p>
-          {error ? <p className="error">{error}</p> : null}
+        <div className="card-grid">
+          <div className="card">
+            <h2>API Response</h2>
+            <p className="message">{message}</p>
+            {error ? <p className="error">{error}</p> : null}
+          </div>
+          <div className="card">
+            <h2>Create Item</h2>
+            <form className="form" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
+              <label className="form-label" htmlFor="item-name">
+                Item name
+              </label>
+              <input
+                id="item-name"
+                className="form-input"
+                type="text"
+                value={itemName}
+                onChange={(event) => setItemName(event.target.value)}
+                placeholder="Type a name"
+                required
+              />
+              <button className="form-button" type="submit">
+                Save to DB
+              </button>
+            </form>
+            {itemStatus ? <p className="status">{itemStatus}</p> : null}
+            {itemError ? <p className="error">{itemError}</p> : null}
+          </div>
         </div>
       </main>
     </div>