diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 26ef082..120a0ee 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,4 +21,6 @@
 # Go workspace file
 go.work
 
-tmp/
\ No newline at end of file
+tmp/
+
+.pg_data/
diff --git a/.local.profile b/.local.profile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc263d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.local.profile
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+export PG_DATABASE=pulley
+export PG_USER=pulley
+export PG_PASSWD=passwd
+export PG_URI=postgres://pulley:passwd@localhost:5434/pulley
+
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1a2841f..775c848 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -40,24 +40,21 @@ serve:
 	go run ./cmd/api/...
 .PHONY: serve
 
-# SQLite Commands
-sql-cli:
-	sqlite3 $(SQL_DATABASE) -cmd ".headers on" -cmd ".mode box" -cmd ".tables"
-.PHONY: sql-cli
+start-local:
+	mkdir -p ./.pg_data && \
+	chown $$(id -u):$$(id -g) ./.pg_data && \
+	UID=$$(id -u) GID=$$(id -g) docker compose up -d
+.PHONY: start-local
 
-init-db: run-migrate
-	sqlite3 $(SQL_DATABASE) "PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL; PRAGMA synchronous = NORMAL;"
-.PHONY: init-db
-
-run-migrate:
-	migrate -database sqlite3://$(SQL_DATABASE) -path ./migrations up
-.PHONY: run-migrate
+stop-local:
+	docker compose down
+.PHONY: stop-local
 
 # Checks system dependencies needed to run the local dev environment
 check-system-deps:
 	@echo "Checking system dependencies..."
 	@command -v air > /dev/null || (echo "Missing air command. go install github.com/air-verse/air@latest"; exit 1)
-	@command -v sqlite3 > /dev/null || (echo "Missing sqlite3 command. brew install sqlite"; exit 1)
+	@command -v psql > /dev/null || (echo "Missing psql command. brew install libpq"; exit 1)
 	@command -v migrate > /dev/null || (echo "Missing migrate command. go install -tags 'sqlite3' github.com/golang-migrate/migrate/v4/cmd/migrate@latest"; exit 1)
 	@echo "System dependencies fulfilled 👍"
 .PHONY: check-system-deps
@@ -65,4 +62,4 @@ check-system-deps:
 
 local-certs:
 	cd ./tls && go run /usr/local/go/src/crypto/tls/generate_cert.go --rsa-bits=2048 --host=localhost
-.PHONY: local-certs
\ No newline at end of file
+.PHONY: local-certs
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b861b0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+services:
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:16
+    container_name: pulleydb
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_USER: pulley
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: passwd 
+      POSTGRES_DB: pulley 
+    ports:
+      - "5434:5432"  # Host:Container
+    volumes:
+      - ./.pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    user: "${UID}:${GID}"
+