diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ff265ae..0fa92db 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Thumbs.db
 
 # Local secrets
 deploy-config.php
+config.php
 
 # Logs/temp
 *.log
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f1e9c7e..b524550 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,27 @@ photo-gallery/
 php -S 127.0.0.1:8080
 ```
 
+## MySQL конфиг и миграции (этап перехода на БД)
+
+1. Создай локальный конфиг из шаблона:
+
+```bash
+cp config.php.example config.php
+```
+
+2. Заполни доступы к MySQL в `config.php`.
+
+3. Прогони миграции:
+
+```bash
+php scripts/migrate.php
+```
+
+Файлы:
+- `lib/db.php` — подключение PDO
+- `migrations/*.sql` — схема БД
+- `scripts/migrate.php` — runner миграций
+
 Открыть в браузере:
 
 - `http://127.0.0.1:8080`
diff --git a/config.php.example b/config.php.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2a487f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.php.example
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<?php
+return [
+    'db' => [
+        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
+        'port' => 3306,
+        'name' => 'photo_gallery',
+        'user' => 'gallery_user',
+        'pass' => 'change_me',
+        'charset' => 'utf8mb4',
+    ],
+];
diff --git a/lib/db.php b/lib/db.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82cd3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/db.php
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+function appConfig(): array
+{
+    static $cfg = null;
+    if ($cfg !== null) {
+        return $cfg;
+    }
+
+    $path = __DIR__ . '/../config.php';
+    if (!is_file($path)) {
+        throw new RuntimeException('config.php not found. Copy config.php.example');
+    }
+
+    $cfg = require $path;
+    if (!is_array($cfg)) {
+        throw new RuntimeException('Invalid config.php format');
+    }
+
+    return $cfg;
+}
+
+function db(): PDO
+{
+    static $pdo = null;
+    if ($pdo instanceof PDO) {
+        return $pdo;
+    }
+
+    $db = appConfig()['db'] ?? [];
+    $host = $db['host'] ?? '127.0.0.1';
+    $port = (int)($db['port'] ?? 3306);
+    $name = $db['name'] ?? '';
+    $user = $db['user'] ?? '';
+    $pass = $db['pass'] ?? '';
+    $charset = $db['charset'] ?? 'utf8mb4';
+
+    $dsn = "mysql:host={$host};port={$port};dbname={$name};charset={$charset}";
+    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, (string)$user, (string)$pass, [
+        PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
+        PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
+    ]);
+
+    return $pdo;
+}
diff --git a/migrations/001_init.sql b/migrations/001_init.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2792f89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/001_init.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sections (
+  id BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
+  sort_order INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1000,
+  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  updated_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  UNIQUE KEY uq_sections_name (name)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS photos (
+  id BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  section_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  code_name VARCHAR(191) NOT NULL,
+  description TEXT NULL,
+  sort_order INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1000,
+  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  updated_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  CONSTRAINT fk_photos_section FOREIGN KEY (section_id) REFERENCES sections(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+  UNIQUE KEY uq_photos_code_name (code_name),
+  KEY idx_photos_section_sort (section_id, sort_order)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS photo_files (
+  id BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  photo_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  kind ENUM('before','after') NOT NULL,
+  file_path VARCHAR(500) NOT NULL,
+  mime_type VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
+  size_bytes INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  updated_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  CONSTRAINT fk_photo_files_photo FOREIGN KEY (photo_id) REFERENCES photos(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+  UNIQUE KEY uq_photo_files_kind (photo_id, kind)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS comment_users (
+  id BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  display_name VARCHAR(191) NOT NULL,
+  token_hash CHAR(64) NOT NULL,
+  is_active TINYINT(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  UNIQUE KEY uq_comment_users_token_hash (token_hash)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS photo_comments (
+  id BIGINT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  photo_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  user_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NULL,
+  comment_text TEXT NOT NULL,
+  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+  CONSTRAINT fk_photo_comments_photo FOREIGN KEY (photo_id) REFERENCES photos(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+  CONSTRAINT fk_photo_comments_user FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES comment_users(id) ON DELETE SET NULL,
+  KEY idx_photo_comments_photo_created (photo_id, created_at)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
diff --git a/scripts/migrate.php b/scripts/migrate.php
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..06f6182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/migrate.php
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env php
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+require __DIR__ . '/../lib/db.php';
+
+try {
+    $pdo = db();
+} catch (Throwable $e) {
+    fwrite(STDERR, "DB connection failed: " . $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL);
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+$pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS migrations (name VARCHAR(191) PRIMARY KEY, applied_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci');
+
+$files = glob(__DIR__ . '/../migrations/*.sql') ?: [];
+sort($files, SORT_NATURAL);
+
+$check = $pdo->prepare('SELECT 1 FROM migrations WHERE name = :name');
+$mark = $pdo->prepare('INSERT INTO migrations(name) VALUES (:name)');
+
+foreach ($files as $file) {
+    $name = basename($file);
+    $check->execute(['name' => $name]);
+    if ($check->fetchColumn()) {
+        echo "skip {$name}" . PHP_EOL;
+        continue;
+    }
+
+    echo "apply {$name}" . PHP_EOL;
+    $sql = file_get_contents($file);
+    if ($sql === false) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("Cannot read {$file}");
+    }
+
+    $pdo->beginTransaction();
+    try {
+        $pdo->exec($sql);
+        $mark->execute(['name' => $name]);
+        $pdo->commit();
+    } catch (Throwable $e) {
+        $pdo->rollBack();
+        throw $e;
+    }
+}
+
+echo "done" . PHP_EOL;