diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e5db101..3b28b26 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ up:
 down:
 	docker compose down
 
+.PHONY: update_deps
+update_deps:
+	docker compose build --no-cache python
+	docker compose up -d --force-recreate --build
+
 .PHONY: logs
 logs:
 	docker compose logs -f
diff --git a/docker/python/Dockerfile b/docker/python/Dockerfile
index 235ac62..011b1f3 100644
--- a/docker/python/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/python/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Copied from https://github.com/astral-sh/rye/discussions/239#discussioncomment-6033855 and modified
-FROM python:3.12.3 AS rye
+FROM python:3.12.3 AS base
 
 # Prevents Python from writing pyc files.
 ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
@@ -34,24 +34,34 @@ COPY pyproject.toml pyproject.toml
 COPY requirements.lock requirements.lock
 COPY .python-version .python-version
 COPY README.md README.md
-RUN rye sync --no-dev --no-lock
+
+# Use a cache mount for the rye cache to improve build performance.
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/rye rye sync --no-dev --no-lock
 
 RUN . .venv/bin/activate
 
 # Stage for development.
 # The development environment assumes a devcontainer and the environment is
 # closed inside the container, so you don't need to be aware of the virtual environment
-FROM rye AS dev
+FROM base AS dev
 
+# Re-copy only if necessary to optimize caching
 COPY pyproject.toml pyproject.toml
 COPY requirements.lock requirements.lock
 COPY requirements-dev.lock requirements-dev.lock
-COPY .python-version .python-version
-COPY README.md README.md
-RUN rye sync --no-lock
+
+# Check if dependencies have changed to decide whether to re-run rye sync
+RUN \
+    if cmp -s requirements.lock requirements.lock.new; then \
+        echo "Dependencies have not changed, using cache."; \
+    else \
+        echo "Dependencies have changed, running rye sync."; \
+        cp requirements.lock requirements.lock.new; \
+        rye sync --no-lock; \
+    fi
 
 # Stage for production
-FROM rye AS run
+FROM base AS run
 
 # Create a non-privileged user that the app will run under.
 # See https://docs.docker.com/develop/develop-images/dockerfile_best-practices/#user
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 97ae801..c1be871 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ authors = [
 ]
 dependencies = [
     "python-dotenv>=1.0.1",
+    "injector>=0.21.0",
+    "pydantic>=2.7.4",
+    "pydantic-config>=0.3.0",
+    "sqlalchemy>=2.0.31",
+    "alembic>=1.13.1",
 ]
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">= 3.12"
diff --git a/requirements-dev.lock b/requirements-dev.lock
index cff44c0..46b75d1 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.lock
+++ b/requirements-dev.lock
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
 #   generate-hashes: false
 
 -e file:.
+alembic==1.13.1
+    # via imperial-police-2
+annotated-types==0.7.0
+    # via pydantic
 black==24.4.2
 click==8.1.7
     # via black
@@ -17,6 +21,12 @@ coverage==7.5.3
 flake8==7.0.0
 iniconfig==2.0.0
     # via pytest
+injector==0.21.0
+    # via imperial-police-2
+mako==1.3.5
+    # via alembic
+markupsafe==2.1.5
+    # via mako
 mccabe==0.7.0
     # via flake8
 mypy==1.10.0
@@ -34,6 +44,15 @@ pluggy==1.5.0
     # via pytest
 pycodestyle==2.11.1
     # via flake8
+pydantic==2.7.4
+    # via imperial-police-2
+    # via pydantic-settings
+pydantic-config==0.3.0
+    # via imperial-police-2
+pydantic-core==2.18.4
+    # via pydantic
+pydantic-settings==2.3.4
+    # via pydantic-config
 pyflakes==3.2.0
     # via flake8
 pytest==8.2.2
@@ -41,5 +60,13 @@ pytest==8.2.2
 pytest-cov==5.0.0
 python-dotenv==1.0.1
     # via imperial-police-2
+    # via pydantic-settings
+sqlalchemy==2.0.31
+    # via alembic
+    # via imperial-police-2
 typing-extensions==4.12.2
+    # via alembic
     # via mypy
+    # via pydantic
+    # via pydantic-core
+    # via sqlalchemy
diff --git a/requirements.lock b/requirements.lock
index cf22430..0037924 100644
--- a/requirements.lock
+++ b/requirements.lock
@@ -9,5 +9,33 @@
 #   generate-hashes: false
 
 -e file:.
+alembic==1.13.1
+    # via imperial-police-2
+annotated-types==0.7.0
+    # via pydantic
+injector==0.21.0
+    # via imperial-police-2
+mako==1.3.5
+    # via alembic
+markupsafe==2.1.5
+    # via mako
+pydantic==2.7.4
+    # via imperial-police-2
+    # via pydantic-settings
+pydantic-config==0.3.0
+    # via imperial-police-2
+pydantic-core==2.18.4
+    # via pydantic
+pydantic-settings==2.3.4
+    # via pydantic-config
 python-dotenv==1.0.1
     # via imperial-police-2
+    # via pydantic-settings
+sqlalchemy==2.0.31
+    # via alembic
+    # via imperial-police-2
+typing-extensions==4.12.2
+    # via alembic
+    # via pydantic
+    # via pydantic-core
+    # via sqlalchemy
diff --git a/src/imperial_police_2/config.py b/src/imperial_police_2/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..723e462
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/imperial_police_2/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+from pydantic import Field
+
+from pydantic_config import SettingsModel, SettingsConfig
+
+ENV_PREFIX = "IMPERIAL_POLICE_2_"
+
+
+class ImperialPoliceSettings(SettingsModel):
+    model_config = SettingsConfig(
+        env_prefix=ENV_PREFIX,
+    )
+
+    # Postgres settings
+    POSTGRES_HOST: str = Field()
+    POSTGRES_PORT: int = Field()
+    POSTGRES_USER: str = Field()
+    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: str = Field()
diff --git a/src/imperial_police_2/injector/container.py b/src/imperial_police_2/injector/container.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92082b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/imperial_police_2/injector/container.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from injector import Injector
+
+container: Injector = Injector()