diff --git a/backend/.env.example b/backend/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91ca593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+PORT=3000
+MAIL_DIR=~/Mail
+NOTMUCH_DATABASE=~/Mail
diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..040c1f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# dependencies (bun install)
+node_modules
+
+# output
+out
+dist
+*.tgz
+
+# code coverage
+coverage
+*.lcov
+
+# logs
+logs
+_.log
+report.[0-9]_.[0-9]_.[0-9]_.[0-9]_.json
+
+# database files
+*.db
+
+# dotenv environment variable files
+.env
+.env.development.local
+.env.test.local
+.env.production.local
+.env.local
+
+# caches
+.eslintcache
+.cache
+*.tsbuildinfo
+
+# IntelliJ based IDEs
+.idea
+
+# Finder (MacOS) folder config
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/backend/bun.lock b/backend/bun.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59af2fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/bun.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+{
+  "lockfileVersion": 1,
+  "configVersion": 1,
+  "workspaces": {
+    "": {
+      "name": "backend",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "hono": "^4.12.6",
+      },
+      "devDependencies": {
+        "@types/bun": "^1.3.10",
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "typescript": "^5",
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  "packages": {
+    "@types/bun": ["@types/bun@1.3.10", "", { "dependencies": { "bun-types": "1.3.10" } }, "sha512-0+rlrUrOrTSskibryHbvQkDOWRJwJZqZlxrUs1u4oOoTln8+WIXBPmAuCF35SWB2z4Zl3E84Nl/D0P7803nigQ=="],
+
+    "@types/node": ["@types/node@25.4.0", "", { "dependencies": { "undici-types": "~7.18.0" } }, "sha512-9wLpoeWuBlcbBpOY3XmzSTG3oscB6xjBEEtn+pYXTfhyXhIxC5FsBer2KTopBlvKEiW9l13po9fq+SJY/5lkhw=="],
+
+    "bun-types": ["bun-types@1.3.10", "", { "dependencies": { "@types/node": "*" } }, "sha512-tcpfCCl6XWo6nCVnpcVrxQ+9AYN1iqMIzgrSKYMB/fjLtV2eyAVEg7AxQJuCq/26R6HpKWykQXuSOq/21RYcbg=="],
+
+    "hono": ["hono@4.12.6", "", {}, "sha512-KljEp+MeEEEIOT75qBo1UjqqB29fRMtlDEwCxcexOzdkUq6LR/vRvHk5pdROcxyOYyW1niq7Gb5pFVGy5R1eBw=="],
+
+    "typescript": ["typescript@5.9.3", "", { "bin": { "tsc": "bin/tsc", "tsserver": "bin/tsserver" } }, "sha512-jl1vZzPDinLr9eUt3J/t7V6FgNEw9QjvBPdysz9KfQDD41fQrC2Y4vKQdiaUpFT4bXlb1RHhLpp8wtm6M5TgSw=="],
+
+    "undici-types": ["undici-types@7.18.2", "", {}, "sha512-AsuCzffGHJybSaRrmr5eHr81mwJU3kjw6M+uprWvCXiNeN9SOGwQ3Jn8jb8m3Z6izVgknn1R0FTCEAP2QrLY/w=="],
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backend/package.json b/backend/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d74a78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+	"name": "backend",
+	"module": "src/index.ts",
+	"type": "module",
+	"private": true,
+	"scripts": {
+		"dev": "bun --watch src/index.ts",
+		"start": "bun src/index.ts",
+		"test": "bun test"
+	},
+	"devDependencies": {
+		"@types/bun": "^1.3.10"
+	},
+	"peerDependencies": {
+		"typescript": "^5"
+	},
+	"dependencies": {
+		"hono": "^4.12.6"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/index.ts b/backend/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bb3809
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { Hono } from "hono";
+import { cors } from "hono/cors";
+
+const app = new Hono();
+
+app.use("*", cors());
+
+app.get("/health", (c) => c.json({ status: "ok" }));
+
+export default {
+	port: Number(process.env.PORT ?? 3000),
+	fetch: app.fetch,
+};
diff --git a/backend/tsconfig.json b/backend/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfa0fea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    // Environment setup & latest features
+    "lib": ["ESNext"],
+    "target": "ESNext",
+    "module": "Preserve",
+    "moduleDetection": "force",
+    "jsx": "react-jsx",
+    "allowJs": true,
+
+    // Bundler mode
+    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
+    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
+    "verbatimModuleSyntax": true,
+    "noEmit": true,
+
+    // Best practices
+    "strict": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
+    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
+    "noImplicitOverride": true,
+
+    // Some stricter flags (disabled by default)
+    "noUnusedLocals": false,
+    "noUnusedParameters": false,
+    "noPropertyAccessFromIndexSignature": false
+  }
+}