diff --git a/lib/db.js b/lib/db.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0983372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/db.js
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import Surreal from 'surrealdb';
+
+class Database {
+  constructor() {
+    this.client = null;
+    this.connected = false;
+  }
+
+  async connect() {
+    if (this.connected) return;
+
+    const url = process.env.SURREAL_URL;
+    const user = process.env.SURREAL_USER;
+    const pass = process.env.SURREAL_PASS;
+
+    if (!url) {
+      console.warn('[DB] No SURREAL_URL set — running in memory-only mode');
+      this.connected = false;
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      this.client = new Surreal();
+      await this.client.connect(url);
+      await this.client.signin({ username: user, password: pass });
+      await this.client.use({ namespace: 'kalbot', database: 'kalbot' });
+      this.connected = true;
+      console.log('[DB] Connected to SurrealDB');
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error('[DB] Connection failed:', e.message);
+      this.connected = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async query(sql, vars = {}) {
+    if (!this.connected) return [[]];
+    try {
+      return await this.client.query(sql, vars);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error('[DB] Query error:', e.message);
+      return [[]];
+    }
+  }
+
+  async create(table, data) {
+    if (!this.connected) return null;
+    try {
+      return await this.client.create(table, data);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error('[DB] Create error:', e.message);
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async select(table) {
+    if (!this.connected) return [];
+    try {
+      return await this.client.select(table);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error('[DB] Select error:', e.message);
+      return [];
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export const db = new Database();