diff --git a/server/go.mod b/server/go.mod
index 610a04e..cd60f1b 100644
--- a/server/go.mod
+++ b/server/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
 module git.umbrella.haus/ae/notatest
 
 go 1.24.1
+
+require (
+	github.com/go-chi/chi/v5 v5.2.1 // indirect
+	github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.2 // indirect
+	github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/jinzhu/now v1.1.5 // indirect
+	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 // indirect
+	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
+	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.23.0 // indirect
+	gorm.io/gorm v1.25.12 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/server/go.sum b/server/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed3b4f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0/go.mod h1:Y58oyj3AT4RCenI/lSvhwexgC+NSVTIJ3seZv2GcEnc=
+github.com/go-chi/chi/v5 v5.2.1 h1:KOIHODQj58PmL80G2Eak4WdvUzjSJSm0vG72crDCqb8=
+github.com/go-chi/chi/v5 v5.2.1/go.mod h1:L2yAIGWB3H+phAw1NxKwWM+7eUH/lU8pOMm5hHcoops=
+github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.0.4/go.mod h1:xhWf0FNVPg57R7Z0UbKHbJfkEywrmjJnf7w5xrFpKfA=
+github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.2 h1:Rl4B7itRWVtYIHFrSNd7vhTiz9UpLdi6gZhZ3wEeDy8=
+github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.2/go.mod h1:pqrtFR0X4osieyHYxtmOUWsAWrfe1Q5UVIyoH402zdk=
+github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0 h1:K317FqzuhWc8YvSVlFMCCUb36O/S9MCKRDI7QkRKD/E=
+github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0/go.mod h1:h+uFLlag+Qp1Va5pdKtLDYj+kHp5pxUVkryuEj+Srlc=
+github.com/jinzhu/now v1.1.5 h1:/o9tlHleP7gOFmsnYNz3RGnqzefHA47wQpKrrdTIwXQ=
+github.com/jinzhu/now v1.1.5/go.mod h1:d3SSVoowX0Lcu0IBviAWJpolVfI5UJVZZ7cO71lE/z8=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13/go.mod h1:7S9/ev0klgBDR4GtXTXX8a3vIGJpMovkB8vQcUbaXHg=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 h1:9A9LHSqF/7dyVVX6g0U9cwm9pG3kP9gSzcuIPHPsaIE=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14/go.mod h1:6LmQG8QLFO4G5z1gPvYEzlUgJ2wF+stgPZH1UqBm1s8=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16/go.mod h1:kYGgaQfpe5nmfYZH+SKPsOc2e4SrIfOl2e/yFXSvRLM=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 h1:xfD0iDuEKnDkl03q4limB+vH+GxLEtL/jb4xVJSWWEY=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
+github.com/op/go-logging v0.0.0-20160315200505-970db520ece7 h1:lDH9UUVJtmYCjyT0CI4q8xvlXPxeZ0gYCVvWbmPlp88=
+github.com/op/go-logging v0.0.0-20160315200505-970db520ece7/go.mod h1:HzydrMdWErDVzsI23lYNej1Htcns9BCg93Dk0bBINWk=
+github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
+github.com/rs/xid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:7XoLgs4eV+QndskICGsho+ADou8ySMSjJKDIan90Nz0=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0 h1:k43nTLIwcTVQAncfCw4KZ2VY6ukYoZaBPNOE8txlOeY=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0/go.mod h1:bJsvje4Z08ROH4Nhs5iH600c3IkWhwp44iRc54W6wYQ=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0 h1:AnAEvhDddvBdpY+uR+MyHmuZzzNqXSe/GvuDeob5L34=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0/go.mod h1:Y4J0ReaxCR1IMaabaSMugxJES1EpwhBHhv2bDHklZvc=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220811171246-fbc7d0a398ab/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0 h1:ioabZlmFYtWhL+TRYpcnNlLwhyxaM9kWTDEmfnprqik=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0/go.mod h1:BJP2sWEmIv4KK5OTEluFJCKSidICx8ciO85XgH3Ak8k=
+golang.org/x/text v0.23.0 h1:D71I7dUrlY+VX0gQShAThNGHFxZ13dGLBHQLVl1mJlY=
+golang.org/x/text v0.23.0/go.mod h1:/BLNzu4aZCJ1+kcD0DNRotWKage4q2rGVAg4o22unh4=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1 h1:bBRl1b0OH9s/DuPhuXpNl+VtCaJXFZ5/uEFST95x9zc=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1/go.mod h1:YD8tP3GAjkrDg1eZH7EGmyESg/lsYskCTPBJVb9jqSc=
+gorm.io/gorm v1.25.12 h1:I0u8i2hWQItBq1WfE0o2+WuL9+8L21K9e2HHSTE/0f8=
+gorm.io/gorm v1.25.12/go.mod h1:xh7N7RHfYlNc5EmcI/El95gXusucDrQnHXe0+CgWcLQ=
diff --git a/server/internal/server.go b/server/internal/server.go
index 5bf0569..c45882a 100644
--- a/server/internal/server.go
+++ b/server/internal/server.go
@@ -1 +1,17 @@
 package internal
+
+import "github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+
+var (
+	jwtSecret, dbURL string
+)
+
+func init() {
+	InitLogger()
+	jwtSecret = EnvOrExit("JWT_SECRET")
+	dbURL = EnvOrExit("POSTGRES_URL")
+	log.Debug().Msg("Initialization completed")
+	// TODO: run migrations here if necessary
+}
+
+func Run() {}
diff --git a/server/internal/util.go b/server/internal/util.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94e4f3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/internal/util.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package internal
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+)
+
+func EnvOrExit(key string) string {
+	value := os.Getenv(key)
+	if value == "" {
+		log.Fatal().Msgf("Required env. variable '%s' is empty or missing", key)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	log.Debug().Msgf("Read env: %s='%s'", key, value)
+	return value
+}
+
+func InitLogger() {
+	logLevel := os.Getenv("LOG_LEVEL")
+	level, err := zerolog.ParseLevel(logLevel)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Default to INFO
+		level = zerolog.InfoLevel
+	}
+	zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(level)
+
+	if os.Getenv("ENV") == "development" {
+		log.Logger = log.Output(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
+	} else {
+		log.Logger = log.Output(os.Stderr) // JSON to stdout/stderr
+	}
+
+	log.Debug().Msg("Logger initialized")
+}
diff --git a/server/cmd/server.go b/server/main.go
similarity index 84%
rename from server/cmd/server.go
rename to server/main.go
index 98b5f92..c131213 100644
--- a/server/cmd/server.go
+++ b/server/main.go
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
+	internal.Run()
 }