diff --git a/.babelrc b/.babelrc
index 1320b9a..8aa924d 100644
--- a/.babelrc
+++ b/.babelrc
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
   "presets": ["@babel/preset-env"]
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/seed.js b/data/seed.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf5be0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/seed.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import mongoose from 'mongoose'
+import dotenv from 'dotenv'
+import Thought from '../models/Thought.js'
+import thoughts from './thoughts.json'
+
+dotenv.config()
+
+const mongoUrl = process.env.MONGO_URL || 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/happythoughts'
+
+mongoose
+  .connect(mongoUrl)
+  .then(async () => {
+    console.log('✅ Connected to MongoDB for seeding')
+    // 1. Clear existing documents
+    await Thought.deleteMany()
+    // 2. Insert our dummy data
+    const inserted = await Thought.insertMany(thoughts)
+    console.log(`🌱 Seeded ${inserted.length} thoughts`)
+  })
+  .catch((err) => {
+    console.error('❌ Seeding error:', err)
+  })
+  .finally(() => {
+    mongoose.connection.close()
+  })
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data.json b/data/thoughts.json
similarity index 94%
rename from data.json
rename to data/thoughts.json
index a2c844f..1124d7f 100644
--- a/data.json
+++ b/data/thoughts.json
@@ -110,12 +110,5 @@
     "hearts": 3,
     "createdAt": "2025-05-20T03:57:40.322Z",
     "__v": 0
-  },
-  {
-    "_id": "682bab8c12155b00101732ce",
-    "message": "Berlin baby",
-    "hearts": 37,
-    "createdAt": "2025-05-19T22:07:08.999Z",
-    "__v": 0
   }
 ]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/models/Thought.js b/models/Thought.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec2bd8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/Thought.js
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import mongoose from 'mongoose'
+
+const { Schema, model } = mongoose
+
+const ThoughtSchema = new Schema({
+  message: {
+    type: String,
+    required: true,
+    minlength: 5,
+    maxlength: 140
+  },
+  hearts: {
+    type: Number,
+    default: 0
+  },
+  createdAt: {
+    type: Date,
+    default: () => new Date()
+  }
+})
+
+export default model('Thought', ThoughtSchema)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bf25bb6..11eb5ee 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,16 +4,22 @@
   "description": "Project API",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "babel-node server.js",
-    "dev": "nodemon server.js --exec babel-node"
+    "dev": "nodemon server.js --exec babel-node",
+    "seed": "babel-node data/seed.js"
   },
   "author": "",
   "license": "ISC",
   "dependencies": {
-    "@babel/core": "^7.17.9",
-    "@babel/node": "^7.16.8",
-    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.16.11",
     "cors": "^2.8.5",
+    "dotenv": "^16.5.0",
     "express": "^4.17.3",
-    "nodemon": "^3.0.1"
+    "express-list-endpoints": "^7.1.1",
+    "mongoose": "^8.15.1"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@babel/core": "^7.27.4",
+    "@babel/node": "^7.27.1",
+    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.27.2",
+    "nodemon": "^3.1.10"
   }
 }
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index f47771b..0f35879 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -1,22 +1,113 @@
-import cors from "cors"
-import express from "express"
+import express from 'express'
+import cors from 'cors'
+import listEndpoints from 'express-list-endpoints'
+import dotenv from 'dotenv'
+import mongoose from 'mongoose'
+import Thought from './models/Thought.js'
+
+dotenv.config()
 
-// Defines the port the app will run on. Defaults to 8080, but can be overridden
-// when starting the server. Example command to overwrite PORT env variable value:
-// PORT=9000 npm start
-const port = process.env.PORT || 8080
 const app = express()
+const PORT = process.env.PORT || 8080
+
+// Connect to MongoDB
+const mongoUrl = process.env.MONGO_URL || 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/happythoughts'
+mongoose
+  .connect(mongoUrl)
+  .then(() => console.log('✅ Connected to MongoDB'))
+  .catch((err) => console.error('❌ MongoDB connection error:', err))
 
-// Add middlewares to enable cors and json body parsing
+// Middleware
 app.use(cors())
 app.use(express.json())
 
-// Start defining your routes here
-app.get("/", (req, res) => {
-  res.send("Hello Technigo!")
+// 1) API documentation & welcome message
+app.get('/', (req, res) => {
+  res.json({
+    message: 'Welcome to the Happy Thoughts API',
+    endpoints: listEndpoints(app)
+  })
 })
 
-// Start the server
-app.listen(port, () => {
-  console.log(`Server running on http://localhost:${port}`)
+// 2) Collection endpoint: get all thoughts, optional filter by hearts
+app.get('/thoughts', async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    const { hearts } = req.query
+    const filter = hearts ? { hearts: Number(hearts) } : {}
+    const thoughts = await Thought.find(filter).sort({ createdAt: -1 })
+    res.status(200).json(thoughts)
+  } catch (err) {
+    next(err)
+  }
+})
+
+// 3) Single‐item endpoint: get one thought by ID
+app.get('/thoughts/:id', async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    const thought = await Thought.findById(req.params.id)
+    if (!thought) {
+      return res
+        .status(404)
+        .json({ error: `Thought with ID '${req.params.id}' not found` })
+    }
+    res.status(200).json(thought)
+  } catch (err) {
+    next(err)
+  }
+})
+
+// 4) Create a new thought
+app.post('/thoughts', async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    const { message } = req.body
+    const newThought = new Thought({ message })
+    const savedThought = await newThought.save()
+    res.status(201).json(savedThought)
+  } catch (err) {
+    next(err)
+  }
 })
+
+// 5) Update a thought (edit message or hearts)
+app.put('/thoughts/:id', async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    const updated = await Thought.findByIdAndUpdate(
+      req.params.id,
+      req.body,
+      { new: true, runValidators: true }
+    )
+    if (!updated) {
+      return res
+        .status(404)
+        .json({ error: `Thought with ID '${req.params.id}' not found` })
+    }
+    res.json(updated)
+  } catch (err) {
+    next(err)
+  }
+})
+
+// 6) Delete a thought
+app.delete('/thoughts/:id', async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    const deleted = await Thought.findByIdAndDelete(req.params.id)
+    if (!deleted) {
+      return res
+        .status(404)
+        .json({ error: `Thought with ID '${req.params.id}' not found` })
+    }
+    res.json({ success: true, deletedId: req.params.id })
+  } catch (err) {
+    next(err)
+  }
+})
+
+// Error handler
+app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
+  res.status(400).json({ error: err.message })
+})
+
+// Start the server
+app.listen(PORT, () => {
+  console.log(`Server running on http://localhost:${PORT}`)
+})
\ No newline at end of file