diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b43baeb..3806a5d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -52,6 +52,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "subtle",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ahash"
+version = "0.7.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5a824f2aa7e75a0c98c5a504fceb80649e9c35265d44525b5f94de4771a395cd"
+dependencies = [
+ "getrandom",
+ "once_cell",
+ "version_check",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "aho-corasick"
 version = "1.1.2"
@@ -178,6 +189,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustc-demangle",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "base64"
+version = "0.13.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9e1b586273c5702936fe7b7d6896644d8be71e6314cfe09d3167c95f712589e8"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "base64"
 version = "0.21.5"
@@ -242,6 +259,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "inout",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "config"
+version = "0.13.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "23738e11972c7643e4ec947840fc463b6a571afcd3e735bdfce7d03c7a784aca"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "json5",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "nom",
+ "pathdiff",
+ "ron",
+ "rust-ini",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "toml",
+ "yaml-rust",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cookie"
 version = "0.16.2"
@@ -260,7 +296,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3cd91cf61412820176e137621345ee43b3f4423e589e7ae4e50d601d93e35ef8"
 dependencies = [
  "aes-gcm",
- "base64",
+ "base64 0.21.5",
  "percent-encoding",
  "rand",
  "subtle",
@@ -349,6 +385,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "crypto-common",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dlv-list"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0688c2a7f92e427f44895cd63841bff7b29f8d7a1648b9e7e07a4a365b2e1257"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "encoding_rs"
 version = "0.8.33"
@@ -537,6 +579,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashbrown"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8a9ee70c43aaf417c914396645a0fa852624801b24ebb7ae78fe8272889ac888"
+dependencies = [
+ "ahash",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.14.3"
@@ -549,7 +600,7 @@ version = "0.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "322106e6bd0cba2d5ead589ddb8150a13d7c4217cf80d7c4f682ca994ccc6aa9"
 dependencies = [
- "base64",
+ "base64 0.21.5",
  "bytes",
  "headers-core",
  "http 1.0.0",
@@ -755,7 +806,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d530e1a18b1cb4c484e6e34556a0d948706958449fca0cab753d649f2bce3d1f"
 dependencies = [
  "equivalent",
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.14.3",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -788,6 +839,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "json5"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "96b0db21af676c1ce64250b5f40f3ce2cf27e4e47cb91ed91eb6fe9350b430c1"
+dependencies = [
+ "pest",
+ "pest_derive",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lazy_static"
 version = "1.4.0"
@@ -800,6 +862,12 @@ version = "0.2.151"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "302d7ab3130588088d277783b1e2d2e10c9e9e4a16dd9050e6ec93fb3e7048f4"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "linked-hash-map"
+version = "0.5.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0717cef1bc8b636c6e1c1bbdefc09e6322da8a9321966e8928ef80d20f7f770f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "linux-raw-sys"
 version = "0.4.12"
@@ -855,6 +923,12 @@ version = "0.3.17"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6877bb514081ee2a7ff5ef9de3281f14a4dd4bceac4c09388074a6b5df8a139a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "minimal-lexical"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "68354c5c6bd36d73ff3feceb05efa59b6acb7626617f4962be322a825e61f79a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miniz_oxide"
 version = "0.7.1"
@@ -893,6 +967,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "tempfile",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nom"
+version = "7.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d273983c5a657a70a3e8f2a01329822f3b8c8172b73826411a55751e404a0a4a"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "minimal-lexical",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "nu-ansi-term"
 version = "0.46.0"
@@ -978,6 +1062,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "vcpkg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ordered-multimap"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ccd746e37177e1711c20dd619a1620f34f5c8b569c53590a72dedd5344d8924a"
+dependencies = [
+ "dlv-list",
+ "hashbrown 0.12.3",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "overload"
 version = "0.1.1"
@@ -1007,12 +1101,63 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.48.5",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pathdiff"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8835116a5c179084a830efb3adc117ab007512b535bc1a21c991d3b32a6b44dd"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "percent-encoding"
 version = "2.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e3148f5046208a5d56bcfc03053e3ca6334e51da8dfb19b6cdc8b306fae3283e"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pest"
+version = "2.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ae9cee2a55a544be8b89dc6848072af97a20f2422603c10865be2a42b580fff5"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "thiserror",
+ "ucd-trie",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pest_derive"
+version = "2.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "81d78524685f5ef2a3b3bd1cafbc9fcabb036253d9b1463e726a91cd16e2dfc2"
+dependencies = [
+ "pest",
+ "pest_generator",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pest_generator"
+version = "2.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "68bd1206e71118b5356dae5ddc61c8b11e28b09ef6a31acbd15ea48a28e0c227"
+dependencies = [
+ "pest",
+ "pest_meta",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pest_meta"
+version = "2.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7c747191d4ad9e4a4ab9c8798f1e82a39affe7ef9648390b7e5548d18e099de6"
+dependencies = [
+ "once_cell",
+ "pest",
+ "sha2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project"
 version = "1.1.3"
@@ -1198,7 +1343,7 @@ version = "0.11.23"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "37b1ae8d9ac08420c66222fb9096fc5de435c3c48542bc5336c51892cffafb41"
 dependencies = [
- "base64",
+ "base64 0.21.5",
  "bytes",
  "cookie 0.16.2",
  "cookie_store",
@@ -1232,6 +1377,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "winreg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ron"
+version = "0.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "88073939a61e5b7680558e6be56b419e208420c2adb92be54921fa6b72283f1a"
+dependencies = [
+ "base64 0.13.1",
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "serde",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rust-ini"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f6d5f2436026b4f6e79dc829837d467cc7e9a55ee40e750d716713540715a2df"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "ordered-multimap",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc-demangle"
 version = "0.1.23"
@@ -1365,6 +1531,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "digest",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sha2"
+version = "0.10.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "793db75ad2bcafc3ffa7c68b215fee268f537982cd901d132f89c6343f3a3dc8"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "cpufeatures",
+ "digest",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sharded-slab"
 version = "0.1.7"
@@ -1625,6 +1802,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "toml"
+version = "0.5.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f4f7f0dd8d50a853a531c426359045b1998f04219d88799810762cd4ad314234"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tower"
 version = "0.4.13"
@@ -1727,6 +1913,12 @@ version = "1.17.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "42ff0bf0c66b8238c6f3b578df37d0b7848e55df8577b3f74f92a69acceeb825"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ucd-trie"
+version = "0.1.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ed646292ffc8188ef8ea4d1e0e0150fb15a5c2e12ad9b8fc191ae7a8a7f3c4b9"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-bidi"
 version = "0.3.14"
@@ -2042,6 +2234,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "yaml-rust"
+version = "0.4.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "56c1936c4cc7a1c9ab21a1ebb602eb942ba868cbd44a99cb7cdc5892335e1c85"
+dependencies = [
+ "linked-hash-map",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zero-to-axum"
 version = "0.1.0-dev"
@@ -2049,6 +2250,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "axum",
  "axum-extra",
+ "config",
  "futures-util",
  "hyper 1.1.0",
  "pin-project",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 317ef91..a7eb80e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
 anyhow = { version = "1.0.71", features = ["backtrace"] }
 axum = {version = "0.7", features = ["tokio", "http1", "http2"] }
 axum-extra = { version = "0.9.0", features = ["cookie-private", "typed-header"] }
+config = { version = "0.13.4", features = ["toml"] }
 futures-util = "0.3"
 hyper = "1.1"
 pin-project = "1.1.0"
diff --git a/conf/default.toml b/conf/default.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75d0533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conf/default.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+debug = true
+
+listen = "[::]:3742"
+
+[database]
+url = "sqlite://./zero-to-axum.db"
diff --git a/src/conf.rs b/src/conf.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ea95b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/conf.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+use anyhow::Result;
+use config::{Config, Environment, File};
+use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::{env, net::SocketAddr};
+
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+pub struct Database {
+    pub url: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+#[allow(unused)]
+pub struct Conf {
+    pub debug: bool,
+    pub database: Database,
+    pub listen: SocketAddr,
+}
+
+impl Conf {
+    pub fn read() -> Result<Self> {
+        let mode = env::var("MODE").unwrap_or_else(|_| "dev".into());
+
+        let s = Config::builder()
+            .add_source(File::with_name("conf/default"))
+            .add_source(File::with_name(&format!("conf/{}", mode)).required(false))
+            .add_source(Environment::with_prefix("z2a"))
+            .build()?;
+
+        Ok(s.try_deserialize()?)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index a2a89b7..0a8c5f8 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+pub mod conf;
 mod server;
 
+pub use conf::Conf;
 pub use server::ZeroToAxum;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 939fd11..a38cbfd 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
-use zero_to_axum::ZeroToAxum;
+use zero_to_axum::{Conf, ZeroToAxum};
 
 fn init_tracing() {
     use tracing_subscriber::{filter::LevelFilter, fmt, EnvFilter};
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ fn init_tracing() {
 async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     init_tracing();
 
-    let addr = "[::]:3742".parse().unwrap();
-    let server = ZeroToAxum::serve(addr).await;
+    let conf = Conf::read()?;
+    let server = ZeroToAxum::serve(conf).await;
 
     server.await.context("run server")
 }
diff --git a/src/server/mod.rs b/src/server/mod.rs
index 252cbd0..d85a17f 100644
--- a/src/server/mod.rs
+++ b/src/server/mod.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ use std::pin::pin;
 use std::pin::Pin;
 use tracing::info;
 
+use crate::Conf;
+
 #[pin_project]
 pub struct ZeroToAxum {
     #[pin]
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ impl ZeroToAxum {
         self.bound_addr
     }
 
-    pub async fn serve(addr: SocketAddr) -> ZeroToAxum {
+    pub async fn serve(conf: Conf) -> ZeroToAxum {
         let state = AppState {
             // TODO: pull from config
             key: Key::generate(),
@@ -41,11 +43,11 @@ impl ZeroToAxum {
 
         let app = routes::build().with_state(state);
 
-        let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(&addr).await.unwrap();
+        let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(&conf.listen).await.unwrap();
         let bound_addr = listener.local_addr().unwrap();
         let server = axum::serve(listener, app);
 
-        info!("server started, listening on {addr:?}");
+        info!("server started, listening on {bound_addr:?}");
 
         ZeroToAxum {
             server: Box::pin(server.into_future()),
diff --git a/tests/basic.rs b/tests/basic.rs
index d9898cc..b334c02 100644
--- a/tests/basic.rs
+++ b/tests/basic.rs
@@ -13,3 +13,14 @@ async fn health_check() -> Result<()> {
 
     server.shutdown().await
 }
+
+#[traced(tokio::test)]
+async fn config_reads_defaults() {
+    let conf = zero_to_axum::Conf::read().unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        conf.listen,
+        "[::]:3742".parse().unwrap(),
+        "parse server listen addr"
+    );
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixture/mod.rs b/tests/fixture/mod.rs
index d74fdf8..fff3829 100644
--- a/tests/fixture/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/fixture/mod.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use futures_util::FutureExt;
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
 use tokio::task::JoinHandle;
 use tracing::info;
-use zero_to_axum::ZeroToAxum;
+use zero_to_axum::{Conf, ZeroToAxum};
 
 pub struct TestServer {
     server_task_handle: JoinHandle<()>,
@@ -13,7 +13,14 @@ pub struct TestServer {
 impl TestServer {
     pub async fn spawn() -> TestServer {
         info!("start server");
-        let server = ZeroToAxum::serve("[::]:0".parse().unwrap()).await;
+        let server = ZeroToAxum::serve(Conf {
+            listen: "[::]:0".parse().unwrap(),
+            database: zero_to_axum::conf::Database {
+                url: "memory:".into(),
+            },
+            debug: true,
+        })
+        .await;
         let addr = server.local_addr();
         let server_task_handle = tokio::spawn(server.map(|res| res.unwrap()));
         info!("server spawned");