diff --git a/assets/.lua/schema.lua b/assets/.lua/schema.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f9b2dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/.lua/schema.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+local csexp = require"csexp"
+local sqlite = require"lsqlite3"
+
+local function sqlite_ok(errcode)
+	return errcode == sqlite.OK or errcode == sqlite.DONE
+end
+
+local function quote_name(name)
+	return [["]]..string.gsub(name, [["]], [[""]])..[["]]
+end
+
+local function setup(db)
+	db:create_function("parse_node_name", 1, function(ctx, table_name)
+		local obj = csexp.parse(table_name)
+		if type(obj) ~= "table" or obj[1] ~= "node" then
+			ctx:result_null()
+			return
+		end
+		local node_name = obj[2]
+		if not node_name then
+			ctx:result_null()
+			return
+		end
+		ctx:result_text(node_name)
+	end)
+end
+
+local function new_node_type(db, name)
+	local table_name = csexp.serialize{"node", name}
+	local quoted_name = quote_name(table_name)
+	local query = string.format([[
+		CREATE TABLE %s (
+			id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY
+		);
+	]], quoted_name)
+	-- for _ in db:rows(query) do end
+	db:exec(query)
+
+	if not sqlite_ok(db:errcode()) then
+		error(db:errmsg())
+	end
+end
+
+local function get_node_types(db)
+	local query = [[
+		SELECT parse_node_name(name)
+		FROM sqlite_schema
+		WHERE parse_node_name(name) IS NOT NULL
+		ORDER BY parse_node_name(name) ASC;
+	]]
+	return db:urows(query)
+end
+
+return {
+	setup = setup,
+	quote_name = quote_name,
+	new_node_type = new_node_type,
+	get_node_types = get_node_types,
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/main.lua b/tests/main.lua
index 1424dca..dc97af1 100644
--- a/tests/main.lua
+++ b/tests/main.lua
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ lester = require "lester"
 lester.show_traceback = false
 
 require "test-csexp"
+require "test-schema"
 
 lester.report()
 lester.exit()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test-schema.lua b/tests/test-schema.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb1ee56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-schema.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+local schema = require "schema"
+local sqlite = require "lsqlite3"
+local describe, it, expect = lester.describe, lester.it, lester.expect
+
+describe("schema", function()
+	local db
+	lester.before(function()
+		db = sqlite.open_memory()
+		db:exec("PRAGMA foreign_keys")
+		schema.setup(db)
+	end)
+	lester.after(function()
+		db:close()
+		db = nil
+	end)
+
+	describe("new_node_type", function()
+		it("creates new node types", function()
+			local node_type_names = {"a", "b", "c", "d"}
+			for _, name in ipairs(node_type_names) do
+				schema.new_node_type(db, name)
+			end
+			local results = {}
+			for name in schema.get_node_types(db) do
+				table.insert(results, name)
+			end
+			expect.equal(node_type_names, results)
+		end)
+
+		it("fails when creating a duplicate node type", function()
+			local function create()
+				schema.new_node_type(db, "a")
+			end
+			create()
+			expect.fail(create)
+		end)
+	end)
+
+	describe("quote name", function()
+		it("quotes names and escapes double quotes", function()
+			local original = [[My "name" is "Frankie".]]
+			local expected = [["My ""name"" is ""Frankie""."]]
+			local actual = schema.quote_name(original)
+			expect.equal(expected, actual)
+		end)
+	end)
+end)
\ No newline at end of file