diff --git a/apps/api/jest.config.js b/apps/api/jest.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8ac138
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/jest.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+module.exports = {
+  moduleFileExtensions: ['js', 'json', 'ts'],
+  rootDir: 'src',
+  testRegex: '.*\\.spec\\.ts$',
+  transform: { '^.+\\.(t|j)s$': 'ts-jest' },
+  testEnvironment: 'node',
+};
diff --git a/apps/api/nest-cli.json b/apps/api/nest-cli.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9aa683
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/nest-cli.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/nest-cli",
+  "collection": "@nestjs/schematics",
+  "sourceRoot": "src",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "deleteOutDir": true
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/package.json b/apps/api/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d28f24f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+{
+  "name": "@tower/api",
+  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "nest build",
+    "dev": "nest start --watch",
+    "start": "node dist/main",
+    "test": "jest",
+    "test:e2e": "jest --config ./test/jest-e2e.json"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@nestjs/common": "^11.0.0",
+    "@nestjs/config": "^4.0.0",
+    "@nestjs/core": "^11.0.0",
+    "@nestjs/platform-express": "^11.0.0",
+    "@prisma/client": "^6.0.0",
+    "@tower/config": "workspace:*",
+    "@tower/logger": "workspace:*",
+    "@tower/types": "workspace:*",
+    "reflect-metadata": "^0.2.0",
+    "rxjs": "^7.8.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@nestjs/cli": "^11.0.0",
+    "@nestjs/schematics": "^11.0.0",
+    "@nestjs/testing": "^11.0.0",
+    "@types/jest": "^29.0.0",
+    "@types/node": "^22.0.0",
+    "jest": "^29.0.0",
+    "prisma": "^6.0.0",
+    "ts-jest": "^29.0.0",
+    "typescript": "^5.7.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma b/apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f72ab6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+generator client {
+  provider = "prisma-client-js"
+}
+
+datasource db {
+  provider = "postgresql"
+  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
+}
+
+model Group {
+  id          String   @id @default(cuid())
+  platform    String
+  platformId  String
+  name        String
+  description String?
+  isActive    Boolean  @default(true)
+  createdAt   DateTime @default(now())
+  updatedAt   DateTime @updatedAt
+
+  messages       Message[]
+  syncRoutesFrom SyncRoute[]     @relation("sourceGroup")
+  syncRoutesTo   SyncRoute[]     @relation("targetGroup")
+  consentRecords ConsentRecord[]
+
+  @@unique([platform, platformId])
+}
+
+model Message {
+  id            String        @id @default(cuid())
+  platform      String
+  platformMsgId String
+  sourceGroupId String
+  sourceGroup   Group         @relation(fields: [sourceGroupId], references: [id])
+  senderJid     String
+  senderName    String?
+  content       String
+  mediaUrl      String?
+  tags          String[]
+  status        MessageStatus @default(PENDING)
+  createdAt     DateTime      @default(now())
+  updatedAt     DateTime      @updatedAt
+
+  approval Approval?
+
+  @@unique([platform, platformMsgId])
+}
+
+enum MessageStatus {
+  PENDING
+  APPROVED
+  REJECTED
+  DISTRIBUTED
+  ARCHIVED
+}
+
+model Approval {
+  id        String           @id @default(cuid())
+  messageId String           @unique
+  message   Message          @relation(fields: [messageId], references: [id])
+  adminId   String
+  decision  ApprovalDecision
+  notes     String?
+  decidedAt DateTime         @default(now())
+}
+
+enum ApprovalDecision {
+  APPROVED
+  REJECTED
+}
+
+model SyncRoute {
+  id            String   @id @default(cuid())
+  sourceGroupId String
+  sourceGroup   Group    @relation("sourceGroup", fields: [sourceGroupId], references: [id])
+  targetGroupId String
+  targetGroup   Group    @relation("targetGroup", fields: [targetGroupId], references: [id])
+  isActive      Boolean  @default(true)
+  createdAt     DateTime @default(now())
+
+  @@unique([sourceGroupId, targetGroupId])
+}
+
+model ConsentRecord {
+  id          String    @id @default(cuid())
+  groupId     String
+  group       Group     @relation(fields: [groupId], references: [id])
+  memberJid   String
+  consentType String
+  grantedAt   DateTime  @default(now())
+  revokedAt   DateTime?
+
+  @@unique([groupId, memberJid, consentType])
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/app.module.ts b/apps/api/src/app.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0abdab7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/app.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { ConfigModule } from '@nestjs/config';
+import { PrismaModule } from './prisma/prisma.module';
+import { HealthModule } from './modules/health/health.module';
+
+@Module({
+  imports: [
+    ConfigModule.forRoot({ isGlobal: true }),
+    PrismaModule,
+    HealthModule,
+  ],
+})
+export class AppModule {}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/main.ts b/apps/api/src/main.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd42ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/main.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import 'reflect-metadata';
+import { NestFactory } from '@nestjs/core';
+import { AppModule } from './app.module';
+
+async function bootstrap() {
+  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);
+  const port = process.env['API_PORT'] ?? 3001;
+  await app.listen(port);
+  console.log(`TOWER API running on port ${port}`);
+}
+
+bootstrap();
diff --git a/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.controller.ts b/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.controller.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73f6be0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.controller.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';
+
+@Controller('health')
+export class HealthController {
+  @Get()
+  check() {
+    return {
+      status: 'ok',
+      service: 'tower-api',
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+    };
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.module.ts b/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7476abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/modules/health/health.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { HealthController } from './health.controller';
+
+@Module({
+  controllers: [HealthController],
+})
+export class HealthModule {}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.module.ts b/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7207426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { Global, Module } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { PrismaService } from './prisma.service';
+
+@Global()
+@Module({
+  providers: [PrismaService],
+  exports: [PrismaService],
+})
+export class PrismaModule {}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.service.ts b/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ffd32d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/prisma/prisma.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { Injectable, OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
+
+@Injectable()
+export class PrismaService
+  extends PrismaClient
+  implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy
+{
+  async onModuleInit() {
+    await this.$connect();
+  }
+
+  async onModuleDestroy() {
+    await this.$disconnect();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/tsconfig.json b/apps/api/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5fbae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "module": "commonjs",
+    "declaration": true,
+    "removeComments": true,
+    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
+    "experimentalDecorators": true,
+    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
+    "target": "ES2021",
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "outDir": "./dist",
+    "baseUrl": "./",
+    "incremental": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "strictNullChecks": true,
+    "noImplicitAny": true
+  }
+}