diff --git a/tooling/.formatter.exs b/.formatter.exs
similarity index 69%
rename from tooling/.formatter.exs
rename to .formatter.exs
index 6fc82a9..92e5016 100644
--- a/tooling/.formatter.exs
+++ b/.formatter.exs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# TODO: figure out why my vscode extension doesn't respect the formatter.exs file
+# if it's in a subdirectory
 [
   import_deps: [:ecto, :ecto_sql, :phoenix],
   subdirectories: ["priv/*/migrations"],
diff --git a/lib/pinchflat/platform/app_notification.ex b/lib/pinchflat/platform/app_notification.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b451931
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pinchflat/platform/app_notification.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+defmodule Pinchflat.Platform.AppNotification do
+  @moduledoc """
+  The AppNotification schema.
+  """
+
+  use Ecto.Schema
+  import Ecto.Changeset
+
+  @allowed_fields ~w(
+    uuid
+    title
+    body
+    severity
+    notification_date
+    read_at
+  )a
+
+  @required_fields ~w(uuid title severity notification_date)a
+
+  schema "app_notifications" do
+    # NOTE: this is _not_ used as a primary key, but as a unique identifier for all installations
+    field :uuid, Ecto.UUID
+    field :title, :string
+    field :body, :string
+    field :severity, Ecto.Enum, values: Logger.levels()
+    field :notification_date, :date
+    field :read_at, :naive_datetime
+
+    timestamps(type: :utc_datetime)
+  end
+
+  @doc false
+  def changeset(app_notification, attrs) do
+    app_notification
+    |> cast(attrs, @allowed_fields)
+    |> validate_required(@required_fields)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/pinchflat/platform/platform.ex b/lib/pinchflat/platform/platform.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f50fb29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pinchflat/platform/platform.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+defmodule Pinchflat.Platform do
+  @moduledoc """
+  The Platform context.
+  """
+
+  import Ecto.Query, warn: false
+  alias Pinchflat.Repo
+
+  alias Pinchflat.Platform.AppNotification
+
+  @doc """
+  Returns the list of app_notifications.
+
+  Returns [%AppNotification{}, ...]
+  """
+  def list_app_notifications do
+    Repo.all(AppNotification)
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  Creates a app_notification.
+
+  Returns {:ok, %AppNotification{}} | {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{}}
+  """
+  def create_app_notification(attrs \\ %{}) do
+    %AppNotification{}
+    |> AppNotification.changeset(attrs)
+    |> Repo.insert()
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  Returns `%Ecto.Changeset{}`
+  """
+  def change_app_notification(%AppNotification{} = app_notification, attrs \\ %{}) do
+    AppNotification.changeset(app_notification, attrs)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 830e379..d5f3057 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.MixProject do
   # See the documentation for `Mix` for more info on aliases.
   defp aliases do
     [
-      format: "format --dot-formatter=tooling/.formatter.exs",
       check: "check --config=tooling/.check.exs",
       credo: "credo --config-file=tooling/.credo.exs",
       setup: ["deps.get", "ecto.setup", "assets.setup", "assets.build"],
diff --git a/priv/notifications.json b/priv/notifications.json
index 86faf3e..3b887c5 100644
--- a/priv/notifications.json
+++ b/priv/notifications.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [
   {
-    "id": "36cd0f0c-89bf-4284-bf1c-0bc5b39e6dfe",
+    "uuid": "36cd0f0c-89bf-4284-bf1c-0bc5b39e6dfe",
     "title": "`yt-dlp` recommends disabling YouTube Cookie auth",
     "body": "`yt-dlp` has discovered an increased rate of IP bans for users who use YouTube Cookie auth. It is recommended to remove the contents of `/config/extras/cookies.txt`.",
     "severity": "alert",
diff --git a/priv/repo/erd.png b/priv/repo/erd.png
index 365c7b4..e88df38 100644
Binary files a/priv/repo/erd.png and b/priv/repo/erd.png differ
diff --git a/priv/repo/migrations/20240617182932_create_app_notifications.exs b/priv/repo/migrations/20240617182932_create_app_notifications.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b20d488
--- /dev/null
+++ b/priv/repo/migrations/20240617182932_create_app_notifications.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+defmodule Pinchflat.Repo.Migrations.CreateAppNotifications do
+  use Ecto.Migration
+
+  def change do
+    create table(:app_notifications) do
+      add :uuid, :string, null: false
+      add :title, :string, null: false
+      add :body, :string
+      add :severity, :string, null: false
+      add :notification_date, :date, null: false
+      add :read_at, :utc_datetime
+
+      timestamps(type: :utc_datetime)
+    end
+
+    create(unique_index(:app_notifications, [:uuid]))
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/platform_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/platform_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2207f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pinchflat/platform_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+defmodule Pinchflat.PlatformTest do
+  use Pinchflat.DataCase
+
+  import Pinchflat.PlatformFixtures
+
+  alias Pinchflat.Platform
+  alias Pinchflat.Platform.AppNotification
+
+  @invalid_attrs %{
+    title: nil,
+    severity: nil,
+    uuid: nil,
+    notification_date: nil
+  }
+
+  describe "list_app_notifications/0" do
+    test "returns all app_notifications" do
+      app_notification = app_notification_fixture()
+      assert Platform.list_app_notifications() == [app_notification]
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "create_app_notification/1" do
+    test "creation with valid data creates an app_notification" do
+      valid_attrs = %{
+        title: "some title",
+        body: "some body",
+        severity: "info",
+        uuid: "a8a1f81b-1761-4b48-93e2-396a021c4ca6",
+        notification_date: "2024-06-10"
+      }
+
+      assert {:ok, %AppNotification{} = app_notification} = Platform.create_app_notification(valid_attrs)
+      assert app_notification.title == "some title"
+    end
+
+    test "creation with invalid data returns error changeset" do
+      assert {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{}} = Platform.create_app_notification(@invalid_attrs)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "change_app_notification/1" do
+    test "returns a app_notification changeset" do
+      app_notification = app_notification_fixture()
+      assert %Ecto.Changeset{} = Platform.change_app_notification(app_notification)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/support/fixtures/platform_fixtures.ex b/test/support/fixtures/platform_fixtures.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f049d8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/support/fixtures/platform_fixtures.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+defmodule Pinchflat.PlatformFixtures do
+  @moduledoc """
+  This module defines test helpers for creating
+  entities via the `Pinchflat.Platform` context.
+  """
+
+  @doc """
+  Generate a app_notification.
+  """
+  def app_notification_fixture(attrs \\ %{}) do
+    {:ok, app_notification} =
+      attrs
+      |> Enum.into(%{
+        title: "a cool title",
+        body: "a cool notification",
+        notification_date: ~D[2020-01-01],
+        read_at: nil,
+        severity: :alert,
+        uuid: Ecto.UUID.generate()
+      })
+      |> Pinchflat.Platform.create_app_notification()
+
+    app_notification
+  end
+end