diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec9f97b..12500f9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Run `./launch.sh` in the main directory of the repository to run the server with
 
 Once launched the application is available at `http://localhost:8082`
 
+To update the database schema run `docker-compose exec -T app php /var/www/html/database/update-db.php`.
+
 ### Without containers
 
 You will need:
diff --git a/database/database.sql b/database/database.sql
index 77cea76..c53adc6 100644
--- a/database/database.sql
+++ b/database/database.sql
@@ -59,3 +59,6 @@ create table notes (
 	foreign key (candidate_id) references users (id) on delete cascade on update cascade,
 	primary key (uid, candidate_id)
 );
+
+-- Be careful not to change this line other than the number of the version, this is parsed with regex by the updater
+insert into config (id, value) values ('SchemaVersion', '0');
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/database/update-db.php b/database/update-db.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0c2a7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/update-db.php
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * ! HOW TO USE !
+ * 
+ * You don't need to look in here. All you need to do is write your querys in the database/update folder. They will be executed in order.
+ * Remember also to update the version at the bottom of the weeehire.sql file.
+ * 
+ */
+
+
+
+namespace WEEEOpen\WEEEHire;
+
+
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+	http_response_code(403);
+	header('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
+	echo 'Available only in PHP CLI';
+	return;
+}
+
+require __DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '..' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'vendor' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'autoload.php';
+require __DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '..' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'src' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'Database.php';
+
+$database = file_get_contents(__DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '..' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'database' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'database.sql');
+
+if ($database === false) {
+	echo 'Database file not found';
+	echo PHP_EOL;
+	exit(1);
+}
+
+preg_match("#\(.SchemaVersion., (\d+)\)#", $database, $matches);
+if (sizeof($matches) < 1) {
+	$schema = 0;
+	echo 'Schema version not found, assuming 0';
+	echo PHP_EOL;
+} else {
+	$schema = (int) $matches[1];
+}
+
+echo "Last versions found in sql files: schema $schema";
+echo PHP_EOL;
+
+try {
+	$db = new Database();
+	try {
+		$currentVersion = (int) $db->getConfigValue('SchemaVersion');
+	} catch (\Exception $e) {
+		if ($e->getCode() === 404) {
+			$currentVersion = 0;
+		} else {
+			throw $e;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if ($currentVersion === $schema) {
+		echo 'Database is up to date';
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if ($currentVersion > $schema) {
+		throw new \Exception('Database version is newer than the one in the sql file', 1);
+	}
+
+	$rawDb	= $db->getDb();
+
+	while ($currentVersion < $schema) {
+		$currentVersion++;
+		$filename = __DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '..' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'database' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'update' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $currentVersion . '.sql';
+		if (!file_exists($filename)) {
+			throw new \Exception('Update file not found: ' . $filename, 2);
+		}
+
+		$sql = file_get_contents($filename);
+		$rawDb->exec('BEGIN');
+		$rawDb->exec($sql);
+		$db->setConfigValue('SchemaVersion', $currentVersion);
+		$rawDb->exec('COMMIT');
+		echo 'Updated to version ' . $currentVersion;
+		echo PHP_EOL;
+	}
+} catch(\Exception $e) {
+	echo get_class($e);
+	echo PHP_EOL;
+	echo $e->getMessage();
+	echo PHP_EOL;
+	echo $e->getTraceAsString();
+	exit(1);
+}
+
+echo 'Update completed';
+echo PHP_EOL;
+exit(0);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/database/update/1.sql b/database/update/1.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9409d08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/update/1.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+
+-- TODO: actually use this
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Database.php b/src/Database.php
index 4f97eed..9fbfb11 100644
--- a/src/Database.php
+++ b/src/Database.php
@@ -19,6 +19,17 @@ public function __construct()
 		$this->db = new SQLite3(__DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '..' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'database' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'weeehire.db', SQLITE3_OPEN_READWRITE);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * ⚠️ THIS METHOD IS UNSAFE, NEVER EXPOSE IT, ONLY FOR DB UPGRADE ⚠️
+	 * Get the SQLite3 object
+	 * @return SQLite3
+	 */
+
+	public function getDb(): SQLite3
+	{
+		return $this->db;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Insert a new User into the database
 	 *
@@ -205,7 +216,7 @@ public function getConfigValue(string $option)
 			$result->finalize();
 
 			if ($row === false) {
-				throw new DatabaseException("Config value $option not found");
+				throw new DatabaseException("Config value $option not found", 404);
 			}
 
 			return $row['value'];