diff --git a/api/src/NotesApplication.kt b/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
index 5d3d97f..7f5c1bf 100644
--- a/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
+++ b/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import be.vandewalleh.features.configurationFeature
 import be.vandewalleh.features.configurationModule
 import be.vandewalleh.features.features
 import be.vandewalleh.migrations.Migration
+import be.vandewalleh.services.serviceModule
 import io.ktor.application.Application
 import io.ktor.application.log
 import io.ktor.auth.authenticate
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ fun Application.module() {
     kodein = Kodein {
         import(controllerModule)
         import(configurationModule)
+        import(serviceModule)
 
         bind<Feature>() with singleton { Migration(this.kodein) }
         bind<Database>() with singleton { Database.Companion.connect(this.instance<DataSource>()) }
diff --git a/api/src/controllers/ChaptersController.kt b/api/src/controllers/ChaptersController.kt
index ceb409b..54ff772 100644
--- a/api/src/controllers/ChaptersController.kt
+++ b/api/src/controllers/ChaptersController.kt
@@ -76,12 +76,11 @@ class ChaptersController(kodein: Kodein) : AuthCrudController("/notes/{noteTitle
             val chapterNumber = call.chapterNumber()
                 ?:return@post call.respondStatus(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest)
 
-            val exists =
+            val exists = false
 
 
             val (title, content) = call.receive<PostRequestBody>()
 
-            if()
 
         }
     }
diff --git a/api/src/services/NotesService.kt b/api/src/services/NotesService.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43eed75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/services/NotesService.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package be.vandewalleh.services
+
+import be.vandewalleh.tables.Notes
+import be.vandewalleh.tables.Tags
+import me.liuwj.ktorm.database.Database
+import me.liuwj.ktorm.dsl.*
+import org.kodein.di.Kodein
+import org.kodein.di.KodeinAware
+import org.kodein.di.generic.instance
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
+
+/**
+ * service to handle database queries at the Notes level.
+ */
+class NotesService(override val kodein: Kodein) : KodeinAware {
+    val db by instance<Database>()
+
+    /**
+     * returns a list of [NotesDTO] associated with the userId
+     */
+    fun getNotes(userId: Int): List<NotesDTO> {
+        val notes = db.from(Notes)
+            .select(Notes.id, Notes.title, Notes.updatedAt)
+            .where { Notes.userId eq userId }
+            .orderBy(Notes.updatedAt.desc())
+            .map { row ->
+                Notes.createEntity(row)
+            }
+            .toList()
+
+        return notes.map { note ->
+            val tags = db.from(Tags)
+                .select(Tags.name)
+                .where { Tags.noteId eq note.id }
+                .map { it[Tags.name]!! }
+                .toList()
+
+            val updatedAt = DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE_TIME.format(note.updatedAt)
+
+            NotesDTO(note.title, tags, updatedAt)
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
+
+data class NotesDTO(val title: String, val tags: List<String>, val updatedAt: String)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/src/services/Services.kt b/api/src/services/Services.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdb698c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/services/Services.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package be.vandewalleh.services
+
+import org.kodein.di.Kodein
+import org.kodein.di.generic.bind
+import org.kodein.di.generic.singleton
+
+
+/**
+ * [Kodein] controller module containing the app services
+ */
+val serviceModule = Kodein.Module(name = "Services") {
+    bind<NotesService>() with singleton { NotesService(this.kodein) }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/src/services/UserService.kt b/api/src/services/UserService.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59dd579
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/services/UserService.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package be.vandewalleh.services
+
+import be.vandewalleh.tables.Users
+import me.liuwj.ktorm.database.Database
+import me.liuwj.ktorm.dsl.*
+import org.kodein.di.Kodein
+import org.kodein.di.KodeinAware
+import org.kodein.di.generic.instance
+
+/**
+ * service to handle database queries for users.
+ */
+class UserService(override val kodein: Kodein) : KodeinAware {
+    private val db by instance<Database>()
+
+    /**
+     * returns a user ID if present or null
+     */
+    fun getUserId(userEmail: String): Int? {
+        return db.from(Users)
+            .select(Users.id)
+            .where { Users.email eq userEmail }
+            .limit(0, 1)
+            .map { it[Users.id] }
+            .firstOrNull()
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file