diff --git a/lib/couchrest.rb b/lib/couchrest.rb
index 31185e9..5cc6c6d 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ require 'couchrest/monkeypatches'
 module CouchRest
   autoload :Server,       'couchrest/core/server'
   autoload :Database,     'couchrest/core/database'
+  autoload :Model,        'couchrest/core/model'
   autoload :Pager,        'couchrest/helper/pager'
   autoload :FileManager,  'couchrest/helper/file_manager'
   autoload :Streamer,     'couchrest/helper/streamer'
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb b/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3823df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+module CouchRest
+  module Model
+    class << self
+      attr_accessor :default_database
+    end
+    
+    # instance methods on the model classes
+    module InstanceMethods
+      attr_accessor :doc
+      
+      def initialize doc = {}
+        self.doc = doc
+        unless doc['_id'] && doc['_rev']
+          init_doc
+        end
+      end
+      
+      def database
+        self.class.database
+      end
+      
+      def id
+        doc['_id']
+      end
+      
+      def rev
+        doc['_rev']
+      end
+      
+      def save
+        result = database.save doc
+        if result['ok']
+          doc['_id'] = result['id']
+          doc['_rev'] = result['rev']
+        end
+        result['ok']
+      end
+      
+      private
+      
+      def init_doc
+        doc['type'] = self.class.to_s
+      end
+    end # module InstanceMethods
+    
+    # these show up as class methods on models that include CouchRest::Model
+    module ClassMethods
+      def use_database db
+        @database = db
+      end
+      
+      def database
+        @database || CouchRest::Model.default_database
+      end
+      
+      def uniq_id method
+        before_create do |model|
+          model.doc['_id'] = model.send(method)
+        end
+      end
+    end # module ClassMethods
+    
+    # bookkeeping section
+    
+    # load the code into the model class
+    def self.included(klass)
+      klass.extend ClassMethods
+      klass.send(:include, InstanceMethods)
+    end
+    
+    
+  end # module Model
+end # module CouchRest
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diff --git a/spec/couchrest/core/model_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/core/model_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8603e9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/couchrest/core/model_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../spec_helper'
+
+class Basic
+  include CouchRest::Model
+end
+
+class Article
+  include CouchRest::Model
+  use_database CouchRest.database!('http://localhost:5984/couchrest-model-test')
+  uniq_id :slug
+end
+
+describe CouchRest::Model do
+  before(:all) do
+    @cr = CouchRest.new(COUCHHOST)
+    @db = @cr.database(TESTDB)
+    @db.delete! rescue nil
+    @db = @cr.create_db(TESTDB) rescue nil
+    CouchRest::Model.default_database = CouchRest.database!('http://localhost:5984/couchrest-test')
+  end
+  
+  it "should use the default database" do
+    Basic.database.info['db_name'].should == 'couchrest-test'
+  end
+  
+  it "should override the default db" do
+    Article.database.info['db_name'].should == 'couchrest-model-test'
+  end
+  
+  describe "saving a model" do
+    before(:all) do
+      @obj = Basic.new
+      @obj.save.should == true
+    end
+    
+    it "should save the doc" do
+      doc = @obj.database.get @obj.id
+      doc['_id'].should == @obj.id
+    end
+    
+    it "should be set for resaving" do
+      rev = @obj.rev
+      @obj.doc['another-key'] = "some value"
+      @obj.save
+      @obj.rev.should_not == rev
+    end
+    
+    it "should set the id" do
+      @obj.id.should be_an_instance_of String
+    end
+    
+    it "should set the type" do
+      @obj.doc['type'].should == 'Basic'
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "saving a model with a uniq_id configured" do
+    before(:all) do
+      @art = Article.new
+    end
+    it "should require the slug" do
+      lambda{@art.save}.should raise_error
+      @art.slug = 'this-becomes-the-id'
+      @art.save.should == true
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file