diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
index eb08029..9068460 100644
--- a/backend/README.md
+++ b/backend/README.md
@@ -7,15 +7,27 @@
 - Run development backend with `pdm run dev`
 - Run tests with `pdm run test`
 
-### Setup for Developmentk
+### Setup for Development
 
 - run `eval $(pdm venv activate in-project)` to activate the virtual env.
 
 ## Structure
 
 - Use FastAPI's `router` to organize different API routes
+    - `member` route for getting the current member/user
+    - `todo` route to create/read/update/delete todos
+    - `token` route for authentication (login/logout)
 - Separate folder for PostgreSQL migrations: Might need a better migration tool. Right now, `alembic` only works with SQLalchemy.
 - Use Pydantic data validation always
 
 ## TODO list
 - [ ] Setup Docker image and k8s for the API: 3 containers: API, Redis and PostgreSQL.
+
+## Authentication notes
+
+This API uses OAuth2 (an authorization framework) with JWTs as the format for access token.
+
+When a user logs in and is granted an access token by an OAuth 2.0 server, the token is often a JWT. This token can then be sent with requests to access protected resources, and the server can verify the token's authenticity and permissions based on the JWT's contents.
+
+- The flow used was: Password flow but instead of username, we use the user's email instead
+- In the Oauth2 spec, the `scope` part is a string of permission(s)
diff --git a/backend/pdm.lock b/backend/pdm.lock
index ad8a011..35c5abd 100644
--- a/backend/pdm.lock
+++ b/backend/pdm.lock
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 groups = ["default", "dev"]
 strategy = ["cross_platform"]
 lock_version = "4.4.1"
-content_hash = "sha256:a705bf9c8354b802c6aa86d8d35e46e83b9137cf3663c22e7f1442c07eecc38a"
+content_hash = "sha256:a69b9b70f0bb65c59605a80b08a73a6464df2a6407212c0094d6adef0e858584"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "annotated-types"
@@ -593,6 +593,16 @@ files = [
     {file = "python_dotenv-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f5971a9226b701070a4bf2c38c89e5a3f0d64de8debda981d1db98583009122a"},
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "python-multipart"
+version = "0.0.9"
+requires_python = ">=3.8"
+summary = "A streaming multipart parser for Python"
+files = [
+    {file = "python_multipart-0.0.9-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:97ca7b8ea7b05f977dc3849c3ba99d51689822fab725c3703af7c866a0c2b215"},
+    {file = "python_multipart-0.0.9.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:03f54688c663f1b7977105f021043b0793151e4cb1c1a9d4a11fc13d622c4026"},
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pyyaml"
 version = "6.0.1"
diff --git a/backend/pyproject.toml b/backend/pyproject.toml
index 128d098..f651665 100644
--- a/backend/pyproject.toml
+++ b/backend/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "psycopg[pool]>=3.1.18",
     "fastapi-limiter>=0.1.6",
     "pytest-cov>=4.1.0",
+    "python-multipart>=0.0.9",
 ]
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
 readme = "README.md"
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ lint = {composite = ["lint-ruff"]}
 start = {cmd = "uvicorn --workers 2 neo_neo_todo.main:app", env_file = "development.env"}
 
 dev = {cmd = "uvicorn neo_neo_todo.main:app --reload", env_file = "development.env"}
+dev-test = {composite = ["recreate-db-base", "migration-base", "generate-test-data", "dev"], env_file = "development.env"}
 
 recreate-db-base = "python3 src/neo_neo_todo/utils/database.py"
 migration-base = "python3 src/neo_neo_todo/migrations/0.py"
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/main.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/main.py
index 388ebc8..c917e62 100644
--- a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/main.py
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/main.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import redis.asyncio as redis
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from fastapi_limiter import FastAPILimiter
 
-from src.neo_neo_todo.routes import control, sessions
+from src.neo_neo_todo.routes import control, members, token
 from src.neo_neo_todo.utils.database import pool
 
 
@@ -27,4 +27,5 @@ app = FastAPI(lifespan=lifespan)
 
 # include API routes
 app.include_router(control.router)
-app.include_router(sessions.router)
+app.include_router(token.router)
+app.include_router(members.router)
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/migrations/test_data.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/migrations/test_data.py
index d9a0ba5..994db80 100644
--- a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/migrations/test_data.py
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/migrations/test_data.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def generate_test_data() -> None:
                     """
                     INSERT INTO members (email, password_hash)
                                     VALUES ('member@todo.test',
-                                            '$2b$14$6yXjNza30kPCg3LhzZJfqeCWOLM.zyTiQFD4rdWlFHBTfYzzKJMJe')
+                                            '$2a$12$EDo2Sr6B1sptfbKK7DqMnO3VNZuNfVuDbpjJa3uUO9S9/lYpu2wzK')
                     """
                 )
             )
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/models/session.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/models/session.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e182059..0000000
--- a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/models/session.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-from dataclasses import dataclass
-
-from pydantic import BaseModel, EmailStr
-
-
-@dataclass
-class LoginData(BaseModel):
-    email: EmailStr
-    password: str
-    remember: bool = False
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/members.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/members.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dfb70b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/members.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+from typing import Annotated
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status
+from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordBearer
+
+from src.neo_neo_todo.models.member import Member
+
+router = APIRouter(
+    prefix="/members",
+    tags=["members"],
+)
+
+oauth2_scheme = OAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="token")
+
+
+def fake_decode_token(_):
+    return Member(
+        id=1,
+        email="fake@token.com",
+        password_hash="asdfasdffqwerqwe!@#09098@%)(*)",
+        created=datetime.now(),
+        email_verified=None,
+    )
+
+
+async def get_current_member(token: Annotated[str, Depends(oauth2_scheme)]):
+    member = fake_decode_token(token)
+
+    if not member:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
+            detail="Invalid authentication credentials",
+            headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
+        )
+
+    return member
+
+
+@router.get("/me")
+async def read_users_me(current_user: Annotated[Member, Depends(get_current_member)]):
+    return current_user
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/sessions.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/sessions.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 8f4e133..0000000
--- a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/sessions.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends
-from fastapi_limiter.depends import RateLimiter
-
-from src.neo_neo_todo.models.session import LoginData
-
-router = APIRouter(
-    prefix="/sessions",
-    tags=["sessions"],
-)
-
-
-@router.post("", dependencies=[Depends(RateLimiter(times=100, seconds=600))])
-async def login(login_data: LoginData):
-    """
-    Login to the todo app
-
-    If successful, save the returned cookie
-    """
-    pass
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/todo.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/todo.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d2c6a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/todo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+router = APIRouter(
+    prefix="/todos",
+    tags=["todos"],
+)
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/token.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/token.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3661fa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/routes/token.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+from typing import Annotated
+
+import bcrypt
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status
+from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordRequestForm
+from fastapi_limiter.depends import RateLimiter
+from psycopg_pool import AsyncConnectionPool
+
+from src.neo_neo_todo.models.member import select_member_by_email
+from src.neo_neo_todo.utils.database import get_pool
+
+router = APIRouter(
+    prefix="/token",
+    tags=["token"],
+)
+
+
+@router.post(
+    "",
+    dependencies=[
+        Depends(RateLimiter(times=100, seconds=600))
+    ],  # rate limit login route
+    status_code=status.HTTP_200_OK,  # default status code when login successful
+)
+async def login(
+    form_data: Annotated[OAuth2PasswordRequestForm, Depends()],
+    db_pool: AsyncConnectionPool = Depends(get_pool),
+):
+    """
+    Login to the todo app
+
+    If successful, save the returned cookie
+    """
+    member = await select_member_by_email(db_pool, form_data.username)
+
+    if member is None:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+            detail="Incorrect email or password",
+        )
+
+    passwords_match = bcrypt.checkpw(
+        form_data.password.encode("utf-8"),
+        member.password_hash.encode("utf-8"),
+    )
+
+    if passwords_match:
+        # to handle login logic here
+        pass
+    else:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+            detail="Incorrect email or password",
+        )
+
+    return {"access_token": member.email, "token_type": "bearer"}
diff --git a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/utils/database.py b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/utils/database.py
index fbb6382..8c8e259 100644
--- a/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/utils/database.py
+++ b/backend/src/neo_neo_todo/utils/database.py
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@ try:
 except KeyError:
     raise KeyError("Can't find postgres DB URL")
 
-pool = AsyncConnectionPool(postgres_db_url, open=False)
+pool: AsyncConnectionPool = AsyncConnectionPool(postgres_db_url, open=False)
+
+
+def get_pool() -> AsyncConnectionPool:
+    return pool
 
 
 def recreate_db() -> None: