diff --git a/settings/settings.go b/settings/settings.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..917c463c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings/settings.go
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+package settings
+
+import (
+	"github.com/BurntSushi/toml"
+)
+
+// Service represents the configuration details required
+// to connect to the revision control system (ie GitHub, Bitbucket)
+type Service struct {
+	// Name defines the name of the plugin. Possible values
+	// may be github, gitlab, bitbucket, or gogs.
+	Name string `toml:"name"`
+
+	// Base defines the base URL for the service. For example:
+	// https://github.com
+	// https://bitbucket.org
+	// https://gitlab.drone.io
+	Base string `toml:"base"`
+
+	// Indicates registration is open. If true any user
+	// will be able to setup an account. If false, the
+	// system administrator will need to provision accounts.
+	Open bool `toml:"open"`
+
+	// Orgs defines a list of organizations the user
+	// must belong to in order to register. This will
+	// take precedence over the `Open` paramter.
+	Orgs []string `toml:"orgs"`
+
+	// PrivateMode should be set to true if the
+	// remote system requires authentication for
+	// cloning public (open source) repositories.
+	PrivateMode bool `toml:"private_mode"`
+
+	// SkipVerify instructs the client to skip SSL verification.
+	// This may be used with self-signed certificates, however,
+	// is not recommended for security reasons.
+	SkipVerify bool `toml:"skip_verify"`
+
+	// OAuth configuration data. If nil or empty, Drone may
+	// assume basic authentication via username and password.
+	OAuth *OAuth `toml:"oauth"`
+}
+
+// OAuth defines how a user should autheticate with the service.
+// This supports OAuth2 and OAuth1 protocols.
+type OAuth struct {
+	Client       string   `toml:"client"`
+	Secret       string   `toml:"secret"`
+	Authorize    string   `toml:"authorize"`
+	AccessToken  string   `toml:"access_token"`
+	RequestToken string   `toml:"request_token"`
+	Scope        []string `toml:"scope"`
+}
+
+// Server represents the web server configuration details
+// used to server HTTP requests.
+type Server struct {
+	Base string `toml:"base"`
+	Addr string `toml:"addr"`
+	Cert string `toml:"cert"`
+	Key  string `toml:"key"`
+
+	Scheme   string `toml:"scheme"`
+	Hostname string `toml:"hostname"`
+}
+
+// Session represents the session configuration details
+// used to generate, validate and expire authentication
+// sessions.
+type Session struct {
+	Secret  string `toml:"secret"`
+	Expires int64  `toml:"expires"`
+}
+
+// Docker represents the configuration details used
+// to connect to the Docker daemon when scheduling
+// and executing builds in containers.
+type Docker struct {
+	Cert  string   `toml:"cert"`
+	Key   string   `toml:"key"`
+	Nodes []string `toml:"nodes"`
+}
+
+// Database represents the configuration details used
+// to connect to the embedded Bolt database.
+type Database struct {
+	Path string `toml:"path"`
+}
+
+// Settings defines global settings for the Drone system.
+type Settings struct {
+	Database *Database `toml:"database"`
+	Docker   *Docker   `toml:"docker"`
+	Service  *Service  `toml:"service"`
+	Server   *Server   `toml:"server"`
+	Session  *Session  `toml:"session"`
+
+	Plugins map[string]interface{} `toml:"plugins"`
+}
+
+// Parse parses the Drone settings file at the specified path
+// and unmarshals to a Settings structure.
+func Parse(path string) (*Settings, error) {
+	s := &Settings{}
+	_, err := toml.DecodeFile(path, s)
+	return s, err
+}
+
+// ParseString parses the Drone settings string and unmarshals
+// to a Settings structure.
+func ParseString(data string) (*Settings, error) {
+	s := &Settings{}
+	_, err := toml.Decode(data, s)
+	return s, err
+}
+
+/* SAMPLE. REMOVE ME
+
+
+[server]
+addr=":80"
+cert=""
+key=""
+
+[session]
+secret=""
+expires=""
+
+[database]
+path=""
+
+[docker]
+cert=""
+key=""
+nodes=[
+  "unix:///var/run/docker.sock",
+  "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
+]
+
+[service]
+name = "gitlab"
+base = "https://github.com"
+orgs = []
+open = true
+private_mode = false
+skip_verify = true
+
+[service.oauth]
+client = ""
+secret = ""
+authorize_url=""
+access_token_url=""
+request_token_url=""
+
+[plugins.npm]
+
+[plugins.email]
+
+[plugins.smtp]
+host=""
+port=""
+from=""
+user=""
+pass=""
+
+*/