diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1db797e..871fd45 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # OhMyAPI
 
-OhMyAPI is a web-application scaffolding framework and management layer built around `FastAPI`, `TortoiseORM` and `Aerich` migrations.
+OhMyAPI is a web-application scaffolding framework and management layer built around `FastAPI`.
+It is a thin layer that tightly integrates TortoiseORM and Aerich migrations.
 
-> *Think: Django RestFramework, but less clunky and 100% async.*
+> *Think: *"Django RestFramework"*, but less clunky and instead 100% async.*
 
 It is ***blazingly fast***, extremely ***fun to use*** and comes with ***batteries included***!
 
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ It is ***blazingly fast***, extremely ***fun to use*** and comes with ***batteri
 - Django-like per-app migrations (makemigrations & migrate) via Aerich
 - Django-like CLI tooling (startproject, startapp, shell, serve, etc)
 - Customizable pydantic model serializer built-in
-- Various optional built-in apps you can hook into your project
+- Various optional built-in apps you can hook into your project (i.e. authentication and more)
 - Highly configurable and customizable
 - 100% async
 
diff --git a/docs/apps.md b/docs/apps.md
index fdcf5c4..dc70830 100644
--- a/docs/apps.md
+++ b/docs/apps.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Apps
 
 Apps are a way to group database models and API routes that contextually belong together.
-For example, OhMyAPI comes bundled with an `auth` app that carries a `User` and `Group` model and provides API endpoints for JWT authentication.
+For example, OhMyAPI comes bundled with an `auth` app that carries a `User` model and provides API endpoints for JWT authentication.
 
 Apps help organizing projects by isolating individual components (or "features") from one another.
 
diff --git a/docs/auth.md b/docs/auth.md
index 2526966..d26c1fe 100644
--- a/docs/auth.md
+++ b/docs/auth.md
@@ -40,6 +40,6 @@ router = APIRouter()
 
 
 @router.get("/")
-def get(user: auth.User = Depends(permissions.required_authenticated)):
+def get(user: auth.User = Depends(permissions.require_authenticated)):
     ...
 ```
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index c30b765..57e1e68 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 2.2.0 and should not be changed by hand.
+# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 2.2.1 and should not be changed by hand.
 
 [[package]]
 name = "aerich"
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ version = "4.11.0"
 description = "High-level concurrency and networking framework on top of asyncio or Trio"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.9"
-groups = ["main"]
+groups = ["main", "dev"]
 files = [
     {file = "anyio-4.11.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:0287e96f4d26d4149305414d4e3bc32f0dcd0862365a4bddea19d7a1ec38c4fc"},
     {file = "anyio-4.11.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:82a8d0b81e318cc5ce71a5f1f8b5c4e63619620b63141ef8c995fa0db95a57c4"},
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ version = "2025.8.3"
 description = "Python package for providing Mozilla's CA Bundle."
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.7"
-groups = ["main"]
+groups = ["main", "dev"]
 files = [
     {file = "certifi-2025.8.3-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f6c12493cfb1b06ba2ff328595af9350c65d6644968e5d3a2ffd78699af217a5"},
     {file = "certifi-2025.8.3.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:e564105f78ded564e3ae7c923924435e1daa7463faeab5bb932bc53ffae63407"},
@@ -543,19 +543,66 @@ version = "0.16.0"
 description = "A pure-Python, bring-your-own-I/O implementation of HTTP/1.1"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.8"
-groups = ["main"]
+groups = ["main", "dev"]
 files = [
     {file = "h11-0.16.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:63cf8bbe7522de3bf65932fda1d9c2772064ffb3dae62d55932da54b31cb6c86"},
     {file = "h11-0.16.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:4e35b956cf45792e4caa5885e69fba00bdbc6ffafbfa020300e549b208ee5ff1"},
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "httpcore"
+version = "1.0.9"
+description = "A minimal low-level HTTP client."
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.8"
+groups = ["dev"]
+files = [
+    {file = "httpcore-1.0.9-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2d400746a40668fc9dec9810239072b40b4484b640a8c38fd654a024c7a1bf55"},
+    {file = "httpcore-1.0.9.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:6e34463af53fd2ab5d807f399a9b45ea31c3dfa2276f15a2c3f00afff6e176e8"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+certifi = "*"
+h11 = ">=0.16"
+
+[package.extras]
+asyncio = ["anyio (>=4.0,<5.0)"]
+http2 = ["h2 (>=3,<5)"]
+socks = ["socksio (==1.*)"]
+trio = ["trio (>=0.22.0,<1.0)"]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "httpx"
+version = "0.28.1"
+description = "The next generation HTTP client."
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.8"
+groups = ["dev"]
+files = [
+    {file = "httpx-0.28.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:d909fcccc110f8c7faf814ca82a9a4d816bc5a6dbfea25d6591d6985b8ba59ad"},
+    {file = "httpx-0.28.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:75e98c5f16b0f35b567856f597f06ff2270a374470a5c2392242528e3e3e42fc"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+anyio = "*"
+certifi = "*"
+httpcore = "==1.*"
+idna = "*"
+
+[package.extras]
+brotli = ["brotli ; platform_python_implementation == \"CPython\"", "brotlicffi ; platform_python_implementation != \"CPython\""]
+cli = ["click (==8.*)", "pygments (==2.*)", "rich (>=10,<14)"]
+http2 = ["h2 (>=3,<5)"]
+socks = ["socksio (==1.*)"]
+zstd = ["zstandard (>=0.18.0)"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "idna"
 version = "3.10"
 description = "Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA)"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.6"
-groups = ["main"]
+groups = ["main", "dev"]
 files = [
     {file = "idna-3.10-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:946d195a0d259cbba61165e88e65941f16e9b36ea6ddb97f00452bae8b1287d3"},
     {file = "idna-3.10.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:12f65c9b470abda6dc35cf8e63cc574b1c52b11df2c86030af0ac09b01b13ea9"},
@@ -564,6 +611,18 @@ files = [
 [package.extras]
 all = ["flake8 (>=7.1.1)", "mypy (>=1.11.2)", "pytest (>=8.3.2)", "ruff (>=0.6.2)"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "iniconfig"
+version = "2.3.0"
+description = "brain-dead simple config-ini parsing"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.10"
+groups = ["dev"]
+files = [
+    {file = "iniconfig-2.3.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f631c04d2c48c52b84d0d0549c99ff3859c98df65b3101406327ecc7d53fbf12"},
+    {file = "iniconfig-2.3.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:c76315c77db068650d49c5b56314774a7804df16fee4402c1f19d6d15d8c4730"},
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ipython"
 version = "9.6.0"
@@ -1024,6 +1083,22 @@ docs = ["furo (>=2024.8.6)", "proselint (>=0.14)", "sphinx (>=8.1.3)", "sphinx-a
 test = ["appdirs (==1.4.4)", "covdefaults (>=2.3)", "pytest (>=8.3.4)", "pytest-cov (>=6)", "pytest-mock (>=3.14)"]
 type = ["mypy (>=1.14.1)"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pluggy"
+version = "1.6.0"
+description = "plugin and hook calling mechanisms for python"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.9"
+groups = ["dev"]
+files = [
+    {file = "pluggy-1.6.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:e920276dd6813095e9377c0bc5566d94c932c33b27a3e3945d8389c374dd4746"},
+    {file = "pluggy-1.6.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:7dcc130b76258d33b90f61b658791dede3486c3e6bfb003ee5c9bfb396dd22f3"},
+]
+
+[package.extras]
+dev = ["pre-commit", "tox"]
+testing = ["coverage", "pytest", "pytest-benchmark"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "prompt-toolkit"
 version = "3.0.52"
@@ -1260,6 +1335,28 @@ files = [
     {file = "pypika_tortoise-0.6.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f95ab59d9b6454db2e8daa0934728458350a1f3d56e81d9d1debc8eebeff26b3"},
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pytest"
+version = "8.4.2"
+description = "pytest: simple powerful testing with Python"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.9"
+groups = ["dev"]
+files = [
+    {file = "pytest-8.4.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:872f880de3fc3a5bdc88a11b39c9710c3497a547cfa9320bc3c5e62fbf272e79"},
+    {file = "pytest-8.4.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:86c0d0b93306b961d58d62a4db4879f27fe25513d4b969df351abdddb3c30e01"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+colorama = {version = ">=0.4", markers = "sys_platform == \"win32\""}
+iniconfig = ">=1"
+packaging = ">=20"
+pluggy = ">=1.5,<2"
+pygments = ">=2.7.2"
+
+[package.extras]
+dev = ["argcomplete", "attrs (>=19.2)", "hypothesis (>=3.56)", "mock", "requests", "setuptools", "xmlschema"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "python-dateutil"
 version = "2.9.0.post0"
@@ -1488,7 +1585,7 @@ version = "1.3.1"
 description = "Sniff out which async library your code is running under"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.7"
-groups = ["main"]
+groups = ["main", "dev"]
 files = [
     {file = "sniffio-1.3.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:2f6da418d1f1e0fddd844478f41680e794e6051915791a034ff65e5f100525a2"},
     {file = "sniffio-1.3.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f4324edc670a0f49750a81b895f35c3adb843cca46f0530f79fc1babb23789dc"},
@@ -1604,7 +1701,7 @@ files = [
     {file = "typing_extensions-4.15.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f0fa19c6845758ab08074a0cfa8b7aecb71c999ca73d62883bc25cc018c4e548"},
     {file = "typing_extensions-4.15.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:0cea48d173cc12fa28ecabc3b837ea3cf6f38c6d1136f85cbaaf598984861466"},
 ]
-markers = {dev = "python_version == \"3.11\""}
+markers = {dev = "python_version < \"3.13\""}
 
 [[package]]
 name = "typing-inspection"
@@ -1719,4 +1816,4 @@ auth = ["argon2-cffi", "crypto", "passlib", "pyjwt", "python-multipart"]
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.1"
 python-versions = ">=3.11"
-content-hash = "3d301460081dada359d425d69feefc63c1e5135aa64b6f000f554bfc1231febd"
+content-hash = "cc1604995d3b73ee302e63731dd300ea17c4d95d0cfc6c386626dd9a9f60e8a7"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 52f53b9..6db719c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "ohmyapi"
-version = "0.3.2"
+version = "0.6.2"
 description = "Django-flavored scaffolding and management layer around FastAPI, Pydantic, TortoiseORM and Aerich migrations"
 license = "MIT"
 keywords = ["fastapi", "tortoise", "orm", "pydantic", "async", "web-framework"]
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ ipython = ">=9.5.0,<10.0.0"
 black = "^25.9.0"
 isort = "^6.0.1"
 mkdocs = "^1.6.1"
+pytest = "^8.4.2"
+httpx = "^0.28.1"
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 auth = ["passlib", "pyjwt", "crypto", "argon2-cffi", "python-multipart"]
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/__init__.py b/src/ohmyapi/__init__.py
index 1b16679..4191a45 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__VERSION__ = "0.3.2"
+__VERSION__ = "0.6.2"
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/models.py b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/models.py
index d68ba38..b9785c7 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/models.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/models.py
@@ -1,39 +1,52 @@
-from functools import wraps
-from typing import List, Optional
-from uuid import UUID
-
-from passlib.context import CryptContext
-from tortoise.contrib.pydantic import pydantic_queryset_creator
-
-from ohmyapi.db import Model, field, pre_delete, pre_save
+from ohmyapi.db import Model, field, Q
 from ohmyapi.router import HTTPException
 
+from .utils import hmac_hash
+
+from datetime import datetime
+from passlib.context import CryptContext
+from typing import Optional
+from uuid import UUID
+
 pwd_context = CryptContext(schemes=["argon2"], deprecated="auto")
 
 
-class Group(Model):
-    id: UUID = field.data.UUIDField(pk=True)
-    name: str = field.CharField(max_length=42, index=True)
-
-
 class User(Model):
     id: UUID = field.data.UUIDField(pk=True)
-    email: str = field.CharField(max_length=255, unique=True, index=True)
     username: str = field.CharField(max_length=150, unique=True)
+    email_hash: str = field.CharField(max_length=255, unique=True, index=True)
     password_hash: str = field.CharField(max_length=128)
     is_admin: bool = field.BooleanField(default=False)
     is_staff: bool = field.BooleanField(default=False)
-    groups: field.ManyToManyRelation[Group] = field.ManyToManyField(
-        "ohmyapi_auth.Group", related_name="users", through="usergroups"
-    )
+    created_at: datetime = field.DatetimeField(auto_now_add=True)
+    updated_at: datetime = field.DatetimeField(auto_now=True)
 
     class Schema:
-        exclude = ("password_hash",)
+        include = {
+            "id",
+            "username",
+            "is_admin",
+            "is_staff"
+            "created_at",
+            "updated_at",
+        }
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        fields = {
+            'username': self.username,
+            'is_admin': 'y' if self.is_admin else 'n',
+            'is_staff': 'y' if self.is_staff else 'n',
+        }
+        return ' '.join([f"{k}:{v}" for k, v in fields.items()])
 
     def set_password(self, raw_password: str) -> None:
         """Hash and store the password."""
         self.password_hash = pwd_context.hash(raw_password)
 
+    def set_email(self, new_email: str) -> None:
+        """Hash and set the e-mail address."""
+        self.email_hash = hmac_hash(new_email)
+
     def verify_password(self, raw_password: str) -> bool:
         """Verify a plaintext password against the stored hash."""
         return pwd_context.verify(raw_password, self.password_hash)
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/permissions.py b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/permissions.py
index 578dbd3..e7be37e 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/permissions.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/permissions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from .routes import (
     get_current_user,
     get_token,
+    maybe_authenticated,
     require_admin,
     require_authenticated,
     require_group,
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/routes.py b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/routes.py
index 8a81389..fa2d4e7 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/routes.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/routes.py
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 import time
 from enum import Enum
-from typing import Any, Dict, List
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, Depends, Header, HTTPException, Request, status
+from fastapi.security import OAuth2, OAuth2PasswordBearer, OAuth2PasswordRequestForm
+from fastapi.security.utils import get_authorization_scheme_param
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from tortoise.exceptions import DoesNotExist
+
+from ohmyapi.builtin.auth.models import User
 
 import jwt
 import settings
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, Depends, Header, HTTPException, status
-from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordBearer, OAuth2PasswordRequestForm
-from pydantic import BaseModel
-
-from ohmyapi.builtin.auth.models import Group, User
 
 # Router
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/auth", tags=["Auth"])
@@ -23,12 +26,25 @@ REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_SECONDS = getattr(
     settings, "JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_SECONDS", 7 * 24 * 60 * 60
 )
 
+class OptionalOAuth2PasswordBearer(OAuth2):
+    def __init__(self, tokenUrl: str):
+        super().__init__(flows={"password": {"tokenUrl": tokenUrl}}, scheme_name="OAuth2PasswordBearer")
+
+    async def __call__(self, request: Request) -> Optional[str]:
+        authorization: str = request.headers.get("Authorization")
+        scheme, param = get_authorization_scheme_param(authorization)
+        if not authorization or scheme.lower() != "bearer":
+            # No token provided — just return None
+            return None
+        return param
+
+
 oauth2_scheme = OAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="/auth/login")
+oauth2_optional_scheme = OptionalOAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="/auth/login")
 
 
 class ClaimsUser(BaseModel):
     username: str
-    email: str
     is_admin: bool
     is_staff: bool
 
@@ -37,7 +53,6 @@ class Claims(BaseModel):
     type: str
     sub: str
     user: ClaimsUser
-    roles: List[str]
     exp: str
 
 
@@ -64,17 +79,15 @@ class TokenType(str, Enum):
     refresh = "refresh"
 
 
-def claims(token_type: TokenType, user: User, groups: List[Group] = []) -> Claims:
+def claims(token_type: TokenType, user: User = []) -> Claims:
     return Claims(
         type=token_type,
         sub=str(user.id),
         user=ClaimsUser(
             username=user.username,
-            email=user.email,
             is_admin=user.is_admin,
             is_staff=user.is_staff,
         ),
-        roles=[g.name for g in groups],
         exp="",
     )
 
@@ -124,6 +137,12 @@ async def get_current_user(token: str = Depends(oauth2_scheme)) -> User:
     return user
 
 
+async def maybe_authenticated(token: Optional[str] = Depends(oauth2_optional_scheme)) -> Optional[User]:
+    if token is None:
+        return None
+    return await get_current_user(token)
+
+
 async def require_authenticated(current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user)) -> User:
     """Ensure the current user is an admin."""
     if not current_user:
@@ -180,17 +199,25 @@ async def login(form_data: LoginRequest = Body(...)):
     )
 
 
+class TokenRefresh(BaseModel):
+    refresh_token: str
+
+
 @router.post("/refresh", response_model=AccessToken)
-async def refresh_token(refresh_token: str):
+async def refresh_token(refresh_token: TokenRefresh = Body(...)):
     """Exchange refresh token for new access token."""
-    payload = decode_token(refresh_token)
+    payload = decode_token(refresh_token.refresh_token)
     if payload.get("type") != "refresh":
         raise HTTPException(
             status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, detail="Invalid refresh token"
         )
 
     user_id = payload.get("sub")
-    user = await User.filter(id=user_id).first()
+    try:
+        user = await User.get(id=user_id)
+    except DoesNotExist:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED)
+
     if not user:
         raise HTTPException(
             status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, detail="User not found"
@@ -199,7 +226,7 @@ async def refresh_token(refresh_token: str):
     new_access = create_token(
         claims(TokenType.access, user), ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_SECONDS
     )
-    return AccessToken(token_type="bearer", access_token=access_token)
+    return AccessToken(token_type="bearer", access_token=new_access)
 
 
 @router.get("/introspect", response_model=Dict[str, Any])
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/utils.py b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e54a5da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/builtin/auth/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import base64
+import hashlib
+import hmac
+
+import settings
+
+SECRET_KEY = getattr(settings, "SECRET_KEY", "OhMyAPI Secret Key")
+
+
+def hmac_hash(data: str) -> str:
+    digest = hmac.new(
+        SECRET_KEY.encode("UTF-8"),
+        data.encode("utf-8"),
+        hashlib.sha256,
+    ).digest()
+    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(digest).decode("utf-8")
+
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/cli.py b/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
index 6728753..fd41084 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/cli.py
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import typer
 import uvicorn
 
 from ohmyapi.core import runtime, scaffolding
+from ohmyapi.core.logging import setup_logging
+
+logger = setup_logging()
 
 app = typer.Typer(
     help="OhMyAPI — Django-flavored FastAPI scaffolding with tightly integrated TortoiseORM."
@@ -19,18 +22,24 @@ app = typer.Typer(
 def startproject(name: str):
     """Create a new OhMyAPI project in the given directory."""
     scaffolding.startproject(name)
+    logger.info(f"✅ Project '{name}' created successfully.")
+    logger.info(f"🔧 Next, configure your project in {name}/settings.py")
 
 
 @app.command()
 def startapp(app_name: str, root: str = "."):
     """Create a new app with the given name in your OhMyAPI project."""
     scaffolding.startapp(app_name, root)
+    print(f"✅ App '{app_name}' created in project '{root}' successfully.")
+    print(f"🔧 Remember to add '{app_name}' to your INSTALLED_APPS!")
 
 
 @app.command()
 def dockerize(root: str = "."):
     """Create template Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml."""
     scaffolding.copy_static("docker", root)
+    logger.info(f"✅ Templates created successfully.")
+    logger.info(f"🔧 Next, run `docker compose up -d --build`")
 
 
 @app.command()
@@ -40,9 +49,8 @@ def serve(root: str = ".", host="127.0.0.1", port=8000):
     """
     project_path = Path(root)
     project = runtime.Project(project_path)
-    app_instance = project.app()
-    app_instance = project.configure_app(app_instance)
-    uvicorn.run(app_instance, host=host, port=int(port), reload=False)
+    app_instance = project.configure_app(project.app())
+    uvicorn.run(app_instance, host=host, port=int(port), reload=False, log_config=None)
 
 
 @app.command()
@@ -75,7 +83,7 @@ def shell(root: str = "."):
     asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
     loop.run_until_complete(init_and_cleanup())
 
-    # Prepare shell vars that are to be directly available
+    # Prepare shell vars that are to be immediately available
     shell_vars = {"p": project}
 
     try:
@@ -107,6 +115,8 @@ def makemigrations(app: str = "*", name: str = "auto", root: str = "."):
             asyncio.run(project.makemigrations(app_label=app, name=name))
     else:
         asyncio.run(project.makemigrations(app_label=app, name=name))
+    logger.info(f"✅ Migrations created successfully.")
+    logger.info(f"🔧 To migrate the DB, run `ohmyapi migrate`, next.")
 
 
 @app.command()
@@ -121,6 +131,7 @@ def migrate(app: str = "*", root: str = "."):
             asyncio.run(project.migrate(app))
     else:
         asyncio.run(project.migrate(app))
+    logger.info(f"✅ Migrations ran successfully.")
 
 
 @app.command()
@@ -150,9 +161,17 @@ def createsuperuser(root: str = "."):
         if password1 != password2:
             print("Passwords didn't match!")
     user = ohmyapi_auth.models.User(
-        email=email, username=username, is_staff=True, is_admin=True
+        username=username, is_staff=True, is_admin=True
     )
+    user.set_email(email)
     user.set_password(password1)
-    asyncio.run(project.init_orm())
-    asyncio.run(user.save())
-    asyncio.run(project.close_orm())
+
+    async def _run():
+        await project.init_orm()
+        user = ohmyapi_auth.models.User(username=username, is_staff=True, is_admin=True)
+        user.set_email(email)
+        user.set_password(password1)
+        await user.save()
+        await project.close_orm()
+
+    asyncio.run(_run())
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/logging.py b/src/ohmyapi/core/logging.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca05220
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/logging.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import logging
+import os
+import sys
+
+
+def setup_logging():
+    """Configure unified logging for ohmyapi + FastAPI/Uvicorn."""
+    log_level = os.getenv("OHMYAPI_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO").upper()
+    level = getattr(logging, log_level, logging.INFO)
+
+    # Root logger (affects FastAPI, uvicorn, etc.)
+    logging.basicConfig(
+        level=level,
+        format="[%(asctime)s] [%(levelname)s] %(name)s: %(message)s",
+        datefmt="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
+        handlers=[
+            logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
+        ]
+    )
+
+    # Separate ohmyapi logger (optional)
+    logger = logging.getLogger("ohmyapi")
+
+    # Direct warnings/errors to stderr
+    class LevelFilter(logging.Filter):
+        def filter(self, record):
+            # Send warnings+ to stderr, everything else to stdout
+            if record.levelno >= logging.WARNING:
+                record.stream = sys.stderr
+            else:
+                record.stream = sys.stdout
+            return True
+
+    for handler in logger.handlers:
+        handler.addFilter(LevelFilter())
+
+    logger.setLevel(level)
+    return logger
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/runtime.py b/src/ohmyapi/core/runtime.py
index 423f3c5..dea8d78 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/core/runtime.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/runtime.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import sys
 from http import HTTPStatus
 from pathlib import Path
 from types import ModuleType
-from typing import Any, Dict, Generator, List, Optional, Type
+from typing import Any, Dict, Generator, List, Optional, Tuple, Type
 
 import click
 from aerich import Command as AerichCommand
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ from aerich.exceptions import NotInitedError
 from fastapi import APIRouter, FastAPI
 from tortoise import Tortoise
 
+from ohmyapi.core.logging import setup_logging
 from ohmyapi.db.model import Model
 
+logger = setup_logging()
+
 
 class Project:
     """
@@ -29,6 +32,7 @@ class Project:
     """
 
     def __init__(self, project_path: str):
+        logger.debug(f"Loading project: {project_path}")
         self.project_path = Path(project_path).resolve()
         self._apps: Dict[str, App] = {}
         self.migrations_dir = self.project_path / "migrations"
@@ -36,6 +40,14 @@ class Project:
         if str(self.project_path) not in sys.path:
             sys.path.insert(0, str(self.project_path))
 
+        # Load settings.py
+        try:
+            self.settings = importlib.import_module("settings")
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Failed to import project settings from {self.project_path}"
+            ) from e
+
         # Alias builtin apps as ohmyapi_<name>.
         # We need this, because Tortoise app-names may not include dots `.`.
         spec = importlib.util.find_spec("ohmyapi.builtin")
@@ -53,14 +65,6 @@ class Project:
                     except ModuleNotFoundError:
                         pass
 
-        # Load settings.py
-        try:
-            self.settings = importlib.import_module("settings")
-        except Exception as e:
-            raise RuntimeError(
-                f"Failed to import project settings from {self.project_path}"
-            ) from e
-
         # Load installed apps
         for app_name in getattr(self.settings, "INSTALLED_APPS", []):
             self._apps[app_name] = App(self, name=app_name)
@@ -88,10 +92,14 @@ class Project:
 
     def configure_app(self, app: FastAPI) -> FastAPI:
         """
-        Attach project routes and event handlers to given FastAPI instance.
+        Attach project middlewares and routes and event handlers to given
+        FastAPI instance.
         """
-        # Attach project routes.
+        app.router.prefix = getattr(self.settings, "API_PREFIX", "")
+        # Attach project middlewares and routes.
         for app_name, app_def in self._apps.items():
+            for middleware, kwargs in app_def.middlewares:
+                app.add_middleware(middleware, **kwargs)
             for router in app_def.routers:
                 app.include_router(router)
 
@@ -121,7 +129,7 @@ class Project:
         }
 
         for app_name, app in self._apps.items():
-            modules = list(app.models.keys())
+            modules = list(app._models.keys())
             if modules:
                 config["apps"][app_name] = {
                     "models": modules,
@@ -146,7 +154,10 @@ class Project:
         tortoise_cfg = self.build_tortoise_config(db_url=db_url)
 
         # Prevent leaking other app's models to Aerich.
-        tortoise_cfg["apps"] = {app_label: tortoise_cfg["apps"][app_label]}
+        if app_label in tortoise_cfg["apps"].keys():
+            tortoise_cfg["apps"] = {app_label: tortoise_cfg["apps"][app_label]}
+        else:
+            tortoise_cfg["apps"] = {app_label: {"default_connection": "default", "models": []}}
 
         # Append aerich.models to the models list of the target app only
         tortoise_cfg["apps"][app_label]["models"].append("aerich.models")
@@ -229,11 +240,16 @@ class App:
         # Reference to this app's routes modules.
         self._routers: Dict[str, ModuleType] = {}
 
+        # Reference to this apps middlewares.
+        self._middlewares: List[Tuple[Any, Dict[str, Any]]] = []
+
         # Import the app, so its __init__.py runs.
         mod: ModuleType = importlib.import_module(name)
 
+        logger.debug(f"Loading app: {self.name}")
         self.__load_models(f"{self.name}.models")
         self.__load_routes(f"{self.name}.routes")
+        self.__load_middlewares(f"{self.name}.middlewares")
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return json.dumps(self.dict(), indent=2)
@@ -251,7 +267,6 @@ class App:
         try:
             importlib.import_module(mod_name)
         except ModuleNotFoundError:
-            print(f"no models detected: {mod_name}")
             return
 
         # Acoid duplicates.
@@ -269,9 +284,11 @@ class App:
                     and issubclass(value, Model)
                     and not name == Model.__name__
                 ):
+                    # monkey-patch __module__ to point to well-known aliases
                     value.__module__ = value.__module__.replace("ohmyapi.builtin.", "ohmyapi_")
                     if value.__module__.startswith(mod_name):
                         self._models[mod_name] = self._models.get(mod_name, []) + [value]
+                        logger.debug(f" - Model: {mod_name} -> {name}")
 
             # if it's a package, recurse into submodules
             if hasattr(mod, "__path__"):
@@ -292,8 +309,7 @@ class App:
         # An app may come without any routes.
         try:
             importlib.import_module(mod_name)
-        except ModuleNotFound:
-            print(f"no routes detected: {mod_name}")
+        except ModuleNotFoundError:
             return
 
         # Avoid duplicates.
@@ -308,6 +324,7 @@ class App:
             for name, value in vars(mod).copy().items():
                 if isinstance(value, APIRouter) and not name == APIRouter.__name__:
                     self._routers[mod_name] = self._routers.get(mod_name, []) + [value]
+                    logger.debug(f" - Router: {mod_name} -> {name} -> {value.routes}")
 
             # if it's a package, recurse into submodules
             if hasattr(mod, "__path__"):
@@ -319,6 +336,17 @@ class App:
         # Walk the walk.
         walk(mod_name)
 
+    def __load_middlewares(self, mod_name):
+        try:
+            mod = importlib.import_module(mod_name)
+        except ModuleNotFoundError:
+            return
+
+        installer = getattr(mod, "install", None)
+        if installer is not None:
+            for middleware in installer():
+                self._middlewares.append(middleware)
+
     def __serialize_route(self, route):
         """
         Convert APIRoute to JSON-serializable dict.
@@ -332,6 +360,12 @@ class App:
     def __serialize_router(self):
         return [self.__serialize_route(route) for route in self.routes]
 
+    def __serialize_middleware(self):
+        out = []
+        for m in self.middlewares:
+            out.append((m[0].__name__, m[1]))
+        return out
+
     @property
     def models(self) -> List[ModuleType]:
         """
@@ -341,9 +375,7 @@ class App:
         for module in self._models:
             for model in self._models[module]:
                 out.append(model)
-        return {
-            module: out,
-        }
+        return out
 
     @property
     def routers(self):
@@ -363,13 +395,24 @@ class App:
             out.extend(r.routes)
         return out
 
+    @property
+    def middlewares(self):
+        """Returns the list of this app's middlewares."""
+        return self._middlewares
+
     def dict(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """
         Convenience method for serializing the runtime data.
         """
+        # An app may come without any models
+        models = []
+        if f"{self.name}.models" in self._models:
+            models = [
+                f"{self.name}.{m.__name__}"
+                for m in self._models[f"{self.name}.models"]
+            ]
         return {
-            "models": [
-                f"{self.name}.{m.__name__}" for m in self.models[f"{self.name}.models"]
-            ],
+            "models": models,
+            "middlewares": self.__serialize_middleware(),
             "routes": self.__serialize_router(),
         }
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/scaffolding.py b/src/ohmyapi/core/scaffolding.py
index c637b5a..2dddeaf 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/core/scaffolding.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/scaffolding.py
@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader
 
+from ohmyapi.core.logging import setup_logging
+
 import shutil
 
 # Base templates directory
 TEMPLATE_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "templates"
 env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader(str(TEMPLATE_DIR)))
 
+logger = setup_logging()
+
 
 def render_template_file(template_path: Path, context: dict, output_path: Path):
     """Render a single Jinja2 template file to disk."""
@@ -60,7 +64,7 @@ def copy_static(dir_name: str, target_dir: Path):
     template_dir = TEMPLATE_DIR / dir_name
     target_dir = Path(target_dir)
     if not template_dir.exists():
-        print(f"no templates found under: {dir_name}")
+        logger.error(f"no templates found under: {dir_name}")
         return
 
     for root, _, files in template_dir.walk():
@@ -69,19 +73,15 @@ def copy_static(dir_name: str, target_dir: Path):
             src = root_path / file
             dst = target_dir / file
             if dst.exists():
-                print(f"⛔ File exists, skipping: {dst}")
+                logger.warning(f"⛔ File exists, skipping: {dst}")
                 continue
-            shutil.copy(src, ".")
-    print(f"✅ Templates created successfully.")
-    print(f"🔧 Next, run `docker compose up -d --build`")
+            shutil.copy(src, dst)
 
 def startproject(name: str):
     """Create a new project: flat structure, all project templates go into <name>/"""
     target_dir = Path(name).resolve()
     target_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     render_template_dir("project", target_dir, {"project_name": name})
-    print(f"✅ Project '{name}' created successfully.")
-    print(f"🔧 Next, configure your project in {target_dir / 'settings.py'}")
 
 
 def startapp(name: str, project: str):
@@ -94,5 +94,3 @@ def startapp(name: str, project: str):
         {"project_name": target_dir.resolve().name, "app_name": name},
         subdir_name=name,
     )
-    print(f"✅ App '{name}' created in project '{target_dir}' successfully.")
-    print(f"🔧 Remember to add '{name}' to your INSTALLED_APPS!")
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/Dockerfile b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/Dockerfile
index 28a8f32..484a371 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ ENV PATH="$POETRY_HOME/bin:$PATH"
 
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY pyproject.toml poetry.lock* /app/
-RUN poetry lock
 RUN poetry install
 COPY . /app
 
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/docker-compose.yml b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/docker-compose.yml
index 6691e61..9e03d32 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,14 @@
 services:
+  # db:
+  #   image: postgres:latest
+  #   restart: unless-stopped
+  #   environment:
+  #     POSTGRES_DB: ohmyapi
+  #     POSTGRES_USER: ohmyapi
+  #     POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ohmyapi
+  #   ports:
+  #     - 5432:5432
+
   app:
     build:
       context: .
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/project/pyproject.toml.j2 b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/project/pyproject.toml.j2
index 0fe3dcd..f877761 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/project/pyproject.toml.j2
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/core/templates/project/pyproject.toml.j2
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ readme = "README.md"
 license = { text = "MIT" }
 
 dependencies = [
-    "ohmyapi"
+#    "asyncpg"
 ]
 
 [tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/db/__init__.py b/src/ohmyapi/db/__init__.py
index e526ef5..0a634a9 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/db/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/db/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+from tortoise.expressions import Q
 from tortoise.manager import Manager
+from tortoise.query_utils import Prefetch
 from tortoise.queryset import QuerySet
 from tortoise.signals import (
     post_delete,
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/db/functions.py b/src/ohmyapi/db/functions.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5cf5de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/db/functions.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from tortoise.functions import *
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/db/model/model.py b/src/ohmyapi/db/model/model.py
index 929ff60..7ab918f 100644
--- a/src/ohmyapi/db/model/model.py
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/db/model/model.py
@@ -31,6 +31,18 @@ UUID.__get_pydantic_core_schema__ = classmethod(__uuid_schema_monkey_patch)
 
 class ModelMeta(type(TortoiseModel)):
     def __new__(mcls, name, bases, attrs):
+        meta = attrs.get("Meta", None)
+        if meta is None:
+            class Meta:
+                pass
+            meta = Meta
+            attrs["Meta"] = meta
+
+        if not hasattr(meta, "table"):
+            # Use first part of module as app_label
+            app_label = attrs.get("__module__", "").replace("ohmyapi.builtin.", "ohmyapi_").split(".")[0]
+            setattr(meta, "table", f"{app_label}_{name.lower()}")
+
         # Grab the Schema class for further processing.
         schema_opts = attrs.get("Schema", None)
 
diff --git a/src/ohmyapi/middleware/cors.py b/src/ohmyapi/middleware/cors.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77d49b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ohmyapi/middleware/cors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+from fastapi import FastAPI
+from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Tuple
+
+import settings
+
+DEFAULT_ORIGINS = ["http://localhost", "http://localhost:8000"]
+DEFAULT_CREDENTIALS = False
+DEFAULT_METHODS = ["*"]
+DEFAULT_HEADERS = ["*"]
+
+CORS_CONFIG: Dict[str, Any] = getattr(settings, "MIDDLEWARE_CORS", {})
+
+if not isinstance(CORS_CONFIG, dict):
+    raise ValueError("MIDDLEWARE_CORS must be of type dict")
+
+middleware = (
+    CORSMiddleware,
+    {
+        "allow_origins": CORS_CONFIG.get("ALLOW_ORIGINS", DEFAULT_ORIGINS),
+        "allow_credentials": CORS_CONFIG.get("ALLOW_CREDENTIALS", DEFAULT_CREDENTIALS),
+        "allow_methods": CORS_CONFIG.get("ALLOW_METHODS", DEFAULT_METHODS),
+        "allow_headers": CORS_CONFIG.get("ALLOW_HEADERS", DEFAULT_HEADERS),
+    }
+)