diff --git a/api/src/shipit_api/common/models.py b/api/src/shipit_api/common/models.py
index df336feac..00e03b29e 100644
--- a/api/src/shipit_api/common/models.py
+++ b/api/src/shipit_api/common/models.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import slugid
 import sqlalchemy as sa
 import sqlalchemy.orm
+from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import ENUM
 
 from backend_common.db import db
 from shipit_api.common.config import ALLOW_PHASE_SKIPPING, SIGNOFFS
@@ -264,3 +265,98 @@ def json(self):
             "completed": self.completed or "",
             "phases": [p.json for p in self.phases],
         }
+
+
+class Approval(db.Model):
+    __tablename__ = "shipit_api_workflow_approvals"
+    id = sa.Column(sa.Integer, primary_key=True)
+    uid = sa.Column(sa.String, nullable=False, unique=True)
+    name = sa.Column(sa.String, nullable=False)
+    description = sa.Column(sa.Text)
+    permissions = sa.Column(sa.String, nullable=False)
+    completed = sa.Column(sa.DateTime)
+    completed_by = sa.Column(sa.String)
+    signed = sa.Column(sa.Boolean, default=False)
+    step_id = sa.Column(sa.Integer, sa.ForeignKey("shipit_api_workflow_steps.id"))
+    step = sqlalchemy.orm.relationship("Step", back_populates="approvals")
+
+    def __init__(self, uid, name, description, permissions):
+        self.uid = uid
+        self.name = name
+        self.description = description
+        self.permissions = permissions
+
+    @property
+    def json(self):
+        return dict(
+            uid=self.uid,
+            name=self.name,
+            description=self.description,
+            permissions=self.permissions,
+            completed=self.completed or "",
+            completed_by=self.completed_by or "",
+            signed=self.signed,
+        )
+
+
+class Step(db.Model):
+    __tablename__ = "shipit_api_workflow_steps"
+    id = sa.Column(sa.Integer, primary_key=True)
+    name = sa.Column(sa.String, nullable=False)
+    submitted = sa.Column(sa.Boolean, nullable=False, default=False)
+    task_id = sa.Column(sa.String, nullable=False)
+    task = sa.Column(sa.JSON, nullable=False)
+    context = sa.Column(sa.JSON, nullable=False)
+    created = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, default=datetime.datetime.utcnow)
+    completed = sa.Column(sa.DateTime)
+    completed_by = sa.Column(sa.String)
+    workflow_id = sa.Column(sa.Integer, sa.ForeignKey("shipit_api_workflows.id"))
+    workflow = sqlalchemy.orm.relationship("Workflow", back_populates="steps")
+    approvals = sqlalchemy.orm.relationship("Approval", order_by=Approval.id, back_populates="step")
+
+
+class Workflow(db.Model):
+    __tablename__ = "shipit_api_workflows"
+    id = sa.Column(sa.Integer, primary_key=True)
+    attributes = sa.Column(sa.JSON, nullable=False)
+    name = sa.Column(sa.String(80), nullable=False, unique=True)
+    status = sa.Column(ENUM("scheduled", "completed", "aborted", name="shipit_api_workflow_status"), nullable=False)
+    created = sa.Column(sa.DateTime, nullable=False, default=datetime.datetime.utcnow)
+    completed = sa.Column(sa.DateTime)
+    steps = sa.orm.relationship("Step", order_by=Step.id, back_populates="workflow")
+
+    def __init__(self, attributes, status):
+        self.name = self.construct_name(attributes)
+        self.attributes = attributes
+        self.status = status
+
+    def construct_name(self, attributes):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Subclasses must implement this method to construct the workflow's name")
+
+    def step_approvals(self, step):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Subclasses must implement this method to get approvals for a workflow step")
+
+    @property
+    def allow_step_skipping(self):
+        # This only affects the frontend, *the API doesn't enforce step skipping.*
+        return False
+
+    @property
+    def json(self):
+        return {
+            "name": self.name,
+            "status": self.status,
+            "attributes": self.attributes,
+            "created": self.created.isoformat(),
+            "completed": self.completed.isoformat() if self.completed else "",
+            "steps": [p.json for p in self.steps],
+            "allow_step_skipping": self.allow_step_skipping,
+        }
+
+
+class Merge(Workflow):
+    def step_approvals(self, step):
+        return []
+
+    def construct_name(self, attributes):
+        return f"merges-{attributes['version']}"
diff --git a/api/workflows.yml b/api/workflows.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a704361e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/workflows.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+merges:
+    authorized-ldap-groups:
+        - releng
+        - shipit_relman
+    steps:
+        - close-beta # closes beta using the tree status API.
+        - beta-to-release # merges beta to release, bumps release, tags beta, sends a notification, etc.
+        - central-to-beta # merges central to beta, bumps beta, tags central, sends a notification, etc.
+        - open-beta # sets beta the beta tree to "approval required" using the tree status API.
+        - bump-central # bumps the nightly version and sends a notification.
+        # - bump-esr-VERSION  # not sure what to do about this one yet, but we can probably read HGMO and figure out the ESR bump steps? That data is here https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/38377227b8f96fda8f418db614e6a8aa67d01c31/taskcluster/config.yml#615-627
+        # - update-wiki # I don't know if this is feasible any more :/ see Bug 1414278: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1414278 can the wiki read dynamic data?
+        - update-shipit # This part is about updating the nightly version and release dates in shipit. To accomplish this we need to modify the app so updating these doesn't require a deployment. Maybe we can store them in a table and create APIs to manage the data.
+        - rebuild-product-details # sends a message to the product details pulse topic to pick up the updated shipit data.
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 3f3a12c24..43e4e8823 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ services:
       - ./api/src/cli_common:/app/src/cli_common
       - ./api/src/shipit_api:/app/src/shipit_api
       - "./api/products.yml:/app/products.yml"
+      - "./api/products.yml:/app/workflows.yml"
     environment:
       - HOST=0.0.0.0
       - PORT=8016