diff --git a/public/index.html b/public/index.html
index 5c5b75e..4e37aae 100644
--- a/public/index.html
+++ b/public/index.html
@@ -144,6 +144,48 @@
         </div>
     </div>
 </div>
+<div id="personaModal" class="modal-overlay hidden">
+    <div class="modal-card">
+        <div class="modal-header">
+            <h3 id="personaFormTitle">Create persona</h3>
+            <button id="personaClose" type="button" class="icon-button">Close</button>
+        </div>
+        <form id="personaForm" class="persona-form">
+            <label class="field">
+                <span>Name</span>
+                <input id="personaName" placeholder="Persona name" required/>
+            </label>
+            <label class="field">
+                <span>Pronouns</span>
+                <input id="personaPronouns" placeholder="e.g. she/her, they/them"/>
+            </label>
+            <label class="field">
+                <span>Appearance</span>
+                <textarea id="personaAppearance" rows="2" placeholder="Describe their look"></textarea>
+            </label>
+            <label class="field">
+                <span>Background</span>
+                <textarea id="personaBackground" rows="2" placeholder="Backstory or origins"></textarea>
+            </label>
+            <label class="field">
+                <span>Details</span>
+                <textarea id="personaDetails" rows="3"
+                          placeholder="Personality traits, voice, or quirks"></textarea>
+            </label>
+            <div class="custom-fields">
+                <div class="custom-fields-header">
+                    <span>Custom traits</span>
+                    <button id="addCustomField" type="button" class="secondary-action">Add</button>
+                </div>
+                <div id="customFieldsList" class="custom-fields-list"></div>
+            </div>
+            <div class="persona-actions">
+                <button id="personaSave" type="submit" class="primary-action">Save persona</button>
+                <button id="personaCancel" type="button" class="secondary-action">Cancel</button>
+            </div>
+        </form>
+    </div>
+</div>
 <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/marked/marked.min.js" defer></script>
 <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/dompurify@3.0.6/dist/purify.min.js" defer></script>
 <script src="script.js" defer></script>
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index fc20da6..ec3493c 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -334,6 +334,12 @@ if (legacyChatsExist && migrationNeeded.count === 0) {
     });
 }
 
+const personaColumns = db.prepare("PRAGMA table_info(personas)").all();
+const hasCustomFields = personaColumns.some(column => column.name === "custom_fields");
+if (!hasCustomFields) {
+    db.prepare("ALTER TABLE personas ADD COLUMN custom_fields TEXT").run();
+}
+
 const FileStore = FileStoreFactory(session);
 app.use(bodyParser.json());
 app.use(express.static("public"));