diff --git a/src/codeguard/core/config.py b/src/codeguard/core/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..091404d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/codeguard/core/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from dataclasses import field
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import List, Optional
+
+import yaml
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class Config(BaseModel):
+    model: str = "codellama"
+    languages: List[str] = field(default_factory=lambda: ["python", "javascript", "go", "rust"])
+    severity_threshold: str = "low"
+    fail_on_critical: bool = False
+    output_format: str = "text"
+    ollama_url: str = "http://localhost:11434"
+    timeout: int = 120
+
+
+def load_config(config_path: Optional[str] = None) -> Config:
+    if config_path is None:
+        config_path_str = str(Path.cwd() / "codeguard.yaml")
+    else:
+        config_path_str = config_path
+
+    config_file = Path(config_path_str)
+
+    if config_file.exists():
+        with open(config_file) as f:
+            data = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+        return Config(**data)
+
+    return Config()
+
+
+def save_config(config: Config, config_path: str = "codeguard.yaml") -> None:
+    config_file = Path(config_path)
+    with open(config_file, "w") as f:
+        yaml.dump(config.model_dump(), f)