diff --git a/CabalIndex.hs b/CabalIndex.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CabalIndex.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+module CabalIndex
+       ( buildDatabase
+       , queryPackages)
+       where
+
+import Control.Monad
+
+import System.Directory      (renameFile)
+import System.FilePath       ((</>))
+import System.Process        (readProcess)
+
+import Database.HDBC
+import Database.HDBC.Sqlite3
+
+import qualified Data.List as L
+
+
+{-| Insert packages into table -}
+populate :: IConnection c => c -> [(String, String)] -> IO ()
+populate conn ps =
+  do stmt <- prepare conn "INSERT INTO packages VALUES (?, ?)"
+     executeMany stmt $ map (\(n,m) -> [toSql n, toSql m]) ps
+
+{-| Create table for packages -}
+createTable :: IConnection c => c -> IO ()
+createTable conn =
+  void $ run conn "CREATE TABLE packages (name VARCHAR(16) PRIMARY KEY, meta VARCHAR(128))" []
+
+{-| Create and populate a new database, replacing the old -}
+buildDatabase :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
+buildDatabase dbDir dbName =
+  do -- place tmp file in same dir as db to allow atomic move
+     let tmpDb = dbDir </> dbName ++ "-partial"
+     -- build database in temporary path
+     conn <- connectSqlite3 tmpDb
+     createTable conn
+     populate conn =<< parseCabal
+     -- commit and disconnect
+     commit conn
+     disconnect conn
+     -- move new database over old one
+     renameFile tmpDb $ dbDir </> dbName
+
+{-| Query a database, using the output from Cabal -}
+queryPackages :: FilePath -> String -> IO [(String, String)]
+queryPackages db term =
+  do conn <- connectSqlite3 db
+     rows <- quickQuery conn "SELECT * FROM packages WHERE name LIKE ?" [toSql $ '%':term++"%"]
+     return $ map (\[n,m] -> (fromSql n :: String, fromSql m :: String)) rows
+
+
+{-| List packages using Cabal and parse the result to (name, meta) -}
+parseCabal :: IO [(String, String)]
+parseCabal = go `fmap` lines `fmap` readProcess "cabal" ["list"] []
+  where
+    go [] = []
+    go (('*':' ':name):rest) =
+      let (meta, rest') = gm [] rest
+      in (name, L.intercalate "\n" meta) : go rest'
+    go l = error $ "Unexpected cabal output" ++ show l
+
+    gm m [] = (m, [])
+    gm m (rest@(('*':_):_)) = (m, rest)
+    gm m (x:xs)
+      | L.null x  = gm m xs
+      | otherwise = gm (m ++ [x]) xs
+
+
diff --git a/CabalSearch.cabal b/CabalSearch.cabal
--- a/CabalSearch.cabal
+++ b/CabalSearch.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:           CabalSearch
-version:        0.0.1
+version:        0.0.2
 license:        BSD3
 license-file:   LICENSE
 category:       Utils
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 executable cabalsearch
     main-is: Main.hs
+    other-modules: CabalIndex
 
     build-depends:
         base == 4.*,