diff --git a/app/models.py b/app/models.py
index 43fe8378..7b954dc3 100644
--- a/app/models.py
+++ b/app/models.py
@@ -613,6 +613,12 @@ user_role = db.Table('user_role',
     db.PrimaryKeyConstraint('user_id', 'role_id')
 )
 
+# table to hold users' 'read' post ids
+read_posts = db.Table('read_posts',
+                        db.Column('user_id', db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('user.id'), index=True),
+                        db.Column('read_post_id', db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('post.id'), index=True),
+                        # db.PrimaryKeyConstraint('user_id', 'read_post_id')
+                      )
 
 class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
     query_class = FullTextSearchQuery
@@ -692,6 +698,12 @@ class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
 
     roles = db.relationship('Role', secondary=user_role, lazy='dynamic', cascade="all, delete")
 
+    read_post = db.relationship(
+        'Post', secondary=read_posts,
+        primaryjoin=(read_posts.c.user_id == id),
+        secondaryjoin=(read_posts.c.read_post_id == id),
+        backref=db.backref('read_by', lazy='dynamic'), lazy='dynamic')
+
     def __repr__(self):
         return '<User {}_{}>'.format(self.user_name, self.id)
 
@@ -1017,6 +1029,18 @@ class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
         except Exception as e:
             return str(e)
 
+    # mark a post as 'read' for this user
+    def mark_post_as_read(self, post_id):
+        # check if its already marked as read, if not, mark it as read
+        if not self.has_read_post(post_id):
+            self.read_post.append(post_id)
+
+    # check if post has been read by this user
+    # returns true if the post has been read, false if not
+    def has_read_post(self, post_id):
+        return self.read_post.filter(read_posts.c.read_post_id == post_id).count() > 0
+    
+
 
 class ActivityLog(db.Model):
     id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
@@ -1560,6 +1584,7 @@ class PostReply(db.Model):
         return undo
 
 
+
 class Domain(db.Model):
     id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
     name = db.Column(db.String(255), index=True)
diff --git a/app/post/util.py b/app/post/util.py
index 150d9977..bcf8e943 100644
--- a/app/post/util.py
+++ b/app/post/util.py
@@ -113,3 +113,7 @@ def url_needs_archive(url) -> bool:
 
 def generate_archive_link(url) -> bool:
     return 'https://archive.ph/' + url
+
+# marks the post as read for a provided user
+def mark_post_as_read(post_id: int, user_id: int):
+    pass
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/migrations/versions/27b71f6cb21e_adding_read_posts_table.py b/migrations/versions/27b71f6cb21e_adding_read_posts_table.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1865dfb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/versions/27b71f6cb21e_adding_read_posts_table.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"""adding read_posts table
+
+Revision ID: 27b71f6cb21e
+Revises: fdaeb0b2c078
+Create Date: 2024-09-27 10:17:54.020762
+
+"""
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = '27b71f6cb21e'
+down_revision = 'fdaeb0b2c078'
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+
+def upgrade():
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.create_table('read_posts',
+    sa.Column('user_id', sa.Integer(), nullable=True),
+    sa.Column('read_post_id', sa.Integer(), nullable=True),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['read_post_id'], ['post.id'], ),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['user_id'], ['user.id'], )
+    )
+    with op.batch_alter_table('read_posts', schema=None) as batch_op:
+        batch_op.create_index(batch_op.f('ix_read_posts_read_post_id'), ['read_post_id'], unique=False)
+        batch_op.create_index(batch_op.f('ix_read_posts_user_id'), ['user_id'], unique=False)
+
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###
+
+
+def downgrade():
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    with op.batch_alter_table('read_posts', schema=None) as batch_op:
+        batch_op.drop_index(batch_op.f('ix_read_posts_user_id'))
+        batch_op.drop_index(batch_op.f('ix_read_posts_read_post_id'))
+
+    op.drop_table('read_posts')
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###