diff --git a/src/Configuration.php b/src/Configuration.php
index dc54040..5d44172 100644
--- a/src/Configuration.php
+++ b/src/Configuration.php
@@ -2,31 +2,44 @@
 
 namespace BitBadger\PDODocument;
 
+use PDO;
+
 /**
  * Common configuration for the document library
  */
 class Configuration
 {
     /** @var string The name of the ID field used in the database (will be treated as the primary key) */
-    private static string $_idField = 'id';
+    public static string $idField = 'id';
+
+    /** @var string The data source name (DSN) of the connection string */
+    public static string $pdoDSN = '';
+
+    /** @var string|null The username to use to establish a data connection (use env PDO_DOC_USERNAME if possible) */
+    public static ?string $username = null;
+
+    /** @var string|null The password to use to establish a data connection (use env PDO_DOC_PASSWORD if possible) */
+    public static ?string $password = null;
+
+    /** @var array|null Options to use for connections (driver-specific) */
+    public static ?array $options = null;
 
     /**
-     * Configure the ID field used by the library
+     * Retrieve a new connection to the database
      *
-     * @param string $name The name of the ID field within each document
+     * @return PDO A new connection to the SQLite database with foreign key support enabled
+     * @throws DocumentException If this is called before a connection string is set
      */
-    public static function useIdField(string $name): void
+    public static function dbConn(): PDO
     {
-        self::$_idField = $name;
-    }
+        if (empty(self::$pdoDSN)) {
+            throw new DocumentException('Please provide a data source name (DSN) before attempting data access');
+        }
+        $db = new PDO(self::$pdoDSN, $_ENV['PDO_DOC_USERNAME'] ?? self::$username,
+            $_ENV['PDO_DOC_PASSWORD'] ?? self::$password, self::$options);
 
-    /**
-     * Retrieve the ID field for documents within this library
-     *
-     * @return string The configured ID field
-     */
-    public static function idField(): string
-    {
-        return self::$_idField;
+        // TODO: determine driver, set mode for other queries
+        echo $db->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DRIVER_NAME);
+        return $db;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Query.php b/src/Query.php
index d9a265f..a1facbc 100644
--- a/src/Query.php
+++ b/src/Query.php
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class Query
      */
     public static function whereById(string $paramName = '@id'): string
     {
-        return self::whereByFields([Field::EQ(Configuration::idField(), 0, $paramName)]);
+        return self::whereByFields([Field::EQ(Configuration::$idField, 0, $paramName)]);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class Query
     public static function save(string $tableName): string
     {
         return self::insert($tableName)
-            . " ON CONFLICT ((data->>'" . Configuration::idField() . "')) DO UPDATE SET data = EXCLUDED.data";
+            . " ON CONFLICT ((data->>'" . Configuration::$idField . "')) DO UPDATE SET data = EXCLUDED.data";
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Query/Definition.php b/src/Query/Definition.php
index 802ec7a..730d8a6 100644
--- a/src/Query/Definition.php
+++ b/src/Query/Definition.php
@@ -61,6 +61,6 @@ class Definition
      */
     public static function ensureKey(string $tableName): string
     {
-        return str_replace('INDEX', 'UNIQUE INDEX', self::ensureIndexOn($tableName, 'key', [Configuration::idField()]));
+        return str_replace('INDEX', 'UNIQUE INDEX', self::ensureIndexOn($tableName, 'key', [Configuration::$idField]));
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/ConfigurationTest.php b/tests/unit/ConfigurationTest.php
index c493a89..2efbf6d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/ConfigurationTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/ConfigurationTest.php
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 namespace Test\Unit;
 
 use BitBadger\PDODocument\Configuration;
+use BitBadger\PDODocument\DocumentException;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\TestDox;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 
 /**
@@ -12,17 +14,24 @@ class ConfigurationTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testIdFieldDefaultSucceeds(): void
     {
-        $this->assertEquals('id', Configuration::idField(), 'Default ID field should be "id"');
+        $this->assertEquals('id', Configuration::$idField, 'Default ID field should be "id"');
     }
 
-    public function testUseIdFieldSucceeds()
+    public function testIdFieldChangeSucceeds()
     {
         try {
-            Configuration::useIdField('EyeDee');
-            $this->assertEquals('EyeDee', Configuration::idField(), 'ID field should have been updated');
+            Configuration::$idField = 'EyeDee';
+            $this->assertEquals('EyeDee', Configuration::$idField, 'ID field should have been updated');
         } finally {
-            Configuration::useIdField('id');
-            $this->assertEquals('id', Configuration::idField(), 'Default ID value should have been restored');
+            Configuration::$idField = 'id';
+            $this->assertEquals('id', Configuration::$idField, 'Default ID value should have been restored');
         }
     }
+
+    #[TestDox("Db conn fails when no DSN specified")]
+    public function testDbConnFailsWhenNoDSNSpecified(): void
+    {
+        $this->expectException(DocumentException::class);
+        Configuration::dbConn();
+    }
 }