diff --git a/config.example.json b/config.example.json
index 58cf7d7..35afa20 100644
--- a/config.example.json
+++ b/config.example.json
@@ -4,4 +4,8 @@
   "logging": {
     "level": "info"
   }
+  "email": {
+    "api_key": "asdf1234",
+    "sender": "me@example.com"
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/config/__init__.py b/src/config/__init__.py
index 7b09571..c83bc3e 100644
--- a/src/config/__init__.py
+++ b/src/config/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import json
-from logging import INFO
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Any
 
 from .logging import Logging
+from .email import Email
 from .parse import ConfigParseError, assert_key_of_type
 
 
@@ -12,21 +12,25 @@ class Config:
     host: str | None
     port: int | None
     logging: Logging
+    email: Email
 
     @classmethod
     def from_dict(cls, config: dict[str, Any]) -> 'Config':
         assert_key_of_type(config, 'logging', dict)
+        assert_key_of_type(config, 'email', dict)
         assert_key_of_type(config, 'host', str)
         assert_key_of_type(config, 'port', int)
         try:
             log_config = Logging.from_dict(config['logging'])
-            return Config(host=config['host'], port=config['port'], logging=log_config)
-
         except ConfigParseError as e:
             raise ConfigParseError(['logging', *e.keypath], e.issue) from e
 
+        try:
+            email_config = Email.from_dict(config['email'])
+        except ConfigParseError as e:
+            raise ConfigParseError(['email', *e.keypath], e.issue) from e
 
-DEFAULT_CONFIG = Config(logging=Logging(level=INFO), port=None, host=None)
+        return Config(host=config['host'], port=config['port'], email=email_config, logging=log_config)
 
 
 def parse_config(filename: str) -> Config:
@@ -35,4 +39,4 @@ def parse_config(filename: str) -> Config:
     return Config.from_dict(config)
 
 
-__all__ = ['Config', 'parse_config', 'DEFAULT_CONFIG']
+__all__ = ['Config', 'parse_config']
diff --git a/src/config/email.py b/src/config/email.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..423465c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config/email.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+from src.config.parse import assert_key_of_type
+from typing import Any
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+EmailAddress = str
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Email:
+    api_key: str
+    sender: EmailAddress
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_dict(cls, config: dict[str, Any]) -> 'Email':
+        assert_key_of_type(config, 'api_key', str)
+        assert_key_of_type(config, 'sender', str)
+        return Email(api_key=config['api_key'], sender=config['sender'])
diff --git a/src/main.py b/src/main.py
index 2203566..4e9c771 100644
--- a/src/main.py
+++ b/src/main.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from flask import Flask
 import argparse
 import logging
 
-from src.config import parse_config, DEFAULT_CONFIG, Config
+from src.config import parse_config, Config
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ def create_app(name: str, config: Config) -> Flask:
 
 def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser('Cereal', description='run the Cereal server')
-    parser.add_argument('--config', '-c', help='The path to the configuration file, expects JSON')
+    parser.add_argument('--config', '-c', help='The path to the configuration file, expects JSON', required=True)
     args = parser.parse_args()
-    config = parse_config(args.config) if args.config else DEFAULT_CONFIG
+
+    config = parse_config(args.config)
     app = create_app('Cereal', config)
     logger.info(str(config))
     serve(app, host='0.0.0.0' if config.host is None else config.host, port=config.port)
diff --git a/src/notifications/__init__.py b/src/notifications/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/notifications/data.py b/src/notifications/data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2633c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/notifications/data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+
+URL = str
+
+
+@dataclass
+class NotificationAction:
+    # A unique identifier for the action
+    action: str
+    # The title to show with the action
+    title: str
+    # Where to navigate to when clicked.
+    navigate: URL | None = None
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Notification:
+    """
+    Details to show in a notification
+
+    Much of the data here is intended to match the arguments to the [showNotification](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/ServiceWorkerRegistration/showNotification)
+    Web API, but this content is ideally displayable in other contexts (for example in Email or RSS)
+    """
+
+    # The main title content to show
+    title: str
+    # The content of the notification
+    content: str
+
+    # The UNIX timestamp in milliseconds since the epoch associated with this notification
+    timestamp: int
+    # A list of actions included with this notification
+    actions: list[NotificationAction] = field(default_factory=list)
+    # The location of an icon to show as the icon for this notification
+    icon: URL | None = None
+
+    # The location of an image associated with this notification
+    image: URL | None = None
diff --git a/src/notifications/email.py b/src/notifications/email.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..799eb0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/notifications/email.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+from typing import Any
+from email.utils import formatdate, make_msgid
+import abc
+from email.message import EmailMessage
+
+from ..config.email import Email as EmailConfig
+from .service import NotificationService
+from .data import Notification
+
+
+class EmailService(NotificationService):
+    def __init__(self, config: EmailConfig):
+        self._config = config
+
+    def notify(self, user: Any, notification: Notification):
+        email = self._prepare_email(user.email, notification)
+        self.send_email(email)
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    def send_email(self, email: EmailMessage):
+        pass
+
+    def _render_template_text(self, notification: Notification) -> str:
+        # TODO
+        return ''
+
+    def _render_template_html(self, notification: Notification) -> str:
+        # TODO
+        return ''
+
+    def _prepare_email(self, receiver: str, notification: Notification) -> EmailMessage:
+        msg = EmailMessage()
+        msg['From'] = self._config.sender
+        msg['To'] = receiver
+        msg['Subject'] = notification.title
+
+        msg['Date'] = formatdate(localtime=True)
+        msg['Message-ID'] = make_msgid()
+
+        msg.set_content(self._render_template_text(notification))
+        msg.add_alternative(self._render_template_html(notification), subtype='html')
+
+        return msg
+
+
+class BirdEmailServiceImpl(EmailService):
+    def send_email(self, email: EmailMessage):
+        # TODO: Implement Bird Specific Email sending and Error handling
+        pass
+
+
+def get_service(config: EmailConfig) -> EmailService:
+    return BirdEmailServiceImpl(config)
diff --git a/src/notifications/service.py b/src/notifications/service.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecd6717
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/notifications/service.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+from typing import Any
+from .data import Notification
+import abc
+
+
+class NotificationService(abc.ABC):
+    """A service that sends notifications to the user"""
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    def notify(self, user: Any, notification: Notification):
+        """Send a notification"""
+        pass