diff --git a/includes/class-peptide-news-activator.php b/includes/class-peptide-news-activator.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..005f934
--- /dev/null
+++ b/includes/class-peptide-news-activator.php
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Fired during plugin activation.
+ *
+ * Creates database tables and schedules the cron event.
+ *
+ * @since 1.0.0
+ */
+class Peptide_News_Activator {
+
+    /**
+     * Create custom tables and schedule cron.
+     */
+    public static function activate() {
+        self::create_tables();
+        self::set_default_options();
+        self::schedule_cron();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create the articles and analytics database tables.
+     */
+    private static function create_tables() {
+        global $wpdb;
+
+        $charset_collate = $wpdb->get_charset_collate();
+
+        // Articles table — stores fetched news data for analysis.
+        $articles_table = $wpdb->prefix . 'peptide_news_articles';
+        $sql_articles   = "CREATE TABLE {$articles_table} (
+            id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
+            source VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            source_url VARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            title TEXT NOT NULL,
+            excerpt TEXT NOT NULL,
+            content LONGTEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            author VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            thumbnail_url VARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            published_at DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+            fetched_at DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+            categories VARCHAR(500) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            tags VARCHAR(500) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            language VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'en',
+            sentiment_score FLOAT DEFAULT NULL,
+            hash VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            is_active TINYINT(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+            PRIMARY KEY (id),
+            UNIQUE KEY hash (hash),
+            KEY idx_published (published_at),
+            KEY idx_source (source),
+            KEY idx_active_published (is_active, published_at)
+        ) {$charset_collate};";
+
+        // Click analytics table — one row per click event.
+        $clicks_table = $wpdb->prefix . 'peptide_news_clicks';
+        $sql_clicks   = "CREATE TABLE {$clicks_table} (
+            id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
+            article_id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+            clicked_at DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+            user_ip VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            user_agent TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            referrer_url VARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            page_url VARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            session_id VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            user_id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED DEFAULT NULL,
+            country VARCHAR(2) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            device_type VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+            PRIMARY KEY (id),
+            KEY idx_article (article_id),
+            KEY idx_clicked_at (clicked_at),
+            KEY idx_session (session_id),
+            KEY idx_article_date (article_id, clicked_at)
+        ) {$charset_collate};";
+
+        // Daily aggregates table — for fast trend queries.
+        $daily_table = $wpdb->prefix . 'peptide_news_daily_stats';
+        $sql_daily   = "CREATE TABLE {$daily_table} (
+            id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
+            article_id BIGINT(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+            stat_date DATE NOT NULL,
+            click_count INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+            unique_visitors INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+            PRIMARY KEY (id),
+            UNIQUE KEY idx_article_date (article_id, stat_date),
+            KEY idx_date (stat_date)
+        ) {$charset_collate};";
+
+        require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php';
+
+        dbDelta( $sql_articles );
+        dbDelta( $sql_clicks );
+        dbDelta( $sql_daily );
+
+        update_option( 'peptide_news_db_version', PEPTIDE_NEWS_VERSION );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set sensible default option values.
+     */
+    private static function set_default_options() {
+        $defaults = array(
+            'fetch_interval'       => 'twicedaily',
+            'articles_count'       => 10,
+            'newsapi_key'          => '',
+            'newsapi_enabled'      => 0,
+            'rss_feeds'            => implode( "\n", array(
+                'https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=peptide+research&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en',
+                'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rss/search/1sUlVGjEXm1YN9QiGPblv_-bwB51JCtyLwVX85CVGDKCHFFR9Q/?limit=20&utm_campaign=pubmed-2&fc=20220101000000',
+            ) ),
+            'rss_enabled'          => 1,
+            'search_keywords'      => 'peptide, peptides, peptide therapy, peptide research, BPC-157, Thymosin, GHK-Cu',
+            'thumbnail_fallback'   => PEPTIDE_NEWS_PLUGIN_URL . 'public/images/default-thumb.png',
+            'article_retention'    => 90,
+            'analytics_retention'  => 365,
+            'anonymize_ip'         => 1,
+        );
+
+        foreach ( $defaults as $key => $value ) {
+            if ( false === get_option( "peptide_news_{$key}" ) ) {
+                add_option( "peptide_news_{$key}", $value );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Schedule the cron event based on the configured interval.
+     */
+    private static function schedule_cron() {
+        $interval = get_option( 'peptide_news_fetch_interval', 'twicedaily' );
+
+        if ( ! wp_next_scheduled( 'peptide_news_cron_fetch' ) ) {
+            wp_schedule_event( time(), $interval, 'peptide_news_cron_fetch' );
+        }
+    }
+}