diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index 7e3a68c..ae4b815 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::ImageKind;
 use s3::creds::time::OffsetDateTime;
-use sqlx::{Executor, FromRow, PgPool};
+use sqlx::{Executor, FromRow, PgPool, Postgres, Transaction};
 
 #[derive(FromRow)]
 pub struct ImageMeta {
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ pub struct ImageMeta {
     pub uploaded_by_account: Option<i64>,
 }
 
+#[derive(FromRow)]
+pub struct ImageQueueEntry {
+    pub itemid: i32,
+    pub url: String,
+    pub kind: ImageKind,
+}
+
 pub async fn init(pool: &PgPool) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     pool.execute(include_str!("./init.sql")).await?;
     Ok(())
@@ -47,6 +54,17 @@ pub async fn get_by_attachment_id(
     )
 }
 
+pub async fn pop_queue(pool: &PgPool) -> anyhow::Result<Option<(Transaction<Postgres>, ImageQueueEntry)>> {
+    let mut tx = pool.begin().await?;
+    let res: Option<ImageQueueEntry> = sqlx::query_as("delete from image_queue where itemid = (select itemid from image_queue order by itemid for update skip locked limit 1) returning *")
+        .fetch_optional(&mut *tx).await?;
+    Ok(res.map(|x| (tx, x)))
+}
+
+pub async fn get_queue_length(pool: &PgPool) -> anyhow::Result<i64> {
+    Ok(sqlx::query_scalar("select count(*) from image_queue").fetch_one(pool).await?)
+}
+
 pub async fn add_image(pool: &PgPool, meta: ImageMeta) -> anyhow::Result<bool> {
     let kind_str = match meta.kind {
         ImageKind::Avatar => "avatar",
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index d6d072f..4bde0cd 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ mod hash;
 mod process;
 mod pull;
 mod store;
-use crate::db::ImageMeta;
+mod migrate;
+
 use crate::pull::Puller;
 use crate::store::Storer;
 use axum::extract::State;
@@ -178,6 +179,8 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         config: Arc::new(config),
     };
 
+    migrate::spawn_migrate_workers(Arc::new(state.clone()), state.config.migrate_worker_count);
+
     let app = Router::new().route("/pull", post(pull)).with_state(state);
 
     let host = "0.0.0.0:3000";
@@ -249,6 +252,9 @@ struct Config {
     db: String,
     s3: S3Config,
     base_url: String,
+
+    #[serde(default)]
+    migrate_worker_count: u32
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Clone)]
diff --git a/src/migrate.rs b/src/migrate.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a99012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/migrate.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::Duration;
+use tracing::{error, info, instrument, warn};
+use crate::{AppState, db, process};
+use crate::db::ImageMeta;
+use crate::pull::parse_url;
+
+pub async fn handle_item(state: &AppState) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let queue_length = db::get_queue_length(&state.pool).await?;
+    info!("migrate queue length: {}", queue_length);
+
+    if let Some((tx, item)) = db::pop_queue(&state.pool).await? {
+        let Ok(parsed) = parse_url(&item.url) else {
+            // if invalid url, consume and skip it
+            warn!("skipping invalid url: {}", item.url);
+            tx.commit().await?;
+            return Ok(());
+        };
+
+        let pulled = state.puller.pull(&parsed).await?;
+        let encoded = process::process(&pulled.data, item.kind)?;
+        let store_res = state.storer.store(&encoded).await?;
+        let final_url = format!("{}{}", state.config.base_url, store_res.path);
+
+        db::add_image(
+            &state.pool,
+            ImageMeta {
+                id: store_res.id,
+                url: final_url.clone(),
+                original_url: Some(parsed.full_url),
+                original_type: Some(pulled.content_type),
+                original_file_size: Some(pulled.data.len() as i32),
+                original_attachment_id: Some(parsed.attachment_id as i64),
+                file_size: encoded.data_webp.len() as i32,
+                width: encoded.width as i32,
+                height: encoded.height as i32,
+                kind: item.kind,
+                uploaded_at: None,
+                uploaded_by_account: None,
+            },
+        )
+        .await?;
+
+        info!("migrated {} ({}k -> {}k)", final_url, pulled.data.len(), encoded.data_webp.len());
+        tx.commit().await?;
+    } else {
+        tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(5)).await;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[instrument(skip(state))]
+pub async fn worker(worker_id: u32, state: Arc<AppState>) {
+    info!("spawned migrate worker with id {}", worker_id);
+    loop {
+        match handle_item(&state).await {
+            Ok(()) => {},
+            Err(e) => {
+                error!("error in migrate worker {}: {}", worker_id, e);
+                tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(5)).await;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn spawn_migrate_workers(state: Arc<AppState>, count: u32) {
+    for i in 0..count {
+        tokio::spawn(worker(i, state.clone()));
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file