diff --git a/backend/src/config/__init__.py b/backend/src/config/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9d546a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/config/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from .app_config import get_app_config
+
+__all__ = ["get_app_config"]
diff --git a/backend/src/config/app_config.py b/backend/src/config/app_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2168652
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/config/app_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Self
+
+import yaml
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field
+
+from src.config.model_config import ModelConfig
+from src.config.sandbox_config import SandboxConfig
+from src.config.tool_config import ToolConfig, ToolGroupConfig
+
+
+class AppConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Config for the DeerFlow application"""
+
+    models: list[ModelConfig] = Field(
+        default_factory=list, description="Available models"
+    )
+    sandbox: SandboxConfig = Field(description="Sandbox configuration")
+    tools: list[ToolConfig] = Field(default_factory=list, description="Available tools")
+    tool_groups: list[ToolGroupConfig] = Field(
+        default_factory=list, description="Available tool groups"
+    )
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="allow", frozen=False)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def resolve_config_path(cls, config_path: str | None = None) -> Path:
+        """Resolve the config file path.
+
+        Priority:
+        1. If provided `config_path` argument, use it.
+        2. If provided `DEER_FLOW_CONFIG_PATH` environment variable, use it.
+        3. Otherwise, first check the `config.yaml` in the current directory, then use `config.yaml` in the parent directory.
+        """
+        if config_path:
+            path = Path(config_path)
+            if not Path.exists(path):
+                raise FileNotFoundError(
+                    f"Config file specified by param `config_path` not found at {path}"
+                )
+            return path
+        elif os.getenv("DEER_FLOW_CONFIG_PATH"):
+            path = Path(os.getenv("DEER_FLOW_CONFIG_PATH"))
+            if not Path.exists(path):
+                raise FileNotFoundError(
+                    f"Config file specified by environment variable `DEER_FLOW_CONFIG_PATH` not found at {path}"
+                )
+            return path
+        else:
+            # Check if the config.yaml is in the parent directory of CWD
+            path = Path(os.getcwd()).parent / "config.yaml"
+            if not path.exists():
+                raise FileNotFoundError(f"Config file not found at {path}")
+            return path
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_file(cls, config_path: str | None = None) -> Self:
+        """Load config from YAML file.
+
+        See `resolve_config_path` for more details.
+
+        Args:
+            config_path: Path to the config file.
+
+        Returns:
+            AppConfig: The loaded config.
+        """
+        resolved_path = cls.resolve_config_path(config_path)
+        with open(resolved_path, "r") as f:
+            config_data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        cls.resolve_env_variables(config_data)
+        result = cls.model_validate(config_data)
+        return result
+
+    @classmethod
+    def resolve_env_variables(cls, config: dict) -> dict:
+        """Recursively resolve environment variables in the config.
+
+        Environment variables are resolved using the `os.getenv` function. Example: $OPENAI_API_KEY
+
+        Args:
+            config: The config to resolve environment variables in.
+
+        Returns:
+            The config with environment variables resolved.
+        """
+        for key, value in config.items():
+            if isinstance(value, str):
+                if value.startswith("$"):
+                    env_value = os.getenv(value[1:], None)
+                    if env_value is not None:
+                        config[key] = env_value
+                else:
+                    config[key] = value
+            elif isinstance(value, dict):
+                config[key] = cls.resolve_env_variables(value)
+            elif isinstance(value, list):
+                config[key] = [cls.resolve_env_variables(item) for item in value]
+        return config
+
+    def get_model_config(self, name: str) -> ModelConfig | None:
+        """Get the model config by name.
+
+        Args:
+            name: The name of the model to get the config for.
+
+        Returns:
+            The model config if found, otherwise None.
+        """
+        return next((model for model in self.models if model.name == name), None)
+
+    def get_tool_config(self, name: str) -> ToolConfig | None:
+        """Get the tool config by name.
+
+        Args:
+            name: The name of the tool to get the config for.
+
+        Returns:
+            The tool config if found, otherwise None.
+        """
+        return next((tool for tool in self.tools if tool.name == name), None)
+
+    def get_tool_group_config(self, name: str) -> ToolGroupConfig | None:
+        """Get the tool group config by name.
+
+        Args:
+            name: The name of the tool group to get the config for.
+
+        Returns:
+            The tool group config if found, otherwise None.
+        """
+        return next((group for group in self.tool_groups if group.name == name), None)
+
+
+_app_config: AppConfig | None = None
+
+
+def get_app_config() -> AppConfig:
+    """Get the DeerFlow config instance."""
+    global _app_config
+    if _app_config is None:
+        _app_config = AppConfig.from_file()
+    return _app_config
diff --git a/backend/src/config/model_config.py b/backend/src/config/model_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab79b47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/config/model_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field
+
+
+class ModelConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Config section for a model"""
+
+    name: str = Field(..., description="Unique name for the model")
+    display_name: str | None = Field(
+        ..., default_factory=lambda: None, description="Display name for the model"
+    )
+    description: str | None = Field(
+        ..., default_factory=lambda: None, description="Description for the model"
+    )
+    use: str = Field(
+        ...,
+        description="Class path of the model provider(e.g. langchain_openai.ChatOpenAI)",
+    )
+    model: str = Field(..., description="Model name")
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="allow")
+    supports_thinking: bool = Field(
+        default_factory=lambda: False, description="Whether the model supports thinking"
+    )
+    when_thinking_enabled: dict | None = Field(
+        default_factory=lambda: None,
+        description="Extra settings to be passed to the model when thinking is enabled",
+    )
diff --git a/backend/src/config/sandbox_config.py b/backend/src/config/sandbox_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48a25a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/config/sandbox_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+
+
+class SandboxConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Config section for a sandbox"""
+
+    use: str = Field(
+        ...,
+        description="Class path of the sandbox provider(e.g. src.sandbox.local:LocalSandbox)",
+    )
diff --git a/backend/src/config/tool_config.py b/backend/src/config/tool_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e267f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/config/tool_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field
+
+
+class ToolGroupConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Config section for a tool group"""
+
+    name: str = Field(..., description="Unique name for the tool group")
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="allow")
+
+
+class ToolConfig(BaseModel):
+    """Config section for a tool"""
+
+    name: str = Field(..., description="Unique name for the tool")
+    group: str = Field(..., description="Group name for the tool")
+    use: str = Field(
+        ...,
+        description="Variable name of the tool provider(e.g. src.sandbox.tools:bash_tool)",
+    )
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="allow")