diff --git a/appview/db/db.go b/appview/db/db.go
--- a/appview/db/db.go
+++ b/appview/db/db.go
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@
 			did text not null,
 
 			-- data
+			avatar text,
 			description text not null,
 			include_bluesky integer not null default 0,
 			location text,
@@ -1078,7 +1079,7 @@
 		// transfer data, constructing pull_at from pulls table
 		_, err = tx.Exec(`
 		insert into pull_submissions_new (id, pull_at, round_number, patch, created)
-		select 
+		select
 			ps.id,
 			'at://' || p.owner_did || '/sh.tangled.repo.pull/' || p.rkey,
 			ps.round_number,
@@ -1169,6 +1170,13 @@
 
 			create index if not exists idx_stars_created on stars(created);
 			create index if not exists idx_stars_subject_at_created on stars(subject_at, created);
+		`)
+		return err
+	})
+
+	orm.RunMigration(conn, logger, "add-avatar-to-profile", func(tx *sql.Tx) error {
+		_, err := tx.Exec(`
+			alter table profile add column avatar text;
 		`)
 		return err
 	})
diff --git a/appview/db/profile.go b/appview/db/profile.go
--- a/appview/db/profile.go
+++ b/appview/db/profile.go
@@ -158,13 +158,15 @@
 	_, err = tx.Exec(
 		`insert or replace into profile (
 			did,
+			avatar,
 			description,
 			include_bluesky,
 			location,
 			pronouns
 		)
-		values (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
+		values (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
 		profile.Did,
+		profile.Avatar,
 		profile.Description,
 		includeBskyValue,
 		profile.Location,
@@ -347,15 +349,16 @@
 func GetProfile(e Execer, did string) (*models.Profile, error) {
 	var profile models.Profile
 	var pronouns sql.Null[string]
+	var avatar sql.Null[string]
 
 	profile.Did = did
 
 	includeBluesky := 0
 
 	err := e.QueryRow(
-		`select description, include_bluesky, location, pronouns from profile where did = ?`,
+		`select avatar, description, include_bluesky, location, pronouns from profile where did = ?`,
 		did,
-	).Scan(&profile.Description, &includeBluesky, &profile.Location, &pronouns)
+	).Scan(&avatar, &profile.Description, &includeBluesky, &profile.Location, &pronouns)
 	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
 		profile := models.Profile{}
 		profile.Did = did
@@ -372,6 +375,10 @@
 
 	if pronouns.Valid {
 		profile.Pronouns = pronouns.V
+	}
+
+	if avatar.Valid {
+		profile.Avatar = avatar.V
 	}
 
 	rows, err := e.Query(`select link from profile_links where did = ?`, did)
diff --git a/appview/models/profile.go b/appview/models/profile.go
--- a/appview/models/profile.go
+++ b/appview/models/profile.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 	Did string
 
 	// data
+	Avatar         string // CID of the avatar blob
 	Description    string
 	IncludeBluesky bool
 	Location       string