diff --git a/bot.py b/bot.py
index 2f21218..ea42767 100644
--- a/bot.py
+++ b/bot.py
@@ -86,9 +86,59 @@ def load_server_settings(guild_id):
     conn.close()
     return result
 
-# Ticket storage (in production, use a database)
-tickets = {}
-ticket_counter = 1
+def get_next_ticket_id():
+    """Generate the next ticket ID based on existing tickets in database"""
+    conn = get_db_connection()
+    cursor = conn.cursor()
+    cursor.execute('SELECT COUNT(*) as count FROM tickets')
+    result = cursor.fetchone()
+    cursor.close()
+    conn.close()
+    count = result[0] if result else 0
+    return f"TICKET-{count + 1:04d}"
+
+def save_ticket(ticket_id, ticket):
+    conn = get_db_connection()
+    cursor = conn.cursor()
+    cursor.execute('''
+        REPLACE INTO tickets (ticket_id, message_id, channel_id, title, project, status, creator, created_at, reference_message_id, archived)
+        VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s)
+    ''', (
+        ticket_id,
+        ticket['message_id'],
+        ticket['channel_id'],
+        ticket['title'],
+        ticket['project'],
+        ticket['status'],
+        ticket['creator'],
+        ticket['created_at'],
+        ticket.get('reference_message_id'),
+        ticket.get('archived', False)
+    ))
+    conn.commit()
+    cursor.close()
+    conn.close()
+
+def load_ticket(ticket_id):
+    conn = get_db_connection()
+    cursor = conn.cursor(dictionary=True)
+    cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE ticket_id = %s', (ticket_id,))
+    result = cursor.fetchone()
+    cursor.close()
+    conn.close()
+    return result
+
+def load_all_tickets(archived=None):
+    conn = get_db_connection()
+    cursor = conn.cursor(dictionary=True)
+    if archived is None:
+        cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM tickets')
+    else:
+        cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE archived = %s', (archived,))
+    results = cursor.fetchall()
+    cursor.close()
+    conn.close()
+    return results
 
 # Project cache for autocomplete
 project_cache = []
@@ -201,9 +251,8 @@ async def create_ticket(
         )
         return
     
-    # Create ticket ID
-    ticket_id = f"TICKET-{ticket_counter:04d}"
-    ticket_counter += 1
+    # Create ticket ID from database
+    ticket_id = get_next_ticket_id()
     
     # Create embed for the ticket
     embed = discord.Embed(