diff --git a/src/lib/vendors.ts b/src/lib/vendors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1763603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/vendors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+import { z } from "zod";
+import { prisma } from "./prisma";
+
+export interface VendorRecord {
+  id: string;
+  name: string;
+  contact_email: string;
+  contact_phone: string;
+  address: string;
+  tax_code: string | null;
+  notes: string | null;
+  created_at: string;
+}
+
+export interface CreateVendorInput {
+  name: string;
+  contactEmail: string;
+  contactPhone: string;
+  address: string;
+  taxCode?: string | null;
+  notes?: string | null;
+}
+
+export type ValidationResult =
+  | { ok: true; value: CreateVendorInput }
+  | { ok: false; error: string };
+
+// Mirrors src/lib/licenses.ts's nonEmptyString helper.
+function nonEmptyString(message: string) {
+  return z.string({ required_error: message, invalid_type_error: message }).refine(
+    (value) => value.trim() !== "",
+    { message }
+  );
+}
+
+const createVendorSchema = z.object({
+  name: nonEmptyString("name is required and must be a non-empty string"),
+  contactEmail: z
+    .string({
+      required_error: "contactEmail is required and must be a valid email",
+      invalid_type_error: "contactEmail is required and must be a valid email",
+    })
+    .email("contactEmail is required and must be a valid email"),
+  contactPhone: nonEmptyString("contactPhone is required and must be a non-empty string"),
+  address: nonEmptyString("address is required and must be a non-empty string"),
+  // Nullable, per docs/asset-license-management.md's "## Vendor" spec — not
+  // every vendor record has a known VN tax code at creation time.
+  taxCode: nonEmptyString("taxCode must be a non-empty string").optional().nullable(),
+  notes: nonEmptyString("notes must be a non-empty string").optional().nullable(),
+});
+
+/**
+ * Validates raw (untyped) vendor-creation input. name/contactPhone/address
+ * must be non-empty strings, contactEmail must be a valid email string,
+ * taxCode/notes are optional/nullable (per the "## Vendor" spec in
+ * docs/asset-license-management.md) but must be non-empty strings if
+ * present.
+ */
+export function validateCreateVendorInput(input: {
+  name?: unknown;
+  contactEmail?: unknown;
+  contactPhone?: unknown;
+  address?: unknown;
+  taxCode?: unknown;
+  notes?: unknown;
+}): ValidationResult {
+  const result = createVendorSchema.safeParse(input);
+  if (!result.success) {
+    const message = result.error.issues[0]?.message ?? "Invalid input";
+    return { ok: false, error: message };
+  }
+  return { ok: true, value: result.data };
+}
+
+function toRecord(row: {
+  id: string;
+  name: string;
+  contactEmail: string;
+  contactPhone: string;
+  address: string;
+  taxCode: string | null;
+  notes: string | null;
+  createdAt: Date;
+}): VendorRecord {
+  return {
+    id: row.id,
+    name: row.name,
+    contact_email: row.contactEmail,
+    contact_phone: row.contactPhone,
+    address: row.address,
+    tax_code: row.taxCode,
+    notes: row.notes,
+    created_at: row.createdAt.toISOString(),
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Creates a Vendor. No unique constraint exists on any field, no FKs
+ * either (see docs/asset-license-management.md's "## Vendor" spec — this
+ * is a standalone entity, same starting shape as Employee/License before
+ * they grew relations) — so unlike createAssetItem()/createEmployee()
+ * there's no known Prisma error code to catch/translate here.
+ */
+export async function createVendor(input: CreateVendorInput): Promise<VendorRecord> {
+  const created = await prisma.vendor.create({
+    data: {
+      name: input.name,
+      contactEmail: input.contactEmail,
+      contactPhone: input.contactPhone,
+      address: input.address,
+      taxCode: input.taxCode ?? null,
+      notes: input.notes ?? null,
+    },
+  });
+  return toRecord(created);
+}
+
+export async function listVendors(): Promise<VendorRecord[]> {
+  const rows = await prisma.vendor.findMany({
+    orderBy: [{ createdAt: "desc" }, { id: "desc" }],
+  });
+  return rows.map(toRecord);
+}