diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/common.py b/backend/app/schemas/common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55795f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""Common shared schemas."""
+from typing import Optional, Any, List, Generic, TypeVar
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from datetime import datetime
+
+T = TypeVar("T")
+
+
+class PaginatedResponse(BaseModel, Generic[T]):
+    """Generic paginated response wrapper."""
+    items: List[T]
+    total: int
+    page: int = 1
+    page_size: int = 20
+
+
+class SuccessResponse(BaseModel):
+    """Simple success response."""
+    success: bool = True
+    message: str = ""
+    data: Optional[Any] = None
+
+
+class TokenResponse(BaseModel):
+    """JWT token response."""
+    access_token: str
+    token_type: str = "bearer"
+    user: "UserBrief"
+
+
+class UserBrief(BaseModel):
+    """Brief user info embedded in responses."""
+    id: int
+    username: str
+    email: str
+    role: str
+    user_type: str
+    tenant_id: int
+
+    model_config = {"from_attributes": True}
+
+
+# Update forward refs
+TokenResponse.model_rebuild()