diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.yml b/docker/docker-compose.yml
index bb4b9ce..088d98d 100644
--- a/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@ services:
       POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-corrosion_dev}
     volumes:
       - pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+      # Auto-build the schema on a FRESH database. Postgres runs these ONLY when
+      # the data dir is empty (first boot or after a volume reset), so it never
+      # touches an existing volume — it just makes a fresh DB self-heal: the full
+      # schema is applied in order from the sqlx migrations (001..NNN), then the
+      # API's bootstrap seeds the admin. Rebuilds (with the volume kept) are a
+      # no-op here; the data persists. Only `down -v` / volume prune loses data.
+      - ../backend/migrations:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d:ro
     ports:
       - "8101:5432"
     healthcheck: