diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2bb2821..18b2231 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
 COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static
 COPY --from=builder /app/prisma ./prisma
 COPY --from=builder /app/prisma.config.ts ./prisma.config.ts
+COPY --from=builder /app/scripts ./scripts
 
 # Explicitly copy all native/prisma node_modules (required for standalone mode)
 COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules/.prisma ./node_modules/.prisma
diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 268cf52..66cb7a9 100644
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
 
-echo "=== Menu Professional Entrypoint ==="
-echo "Node version: $(node -v)"
+echo "=== Menu Professional — Starting ==="
+echo "NODE_ENV:     ${NODE_ENV}"
+echo "PORT:         ${PORT:-3214}"
 echo "DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL}"
 
 # Ensure the prisma directory exists and is writable
 mkdir -p /app/prisma
 chmod -R 777 /app/prisma
 
-echo "Write check on /app/prisma..."
-touch /app/prisma/.write_test && echo "OK" && rm /app/prisma/.write_test
+echo ""
+echo "[1/2] Initializing database schema..."
+node /app/scripts/init-db.mjs
 
-echo "Launching server on port ${PORT:-3214}..."
+echo ""
+echo "[2/2] Starting Next.js server..."
 exec node server.js
diff --git a/lib/db.ts b/lib/db.ts
index 16170f2..172279d 100644
--- a/lib/db.ts
+++ b/lib/db.ts
@@ -1,26 +1,17 @@
 import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
 import { PrismaBetterSqlite3 } from '@prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3';
-import { initializeDatabase } from './initDb';
 
 const globalForPrisma = global as unknown as { prisma: PrismaClient };
 
+/**
+ * Creates the Prisma client.
+ * Schema initialization is handled by scripts/init-db.mjs (run at startup).
+ */
 const createPrismaClient = () => {
-  try {
-    const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'file:/app/prisma/dev.db';
-    console.log(`[DB] Connecting to: ${dbUrl}`);
-
-    // Ensure schema exists before creating the Prisma client
-    initializeDatabase();
-
-    const adapter = new PrismaBetterSqlite3({ url: dbUrl });
-    const client = new PrismaClient({ adapter });
-
-    console.log('[DB] Prisma client ready.');
-    return client;
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.error('[DB] Critical initialization failure:', error);
-    throw error;
-  }
+  const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'file:/app/prisma/dev.db';
+  console.log(`[DB] Connecting to: ${dbUrl}`);
+  const adapter = new PrismaBetterSqlite3({ url: dbUrl });
+  return new PrismaClient({ adapter });
 };
 
 export const prisma = globalForPrisma.prisma || createPrismaClient();
diff --git a/lib/initDb.ts b/lib/initDb.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 3bd4668..0000000
--- a/lib/initDb.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
-import path from 'path';
-
-/**
- * Initializes the SQLite database schema using raw SQL.
- * Safe to run multiple times — uses IF NOT EXISTS and handles migrations.
- */
-export function initializeDatabase(): void {
-  const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'file:/app/prisma/dev.db';
-  const filePath = dbUrl.replace(/^file:/, '');
-  const resolvedPath = path.isAbsolute(filePath)
-    ? filePath
-    : path.join(process.cwd(), filePath);
-
-  console.log(`[DB Init] Ensuring schema at: ${resolvedPath}`);
-
-  try {
-    const db = new Database(resolvedPath);
-
-    // Config table
-    db.exec(`
-      CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "Config" (
-        "id"    TEXT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
-        "value" TEXT NOT NULL
-      );
-    `);
-
-    // Button table (base)
-    db.exec(`
-      CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "Button" (
-        "id"    INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
-        "name"  TEXT NOT NULL,
-        "url"   TEXT NOT NULL,
-        "order" INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0
-      );
-    `);
-
-    // Migration: add icon column if missing (added in v2)
-    try {
-      db.exec(`ALTER TABLE "Button" ADD COLUMN "icon" TEXT;`);
-      console.log('[DB Init] Migration applied: Button.icon column added.');
-    } catch {
-      // Column already exists — no action needed
-    }
-
-    db.close();
-    console.log('[DB Init] Schema ready.');
-  } catch (err) {
-    console.error('[DB Init Error] Failed to initialize schema:', err);
-    throw err;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/scripts/init-db.mjs b/scripts/init-db.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fc200d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/init-db.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Database initialization script.
+ * Run BEFORE the Next.js server starts (via entrypoint.sh).
+ * Uses better-sqlite3 directly — no Prisma CLI dependency.
+ */
+
+import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
+
+const DB_URL = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'file:/app/prisma/dev.db';
+const DB_PATH = DB_URL.replace(/^file:/, '');
+
+// Ensure the directory exists
+const dir = dirname(DB_PATH);
+if (!existsSync(dir)) {
+  mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+  console.log(`[init-db] Created directory: ${dir}`);
+}
+
+console.log(`[init-db] Initializing database at: ${DB_PATH}`);
+
+const db = new Database(DB_PATH);
+
+// Config table
+db.exec(`
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "Config" (
+    "id"    TEXT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
+    "value" TEXT NOT NULL
+  );
+`);
+
+// Button table
+db.exec(`
+  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "Button" (
+    "id"    INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    "name"  TEXT NOT NULL,
+    "url"   TEXT NOT NULL,
+    "order" INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0
+  );
+`);
+
+// Migration v2: icon column
+try {
+  db.exec(`ALTER TABLE "Button" ADD COLUMN "icon" TEXT;`);
+  console.log('[init-db] Migration: Button.icon column added.');
+} catch {
+  // Column already exists — safe to ignore
+}
+
+db.close();
+console.log('[init-db] Database ready.');