diff --git a/app/core/config.py b/app/core/config.py
index 4e187ba..4505634 100644
--- a/app/core/config.py
+++ b/app/core/config.py
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@ import os
 from pathlib import Path
 from pydantic import field_validator, BaseModel
 
-# Project directories
-ROOT_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.resolve()
+# Get project root directory
+if '/app/repo' in str(Path.cwd()):
+    # When running in the container
+    ROOT_DIR = Path('/app/repo')
+else:
+    # When running in development
+    ROOT_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.resolve()
 
 
 class Settings(BaseModel):
diff --git a/migrations/env.py b/migrations/env.py
index 1b6e595..dbe23ec 100644
--- a/migrations/env.py
+++ b/migrations/env.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from logging.config import fileConfig
 
 from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config
 from sqlalchemy import pool
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from alembic import context
 
@@ -10,11 +11,15 @@ from app.models.base import Base
 # Import Secret model to ensure it's registered
 # noqa: F401 is used to tell linters to ignore the unused import
 from app.models.secret import Secret  # noqa: F401
+from app.core.config import settings
 
 # this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
 # access to the values within the .ini file in use.
 config = context.config
 
+# Set the SQLAlchemy URL from the settings
+config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", settings.SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL)
+
 # Interpret the config file for Python logging.
 # This line sets up loggers basically.
 if config.config_file_name is not None:
@@ -61,6 +66,9 @@ def run_migrations_online() -> None:
     and associate a connection with the context.
 
     """
+    # Ensure the DB directory exists
+    Path(settings.DB_DIR).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    
     connectable = engine_from_config(
         config.get_section(config.config_ini_section, {}),
         prefix="sqlalchemy.",