diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f5bf96f..e903a2b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,7 +36,19 @@ pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 ## Database Setup
 
-The application uses SQLite, and the database will be created automatically at `/app/storage/db/db.sqlite` when the application starts.
+The application uses SQLite, and the database will be created automatically at `./storage/db/db.sqlite` relative to the project root when the application starts.
+
+### Migrations
+
+To run database migrations:
+
+```bash
+# Set the Python path to include the project root
+export PYTHONPATH=/path/to/project
+
+# Run migrations
+alembic upgrade head
+```
 
 ## Running the Application
 
diff --git a/alembic.ini b/alembic.ini
index 25c0be5..da3b75e 100644
--- a/alembic.ini
+++ b/alembic.ini
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ script_location = migrations
 # are written from script.py.mako
 # output_encoding = utf-8
 
-sqlalchemy.url = sqlite:////app/storage/db/db.sqlite
+sqlalchemy.url = sqlite:///%(here)s/storage/db/db.sqlite
 
 
 [post_write_hooks]
diff --git a/app/database.py b/app/database.py
index 6028646..35b45e8 100644
--- a/app/database.py
+++ b/app/database.py
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 from pathlib import Path
+import os
 
-DB_DIR = Path("/app") / "storage" / "db"
+# Use a local path that's accessible in the current environment
+DB_DIR = Path(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))) / "storage" / "db"
 DB_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
 SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL = f"sqlite:///{DB_DIR}/db.sqlite"
diff --git a/migrations/env.py b/migrations/env.py
index 619c30b..b3e868f 100644
--- a/migrations/env.py
+++ b/migrations/env.py
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 from logging.config import fileConfig
+import os
+import sys
 
 from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config
 from sqlalchemy import pool
 
 from alembic import context
 
+# Add the parent directory to the Python path so that 'app' can be imported
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
+
 # this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
 # access to the values within the .ini file in use.
 config = context.config