diff --git a/alembic.ini b/alembic.ini
index 922bc72..fed857a 100644
--- a/alembic.ini
+++ b/alembic.ini
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ script_location = alembic
 # are written from script.py.mako
 # output_encoding = utf-8
 
-sqlalchemy.url = sqlite:////app/storage/db/db.sqlite
+# Using relative path - will be set in env.py
+sqlalchemy.url = driver://user:pass@localhost/dbname
 
 [post_write_hooks]
 # post_write_hooks defines scripts or Python functions that are run
diff --git a/alembic/env.py b/alembic/env.py
index 2b200f3..19aff51 100644
--- a/alembic/env.py
+++ b/alembic/env.py
@@ -19,9 +19,17 @@ fileConfig(config.config_file_name)
 # target_metadata = mymodel.Base.metadata
 import sys
 import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# Add parent directory to path
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
 
 from app.models import Base
+from app.database import SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL
+
+# Override the sqlalchemy.url in alembic.ini
+config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL)
+
 target_metadata = Base.metadata
 
 # other values from the config, defined by the needs of env.py,
diff --git a/app/database.py b/app/database.py
index a2702c3..402553e 100644
--- a/app/database.py
+++ b/app/database.py
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 from pathlib import Path
+import os
 
-# Create database directory
-DB_DIR = Path("/app") / "storage" / "db"
+# Create database directory using a local path
+BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+DB_DIR = BASE_DIR / "storage" / "db"
 DB_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
 # Database URL