diff --git a/app/backend/docker-entrypoint.sh b/app/backend/docker-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9db3d88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/backend/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Backend entrypoint — apply schema, then exec the server.
+# Migration vs. db-push selection: Prisma migrations are the production-correct
+# path, but if no migrations folder exists yet (fresh repo, or schema managed
+# via `prisma db push` during dev) we fall back to db push.
+
+set -eu
+
+cd /app
+
+if [ -d "prisma/migrations" ] && [ "$(ls -A prisma/migrations 2>/dev/null || true)" ]; then
+  echo "[entrypoint] applying Prisma migrations via 'prisma migrate deploy'"
+  npx --no-install prisma migrate deploy
+else
+  echo "[entrypoint] no prisma/migrations/ found — falling back to 'prisma db push'"
+  echo "[entrypoint]   (run 'npx prisma migrate dev --name init' once locally to switch to migration mode)"
+  npx --no-install prisma db push --skip-generate
+fi
+
+exec "$@"