diff --git a/AUTO_MIGRATION_SUMMARY.md b/AUTO_MIGRATION_SUMMARY.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e978b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AUTO_MIGRATION_SUMMARY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
+# Automatic Database Migrations - Implementation Summary
+
+## What Was Implemented
+
+Database migrations now run **automatically** every time the API server starts. This eliminates the need to manually run migration commands.
+
+## Changes Made
+
+### 1. Created Migration Runner (`apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts`)
+
+A new module that:
+- Connects to MySQL using environment variables
+- Runs pending migrations from the `drizzle/` folder
+- Provides clear console output with emojis
+- Handles errors gracefully
+
+```typescript
+export async function runMigrations() {
+  console.log('🔄 Running database migrations...');
+  // ... migration logic ...
+  console.log('✅ Database migrations completed successfully');
+}
+```
+
+### 2. Integrated into Server Startup (`apps/api/src/index.ts`)
+
+Modified the server startup to:
+- Run migrations before starting Express
+- Exit with error if migrations fail
+- Provide clear startup sequence
+
+```typescript
+async function startServer() {
+  await runMigrations();  // ← Runs automatically
+  app.listen(PORT, () => {
+    console.log(`API server running on port ${PORT}`);
+  });
+}
+```
+
+## Benefits
+
+### ✅ **No Manual Steps**
+- Just run `docker-compose up -d --build`
+- Migrations run automatically
+- Database is always up-to-date
+
+### ✅ **Idempotent**
+- Safe to run multiple times
+- Only applies new migrations
+- No duplicate data or errors
+
+### ✅ **Developer Friendly**
+- Clear console output
+- Easy to debug
+- Works in development and production
+
+### ✅ **CI/CD Ready**
+- No extra deployment steps
+- Migrations run on container start
+- Automatic rollout of schema changes
+
+## How It Works
+
+### Startup Sequence
+
+```
+1. Docker starts API container
+2. Node.js starts
+3. Environment variables loaded (.env)
+4. 🔄 Migrations run automatically
+5. ✅ Migrations complete
+6. Express server starts
+7. API ready to accept requests
+```
+
+### Console Output
+
+When you start the API, you'll see:
+
+```bash
+[OpenAIClient] Initialized with timeout: 600s, maxRetries: 2
+ENV ADMIN_PASSWORD loaded: true
+🔄 Running database migrations...
+✅ Database migrations completed successfully
+API server running on port 3301
+```
+
+## Testing
+
+### Verify Automatic Migrations
+
+```bash
+# 1. Reset database (deletes all data!)
+docker-compose down -v
+
+# 2. Start fresh
+docker-compose up -d --build
+
+# 3. Watch the logs
+docker-compose logs -f api
+
+# You should see:
+# 🔄 Running database migrations...
+# ✅ Database migrations completed successfully
+```
+
+### Verify Tables Created
+
+```bash
+docker exec voxblog-mysql mysql -u voxblog -pvoxblogAppPass123! voxblog -e "SHOW TABLES;"
+```
+
+Expected output:
+```
+Tables_in_voxblog
+__drizzle_migrations
+audio_clips
+posts
+settings
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Migrations Don't Run
+
+**Check API logs:**
+```bash
+docker-compose logs api | grep -i migration
+```
+
+**Common issues:**
+- MySQL not ready yet (wait 30 seconds)
+- Wrong database credentials in `.env`
+- Migration files missing in `apps/api/drizzle/`
+
+### Migration Fails
+
+**Error in logs:**
+```bash
+❌ Migration failed: [error details]
+```
+
+**Solutions:**
+1. Check MySQL is healthy: `docker-compose ps mysql`
+2. Verify credentials in `.env`
+3. Check migration files exist: `ls apps/api/drizzle/`
+4. Run manually: `docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"`
+
+### Server Won't Start
+
+If migrations fail, the server exits with error code 1.
+
+**Check logs:**
+```bash
+docker-compose logs api
+```
+
+**Restart after fixing:**
+```bash
+docker-compose restart api
+```
+
+## Manual Migration (Still Available)
+
+You can still run migrations manually if needed:
+
+```bash
+# Inside container
+docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"
+
+# Or using pnpm scripts
+docker exec voxblog-api pnpm --filter api drizzle:migrate
+```
+
+## Creating New Migrations
+
+When you modify the schema (`apps/api/src/db/schema.ts`):
+
+```bash
+# 1. Generate migration file
+docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:generate"
+
+# 2. Restart API (migrations run automatically)
+docker-compose restart api
+
+# 3. Verify migration applied
+docker-compose logs api | grep migration
+```
+
+## Production Deployment
+
+### Zero-Downtime Deployment
+
+1. **Build new image** with schema changes
+2. **Deploy new container** - migrations run automatically
+3. **Old container** continues serving requests
+4. **New container** takes over after migrations complete
+
+### Rollback Strategy
+
+If a migration fails:
+1. Container exits with error
+2. Old container keeps running
+3. Fix migration and redeploy
+4. Or rollback to previous version
+
+## Best Practices
+
+### ✅ **DO**
+- Test migrations locally first
+- Make migrations backward compatible
+- Keep migrations small and focused
+- Add indexes in separate migrations
+- Document breaking changes
+
+### ❌ **DON'T**
+- Don't delete migration files
+- Don't modify existing migrations
+- Don't make breaking schema changes without planning
+- Don't skip testing migrations
+
+## Files Modified
+
+1. **`apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts`** (new)
+   - Migration runner logic
+   - Error handling
+   - Console output
+
+2. **`apps/api/src/index.ts`** (modified)
+   - Import migration runner
+   - Call migrations before server start
+   - Async startup function
+
+3. **`DATABASE_SETUP.md`** (updated)
+   - Document automatic migrations
+   - Update troubleshooting guide
+   - Remove manual migration steps
+
+## Migration History
+
+Migrations are tracked in the `__drizzle_migrations` table:
+
+```sql
+SELECT * FROM __drizzle_migrations;
+```
+
+Shows:
+- Migration ID
+- Hash
+- Created timestamp
+
+## Future Enhancements
+
+Potential improvements:
+- Migration rollback command
+- Migration status endpoint (`/api/migrations`)
+- Dry-run mode
+- Migration locking for multi-instance deployments
+- Slack/email notifications on migration failures
+
+---
+
+**Status**: ✅ Implemented and Working
+**Last Updated**: 2025-10-26
+**Author**: Automated Migration System
diff --git a/DATABASE_SETUP.md b/DATABASE_SETUP.md
index e64f3be..a58acae 100644
--- a/DATABASE_SETUP.md
+++ b/DATABASE_SETUP.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Initial Setup
 
-When starting VoxBlog for the first time or after resetting the database, you need to run migrations.
+**✅ Migrations now run automatically!** When you start the API, it will automatically run any pending database migrations.
 
 ### Quick Setup
 
@@ -10,16 +10,25 @@ When starting VoxBlog for the first time or after resetting the database, you ne
 # 1. Start containers
 docker-compose up -d --build
 
-# 2. Wait for MySQL to be healthy (about 30 seconds)
-docker-compose ps
+# 2. Wait for MySQL to be healthy and migrations to complete (about 30 seconds)
+docker-compose logs -f api
 
-# 3. Run migrations
-docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"
+# You should see:
+# 🔄 Running database migrations...
+# ✅ Database migrations completed successfully
+# API server running on port 3301
 
-# 4. Verify tables were created
+# 3. Verify tables were created (optional)
 docker exec voxblog-mysql mysql -u voxblog -pvoxblogAppPass123! voxblog -e "SHOW TABLES;"
 ```
 
+### Manual Migration (if needed)
+
+You can still run migrations manually if needed:
+```bash
+docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"
+```
+
 Expected output:
 ```
 Tables_in_voxblog
@@ -49,10 +58,16 @@ docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"
 
 **Error**: `Table 'voxblog.posts' doesn't exist`
 
-**Cause**: Migrations haven't been run
+**Cause**: Migrations failed to run automatically (check API logs)
 
-**Solution**: Run migrations
+**Solution**: Check API logs for migration errors
 ```bash
+docker-compose logs api | grep -i migration
+
+# If migrations failed, restart the API
+docker-compose restart api
+
+# Or run migrations manually
 docker exec voxblog-api sh -c "cd /app/apps/api && pnpm drizzle:migrate"
 ```
 
diff --git a/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts b/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8268827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/mysql2';
+import { migrate } from 'drizzle-orm/mysql2/migrator';
+import mysql from 'mysql2/promise';
+import path from 'path';
+
+/**
+ * Run database migrations
+ * This ensures the database schema is always up-to-date on startup
+ */
+export async function runMigrations() {
+  console.log('🔄 Running database migrations...');
+  
+  const connection = await mysql.createConnection({
+    host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
+    port: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT || '3306'),
+    user: process.env.DB_USER || 'voxblog',
+    password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD,
+    database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'voxblog',
+  });
+
+  const db = drizzle(connection);
+
+  try {
+    // Run migrations from the drizzle folder
+    const migrationsFolder = path.join(__dirname, '../../drizzle');
+    await migrate(db, { migrationsFolder });
+    console.log('✅ Database migrations completed successfully');
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('❌ Migration failed:', error);
+    throw error;
+  } finally {
+    await connection.end();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/index.ts b/apps/api/src/index.ts
index 3a25937..86123a3 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/index.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/index.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import ghostRouter from './ghost';
 import aiGenerateRouter from './ai-generate';
 import aiRoutesNew from './routes/ai.routes';
 import settingsRouter from './settings';
+import { runMigrations } from './db/migrate';
 
 const app = express();
 console.log('ENV ADMIN_PASSWORD loaded:', Boolean(process.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD));
@@ -48,8 +49,22 @@ app.use((err: any, _req: express.Request, res: express.Response, _next: express.
   res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal server error' });
 });
 
-// Start server
+// Start server with migrations
 const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3301;
-app.listen(PORT, () => {
-  console.log(`API server running on port ${PORT}`);
-});
+
+async function startServer() {
+  try {
+    // Run migrations before starting the server
+    await runMigrations();
+    
+    // Start the server
+    app.listen(PORT, () => {
+      console.log(`API server running on port ${PORT}`);
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Failed to start server:', error);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
+
+startServer();