diff --git a/apps/api/src/db/client.ts b/apps/api/src/db/client.ts
index 4462a62..c02faf0 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/db/client.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/db/client.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/libsql';
 import { createClient } from '@libsql/client';
 import { env } from '../env';
 import * as schema from './schema';
+import { ensureDbDir } from './ensure-dir';
 
+ensureDbDir(env.DATABASE_URL);
 const client = createClient({ url: env.DATABASE_URL });
 export const db = drizzle(client, { schema });
diff --git a/apps/api/src/db/ensure-dir.ts b/apps/api/src/db/ensure-dir.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb0a2ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/db/ensure-dir.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname } from 'node:path';
+
+// libsql/SQLite does NOT create the parent directory for a `file:` URL — it fails
+// with SQLITE_CANTOPEN (error 14). Create it first so a fresh local `db:migrate`
+// or `dev` works without a manual `mkdir`. No-op for non-file URLs and for paths
+// whose directory already exists (e.g. the Docker `/data` volume).
+export function ensureDbDir(databaseUrl: string): void {
+  if (!databaseUrl.startsWith('file:')) return;
+  const path = databaseUrl.slice('file:'.length);
+  const dir = dirname(path);
+  if (dir && dir !== '.') mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+}
diff --git a/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts b/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts
index 562a9bf..5c4e670 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/db/migrate.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/libsql';
 import { migrate } from 'drizzle-orm/libsql/migrator';
 import { createClient } from '@libsql/client';
 import { env } from '../env';
+import { ensureDbDir } from './ensure-dir';
 
 export async function runMigrations(): Promise<void> {
+  ensureDbDir(env.DATABASE_URL);
   const client = createClient({ url: env.DATABASE_URL });
   const db = drizzle(client);
   await migrate(db, { migrationsFolder: './drizzle' });