diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index d61e927..3dc1ddc 100644
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -380,7 +380,47 @@ ask "Start the agent stack now? [Y/n]"
 read -rp "  > " _START
 if [[ "${_START:-Y}" =~ ^[Yy] ]]; then
     cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+
+    # If the DB volume exists but was initialized with a different POSTGRES_DB,
+    # the database won't exist inside it. Detect this and offer a clean wipe.
+    _VOL="$(docker volume ls -q --filter name=odoo-ai_agent-db-data 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
+    if [[ -n "$_VOL" ]]; then
+        # Spin up just the DB to check
+        docker compose up -d agent-db >/dev/null 2>&1
+        sleep 3
+        if ! docker exec activeblue-agent-db psql -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -lqt 2>/dev/null \
+                | cut -d'|' -f1 | grep -qw "$POSTGRES_DB"; then
+            warn "DB volume exists but database '${POSTGRES_DB}' is missing (left from a previous broken run)"
+            ask "  Wipe the agent-db volume and re-init? [Y/n]"
+            read -rp "  > " _WIPE
+            if [[ "${_WIPE:-Y}" =~ ^[Yy] ]]; then
+                docker compose down -v
+                info "  Volume wiped"
+            fi
+        fi
+    fi
+
     docker compose up -d
+    info "Waiting for agent-db to be ready..."
+    for _i in $(seq 1 15); do
+        if docker exec activeblue-agent-db pg_isready -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" \
+                >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            break
+        fi
+        sleep 2
+    done
+
+    # Run Alembic migrations so tables exist before the agent needs them
+    info "Running database migrations..."
+    if docker exec activeblue-agent \
+            alembic -c agent_service/migrations/alembic.ini upgrade head 2>&1; then
+        info "Migrations applied"
+    else
+        warn "Migration command failed — tables may be missing. Check alembic output above."
+    fi
+
+    # Restart agent so it picks up a healthy DB on its first connect attempt
+    docker compose restart agent-service
     echo ""
     info "Stack started. Tailing logs (Ctrl-C to stop):"
     echo ""