diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 9d29791..1542937 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ COOKIE_SECRET="CHANGE_ME_IN_LOCAL_ENV"
 APP_HOST="0.0.0.0"
 APP_PORT="4000"
 APP_ORIGIN="http://localhost:3000"
-PG_BOSS_SCHEMA="pgboss"
 SESSION_TTL_DAYS="30"
 GOOGLE_MAPS_SERVER_KEY="YOUR_SERVER_MAPS_KEY"
 
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ GOOGLE_MAPS_SERVER_KEY="YOUR_SERVER_MAPS_KEY"
 POSTGRES_DB="leads4less"
 POSTGRES_USER="postgres"
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD="CHANGE_ME_IN_LOCAL_ENV"
+PG_BOSS_SCHEMA="pgboss"
 
 # Example Compose DATABASE_URL
 # DATABASE_URL="postgres://postgres:CHANGE_ME_IN_LOCAL_ENV@db:5432/leads4less"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 18abe56..bbadf61 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/).
 - Aligned the Docker Compose and example environment settings so local and deployment configs use the same variable names and document URL-encoded database passwords when needed.
 - Simplified container deployment by adding a dedicated migration image and Compose startup ordering so the database becomes healthy, migrations run automatically, and the API, worker, and web services start afterward.
 
+### Fixed
+- Fixed the Docker startup flow by passing required env validation into the migration container, bundling SQL migrations into the runtime image, and creating pg-boss queues before the worker starts consuming them.
+
 ## [2026-04-19]
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d2e0863..b9e9836 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ COPY package*.json ./
 RUN npm ci --omit=dev
 
 COPY --from=build /app/dist-server ./dist-server
+COPY db/migrations ./dist-server/db/migrations
 
 FROM runtime-base AS api
 CMD ["npm", "run", "start:api"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index aaa757c..c58a501 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       NODE_ENV: ${NODE_ENV}
       DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL}
+      COOKIE_SECRET: ${COOKIE_SECRET}
       PG_BOSS_SCHEMA: ${PG_BOSS_SCHEMA}
     restart: "no"
 
diff --git a/server/src/jobs/register-jobs.ts b/server/src/jobs/register-jobs.ts
index 721dcf2..d7d94b8 100644
--- a/server/src/jobs/register-jobs.ts
+++ b/server/src/jobs/register-jobs.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import type { PgBoss } from 'pg-boss';
 import { RUN_DEEP_RESEARCH_BATCH_JOB, RUN_SEARCH_JOB } from './names.js';
 
 export async function registerJobs(boss: PgBoss) {
+  await boss.createQueue(RUN_SEARCH_JOB);
+  await boss.createQueue(RUN_DEEP_RESEARCH_BATCH_JOB);
+
   await boss.work(RUN_SEARCH_JOB, async ([job]) => {
     console.warn(`Job ${RUN_SEARCH_JOB} is queued but not implemented yet`, job?.id);
   });