diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 97cfbc9..e9fd655 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ up:
 	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) up --build -d
 	@$(MAKE) wait
 
+up-nobuild:
+	@if [ ! -f $(ENV_FILE) ]; then \
+		echo "[⚙] Generating .env from example..."; \
+		cp $(ENV_EXAMPLE) $(ENV_FILE); \
+	fi
+	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) up -d
+	@$(MAKE) wait
+
 down:
 	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) down
 
diff --git a/app/__init__.py b/app/__init__.py
index 1e1ed8e..4bedb52 100644
--- a/app/__init__.py
+++ b/app/__init__.py
@@ -7,25 +7,30 @@ db = SQLAlchemy()
 migrate = Migrate()
 login_manager = LoginManager()
 
+
 def create_app():
     app = Flask(__name__)
     app.config.from_object('config.Config')
 
+    # Initialize core extensions
     db.init_app(app)
     migrate.init_app(app, db)
     login_manager.init_app(app)
+    login_manager.login_view = 'auth.login'  # Optional: redirect for @login_required
 
+    # Register Blueprints
     from .core.routes import core
     from .core.auth import auth
     app.register_blueprint(core)
-    app.register_blueprint(auth)
+    app.register_blueprint(auth, url_prefix="/auth")
 
-    # CLI command registration must be inside create_app
+    # Register CLI commands
     from .cli import seed_admin
     app.cli.add_command(seed_admin)
 
     return app
 
+
 @login_manager.user_loader
 def load_user(user_id):
     from .core.models import User
diff --git a/app/core/routes.py b/app/core/routes.py
index 9328a49..8725a16 100644
--- a/app/core/routes.py
+++ b/app/core/routes.py
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ ALLOWED_EXTENSIONS = {'png', 'jpg', 'jpeg'}
 def allowed_file(filename):
     return '.' in filename and filename.rsplit('.', 1)[1].lower() in ALLOWED_EXTENSIONS
 
+@core.route("/health")
+def health_check():
+    return "OK", 200
+
 @core.route('/')
 def index():
     submissions = Submission.query.order_by(Submission.timestamp.desc()).limit(6).all()
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2966a23..f73fd6d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - db
     healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000"]
-      interval: 30s
-      timeout: 10s
+      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000/health"]
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
     command: >
       bash -c "
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ services:
         echo '[✔] Waiting for MySQL to be ready...'
         until nc -z ${MYSQL_HOST} ${MYSQL_PORT}; do sleep 1; done
 
+        echo '[✔] Ensuring migration structure...'
+        if [ ! -d 'migrations' ]; then
+          echo '[ℹ] Running flask db init...'
+          flask db init
+        fi
+
         echo '[ℹ] Autogenerating migration...'
         flask db migrate -m 'auto' || echo '[ℹ] No changes detected.'
 
@@ -49,6 +55,7 @@ services:
         flask run --host=0.0.0.0
       "
 
+
   db:
     image: mysql:8
     restart: unless-stopped