diff --git a/VigilCareRecordsAPI/Data/AppDbContextFactory.cs b/VigilCareRecordsAPI/Data/AppDbContextFactory.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1384edc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VigilCareRecordsAPI/Data/AppDbContextFactory.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Design-time factory for EF tools and the CD migrations bundle.
+/// Without this, the bundle tries to bootstrap Program.cs (JWT/MinIO/etc.) and fails
+/// when those settings are absent next to ./migrate-api; --connection then never applies.
+/// </summary>
+public class AppDbContextFactory : IDesignTimeDbContextFactory<AppDbContext>
+{
+    public AppDbContext CreateDbContext(string[] args)
+    {
+        var optionsBuilder = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<AppDbContext>();
+        optionsBuilder.UseNpgsql(ResolveConnectionString());
+        return new AppDbContext(optionsBuilder.Options);
+    }
+
+    private static string ResolveConnectionString()
+    {
+        var fromEnv = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection");
+        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(fromEnv))
+            return fromEnv;
+
+        var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
+            .SetBasePath(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
+            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: true)
+            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.Development.json", optional: true)
+            .AddEnvironmentVariables()
+            .Build();
+
+        var fromConfig = config.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");
+        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(fromConfig))
+            return fromConfig;
+
+        // Placeholder so the factory can construct a context; migrate-api --connection
+        // replaces this when applying migrations in CD.
+        return "Host=127.0.0.1;Database=ef_design;Username=ef;Password=ef";
+    }
+}