diff --git a/decnet.db-shm b/decnet.db-shm
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a6b1e3..0000000
Binary files a/decnet.db-shm and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/decnet.db-wal b/decnet.db-wal
deleted file mode 100644
index 19a5035..0000000
Binary files a/decnet.db-wal and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/decnet/cli.py b/decnet/cli.py
index e2001d8..91415e5 100644
--- a/decnet/cli.py
+++ b/decnet/cli.py
@@ -305,16 +305,18 @@ def mutate(
     from decnet.mutator import mutate_decky, mutate_all, run_watch_loop
     from decnet.web.dependencies import repo
 
-    if watch:
-        asyncio.run(run_watch_loop(repo))
-        return
+    async def _run() -> None:
+        await repo.initialize()
+        if watch:
+            await run_watch_loop(repo)
+        elif decky_name:
+            await mutate_decky(decky_name, repo)
+        elif force_all:
+            await mutate_all(force=True, repo=repo)
+        else:
+            await mutate_all(force=False, repo=repo)
 
-    if decky_name:
-        asyncio.run(mutate_decky(decky_name, repo))
-    elif force_all:
-        asyncio.run(mutate_all(force=True, repo=repo))
-    else:
-        asyncio.run(mutate_all(force=False, repo=repo))
+    asyncio.run(_run())
 
 
 @app.command()
diff --git a/decnet/web/db/sqlite/repository.py b/decnet/web/db/sqlite/repository.py
index 92f6721..db4e73b 100644
--- a/decnet/web/db/sqlite/repository.py
+++ b/decnet/web/db/sqlite/repository.py
@@ -25,34 +25,27 @@ class SQLiteRepository(BaseRepository):
         self.session_factory = async_sessionmaker(
             self.engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False
         )
-        self._initialize_sync()
-
-    def _initialize_sync(self) -> None:
-        """Initialize the database schema synchronously."""
-        init_db(self.db_path)
-
-        from decnet.web.db.sqlite.database import get_sync_engine
-        engine = get_sync_engine(self.db_path)
-        with engine.connect() as conn:
-            conn.execute(
-                text(
-                    "INSERT OR IGNORE INTO users (uuid, username, password_hash, role, must_change_password) "
-                    "VALUES (:uuid, :u, :p, :r, :m)"
-                ),
-                {
-                    "uuid": str(uuid.uuid4()),
-                    "u": DECNET_ADMIN_USER,
-                    "p": get_password_hash(DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD),
-                    "r": "admin",
-                    "m": 1,
-                },
-            )
-            conn.commit()
 
     async def initialize(self) -> None:
-        """Async warm-up / verification."""
+        """Async warm-up / verification. Creates tables if they don't exist."""
+        from sqlmodel import SQLModel
+        async with self.engine.begin() as conn:
+            await conn.run_sync(SQLModel.metadata.create_all)
+
         async with self.session_factory() as session:
-            await session.execute(text("SELECT 1"))
+            # Check if admin exists
+            result = await session.execute(
+                select(User).where(User.username == DECNET_ADMIN_USER)
+            )
+            if not result.scalar_one_or_none():
+                session.add(User(
+                    uuid=str(uuid.uuid4()),
+                    username=DECNET_ADMIN_USER,
+                    password_hash=get_password_hash(DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD),
+                    role="admin",
+                    must_change_password=True,
+                ))
+                await session.commit()
 
     async def reinitialize(self) -> None:
         """Initialize the database schema asynchronously (useful for tests)."""
diff --git a/decnet/web/dependencies.py b/decnet/web/dependencies.py
index 4c31648..a1f9c4a 100644
--- a/decnet/web/dependencies.py
+++ b/decnet/web/dependencies.py
@@ -9,11 +9,16 @@ from decnet.web.db.repository import BaseRepository
 from decnet.web.db.factory import get_repository
 
 # Shared repository singleton
-repo: BaseRepository = get_repository()
+_repo: Optional[BaseRepository] = None
 
 def get_repo() -> BaseRepository:
     """FastAPI dependency to inject the configured repository."""
-    return repo
+    global _repo
+    if _repo is None:
+        _repo = get_repository()
+    return _repo
+
+repo = get_repo()
 
 oauth2_scheme = OAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="/api/v1/auth/login")
 
diff --git a/tests/api/logs/test_histogram.py b/tests/api/logs/test_histogram.py
index 0f999e7..863913d 100644
--- a/tests/api/logs/test_histogram.py
+++ b/tests/api/logs/test_histogram.py
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ from ..conftest import _FUZZ_SETTINGS
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def repo(tmp_path):
-    return get_repository(db_path=str(tmp_path / "histogram_test.db"))
+async def repo(tmp_path):
+    r = get_repository(db_path=str(tmp_path / "histogram_test.db"))
+    await r.initialize()
+    return r
 
 
 def _log(decky="d", service="ssh", ip="1.2.3.4", timestamp=None):
diff --git a/tests/api/test_repository.py b/tests/api/test_repository.py
index 69ae689..2337882 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_repository.py
+++ b/tests/api/test_repository.py
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ from .conftest import _FUZZ_SETTINGS
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def repo(tmp_path):
-    return get_repository(db_path=str(tmp_path / "test.db"))
+async def repo(tmp_path):
+    r = get_repository(db_path=str(tmp_path / "test.db"))
+    await r.initialize()
+    return r
 
 
 @pytest.mark.anyio