diff --git a/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
index 2020386b42..8d6205cf5b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
@@ -152,6 +152,37 @@ jobs:
             apps/backend/test-results.json
           retention-days: 30
 
+  postgres-boot:
+    name: Backend Postgres boot
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 10
+    container: ghcr.io/kdlbs/kandev-ci:build-latest
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: kandev
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: kandev
+          POSTGRES_DB: kandev_admin
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd "pg_isready -U kandev -d kandev_admin"
+          --health-interval 5s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 12
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: apps/backend
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - name: Run Postgres boot smoke test
+        env:
+          KANDEV_TEST_POSTGRES_DSN: host=postgres port=5432 user=kandev password=kandev dbname=kandev_admin sslmode=disable
+        run: go test -v -race -run TestPostgresBootInitializesRepositories ./cmd/kandev
+
   test-windows:
     name: Backend (windows)
     runs-on: windows-latest
diff --git a/apps/backend/cmd/kandev/postgres_boot_test.go b/apps/backend/cmd/kandev/postgres_boot_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b6daa57ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/backend/cmd/kandev/postgres_boot_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/url"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgconn"
+	_ "github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/stdlib"
+	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
+
+	"github.com/kandev/kandev/internal/common/config"
+	"github.com/kandev/kandev/internal/testutil"
+)
+
+func TestPostgresBootInitializesRepositories(t *testing.T) {
+	adminDSN := testutil.PostgresDSNFromEnv(t)
+	adminInfo, err := parsePostgresConnInfo(adminDSN)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse postgres dsn: %v", err)
+	}
+	admin := openPostgresAdmin(t, adminDSN)
+
+	dbName := "kandev_boot_" + strings.ReplaceAll(uuid.NewString(), "-", "")
+	if _, err := admin.Exec("CREATE DATABASE " + dbName); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("create postgres database %s: %v", dbName, err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		_, _ = admin.Exec("DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS " + dbName + " WITH (FORCE)")
+	})
+
+	cfg := &config.Config{
+		HomeDir: t.TempDir(),
+		Database: config.DatabaseConfig{
+			Driver:   "postgres",
+			Host:     adminInfo.Host,
+			Port:     adminInfo.Port,
+			User:     adminInfo.User,
+			Password: adminInfo.Password,
+			DBName:   dbName,
+			SSLMode:  adminInfo.SSLMode,
+			MaxConns: 5,
+			MinConns: 1,
+		},
+	}
+	log := newTestLogger()
+
+	pool, repos, cleanups, err := provideRepositories(cfg, log, "test-postgres-boot")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("provide repositories with postgres: %v", err)
+	}
+	if pool == nil || repos == nil {
+		t.Fatal("provideRepositories returned nil pool or repositories")
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		for i := len(cleanups) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+			if cleanups[i] != nil {
+				_ = cleanups[i]()
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+type postgresConnInfo struct {
+	Host     string
+	Port     int
+	User     string
+	Password string
+	SSLMode  string
+}
+
+func openPostgresAdmin(t *testing.T, dsn string) *sqlx.DB {
+	t.Helper()
+	db, err := sqlx.Open("pgx", dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("open postgres admin connection: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		_ = db.Close()
+	})
+	if err := db.Ping(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ping postgres admin connection: %v", err)
+	}
+	return db
+}
+
+func parsePostgresConnInfo(dsn string) (postgresConnInfo, error) {
+	cfg, err := pgconn.ParseConfig(dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return postgresConnInfo{}, err
+	}
+	info := postgresConnInfo{
+		Host:     cfg.Host,
+		Port:     int(cfg.Port),
+		User:     cfg.User,
+		Password: cfg.Password,
+		SSLMode:  postgresSSLMode(dsn),
+	}
+	if info.Host == "" {
+		info.Host = "localhost"
+	}
+	if info.Port == 0 {
+		info.Port = 5432
+	}
+	return info, nil
+}
+
+func postgresSSLMode(dsn string) string {
+	if parsed, err := url.Parse(dsn); err == nil && parsed.Scheme != "" {
+		if mode := parsed.Query().Get("sslmode"); mode != "" {
+			return mode
+		}
+	}
+	for _, field := range strings.Fields(dsn) {
+		key, value, ok := strings.Cut(field, "=")
+		if ok && strings.EqualFold(key, "sslmode") {
+			return strings.Trim(value, "'\"")
+		}
+	}
+	if mode := os.Getenv("PGSSLMODE"); mode != "" {
+		return mode
+	}
+	return "disable"
+}
+
+func TestParsePostgresConnInfo(t *testing.T) {
+	info, err := parsePostgresConnInfo(
+		"host=postgres port=5433 user=kandev password=secret dbname=kandev_test sslmode=require",
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse conn info: %v", err)
+	}
+	want := postgresConnInfo{
+		Host:     "postgres",
+		Port:     5433,
+		User:     "kandev",
+		Password: "secret",
+		SSLMode:  "require",
+	}
+	if info != want {
+		t.Fatalf("conn info = %s, want %s", formatConnInfo(info), formatConnInfo(want))
+	}
+}
+
+func formatConnInfo(info postgresConnInfo) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("{host:%s port:%d user:%s sslmode:%s}", info.Host, info.Port, info.User, info.SSLMode)
+}