diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yaml
index 3fb25f3..2ab4c7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: Run Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PORT: 5432
+          POSTGRES_DB: postgres
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5
+        ports:
+          - 5432:5432
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Set up Go
@@ -15,6 +27,10 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: go mod download
+      - name: Install Goose
+        run: go install github.com/pressly/goose/v3/cmd/goose@v3.22.1
+      - name: Run migrations
+        run: goose -dir .sqlc/migrations postgres "postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/postgres?sslmode=disable" up
       - name: Run tests
         run: go test -v ./...
       # Comment test results on the PR
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ad3ac81..3a8f7b3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 # migration name
 NAME ?= name
-TEST_DB_PASSWORD ?= password
+# default database configuration
+TEST_DB_USER ?= postgres
+TEST_DB_PASSWORD ?= postgres
+TEST_DB_NAME ?= postgres
 TEST_DB_HOST_PORT ?= 5432
-TEST_DB_URL ?= postgres://postgres:$(TEST_DB_PASSWORD)@localhost:$(TEST_DB_HOST_PORT)/postgres?sslmode=disable 
-POSTGRESQL_VERSION=16
+TEST_DB_URL ?= postgres://$(TEST_DB_USER):$(TEST_DB_PASSWORD)@localhost:$(TEST_DB_HOST_PORT)/$(TEST_DB_NAME)?sslmode=disable
+POSTGRESQL_VERSION ?= 16
 
 .PHONY: query
 
@@ -54,14 +57,31 @@ test: start-testdb
 
 start-testdb:
 	@echo "Setting up PostgreSQL database..."
-	@docker run --name test-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(TEST_DB_PASSWORD) -d -p "$(TEST_DB_HOST_PORT):5432" postgres:$(POSTGRESQL_VERSION)
+	@if ! docker ps -a --filter "name=test-postgres" --format '{{.Names}}' | grep -q '^test-postgres$$'; then \
+		docker run --name test-postgres \
+			-e POSTGRES_USER=$(TEST_DB_USER) \
+			-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(TEST_DB_PASSWORD) \
+			-e POSTGRES_DB=$(TEST_DB_NAME) \
+			-d -p "$(TEST_DB_HOST_PORT):5432" \
+			postgres:$(POSTGRESQL_VERSION); \
+	elif ! docker ps --filter "name=test-postgres" --format '{{.Names}}' | grep -q '^test-postgres$$'; then \
+		docker start test-postgres; \
+	fi
 	@echo "Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
-	@until docker exec test-postgres pg_isready -U postgres; do sleep 1; done
-	@goose -dir ./migrations postgres $(TEST_DB_URL) up
+	@timeout 30s bash -c 'until docker exec test-postgres pg_isready -U $(TEST_DB_USER); do sleep 1; done'
+	@echo "Running migrations..."
+	@goose -dir .sqlc/migrations postgres "$(TEST_DB_URL)" up
 
 run-tests:
-	APP_ENV=test VERSION=0.0.0-test PASS_ENCRYPT_ALGO=md5 DB_URL=$(TEST_DB_URL) go test -v ./router ./store
+	@go test -v ./...
 
 stop-testdb:
-	@docker container stop test-postgres
-	@docker container rm -f test-postgres
+	@echo "Stopping test db..."
+	@docker container stop test-postgres || true
+	@echo "Removing test db..."
+	@docker container rm -f test-postgres || true
+
+# helper target to check database connection
+check-testdb:
+	@echo "Testing database connection..."
+	@docker exec test-postgres psql -U $(TEST_DB_USER) -d $(TEST_DB_NAME) -c "SELECT 1"