diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 781d6d0..1acbd0d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,28 @@ jobs:
           DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
         run: |
           set -e
+          echo "=== Pre-flight: checking for neon_auth schema (required by 0001_init.sql for FKs to neon_auth.user and related RPCs) ==="
+          node -e '
+            const { Client } = require("pg");
+            const url = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
+            if (!url) { console.error("No DATABASE_URL"); process.exit(1); }
+            const c = new Client({ connectionString: url });
+            c.connect()
+              .then(() => c.query("SELECT 1 FROM information_schema.schemata WHERE schema_name = \'neon_auth\'"))
+              .then(res => {
+                if (res.rows.length === 0) {
+                  console.error("✗ FATAL: neon_auth schema does not exist in the target database.");
+                  console.error("Enable Neon Auth on the Neon project/branch that this DATABASE_URL points to first.");
+                  console.error("Run: neonctl neon-auth  (or equivalent) against the correct Neon branch.");
+                  console.error("The neon_auth schema is created by Neon Auth and is a prerequisite for 0001_init.sql.");
+                  process.exit(1);
+                }
+                console.log("✓ neon_auth schema exists");
+                return c.end();
+              })
+              .then(() => process.exit(0))
+              .catch(e => { console.error("Pre-flight check failed:", e.message); process.exit(1); });
+          '
           echo "=== Running migrations against DATABASE_URL (masked value for logs) ==="
           npm run migrate:one
           echo "=== Post-migration verification: critical table admin_users must exist ==="