diff --git a/app/core/lifespan.py b/app/core/lifespan.py
index 0962e666..ddff61bc 100644
--- a/app/core/lifespan.py
+++ b/app/core/lifespan.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 # app/core/lifespan.py
-"""Summary description ....
+"""Application lifespan management - Clean Migration Approach.
 
 This module provides classes and functions for:
-- ....
-- ....
-- ....
+- Application startup and shutdown events
+- Logging setup
+- Default user creation
+- NO database table creation (handled by Alembic)
 """
 
 import logging
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ from fastapi import FastAPI
 from sqlalchemy import text
 
 from middleware.auth import AuthManager
-from models.database.base import Base
+# Remove this import if not needed: from models.database.base import Base
 
 from .database import SessionLocal, engine
 from .logging import setup_logging
@@ -25,62 +26,106 @@ auth_manager = AuthManager()
 
 @asynccontextmanager
 async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
-    """Application lifespan events."""
-    # Startup
-    app_logger = setup_logging()  # Configure logging first
+    """Application lifespan events - Clean migration approach."""
+
+    # === STARTUP ===
+    app_logger = setup_logging()
     app_logger.info("Starting up ecommerce API")
 
-    # Create tables
-    Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
+    # === REMOVED: Database table creation ===
+    # Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)  # ❌ Removed - handled by Alembic
+    # create_indexes()                       # ❌ Removed - handled by Alembic
 
-    # Create indexes
-    create_indexes()
+    # === KEPT: Application-level initialization ===
 
-    # Create default admin user
+    # Create default admin user (after migrations have run)
     db = SessionLocal()
     try:
         auth_manager.create_default_admin_user(db)
+        logger.info("Default admin user initialization completed")
     except Exception as e:
         logger.error(f"Failed to create default admin user: {e}")
+        # In development, this might fail if tables don't exist yet
+        # That's OK - migrations should be run separately
     finally:
         db.close()
 
+    # Add any other application-level initialization here
+    # Examples:
+    # - Load configuration
+    # - Initialize caches
+    # - Set up external service connections
+    # - Load initial data (AFTER migrations)
+
+    logger.info("✅ Application startup completed")
+
     yield
 
-    # Shutdown
+    # === SHUTDOWN ===
     app_logger.info("Shutting down ecommerce API")
+    # Add cleanup tasks here if needed
 
 
-def create_indexes():
-    """Create database indexes."""
-    with engine.connect() as conn:
-        try:
-            # User indexes
-            conn.execute(
-                text("CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_email ON users(email)")
-            )
-            conn.execute(
-                text("CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_username ON users(username)")
-            )
+# === REMOVED FUNCTION ===
+# def create_indexes():
+#     """Create database indexes."""
+#     # This is now handled by Alembic migrations
+#     pass
 
-            # Product indexes
-            conn.execute(
-                text("CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_product_gtin ON products(gtin)")
-            )
-            conn.execute(
-                text(
-                    "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_product_marketplace ON products(marketplace)"
-                )
-            )
 
-            # Stock indexes
-            conn.execute(
-                text(
-                    "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_stock_gtin_location ON stock(gtin, location)"
-                )
-            )
+# === NEW HELPER FUNCTION ===
+def check_database_ready():
+    """Check if database is ready (migrations have been run)."""
+    try:
+        with engine.connect() as conn:
+            # Try to query a table that should exist
+            result = conn.execute(text("SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' LIMIT 1"))
+            tables = result.fetchall()
+            return len(tables) > 0
+    except Exception:
+        return False
 
-            conn.commit()
-            logger.info("Database indexes created successfully")
-        except Exception as e:
-            logger.warning(f"Index creation warning: {e}")
+
+def get_migration_status():
+    """Get current Alembic migration status."""
+    try:
+        from alembic import command
+        from alembic.config import Config
+
+        alembic_cfg = Config("alembic.ini")
+
+        # This would need more implementation to actually check status
+        # For now, just return a placeholder
+        return "Migration status check not implemented"
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"Could not check migration status: {e}")
+        return "Unknown"
+
+
+# === STARTUP VERIFICATION (Optional) ===
+def verify_startup_requirements():
+    """Verify that all startup requirements are met."""
+
+    issues = []
+
+    # Check if database exists and has tables
+    if not check_database_ready():
+        issues.append("Database not ready - run 'make migrate-up' first")
+
+    # Add other checks as needed
+    # - Configuration validation
+    # - External service connectivity
+    # - Required environment variables
+
+    if issues:
+        logger.error("❌ Startup verification failed:")
+        for issue in issues:
+            logger.error(f"   - {issue}")
+        return False
+
+    logger.info("✅ Startup verification passed")
+    return True
+
+# You can call this in your main.py if desired:
+# if not verify_startup_requirements():
+#     raise RuntimeError("Application startup requirements not met")
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 4117a9e4..1adc13da 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-
+# Database migrations
+alembic>=1.13.0
 # Linting and formatting tools
+# Development tools
 black>=23.0.0
 isort>=5.12.0
 flake8>=6.0.0
-mypy>=1.0.0
+mypy>=1.5.0
 
 # Optional: More advanced linting
 flake8-docstrings>=1.7.0
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3f5141c0..83d9a59d 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# Database migrations
+alembic>=1.13.0
 starlette==0.27.0
 # requirements.txt
 # Core FastAPI and web framework