diff --git a/7project/backend/app/app.py b/7project/backend/app/app.py
index f312bb7..e692435 100644
--- a/7project/backend/app/app.py
+++ b/7project/backend/app/app.py
@@ -40,14 +40,6 @@ sentry_sdk.init(
 
 fastApi = FastAPI()
 
-@fastApi.on_event("startup")
-async def on_startup():
-    # Ensure DB schema is created for tests/dev
-    from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncEngine
-    from sqlalchemy import text
-    async with engine.begin() as conn:
-        await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
-
 # CORS for frontend dev server
 fastApi.add_middleware(
     CORSMiddleware,
diff --git a/7project/backend/app/core/db.py b/7project/backend/app/core/db.py
index 5a20cb1..1186352 100644
--- a/7project/backend/app/core/db.py
+++ b/7project/backend/app/core/db.py
@@ -1,35 +1,27 @@
 import os
-from urllib.parse import urlparse
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine, async_sessionmaker
 from app.core.base import Base
 
-# Determine DATABASE_URL with sensible defaults for local testing
 DATABASE_URL = os.getenv("DATABASE_URL")
 if not DATABASE_URL:
-    mariadb_host = os.getenv("MARIADB_HOST")
+    mariadb_host = os.getenv("MARIADB_HOST", "localhost")
     mariadb_port = os.getenv("MARIADB_PORT", "3306")
-    mariadb_db = os.getenv("MARIADB_DB")
-    mariadb_user = os.getenv("MARIADB_USER")
-    mariadb_password = os.getenv("MARIADB_PASSWORD")
+    mariadb_db = os.getenv("MARIADB_DB", "group_project")
+    mariadb_user = os.getenv("MARIADB_USER", "root")
+    mariadb_password = os.getenv("MARIADB_PASSWORD", "strongpassword")
     if mariadb_host and mariadb_db and mariadb_user and mariadb_password:
         DATABASE_URL = f"mysql+asyncmy://{mariadb_user}:{mariadb_password}@{mariadb_host}:{mariadb_port}/{mariadb_db}"
     else:
-        # Default to local SQLite for tests/development when nothing is configured
-        DATABASE_URL = os.getenv("SQLITE_URL", "sqlite+aiosqlite:///./test.db")
+        raise Exception("Only MariaDB is supported. Please set the DATABASE_URL environment variable.")
 
 # Load all models to register them
 from app.models.user import User
 from app.models.transaction import Transaction
 from app.models.categories import Category
 
-# Configure connect args based on backend
-parsed = urlparse(DATABASE_URL)
-scheme = parsed.scheme
-connect_args = {}
-if scheme.startswith("mysql"):
-    host_env = os.getenv("MARIADB_HOST", parsed.hostname or "localhost")
-    ssl_enabled = host_env not in {"localhost", "127.0.0.1"}
-    connect_args = {"ssl": {"ssl": True}} if ssl_enabled else {}
+host_env = os.getenv("MARIADB_HOST", "localhost")
+ssl_enabled = host_env not in {"localhost", "127.0.0.1"}
+connect_args = {"ssl": {"ssl": True}} if ssl_enabled else {}
 
 engine = create_async_engine(
     DATABASE_URL,
diff --git a/7project/backend/app/services/db.py b/7project/backend/app/services/db.py
index 65d1dae..606af8d 100644
--- a/7project/backend/app/services/db.py
+++ b/7project/backend/app/services/db.py
@@ -3,20 +3,11 @@ from fastapi import Depends
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 from fastapi_users.db import SQLAlchemyUserDatabase
 
-from ..core.db import async_session_maker, engine
-from ..core.base import Base
+from ..core.db import async_session_maker
 from ..models.user import User, OAuthAccount
 
-_initialized = False
-
 
 async def get_async_session() -> AsyncGenerator[AsyncSession, None]:
-    global _initialized
-    if not _initialized:
-        # Lazily ensure tables exist; helpful for test runs without migrations
-        async with engine.begin() as conn:
-            await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
-        _initialized = True
     async with async_session_maker() as session:
         yield session
 
diff --git a/7project/backend/tests/conftest.py b/7project/backend/tests/conftest.py
index 0f29b38..596aced 100644
--- a/7project/backend/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/7project/backend/tests/conftest.py
@@ -19,9 +19,8 @@ def fastapi_app():
     return app
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def client(fastapi_app):
-    # Function-scoped to avoid leaking loop-bound resources into async tests
     return TestClient(fastapi_app, raise_server_exceptions=True)