diff --git a/backend/schema.sql b/backend/schema.sql
index e475b76..48957b8 100644
--- a/backend/schema.sql
+++ b/backend/schema.sql
@@ -885,3 +885,10 @@ revoke all on public.user_mcp_connector_tools from anon, authenticated;
 revoke all on public.user_mcp_tool_audit_logs from anon, authenticated;
 revoke all on public.courtlistener_citation_index from anon, authenticated;
 revoke all on public.courtlistener_opinion_cluster_index from anon, authenticated;
+
+-- Tables created by this file are owned by the database bootstrap role. The
+-- backend connects as service_role, so grant it the privileges that the direct
+-- browser roles above intentionally do not have. RLS is still enabled as
+-- defense in depth; service_role bypasses it for the backend data path.
+grant all privileges on all tables in schema public to service_role;
+grant all privileges on all sequences in schema public to service_role;
diff --git a/backend/scripts/test-stack.sh b/backend/scripts/test-stack.sh
index 2f647a7..f75deae 100755
--- a/backend/scripts/test-stack.sh
+++ b/backend/scripts/test-stack.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
 #         npm run test:stack        (from backend/)
 set -euo pipefail
 
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+BACKEND_DIR="$(cd -- "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+SCHEMA_FILE="$BACKEND_DIR/schema.sql"
+
 if ! command -v supabase >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "supabase CLI not found. Install: brew install supabase/tap/supabase" >&2
     exit 1
@@ -24,14 +28,35 @@ read_key() { node -e "let s='';process.stdin.on('data',d=>s+=d).on('end',()=>pro
 SUPABASE_TEST_URL="$(read_key API_URL)"
 SUPABASE_TEST_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY="$(read_key SERVICE_ROLE_KEY)"
 SUPABASE_TEST_ANON_KEY="$(read_key ANON_KEY)"
+SUPABASE_TEST_DB_URL="$(read_key DB_URL)"
 
-if [[ -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_URL" || -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" || -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_ANON_KEY" ]]; then
-    echo "Could not read API_URL/SERVICE_ROLE_KEY/ANON_KEY from 'supabase status'." >&2
+if [[ -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_URL" || -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" || -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_ANON_KEY" || -z "$SUPABASE_TEST_DB_URL" ]]; then
+    echo "Could not read API_URL/DB_URL/SERVICE_ROLE_KEY/ANON_KEY from 'supabase status'." >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 export SUPABASE_TEST_URL SUPABASE_TEST_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY SUPABASE_TEST_ANON_KEY
 
+if ! command -v psql >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "psql not found. Install PostgreSQL's client tools before running stack tests." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# A newly started local stack contains Supabase's system schemas but none of
+# Mike's application tables. Initialize only an empty stack: silently resetting
+# or modifying an existing application database would be surprising.
+PROJECTS_TABLE="$(
+    psql "$SUPABASE_TEST_DB_URL" -XAtq \
+        -c "select to_regclass('public.projects');"
+)"
+if [[ "$PROJECTS_TABLE" != "projects" ]]; then
+    echo "Mike schema not found; loading $SCHEMA_FILE"
+    psql "$SUPABASE_TEST_DB_URL" -X \
+        --set ON_ERROR_STOP=1 \
+        --file "$SCHEMA_FILE"
+fi
+
 echo "Running stack integration tests against $SUPABASE_TEST_URL"
+cd "$BACKEND_DIR"
 exec npx vitest run \
     src/__tests__/integration/stack.supabase.test.ts \
     src/__tests__/integration/access.supabase.test.ts \
diff --git a/backend/src/__tests__/integration/access.supabase.test.ts b/backend/src/__tests__/integration/access.supabase.test.ts
index 65b9244..edfea6d 100644
--- a/backend/src/__tests__/integration/access.supabase.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/__tests__/integration/access.supabase.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ maybeDescribe("Supabase access integration", () => {
         const privateDocId = crypto.randomUUID();
 
         try {
-            await admin.from("projects").insert([
+            const projectsInsert = await admin.from("projects").insert([
                 {
                     id: sharedProjectId,
                     user_id: ownerId,
@@ -42,9 +42,16 @@ maybeDescribe("Supabase access integration", () => {
                     shared_with: [],
                 },
             ]);
+            if (projectsInsert.error) {
+                throw new Error(
+                    `Could not seed projects: ${projectsInsert.error.message}`,
+                    { cause: projectsInsert.error },
+                );
+            }
+
             // filename/file_type live on document_versions in this schema —
             // the documents rows only need identity + ownership columns.
-            await admin.from("documents").insert([
+            const documentsInsert = await admin.from("documents").insert([
                 {
                     id: sharedDocId,
                     user_id: ownerId,
@@ -56,6 +63,12 @@ maybeDescribe("Supabase access integration", () => {
                     project_id: privateProjectId,
                 },
             ]);
+            if (documentsInsert.error) {
+                throw new Error(
+                    `Could not seed documents: ${documentsInsert.error.message}`,
+                    { cause: documentsInsert.error },
+                );
+            }
 
             await expect(
                 listAccessibleProjectIds(