diff --git a/tests/__snapshots__/board.spec.ts.snap b/tests/__snapshots__/board.nuxt.spec.ts.snap
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/__snapshots__/board.spec.ts.snap
rename to tests/__snapshots__/board.nuxt.spec.ts.snap
diff --git a/tests/board.spec.ts b/tests/board.nuxt.spec.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/board.spec.ts
rename to tests/board.nuxt.spec.ts
diff --git a/tests/helpers/db.ts b/tests/helpers/db.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..883c9ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/helpers/db.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Integration-test harness for the Postgres-backed repositories.
+//
+// Tests run against a dedicated database (default `andon_test`) so they never
+// touch dev data. The database is created if missing and migrated to the
+// current schema; `truncateAll` resets state between tests.
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module'
+import type pgType from 'pg'
+import { drizzle, type NodePgDatabase } from 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres'
+import { migrate } from 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres/migrator'
+import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm'
+import * as schema from '../../server/db/schema'
+
+// Load `pg` through a native CJS require. Importing it via Vite's SSR transform
+// breaks pg's internal `class … extends Pool` (the require of `pg-pool` resolves
+// to a module namespace), so we sidestep the transform entirely.
+const pg = createRequire(import.meta.url)('pg') as typeof pgType
+
+const TEST_URL =
+  process.env.TEST_DATABASE_URL ??
+  'postgres://andon:andon@localhost:5432/andon_test'
+
+export type TestDb = NodePgDatabase<typeof schema>
+
+/** Connect to the test database (creating + migrating it first) and return a client + pool. */
+export async function setupTestDb(): Promise<{ db: TestDb; pool: pgType.Pool }> {
+  await ensureDatabaseExists(TEST_URL)
+  const pool = new pg.Pool({ connectionString: TEST_URL })
+  const db = drizzle(pool, { schema })
+  await migrate(db, { migrationsFolder: 'server/db/migrations' })
+  return { db, pool }
+}
+
+/** Wipe all rows so each test starts from a clean slate. */
+export async function truncateAll(db: TestDb): Promise<void> {
+  await db.execute(
+    sql`TRUNCATE TABLE defects, projects, push_subscriptions RESTART IDENTITY CASCADE`,
+  )
+}
+
+/** Create the target database via the maintenance `postgres` DB if it doesn't exist. */
+async function ensureDatabaseExists(url: string): Promise<void> {
+  const dbName = new URL(url).pathname.slice(1)
+  const adminUrl = new URL(url)
+  adminUrl.pathname = '/postgres'
+
+  const admin = new pg.Client({ connectionString: adminUrl.toString() })
+  await admin.connect()
+  try {
+    const { rowCount } = await admin.query(
+      'SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname = $1',
+      [dbName],
+    )
+    if (!rowCount) await admin.query(`CREATE DATABASE "${dbName}"`)
+  } finally {
+    await admin.end()
+  }
+}
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 1d73d30..ca829da 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,30 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config'
 import { defineVitestConfig } from '@nuxt/test-utils/config'
 
-export default defineVitestConfig({
+// Two projects, split by filename:
+//  • *.nuxt.spec.ts → run in the Nuxt runtime (components, anything needing
+//    auto-imports or the app environment).
+//  • everything else → a plain node environment. node_modules stay external,
+//    so native CJS deps like `pg` load correctly (the Nuxt runtime inlines them
+//    and breaks pg's internal `class … extends Pool`).
+export default defineConfig({
   test: {
-    // Default to a plain node environment; component/integration specs opt into
-    // the Nuxt runtime per-file with `// @vitest-environment nuxt`.
-    environment: 'node',
+    projects: [
+      {
+        test: {
+          name: 'server',
+          environment: 'node',
+          include: ['tests/**/*.spec.ts'],
+          exclude: ['tests/**/*.nuxt.spec.ts'],
+        },
+      },
+      defineVitestConfig({
+        test: {
+          name: 'nuxt',
+          environment: 'nuxt',
+          include: ['tests/**/*.nuxt.spec.ts'],
+        },
+      }),
+    ],
   },
 })