diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index abe1123c25..5db0d1fb33 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ FROM base AS development-base
 RUN apk add --no-cache --virtual .build-deps \
     build-base postgresql-dev git nodejs yarn && \
     apk add --no-cache --virtual .dev-utils \
-    bash curl less vim chromium-chromedriver zlib-dev openssl-dev \
+    bash curl less vim chromium-chromedriver zlib-dev openssl-dev cmake\
     readline-dev yaml-dev sqlite-dev libxml2-dev libxslt-dev libffi-dev vips-dev && \
     curl -o /usr/local/bin/wait-for-it https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vishnubob/wait-for-it/master/wait-for-it.sh && \
     chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wait-for-it
diff --git a/Dockerfile.ubuntu b/Dockerfile.ubuntu
index d6fb889d0b..4d67450b24 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.ubuntu
+++ b/Dockerfile.ubuntu
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
   libjemalloc-dev \
   libssl-dev \
   ca-certificates \
-  gnupg
+  gnupg \
+  cmake
 
 # Setup ENV variables
 ENV PATH /usr/local/src/rbenv/shims:/usr/local/src/rbenv/bin:/usr/local/src/nodenv/shims:/usr/local/src/nodenv/bin:$PATH
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index 5572e3e4ef..ebaf7d5514 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ services:
       bash -c "rm -f tmp/pids/server.pid &&
                (bundle check || bundle install) &&
                bundle exec rake db:create &&
+               chmod +x ./script/load_schema.sh &&
+               ./script/load_schema.sh &&
                yarn install &&
                bundle exec foreman start -f Procfile.docker"
 volumes:
diff --git a/script/load_schema.sh b/script/load_schema.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3cc4b3950b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/load_schema.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+echo "🔍 Checking if schema is missing or outdated..."
+
+# Get the current DB version
+DB_VERSION=$(bundle exec rails db:version | grep 'Current version' | awk '{print $NF}')
+FILE_VERSION=$(grep 'version:' db/schema.rb | awk '{print $2}')
+
+if [ -z "$DB_VERSION" ] || [ "$DB_VERSION" != "$FILE_VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "🧾 Schema mismatch detected (DB=$DB_VERSION, File=$FILE_VERSION). Running db:schema:load..."
+  bundle exec rails db:schema:load
+else
+  echo "✅ Schema is up to date (version $DB_VERSION)."
+fi