diff --git a/apps/api/src/config/settings.py b/apps/api/src/config/settings.py
index d79fbf5..00b8311 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/config/settings.py
+++ b/apps/api/src/config/settings.py
@@ -117,6 +117,26 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     rate_limit_enabled: bool = True
     rate_limit_per_minute: int = 120
 
+    @model_validator(mode="after")
+    def _normalize_database_url(self) -> "Settings":
+        """Auto-fix common database URL schemes for asyncpg compatibility.
+
+        Platforms like Easypanel emit DATABASE_URL as ``postgres://...``
+        (shortcut or legacy scheme).  SQLAlchemy expects the dialect name
+        ``postgresql://`` and we need the ``+asyncpg`` driver suffix for
+        the async engine.  Normalise both cases here so the rest of the
+        codebase can always assume ``postgresql+asyncpg://``.
+        """
+        if self.database_url.startswith("postgres://"):
+            self.database_url = self.database_url.replace(
+                "postgres://", "postgresql+asyncpg://", 1,
+            )
+        elif self.database_url.startswith("postgresql://"):
+            self.database_url = self.database_url.replace(
+                "postgresql://", "postgresql+asyncpg://", 1,
+            )
+        return self
+
     @model_validator(mode="after")
     def _check_production_safety(self) -> "Settings":
         """Refuse to start with unsafe defaults in non-dev environments."""