diff --git a/.env_dev b/.env_dev
index 9aa8394..e919969 100644
--- a/.env_dev
+++ b/.env_dev
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ OPEN_AI_API_KEY="sk-openai.com123"
 ONE_API_API_KEY="sk-oneapi.local123"
 SUPABASE_URL=
 SUPABASE_KEY=
-POSTGRES_DB=test_topos_db
+POSTGRES_DB=test_topos_db_1
 POSTGRES_USER=jonny
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD=1234589034
 POSTGRES_HOST=127.0.0.1
diff --git a/.env_template b/.env_template
deleted file mode 100644
index 6caf27a..0000000
--- a/.env_template
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-NEO4J_URI="bolt://localhost:7687"
-NEO4J_USER="neo4j"
-NEO4J_PASSWORD="password"
-NEO4J_TEST_DATABASE="neo4j"
-NEO4J_SHOWROOM_DATABASE="neo4j"
-JWT_SECRET="terces_tj"
-OPEN_AI_API_KEY="sk-openai.com123"
-ONE_API_API_KEY="sk-oneapi.local123"
-SUPABASE_URL=
-SUPABASE_KEY=
-POSTGRES_DB=test_topos_db
-POSTGRES_USER=username
-POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_password_here
-POSTGRES_HOST=127.0.0.1
-POSTGRES_PORT=5432
diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index 123ff1f..1b5788f 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@ in pkgs.mkShell {
     sleep 2
 
     # Set up the test database, role, and tables
+    echo "Setting up the test database..."
+    # psql -U $POSTGRES_USER -c "CREATE DATABASE $POSTGRES_DB;" || echo "Database $POSTGRES_DB already exists."
+
     psql -d $POSTGRES_DB <<SQL | tee -a $LOGFILE
-    
     -- Create the conversation table
     CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS conversation (
         message_id VARCHAR PRIMARY KEY,
@@ -81,6 +83,29 @@ in pkgs.mkShell {
         emo_27_label VARCHAR
     );
 
+    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS groups (
+        group_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+        group_name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE
+    );
+
+    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
+        user_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+        username TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+        last_seen_online TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
+    );
+
+    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS user_groups (
+        user_id TEXT,
+        group_id TEXT,
+        FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users (user_id),
+        FOREIGN KEY (group_id) REFERENCES groups (group_id),
+        PRIMARY KEY (user_id, group_id)
+    );
+
+    CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_groups_user_id ON user_groups (user_id);
+    CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_groups_group_id ON user_groups (group_id);
+
+
     CREATE ROLE $POSTGRES_USER WITH LOGIN PASSWORD '$POSTGRES_PASSWORD';
     GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE $POSTGRES_DB TO $POSTGRES_USER;
     GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO $POSTGRES_USER;
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 772e950..2e73e02 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -122,19 +122,25 @@
                     };
 
                     postgres."pg" = {
+                      # data options https://search.nixos.org/options?query=services.postgresql
                       enable = true;
                       package = pkgs.postgresql_16.withPackages (p: [ p.pgvector ]);
                       port = 5432;
                       listen_addresses = "127.0.0.1";
                       # dataDir = "${dataDirBase}/pg";
                       initialDatabases = [
-                        { name = "${envVars.POSTGRES_DB}"; }
                       ];
+                      
                       initialScript = {
                         before = ''
+                          CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;
                           CREATE USER ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER} WITH SUPERUSER PASSWORD '${envVars.POSTGRES_PASSWORD}';
                         '';
+
                         after = ''
+                        -- THESE CREATE TABLE STATEMENTS HERE DO NOT WORK
+                        -- THE WAY THE TABLES GET BUILT RN IS THROUGH THE PYTHON CODE _ensure_table_exists
+
                           CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS conversation (
                             message_id VARCHAR PRIMARY KEY,
                             conv_id VARCHAR NOT NULL,
@@ -171,29 +177,6 @@
                             emo_27 JSONB,
                             emo_27_label VARCHAR
                         );
-
-                        CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS groups (
-                              group_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-                              group_name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE
-                          );
-
-                          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
-                              user_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-                              username TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
-                              last_seen_online TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
-                          );
-
-                          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS user_groups (
-                              user_id TEXT,
-                              group_id TEXT,
-                              FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users (user_id),
-                              FOREIGN KEY (group_id) REFERENCES groups (group_id),
-                              PRIMARY KEY (user_id, group_id)
-                          );
-
-                          CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_groups_user_id ON user_groups (user_id);
-                          CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_user_groups_group_id ON user_groups (group_id);
-
                           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE ${envVars.POSTGRES_DB} TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
                           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
                           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA public TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
@@ -201,9 +184,6 @@
 
                           ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public GRANT ALL ON TABLES TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
                           ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public GRANT ALL ON SEQUENCES TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
-
-                          GRANT pg_read_all_data TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
-                          GRANT pg_write_all_data TO ${envVars.POSTGRES_USER};
                         '';
                       };
                     };
@@ -231,6 +211,7 @@
                 };
                 settings.processes = {
                     kafka.depends_on."zookeeper".condition = "process_healthy";
+                    kafka.depends_on.pg.condition = "process_healthy";
                     topos.depends_on.pg.condition = "process_healthy";
                     topos.depends_on.kafka.condition = "process_healthy";
                 };
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 0ab43b8..3532c76 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ stoppg:
     export PGDATA=$(pwd)/pgdata
     echo "Stopping any existing PostgreSQL server..."
     pg_ctl -D "$PGDATA" stop || echo "No existing server to stop."
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/database/postgres_init_test.py b/tests/database/postgres_init_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09fce55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/database/postgres_init_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+import psycopg2
+from psycopg2 import sql, Error
+from dotenv import load_dotenv, find_dotenv
+import os
+
+# Find the .env file and load environment variables
+env_path = find_dotenv()
+if env_path:
+    print(f".env file found at: {env_path}")
+    load_dotenv(env_path)
+else:
+    print("No .env file found.")
+
+# Load environment variables from the .env file
+load_dotenv()
+
+# Retrieve database connection details from environment variables
+host = os.getenv('POSTGRES_HOST')
+database = os.getenv('POSTGRES_DB')
+user = os.getenv('POSTGRES_USER')
+password = os.getenv('POSTGRES_PASSWORD')
+port = int(os.getenv('POSTGRES_PORT', 5432))  # Default to 5432 if not set
+
+print("DATABASE:", database)
+print(user)
+
+try:
+    # Establish a connection to the PostgreSQL database
+    connection = psycopg2.connect(
+        host=host,
+        database=database,
+        user=user,
+        password=password,
+        port=port
+    )
+    
+    # Create a cursor object using the connection
+    cursor = connection.cursor()
+    
+    # Execute a sample query to verify the connection
+    cursor.execute("SELECT version();")
+    
+    # Fetch the result
+    db_version = cursor.fetchone()
+    print(f"Connected to the database. PostgreSQL version: {db_version}")
+    
+    # Close the cursor and connection
+    cursor.close()
+    
+    # LIST ALL TABLES ON DATABASE
+    # Create a cursor object using the connection
+    cursor = connection.cursor()
+    # Verify if the user was created
+    cursor.execute("SELECT rolname FROM pg_roles WHERE rolname = %s;", (user,))
+    user_exists = cursor.fetchone()
+    
+    if user_exists:
+        print(f"Verification successful: User '{user}' exists in the database.")
+    else:
+        print(f"Verification failed: User '{user}' does not exist in the database.")
+    
+    # Execute a query to list all the tables in the current database schema
+    cursor.execute("""
+        SELECT table_schema, table_name
+        FROM information_schema.tables
+        WHERE table_type = 'BASE TABLE'
+        AND table_schema NOT IN ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema')
+        ORDER BY table_schema, table_name;
+    """)
+    
+    tables = cursor.fetchall()
+
+    # Print the result in a formatted way
+    for table in tables:
+        print(f"Schema: {table[0]}, Table Name: {table[1]}")
+    
+    cursor.execute("""
+        SELECT table_name 
+        FROM information_schema.tables
+        WHERE table_schema = 'public';
+    """)
+    
+    # Fetch and print all table names
+    tables = cursor.fetchall()
+    print("Tables in the database:")
+    for table in tables:
+        print(table[0])
+        
+
+    
+    # Close the cursor and connection
+    cursor.close()
+    connection.close()
+    print("Database connection closed.")
+    
+except Error as e:
+    print(f"Error connecting to the database: {e}")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/topos/chat_api/server.py b/topos/chat_api/server.py
index ca06a3d..c306c8e 100644
--- a/topos/chat_api/server.py
+++ b/topos/chat_api/server.py
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     # we need to keep a reference of this task alive else it will stop the consume task, there has to be a live refference for this to work
     consume_task = asyncio.create_task(consume_messages())
     yield
+    
     # Clean up the ML models and release the resources
     consume_task.cancel()
     await producer.stop()
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ async def websocket_endpoint(websocket: WebSocket):
     try:
         while True:
             data = await websocket.receive_text()
+            print(data)
             if data:
                 payload = json.loads(data)
                 print(payload)
diff --git a/topos/services/database/conversation_cache_manager.py b/topos/services/database/conversation_cache_manager.py
index 01ab91d..6b0d2ef 100644
--- a/topos/services/database/conversation_cache_manager.py
+++ b/topos/services/database/conversation_cache_manager.py
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ def _save_to_postgres(self, conv_id, new_data):
             return
 
         try:
-            logging.debug(f"Attempting to save data for conv_id: {conv_id}")
+            logging.info(f"Attempting to save data for conv_id: {conv_id}")
             with self.conn.cursor() as cur:
                 for message_id, message_data in new_data.items():
                     role = message_data['role']