diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2c2b42e..74dd8db 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ services:
     environment:
       - HOST_BROWSE_ROOT=${HOST_BROWSE_ROOT}
       - HOST_MOUNT_ROOT=/host
+      - DASHBOARD_DB_PATH=/app/data/dashboard.db
     volumes:
       - type: bind
         source: ./server
         target: /app
+      - db_data:/app/data
       - type: bind
         source: ${HOST_BROWSE_ROOT}
         target: /host
@@ -37,3 +39,6 @@ services:
       - frontend
     restart: unless-stopped
 
+volumes:
+  db_data:
+
diff --git a/server/app.py b/server/app.py
index cdbe015..14cd59e 100644
--- a/server/app.py
+++ b/server/app.py
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ def _create_default_user_if_missing(username, password, role):
 
 
 def _ensure_default_users():
+    if count_users() > 0:
+        print("[server] Users already exist, skipping default account seeding.")
     if count_users() == 0:
         print("[server] No users found. Seeding default accounts...")
 
diff --git a/server/data/dashboard.db b/server/data/dashboard.db
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..659e622
Binary files /dev/null and b/server/data/dashboard.db differ
diff --git a/server/data/dashboard.db-shm b/server/data/dashboard.db-shm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3917a73
Binary files /dev/null and b/server/data/dashboard.db-shm differ
diff --git a/server/data/dashboard.db-wal b/server/data/dashboard.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df9ffcd
Binary files /dev/null and b/server/data/dashboard.db-wal differ
diff --git a/server/db_py.py b/server/db_py.py
index fc8065e..d5bca76 100644
--- a/server/db_py.py
+++ b/server/db_py.py
@@ -6,9 +6,15 @@ import threading
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-DB_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "dashboard.db")
+_DEFAULT_DB_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "data", "dashboard.db")
+if os.path.exists("/.dockerenv"):
+    _DEFAULT_DB_PATH = "/app/data/dashboard.db"
+
+DB_PATH = os.getenv("DASHBOARD_DB_PATH", _DEFAULT_DB_PATH)
 CONFIG_JSON = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "config.json")
 
+os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(DB_PATH), exist_ok=True)
+
 _conn = sqlite3.connect(DB_PATH, check_same_thread=False)
 _conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
 _lock = threading.RLock()
@@ -27,7 +33,12 @@ def _tx():
 
 def _init_db():
     with _tx():
-        _conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")
+        try:
+            _conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")
+        except sqlite3.OperationalError as exc:
+            # Fallback for filesystems where WAL is unavailable.
+            print(f"[db] WAL unavailable ({exc}); falling back to DELETE journal mode")
+            _conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE;")
         _conn.executescript(
             """
             CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS config (
diff --git a/server/watcher.py b/server/watcher.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c7137d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/watcher.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import os
+import sys
+import time
+from watchdog.observers import Observer
+from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
+
+class TestResultsHandler(FileSystemEventHandler):
+    def __init__(self, callback):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.callback = callback
+
+    def on_created(self, event):
+        if event.is_directory:
+            print(f"[watcher] Detected new test result directory: {event.src_path}")
+            self.callback(event.src_path)
+
+
+def start_watching_results_dir(results_dir, callback):
+    event_handler = TestResultsHandler(callback)
+    observer = Observer()
+    observer.schedule(event_handler, results_dir, recursive=False)
+    observer.start()
+    print(f"[watcher] Started watching for new test results in: {results_dir}")
+    try:
+        while True:
+            time.sleep(1)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        observer.stop()
+    observer.join()
\ No newline at end of file