diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5da02d94..ad9c7a3e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -69,7 +69,12 @@ stop:
 	@echo "Stopping services..."
 	@-lsof -ti:$(PORT) | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null
 	@-lsof -ti:$(FRONTEND_PORT) | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null
-	@echo "✓ App processes stopped. Shared PostgreSQL is still running on localhost:5432."
+	@case "$(DATABASE_URL)" in \
+		""|*@localhost:*|*@localhost/*|*@127.0.0.1:*|*@127.0.0.1/*|*@\[::1\]:*|*@\[::1\]/*) \
+			echo "✓ App processes stopped. Shared PostgreSQL is still running on localhost:$(POSTGRES_PORT)." ;; \
+		*) \
+			echo "✓ App processes stopped. Remote PostgreSQL was not affected." ;; \
+	esac
 
 # Full verification: typecheck + unit tests + Go tests + E2E
 check:
diff --git a/SELF_HOSTING.md b/SELF_HOSTING.md
index 8e671b53..f6884441 100644
--- a/SELF_HOSTING.md
+++ b/SELF_HOSTING.md
@@ -257,8 +257,14 @@ Each team member who wants to run AI agents locally needs to:
 
    ```bash
    # Point CLI to your server
+   #
+   # For production deployments with TLS:
    export MULTICA_APP_URL=https://app.example.com
    export MULTICA_SERVER_URL=wss://api.example.com/ws
+   #
+   # For local deployments without TLS:
+   # export MULTICA_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
+   # export MULTICA_SERVER_URL=ws://localhost:8080/ws
 
    # Login (opens browser)
    multica login
@@ -267,6 +273,8 @@ Each team member who wants to run AI agents locally needs to:
    multica daemon start
    ```
 
+   > **Note:** Use `https://` and `wss://` for production deployments behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. For local or development deployments without TLS, use `http://` and `ws://` instead.
+
 The daemon auto-detects installed agent CLIs and registers itself with the server. When an agent is assigned a task in Multica, the daemon picks it up, creates an isolated workspace, runs the agent, and reports results back.
 
 ## Upgrading
diff --git a/scripts/ensure-postgres.sh b/scripts/ensure-postgres.sh
index 78d7345b..17525cf3 100644
--- a/scripts/ensure-postgres.sh
+++ b/scripts/ensure-postgres.sh
@@ -17,26 +17,88 @@ set +a
 POSTGRES_DB="${POSTGRES_DB:-multica}"
 POSTGRES_USER="${POSTGRES_USER:-multica}"
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD="${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-multica}"
+DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL:-}"
 
 export PGPASSWORD="$POSTGRES_PASSWORD"
 
-echo "==> Ensuring shared PostgreSQL container is running on localhost:5432..."
-docker compose up -d postgres
+db_host=""
+db_port="${POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}"
+db_name="$POSTGRES_DB"
 
-echo "==> Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
-until docker compose exec -T postgres pg_isready -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres > /dev/null 2>&1; do
-  sleep 1
-done
+parse_database_url() {
+  local rest authority hostport path port_part
 
-echo "==> Ensuring database '$POSTGRES_DB' exists..."
-db_exists="$(docker compose exec -T postgres \
-  psql -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres -Atqc "SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '$POSTGRES_DB'")"
+  rest="${DATABASE_URL#*://}"
+  rest="${rest%%\?*}"
+  authority="${rest%%/*}"
+  path="${rest#*/}"
 
-if [ "$db_exists" != "1" ]; then
-  docker compose exec -T postgres \
-    psql -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 \
-    -c "CREATE DATABASE \"$POSTGRES_DB\"" \
-    > /dev/null
+  if [ "$authority" = "$rest" ]; then
+    path=""
+  fi
+
+  hostport="${authority##*@}"
+
+  if [[ "$hostport" == \[* ]]; then
+    db_host="${hostport#\[}"
+    db_host="${db_host%%]*}"
+    port_part="${hostport#*\]}"
+    if [[ "$port_part" == :* ]] && [ -n "${port_part#:}" ]; then
+      db_port="${port_part#:}"
+    fi
+  else
+    db_host="${hostport%%:*}"
+    if [[ "$hostport" == *:* ]] && [ -n "${hostport##*:}" ]; then
+      db_port="${hostport##*:}"
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "$path" ]; then
+    db_name="${path%%/*}"
+  fi
+}
+
+if [ -n "$DATABASE_URL" ]; then
+  parse_database_url
 fi
 
-echo "✓ PostgreSQL ready. Application database: $POSTGRES_DB"
+is_local() {
+  [ -z "$DATABASE_URL" ] || [ "$db_host" = "localhost" ] || [ "$db_host" = "127.0.0.1" ] || [ "$db_host" = "::1" ]
+}
+
+if is_local; then
+  # ---------- Local: use Docker ----------
+  echo "==> Ensuring shared PostgreSQL container is running on localhost:5432..."
+  docker compose up -d postgres
+
+  echo "==> Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
+  until docker compose exec -T postgres pg_isready -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres > /dev/null 2>&1; do
+    sleep 1
+  done
+
+  echo "==> Ensuring database '$POSTGRES_DB' exists..."
+  db_exists="$(docker compose exec -T postgres \
+    psql -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres -Atqc "SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '$POSTGRES_DB'")"
+
+  if [ "$db_exists" != "1" ]; then
+    docker compose exec -T postgres \
+      psql -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d postgres -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 \
+      -c "CREATE DATABASE \"$POSTGRES_DB\"" \
+      > /dev/null
+  fi
+
+  echo "✓ PostgreSQL ready (local Docker). Database: $POSTGRES_DB"
+else
+  # ---------- Remote: skip Docker, verify connectivity ----------
+  echo "==> Remote database detected (host: $db_host). Skipping Docker."
+  if command -v pg_isready > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "==> Waiting for PostgreSQL at $db_host:$db_port to be ready..."
+    until pg_isready -d "$DATABASE_URL" > /dev/null 2>&1; do
+      sleep 1
+    done
+    echo "✓ PostgreSQL ready (remote: $db_host:$db_port). Database: $db_name"
+  else
+    echo "==> pg_isready not found. Skipping remote connectivity preflight."
+    echo "✓ PostgreSQL configured (remote: $db_host:$db_port). Database: $db_name"
+  fi
+fi