diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 4ed8898..741e439 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@ RUN apt-get purge -y curl git build-essential \
 
 FROM install as app-image
 
-COPY tests tests
-COPY app app
-COPY alembic alembic
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/home/code/ PYTHONHASHSEED=0
+
+COPY tests/ tests/
+COPY app/ app/
+COPY alembic/ alembic/
 COPY .env alembic.ini ./
 
 # create a non-root user and switch to it, for security.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 200b124..b5ee6e5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ migrate-apply: ## apply alembic migrations to database/schema
 	docker-compose run --rm app alembic upgrade head
 
 .PHONY: migrate-create
-migrate-create: ## create new alembic migration
-	docker-compose run --rm app alembic revision --autogenerate
+migrate-create:  ## Create new alembic database migration aka database revision.
+	docker-compose up -d db | true
+	docker-compose run --no-deps app alembic revision --autogenerate -m "$(msg)"
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:	## Run project tests
diff --git a/alembic.ini b/alembic.ini
index 64ef121..4783932 100644
--- a/alembic.ini
+++ b/alembic.ini
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 script_location = alembic
 
 # template used to generate migration files
-# file_template = %%(rev)s_%%(slug)s
+file_template = %%(year)d%%(month).2d%%(day).2d_%%(hour).2d%%(minute).2d_%%(rev)s_%%(slug)s
 
 # timezone to use when rendering the date
 # within the migration file as well as the filename.
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ script_location = alembic
 
 # max length of characters to apply to the
 # "slug" field
-#truncate_slug_length = 40
+# truncate_slug_length = 40
 
 # set to 'true' to run the environment during
 # the 'revision' command, regardless of autogenerate
@@ -27,14 +27,24 @@ script_location = alembic
 # sourceless = false
 
 # version location specification; this defaults
-# to alembic/versions.  When using multiple version
+# to app/alembic/versions.  When using multiple version
 # directories, initial revisions must be specified with --version-path
-# version_locations = %(here)s/bar %(here)s/bat alembic/versions
+# version_locations = %(here)s/bar %(here)s/bat app/alembic/versions
 
 # the output encoding used when revision files
 # are written from script.py.mako
 # output_encoding = utf-8
 
+[post_write_hooks]
+# post_write_hooks defines scripts or Python functions that are run
+# on newly generated revision scripts.  See the documentation for further
+# detail and examples
+
+# format using "black" - use the console_scripts runner, against the "black" entrypoint
+# hooks=black
+# black.type=console_scripts
+# black.entrypoint=black
+# black.options=-l 79
 
 # Logging configuration
 [loggers]
@@ -52,12 +62,12 @@ handlers = console
 qualname =
 
 [logger_sqlalchemy]
-level = DEBUG
+level = WARN
 handlers =
 qualname = sqlalchemy.engine
 
 [logger_alembic]
-level = DEBUG
+level = INFO
 handlers =
 qualname = alembic
 
@@ -68,5 +78,5 @@ level = NOTSET
 formatter = generic
 
 [formatter_generic]
-format = %(asctime)s %(levelname)-8s %(thread)d <%(name)s> %(message)r
+format = %(levelname)-5.5s [%(name)s] %(message)s
 datefmt = %H:%M:%S
diff --git a/alembic/env.py b/alembic/env.py
index 85492a5..948701f 100644
--- a/alembic/env.py
+++ b/alembic/env.py
@@ -1,23 +1,22 @@
 import asyncio
-import os
-import sys
 
 from alembic import context
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine
 
-parent_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.getcwd()))
-sys.path.append(parent_dir)
+from app.config import settings
+from app.models.base import Base
 
-from app.models.base import Base as app_base
-
-target_metadata = app_base.metadata
+target_metadata = Base.metadata
 
 
 def do_run_migrations(connection):
     context.configure(
+        compare_type=True,
+        dialect_opts={"paramstyle": "named"},
         connection=connection,
         target_metadata=target_metadata,
         include_schemas=True,
+        # literal_binds=True,
         version_table_schema=target_metadata.schema,
     )
 
@@ -32,8 +31,7 @@ async def run_migrations_online():
     and associate a connection with the context.
 
     """
-    url = f"postgresql+asyncpg://user:secret@db:5432/devdb"
-    connectable = create_async_engine(url)
+    connectable = create_async_engine(settings.asyncpg_url, future=True)
 
     async with connectable.connect() as connection:
         await connection.run_sync(do_run_migrations)
diff --git a/alembic/versions/20230311_2008_0d1ee3949d21_init_migrations.py b/alembic/versions/20230311_2008_0d1ee3949d21_init_migrations.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0691d00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/alembic/versions/20230311_2008_0d1ee3949d21_init_migrations.py
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+"""init migrations
+
+Revision ID: 0d1ee3949d21
+Revises: 
+Create Date: 2023-03-11 20:08:07.362613
+
+"""
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from sqlalchemy.dialects import postgresql
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = '0d1ee3949d21'
+down_revision = None
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+
+def upgrade():
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.create_table('nonsense',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.UUID(), autoincrement=True, nullable=True),
+    sa.Column('name', sa.String(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('description', sa.String(), nullable=False),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('name'),
+    sa.UniqueConstraint('id'),
+    sa.UniqueConstraint('name'),
+    schema='happy_hog'
+    )
+    op.create_table('stuff',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.UUID(), autoincrement=True, nullable=True),
+    sa.Column('name', sa.String(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('description', sa.String(), nullable=False),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('name'),
+    sa.UniqueConstraint('id'),
+    sa.UniqueConstraint('name'),
+    schema='happy_hog'
+    )
+    op.create_table('character',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('name', sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('speech_count', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('abbrev', sa.String(length=32), nullable=True),
+    sa.Column('description', sa.String(length=2056), nullable=True),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('id', name='character_pkey'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    op.create_table('wordform',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('plain_text', sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('phonetic_text', sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('stem_text', sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('occurences', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('id', name='wordform_pkey'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    op.create_table('work',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('title', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('long_title', sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('year', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('genre_type', sa.String(length=1), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('source', sa.String(length=16), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('total_words', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('total_paragraphs', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('notes', sa.Text(), nullable=True),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('id', name='work_pkey'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    op.create_table('chapter',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('work_id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('section_number', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('chapter_number', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('description', sa.String(length=256), nullable=False),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['work_id'], ['shakespeare.work.id'], name='chapter_work_id_fkey'),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('id', name='chapter_pkey'),
+    sa.UniqueConstraint('work_id', 'section_number', 'chapter_number', name='chapter_work_id_section_number_chapter_number_key'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    op.create_table('character_work',
+    sa.Column('character_id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('work_id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['character_id'], ['shakespeare.character.id'], name='character_work_character_id_fkey'),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['work_id'], ['shakespeare.work.id'], name='character_work_work_id_fkey'),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('character_id', 'work_id', name='character_work_pkey'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    op.create_table('paragraph',
+    sa.Column('id', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('work_id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('paragraph_num', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('character_id', sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('plain_text', sa.Text(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('phonetic_text', sa.Text(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('stem_text', sa.Text(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('paragraph_type', sa.String(length=1), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('section_number', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('chapter_number', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('char_count', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.Column('word_count', sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['character_id'], ['shakespeare.character.id'], name='paragraph_character_id_fkey'),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['work_id', 'section_number', 'chapter_number'], ['shakespeare.chapter.work_id', 'shakespeare.chapter.section_number', 'shakespeare.chapter.chapter_number'], name='paragraph_chapter_fkey'),
+    sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['work_id'], ['shakespeare.work.id'], name='paragraph_work_id_fkey'),
+    sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('id', name='paragraph_pkey'),
+    schema='shakespeare'
+    )
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###
+
+
+def downgrade():
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.drop_table('paragraph', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('character_work', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('chapter', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('work', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('wordform', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('character', schema='shakespeare')
+    op.drop_table('stuff', schema='happy_hog')
+    op.drop_table('nonsense', schema='happy_hog')
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###
diff --git a/alembic/versions/957232a5b7ee_initialize_happy_cog_and_shakespeare_.py b/alembic/versions/957232a5b7ee_initialize_happy_cog_and_shakespeare_.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 9fd2506..0000000
--- a/alembic/versions/957232a5b7ee_initialize_happy_cog_and_shakespeare_.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-"""initialize happy_cog and shakespeare tables
-
-Revision ID: 957232a5b7ee
-Revises: 
-Create Date: 2022-06-04 13:02:45.839649
-
-"""
-from alembic import op
-import sqlalchemy as sa
-from sqlalchemy.dialects import postgresql
-
-# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
-revision = "957232a5b7ee"
-down_revision = None
-branch_labels = None
-depends_on = None
-
-
-def upgrade():
-    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
-    op.create_table(
-        "nonsense",
-        sa.Column(
-            "id", postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True), autoincrement=True, nullable=True
-        ),
-        sa.Column("name", sa.String(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("description", sa.String(), nullable=False),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("name"),
-        sa.UniqueConstraint("id"),
-        sa.UniqueConstraint("name"),
-        schema="happy_hog",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "stuff",
-        sa.Column(
-            "id", postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True), autoincrement=True, nullable=True
-        ),
-        sa.Column("name", sa.String(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("description", sa.String(), nullable=False),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("name"),
-        sa.UniqueConstraint("id"),
-        sa.UniqueConstraint("name"),
-        schema="happy_hog",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "character",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("name", sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("speech_count", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("abbrev", sa.String(length=32), nullable=True),
-        sa.Column("description", sa.String(length=2056), nullable=True),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("id", name="character_pkey"),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "wordform",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("plain_text", sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("phonetic_text", sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("stem_text", sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("occurences", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("id", name="wordform_pkey"),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "work",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("title", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("long_title", sa.String(length=64), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("year", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("genre_type", sa.String(length=1), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("source", sa.String(length=16), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("total_words", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("total_paragraphs", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("notes", sa.Text(), nullable=True),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("id", name="work_pkey"),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "chapter",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("work_id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("section_number", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("chapter_number", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("description", sa.String(length=256), nullable=False),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["work_id"], ["shakespeare.work.id"], name="chapter_work_id_fkey"
-        ),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("id", name="chapter_pkey"),
-        sa.UniqueConstraint(
-            "work_id",
-            "section_number",
-            "chapter_number",
-            name="chapter_work_id_section_number_chapter_number_key",
-        ),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "character_work",
-        sa.Column("character_id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("work_id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["character_id"],
-            ["shakespeare.character.id"],
-            name="character_work_character_id_fkey",
-        ),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["work_id"], ["shakespeare.work.id"], name="character_work_work_id_fkey"
-        ),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("character_id", "work_id", name="character_work_pkey"),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    op.create_table(
-        "paragraph",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("work_id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("paragraph_num", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("character_id", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("plain_text", sa.Text(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("phonetic_text", sa.Text(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("stem_text", sa.Text(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("paragraph_type", sa.String(length=1), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("section_number", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("chapter_number", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("char_count", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.Column("word_count", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["character_id"],
-            ["shakespeare.character.id"],
-            name="paragraph_character_id_fkey",
-        ),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["work_id", "section_number", "chapter_number"],
-            [
-                "shakespeare.chapter.work_id",
-                "shakespeare.chapter.section_number",
-                "shakespeare.chapter.chapter_number",
-            ],
-            name="paragraph_chapter_fkey",
-        ),
-        sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(
-            ["work_id"], ["shakespeare.work.id"], name="paragraph_work_id_fkey"
-        ),
-        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("id", name="paragraph_pkey"),
-        schema="shakespeare",
-    )
-    # ### end Alembic commands ###
-
-
-def downgrade():
-    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
-    op.drop_table("paragraph", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("character_work", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("chapter", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("work", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("wordform", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("character", schema="shakespeare")
-    op.drop_table("stuff", schema="happy_hog")
-    op.drop_table("nonsense", schema="happy_hog")
-    # ### end Alembic commands ###
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 79edf02..096d9b6 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -18,3 +18,5 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
 @lru_cache
 def get_settings():
     return Settings()
+
+settings = get_settings()
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d0ef692..099f066 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version: '3.8'
+version: '3.9'
 
 services:
   app:
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./app:/home/code/app
       - ./tests:/home/code/tests
+      - ./alembic:/home/code/alembic
     ports:
       - "8080:8080"
     depends_on: