diff --git a/src/basic_memory/api/app.py b/src/basic_memory/api/app.py
index e52c0b8c..4e7d7740 100644
--- a/src/basic_memory/api/app.py
+++ b/src/basic_memory/api/app.py
@@ -7,18 +7,40 @@ from fastapi.exception_handlers import http_exception_handler
 from loguru import logger
 
 from basic_memory import db
-from .routers import knowledge, search, memory, resource
+from basic_memory.api.routers import knowledge, search, memory, resource
+from basic_memory.config import config
+from basic_memory.services import DbVersionService
 
 
 @asynccontextmanager
 async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     """Lifecycle manager for the FastAPI app."""
     logger.info("Starting Basic Memory API")
+    
+    # check the db state
+    await check_db(app)
     yield
     logger.info("Shutting down Basic Memory API")
     await db.shutdown_db()
 
 
+async def check_db(app: FastAPI):
+    logger.info("Checking database state")
+
+    # Initialize DB management service
+    db_service = DbVersionService(
+        config=config,
+    )
+
+    # Check and initialize DB if needed
+    if not await db_service.check_db():
+        raise RuntimeError("Database initialization failed")
+
+    # Clean up old backups on shutdown
+    await db_service.cleanup_backups()
+
+
+
 # Initialize FastAPI app
 app = FastAPI(
     title="Basic Memory API",
diff --git a/src/basic_memory/models/base.py b/src/basic_memory/models/base.py
index 5b0d8c7d..40dfbdcc 100644
--- a/src/basic_memory/models/base.py
+++ b/src/basic_memory/models/base.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 """Base model class for SQLAlchemy models."""
-from sqlalchemy import String
+from sqlalchemy import String, Integer
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncAttrs
 from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase, Mapped, mapped_column