diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3b7517441..a633706ea 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
 		"dev:cards:web": "pnpm --filter @cards/web dev",
 		"dev:cards:landing": "pnpm --filter @cards/landing dev",
 		"dev:cards:app": "concurrently -n api,web -c yellow,cyan \"pnpm dev:api\" \"pnpm dev:cards:web\"",
-		"dev:cards-server": "cd services/cards-server && bun run --watch src/index.ts",
+		"dev:cards-server": "cd services/cards-server && bun run --hot src/index.ts",
 		"dev:cardecky:full": "concurrently -n auth,sync,credits,notify,server,web -c blue,magenta,green,gray,yellow,cyan \"pnpm dev:auth\" \"pnpm dev:sync\" \"pnpm dev:credits\" \"pnpm dev:notify\" \"pnpm dev:cards-server\" \"pnpm dev:cards:web\"",
 		"dev:picture:web": "pnpm --filter @picture/web dev",
 		"dev:picture:landing": "pnpm --filter @picture/landing dev",
diff --git a/scripts/setup-databases.sh b/scripts/setup-databases.sh
index 03f652eb0..7f9eb84a7 100755
--- a/scripts/setup-databases.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-databases.sh
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ setup_service() {
             push_schema "@mana/uload-database" "uload"
             ;;
         cards)
-            push_schema "@mana/cards-database" "cards"
+            push_schema "@mana/cards-server" "cards"
             ;;
         events|mana-events)
             push_schema "@mana/events" "mana-events"
@@ -162,6 +162,13 @@ echo -e "\n${GREEN}Step 1: Creating databases${NC}"
 echo "--------------------------------------"
 create_db_if_not_exists "mana_platform"
 create_db_if_not_exists "mana_sync"
+# mana-notify (Go) and mana-credits (legacy schema-filter still uses
+# mana_platform but the runtime config can point at mana_credits) each
+# get their own database. Without these, dev:cardecky:full crashes
+# both services on boot with "database does not exist" / SASL auth
+# fallback errors.
+create_db_if_not_exists "mana_notify"
+create_db_if_not_exists "mana_credits"
 
 echo -e "\n${GREEN}Step 2: Creating schemas in mana_platform${NC}"
 echo "--------------------------------------"
diff --git a/services/cards-server/package.json b/services/cards-server/package.json
index 48e761a28..d30e408dd 100644
--- a/services/cards-server/package.json
+++ b/services/cards-server/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 	"type": "module",
 	"description": "Cards marketplace + community backend. Owns published decks, versions, subscriptions, forks, pull-requests, discussions, moderation, and the credits-based author payout pipeline.",
 	"scripts": {
-		"dev": "bun run --watch src/index.ts",
+		"dev": "bun run --hot src/index.ts",
 		"start": "bun run src/index.ts",
 		"type-check": "tsc --noEmit",
 		"db:push": "drizzle-kit push",