diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-backend.yml b/.github/workflows/test-backend.yml
index 1f46756d..19583e16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-backend.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-backend.yml
@@ -7,34 +7,55 @@ on:
       - ".github/workflows/test-backend.yml"
 
 jobs:
-  build:
+  container-job:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    container: python:3.12-slim-bullseye
+
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:16.3-alpine3.20
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+          POSTGRES_DB: postgres
+        ports:
+          - 5432:5432
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Checkout repo code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
           cache: "pip"
+
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install -r requirements.txt --no-cache-dir
         working-directory: backend
+
       - name: Lint with Ruff
         run: |
           pip install ruff
           ruff --output-format=github .
         continue-on-error: true
         working-directory: backend
-      - name: Create docker network
-        run: docker network create test_network
-      - name: Start MongoDB
-        run: docker run -d --network test_network --name mongo -p 27017:27017 mongo:latest
-      - name: Start Postgres
-        run: docker run -d --network test_network --name postgres -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres -e POSTGRES_DB=postgres -p 5432:5432 postgres:16.3-alpine3.20
-      - name: Build app image
-        run: cp .env.dev .env && docker build -t districtr .
+
+      - name: Run migrations and test
+        run: alembic upgrade head && ./test.sh
         working-directory: backend
-      - name: Test
-        run: docker run --network test_network -e MONGODB_SERVER=mongo --rm districtr ./test.sh
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+          POSTGRES_DB: postgres
+          POSTGRES_HOST: postgres
+          ENVIRONMENT: test
diff --git a/backend/app/core/config.py b/backend/app/core/config.py
index 72a01c45..ba03d024 100644
--- a/backend/app/core/config.py
+++ b/backend/app/core/config.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # 60 minutes * 24 hours * 8 days = 8 days
     ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES: int = 60 * 24 * 8
     DOMAIN: str = "localhost"
-    ENVIRONMENT: Literal["local", "staging", "production"] = "local"
+    ENVIRONMENT: Literal["local", "staging", "production", "test"] = "local"
 
     @computed_field  # type: ignore[misc]
     @property
diff --git a/backend/app/test_main.py b/backend/app/test_main.py
index ddb39de6..09129307 100644
--- a/backend/app/test_main.py
+++ b/backend/app/test_main.py
@@ -14,25 +14,23 @@
 
 client = TestClient(app)
 
+ENVIRONMENT = os.environ.get("ENVIRONMENT")
 POSTGRES_TEST_DB = "districtr_test"
-POSTGRES_TEST_SCHEME = "postgresql+psycopg"
-POSTGRES_TEST_USER = "postgres"
-POSTGRES_TEST_HOST = "localhost"
-POSTGRES_TEST_PORT = 5432
+POSTGRES_SCHEME = "postgresql+psycopg"
+POSTGRES_USER = os.environ.get("POSTGRES_USER", "postgres")
+POSTGRES_PASSWORD = os.environ.get("POSTGRES_PASSWORD", "postgres")
+POSTGRES_HOST = os.environ.get("POSTGRES_HOST", "localhost")
+POSTGRES_PORT = os.environ.get("POSTGRES_PORT", 5432)
 
 my_env = os.environ.copy()
 
 my_env["POSTGRES_DB"] = POSTGRES_TEST_DB
-my_env["POSTGRES_SCHEME"] = POSTGRES_TEST_SCHEME
-my_env["POSTGRES_USER"] = POSTGRES_TEST_USER
-my_env["POSTGRES_SERVER"] = POSTGRES_TEST_HOST
-my_env["POSTGRES_PORT"] = str(POSTGRES_TEST_PORT)
 
 TEST_SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = MultiHostUrl.build(
-    scheme=POSTGRES_TEST_SCHEME,
-    username=POSTGRES_TEST_USER,
-    host=POSTGRES_TEST_HOST,
-    port=POSTGRES_TEST_PORT,
+    scheme=POSTGRES_SCHEME,
+    username=POSTGRES_USER,
+    host=POSTGRES_HOST,
+    port=int(POSTGRES_PORT),
     path=POSTGRES_TEST_DB,
 )
 
@@ -55,15 +53,21 @@ def test_get_session():
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True, name="engine")
 def engine_fixture(request):
-    _engine = create_engine("postgresql://postgres@/postgres")
+    url = f"{POSTGRES_SCHEME}://{POSTGRES_USER}:{POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@{POSTGRES_HOST}/postgres"
+    _engine = create_engine(url)
     conn = _engine.connect()
     conn.execute(text("commit"))
     try:
-        conn.execute(text(f"CREATE DATABASE {POSTGRES_TEST_DB}"))
+        if conn.in_transaction():
+            conn.rollback()
+        conn.execution_options(isolation_level="AUTOCOMMIT").execute(
+            text(f"CREATE DATABASE {POSTGRES_TEST_DB}")
+        )
     except (OperationalError, ProgrammingError):
         pass
 
-    subprocess.run(["alembic", "upgrade", "head"], check=True, env=my_env)
+    if ENVIRONMENT != "test":
+        subprocess.run(["alembic", "upgrade", "head"], check=True, env=my_env)
 
     def teardown():
         conn.execute(text(f"DROP DATABASE {POSTGRES_TEST_DB}"))
diff --git a/backend/test.sh b/backend/test.sh
index 90c65a27..64c311ce 100755
--- a/backend/test.sh
+++ b/backend/test.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+alembic upgrade head
 python -c 'from app.core.db import create_collections; create_collections()'
 pytest -v