diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0764e3b..ea736c9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 .env
 data
 tmp
+head
+base
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index a948013..2a92371 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 [submodule "migrations"]
 	path = migrations
 	url = git@git.orionkindel.com:dnim/db
+	branch = migrations
+[submodule "migraionts"]
+	branch = migrations
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 6336640..c1ecbe9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ services:
     image: "postgres:15.3-bullseye"
     ports:
       - "5432:5432"
-    volumes:
-      - "./data/base:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
     env_file:
       - "./.env.schema"
   head:
@@ -16,7 +14,5 @@ services:
     restart: "always"
     ports:
       - "5433:5432"
-    volumes:
-      - "./data/head:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
     env_file:
       - "./.env.schema"
diff --git a/migrations b/migrations
index 66ce56e..85aca00 160000
--- a/migrations
+++ b/migrations
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 66ce56ed6af6cb63dbc4164e2f8146988dcda92b
+Subproject commit 85aca00ea85ebaf371e63aa12a0f69a4a7e75c2c
diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index 7cca97d..a4565d4 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -2,34 +2,51 @@
 
 set -e
 
+source ./scripts/common.sh
 source ./scripts/env.sh ./.env.schema
 
-docker compose down
-
 base_or_head="$1"
 rev="$2"
 
-git worktree remove "./$base_or_head" || true
-git worktree add "./$base_or_head" --detach "$rev"
-
-mkdir -p "./$base_or_head/data/$base_or_head"
-ln -sr "../data/$base_or_head" "./$base_or_head/data/$base_or_head"
-cp docker-compose.yml "./$base_or_head/docker-compose.yml"
-
-cd "./$base_or_head"
-docker compose up -d "$base_or_head"
-cd "../$base_or_head"
-
 if [[ "$base_or_head" = "head" ]]; then
   port=5433
 else
   port=5432
 fi
 
-url=postgresql://$POSTGRES_USER:$POSTGRES_PASSWORD@localhost:$port
+docker compose down "$base_or_head"
 
-dropdb=$(mktemp)
-echo "drop database dnim with (force); create database dnim;" > "$dropdb"
-psql --quiet "$url/postgres" --file="$dropdb"
+url="postgresql://$POSTGRES_USER:$POSTGRES_PASSWORD@localhost:$port"
 
-ls ./schema/ | xargs -I{} psql --quiet "$url/dnim" --file=./schema/{}
+isready() {
+  until pg_isready -p "$port" 1>/dev/null; do true; done;
+}
+
+initdb() {
+  dropdb=$(mktemp)
+  echo "drop database dnim with (force);" > "$dropdb"
+  psql --quiet "$url/postgres" -f "$dropdb" || true
+  psql --quiet "$url/postgres" -c "create database dnim"
+}
+
+if [[ "$rev" = "empty" ]]; then
+  docker compose up -d "$base_or_head"
+  isready
+  initdb
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+git worktree remove --force "./$base_or_head" || true
+rm -rf "./$base_or_head" || true
+git worktree add "./$base_or_head" --detach "$rev"
+
+cp docker-compose.yml "./$base_or_head/docker-compose.yml"
+cp .env.schema "./$base_or_head/.env.schema"
+
+cd "./$base_or_head"
+docker compose up -d "$base_or_head"
+cd "../$base_or_head"
+
+isready
+initdb
+ls ./schema/ | xargs -I{} bash -c "$(declare -f query_file); query_file \"$url/dnim\" ./schema/{}"
diff --git a/scripts/common.sh b/scripts/common.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ccd839
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/common.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+
+query_file() {
+  psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 --single-transaction --quiet "$1" --file="$2" 1>&2
+}
+
+query() {
+  psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 --single-transaction --quiet "$1" --command="$2" 1>&2
+}
diff --git a/scripts/diff.sh b/scripts/diff.sh
index d39426d..50636f6 100755
--- a/scripts/diff.sh
+++ b/scripts/diff.sh
@@ -12,16 +12,12 @@ if [[ -n "$head_arg" ]]; then
   head="$head_arg"
 fi;
 
-cd ./migrations 1>&2
-git pull
-cd ../ 1>&2
-
 migration="./migrations/${base}_to_${head}.sql"
 
 base_url=postgresql://$POSTGRES_USER:$POSTGRES_PASSWORD@localhost:5432/dnim
 head_url=postgresql://$POSTGRES_USER:$POSTGRES_PASSWORD@localhost:5433/dnim
 
-if [[ -z "$base" ]] || [ -z "$head" ]; then
+if [[ -z "$base" ]] || [[ -z "$head" ]]; then
   echo "revisions to diff are required ex. ./scripts/diff.sh abc bcd" 1>&2;
   exit 1;
 fi
@@ -30,7 +26,7 @@ if [[ ! -f "$migration" ]]; then
   ./scripts/build.sh base "$base" 1>&2
   ./scripts/build.sh head "$head" 1>&2
 
-  until (pg_isready -p 5432 && pg_isready -p 5433) 1>/dev/null; do true; done;
+  until pg_isready -p 5432 1>/dev/null && pg_isready -p 5433 1>/dev/null; do true; done;
 
   migra --unsafe "$base_url" "$head_url" > "$migration" \
     || echo "migra exited with code $?. this is /probably/ fine" 1>&2
@@ -38,7 +34,7 @@ if [[ ! -f "$migration" ]]; then
   cd ./migrations
   git add --all
   git commit -m "$migration"
-  git push
+  cd ../
 fi
 
 echo "$migration"
diff --git a/scripts/migrate.sh b/scripts/migrate.sh
index 510ba44..6864bf3 100755
--- a/scripts/migrate.sh
+++ b/scripts/migrate.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
+source ./scripts/common.sh
 source ./scripts/env.sh ./.env
 
 if [[ -n $(git status --porcelain) ]]; then
@@ -12,21 +13,21 @@ fi
 to_tag="$1"
 
 get_dnim_database_count="copy (select count(*) from pg_database where datname = 'dnim') to stdout with null as '';"
-dnim_database_count=$(psql "$POSTGRES_URI/postgres" -c "$get_dnim_database_count")
+dnim_database_count=$(query "$POSTGRES_URI/postgres" "$get_dnim_database_count")
 
 if [[ "$dnim_database_count" = "0" ]]; then
   echo "fresh database"
-  psql "$POSTGRES_URI/postgres" -c "create database dnim;"
-  ls ./schema/ | xargs -I{} psql --quiet "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" --file=./schema/{}
+  query "$POSTGRES_URI/postgres" "create database dnim;"
+  ls ./schema/ | xargs -I{} bash -c "$(declare -f query_file); query_file \"$POSTGRES_URI/dnim\" ./schema/{}"
   rev_last='empty'
   script=''
 else
   get_rev_last="copy (select to_revision from migration order by performed_on desc limit 1) to stdout with null as '';"
-  rev_last=$(psql "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" -c "$get_rev_last")
+  rev_last=$(query "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" "$get_rev_last")
   migration=$(./scripts/diff.sh "$rev_last" "$to_tag")
 
   if [[ "$2" = "--greenlight" ]]; then
-    psql "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 --single-transaction -f "$migration"
+    query_file "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" "$migration"
   else
     echo "migration available at $migration"
     echo "review and rerun with --greenlight to apply"
@@ -35,5 +36,5 @@ else
 fi
 
 insert_migration="insert into migration (from_revision, to_revision) values ('$rev_last', '$to_tag');"
-psql "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" -c "$insert_migration"
+query "$POSTGRES_URI/dnim" "$insert_migration"
 echo "inserted migration"