diff --git a/scripts/setup.sh b/scripts/setup.sh
index e020d253..ce783b6c 100755
--- a/scripts/setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup.sh
@@ -879,6 +879,30 @@ else
   esac
 fi
 
+# ─── 18. project initialization ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "── Project initialization ──"
+
+if ! has bun || [ ! -f "$PROJECT_DIR/.env" ]; then
+  warn "Skipping project initialization (bun or .env missing)"
+else
+  # index.gen.html is gitignored and built from .env, so it does not exist on a fresh clone.
+  echo "  Generating index.gen.html from PUBLIC_URL..."
+  if (cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && bun run gen:index); then
+    ok "index.gen.html generated"
+  else
+    fail "gen:index failed — the app will not serve until this succeeds"
+  fi
+
+  # Officer applies its schema with push; there are no migrations to run.
+  echo "  Applying database schema..."
+  if (cd "$PROJECT_DIR" && bun db:push); then
+    ok "database schema applied"
+  else
+    fail "db:push failed — check POSTGRES_URL in .env and that Postgres is reachable"
+  fi
+fi
+
 # ─── verification ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 echo ""
 echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════"