diff --git a/.github/workflows/schema-drift.yml b/.github/workflows/schema-drift.yml
index 7ccb7b0..43e4121 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/schema-drift.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/schema-drift.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build the expected schema from committed migrations
         env:
           DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/postgres
-        run: yarn db:migrate
+        run: yarn db:drift:seed-expected
       - name: Compare production against it
         env:
           EXPECTED_DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/postgres
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b5cb229..5b45ee5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     "db:generate": "drizzle-kit generate",
     "db:migrate": "drizzle-kit migrate",
     "db:drift": "tsx scripts/schema-drift/check.ts",
+    "db:drift:seed-expected": "tsx scripts/schema-drift/apply-migrations.ts",
     "db:push": "drizzle-kit push"
   },
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/scripts/schema-drift/apply-migrations.ts b/scripts/schema-drift/apply-migrations.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6de431
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/schema-drift/apply-migrations.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/**
+ * Build the "expected" schema for drift comparison using the exact same migration
+ * mechanism production uses (app/lib/db/migrations.ts -> public.__clawproxy_migrations),
+ * rather than `drizzle-kit migrate` which tracks in a different table
+ * (drizzle.__drizzle_migrations) that production never creates.
+ */
+import postgres from 'postgres';
+
+import { applyCommittedMigrations } from '../../app/lib/db/migrations';
+
+async function main() {
+  const url = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
+  if (!url) {
+    console.error('DATABASE_URL is required');
+    process.exit(2);
+  }
+
+  const sql = postgres(url, { max: 1 });
+  try {
+    await applyCommittedMigrations(sql);
+    console.log('[schema-drift] applied committed migrations to the expected database');
+  } finally {
+    await sql.end({ timeout: 5 });
+  }
+}
+
+main().catch((error) => {
+  console.error('[schema-drift] failed to apply migrations:', error);
+  process.exit(2);
+});
diff --git a/scripts/schema-drift/collect.ts b/scripts/schema-drift/collect.ts
index 3cb5e30..e35ad38 100644
--- a/scripts/schema-drift/collect.ts
+++ b/scripts/schema-drift/collect.ts
@@ -38,8 +38,12 @@ export async function collectSnapshot(databaseUrl: string): Promise<SchemaSnapsh
       ORDER BY tablename, indexname
     `) as unknown as IndexInfo[];
 
+    // The app's own migrator (app/lib/db/migrations.ts) tracks applied migrations in
+    // public.__clawproxy_migrations, not drizzle's own drizzle.__drizzle_migrations table
+    // (that table only exists when `drizzle-kit migrate` was run directly against a DB,
+    // which production never does).
     const migrationRows = await sql<{ hash: string }[]>`
-      SELECT hash FROM drizzle.__drizzle_migrations ORDER BY created_at, id
+      SELECT hash FROM public.__clawproxy_migrations ORDER BY applied_at, name
     `;
 
     return {