diff --git a/run.js b/run.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b58946c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Entry point with hardcoded env vars for Claude Code MCP
+
+process.env.DB_HOST = "10.0.1.1";
+process.env.DB_PORT = "5432";
+process.env.DB_NAME = "agiliton";
+process.env.DB_USER = "agiliton";
+process.env.DB_PASSWORD = "QtqiwCOAUpQNF6pjzOMAREzUny2bY8V1";
+process.env.LLM_API_URL = "https://llm.agiliton.cloud";
+process.env.LLM_API_KEY = "sk-master-91b891c709ade9021a97c9260217ddb277877db652a31dcf";
+
+await import('./dist/index.js');
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..f716324
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+echo "task-mcp: run.sh executing with DB_HOST=10.0.1.1" >&2
+export DB_HOST="10.0.1.1"
+export DB_PORT="5432"
+export DB_NAME="agiliton"
+export DB_USER="agiliton"
+export DB_PASSWORD="QtqiwCOAUpQNF6pjzOMAREzUny2bY8V1"
+export LLM_API_URL="https://llm.agiliton.cloud"
+export LLM_API_KEY="sk-master-91b891c709ade9021a97c9260217ddb277877db652a31dcf"
+
+cd /Users/christian.gick/Development/Infrastructure/mcp-servers/task-mcp
+exec /opt/homebrew/bin/node dist/index.js
diff --git a/src/db.ts b/src/db.ts
index d65f0fc..0412c20 100644
--- a/src/db.ts
+++ b/src/db.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 import pg from 'pg';
 const { Pool } = pg;
 
-// Configuration - FORCE port 5432 (not 5435 which is litellm)
+// Configuration - Direct WireGuard connection to INFRA VM PostgreSQL
+// HARDCODED to prevent any env var override issues
 const config = {
-  host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
-  port: 5432,  // Hardcoded - env was being overridden to 5435 by unknown source
-  database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'agiliton',
-  user: process.env.DB_USER || 'agiliton',
-  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'QtqiwCOAUpQNF6pjzOMAREzUny2bY8V1',
+  host: '10.0.1.1',  // INFRA VM - agiliton database
+  port: 5432,
+  database: 'agiliton',
+  user: 'agiliton',
+  password: 'QtqiwCOAUpQNF6pjzOMAREzUny2bY8V1',
   max: 5,
   idleTimeoutMillis: 30000,
   connectionTimeoutMillis: 5000,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 75d8277..b27cc46 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * Exposes task management tools via Model Context Protocol.
  * Uses PostgreSQL with pgvector for semantic search.
  *
- * Requires SSH tunnel to docker-host:
- *   ssh -L 5432:172.27.0.3:5432 docker-host -N &
+ * Requires SSH tunnel to infra VM on port 5433:
+ *   ssh -L 5433:localhost:5432 -i ~/.ssh/hetzner_mash_deploy root@46.224.188.157 -N &
  */
 
 import { Server } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js';
@@ -368,16 +368,6 @@ server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
 
 // Main entry point
 async function main() {
-  // Test database connection
-  const connected = await testConnection();
-  if (!connected) {
-    console.error('Failed to connect to database. Ensure SSH tunnel is active:');
-    console.error('  ssh -L 5432:172.27.0.3:5432 docker-host -N &');
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
-
-  console.error('task-mcp: Connected to database');
-
   // Set up cleanup
   process.on('SIGINT', async () => {
     await close();
@@ -389,10 +379,20 @@ async function main() {
     process.exit(0);
   });
 
-  // Start server
+  // Start server FIRST - respond to MCP protocol immediately
+  // This is critical: Claude Code sends initialize before we finish DB connection
   const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
   await server.connect(transport);
   console.error('task-mcp: Server started');
+
+  // Test database connection in background (lazy - will connect on first tool call anyway)
+  testConnection().then((connected) => {
+    if (connected) {
+      console.error('task-mcp: Connected to database');
+    } else {
+      console.error('task-mcp: Warning - database not reachable, will retry on tool calls');
+    }
+  });
 }
 
 main().catch((error) => {
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 45272ac..f5047b7 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Wrapper script for task-mcp that logs errors
-exec node /Users/christian.gick/Development/Infrastructure/mcp-servers/task-mcp/dist/index.js 2>> /tmp/task-mcp.log
+# Wrapper script for task-mcp with hardcoded env vars
+export DB_HOST="10.0.1.1"
+export DB_PORT="5432"
+export DB_NAME="agiliton"
+export DB_USER="agiliton"
+export DB_PASSWORD="QtqiwCOAUpQNF6pjzOMAREzUny2bY8V1"
+export LLM_API_URL="https://llm.agiliton.cloud"
+export LLM_API_KEY="sk-master-91b891c709ade9021a97c9260217ddb277877db652a31dcf"
+
+cd /Users/christian.gick/Development/Infrastructure/mcp-servers/task-mcp
+export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH"
+exec node dist/index.js