diff --git a/.env.testing b/.env.testing
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44ba50f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.testing
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+APP_ENV=testing
+APP_DEBUG=true
+APP_URL=http://localhost
+APP_KEY=base64:Zm7kR6vDfsQQmCeWTR2Mk2WQGu6fGP1UHEcZVk/hIt0=
+
+# ── Hard rule — tests must never touch the shared SQLite file. ───────────
+# phpunit.xml also sets these via <env>, but having them here means Laravel
+# picks them up during the earliest bootstrap step (before any trait or
+# setUp hook can run), closing the window that let migrate:fresh wipe the
+# dev DB on 2026-10-21. If you change these values, read tests/TestCase.php's
+# assertSafeTestDatabase() guard first.
+DB_CONNECTION=sqlite
+DB_DATABASE=:memory:
+
+BCRYPT_ROUNDS=4
+CACHE_DRIVER=array
+MAIL_MAILER=array
+QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync
+SESSION_DRIVER=array
+
+TELESCOPE_ENABLED=false
+PULSE_ENABLED=false
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index 2932d4a..dac81e1 100755
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -7,4 +7,39 @@ use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\TestCase as BaseTestCase;
 abstract class TestCase extends BaseTestCase
 {
     use CreatesApplication;
+
+    /**
+     * Belt-and-braces guard against a repeat of the 2026-10-21 incident, where
+     * a test with the RefreshDatabase trait ran migrate:fresh against the
+     * shared dev SQLite file and wiped every row.
+     *
+     * By the time setUp() runs we know the final DB config. If it points at
+     * anything other than an in-memory SQLite (or a file inside the test
+     * directory), we abort the whole run before any migration can execute.
+     */
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+        $this->assertSafeTestDatabase();
+    }
+
+    private function assertSafeTestDatabase(): void
+    {
+        $driver   = config('database.default');
+        $database = config("database.connections.{$driver}.database");
+
+        $allowed  = $database === ':memory:'
+                 || $database === null
+                 || str_contains((string) $database, '/testing')
+                 || str_contains((string) $database, '/tmp/')
+                 || str_ends_with((string) $database, '.testing.sqlite');
+
+        if (! $allowed) {
+            // Fatal, not an assertion failure — a wrong DB target has to stop
+            // execution before Laravel can run even one query against it.
+            fwrite(STDERR, "\n\n*** ABORTING TESTS: unsafe DB target '{$database}' on connection '{$driver}'. ***\n");
+            fwrite(STDERR, "Set DB_CONNECTION=sqlite and DB_DATABASE=:memory: in .env.testing (or in your test's setUp before parent::setUp).\n\n");
+            exit(2);
+        }
+    }
 }