diff --git a/reflection-doc/src/service.rs b/reflection-doc/src/service.rs
index cc18830..4690ed1 100644
--- a/reflection-doc/src/service.rs
+++ b/reflection-doc/src/service.rs
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ impl Service {
         let signing_key = self.signing_key().0;
         let network_id = Hash::digest(NETWORK_NAME);
         let path = self.data_dir().and_then(|data_dir| data_dir.path());
-        let node = Node::new(signing_key, network_id, path.as_deref()).await?;
+        let node = Node::new(signing_key, network_id, path.into()).await?;
 
         self.imp()
             .node
diff --git a/reflection-node/src/lib.rs b/reflection-node/src/lib.rs
index 84dd770..6be80de 100644
--- a/reflection-node/src/lib.rs
+++ b/reflection-node/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 mod author_tracker;
 mod database;
 mod ephemeral_message;
+mod migration;
 mod node;
 mod topic_store;
 mod topic_stream;
diff --git a/reflection-node/src/migration.rs b/reflection-node/src/migration.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8394ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reflection-node/src/migration.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use p2panda::Node;
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+pub enum MigrationError {}
+
+pub async fn run_p2panda_migrations(
+    node: &Node,
+    base_path: &PathBuf,
+) -> Result<(), MigrationError> {
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/reflection-node/src/node.rs b/reflection-node/src/node.rs
index b31c9ce..cc45978 100644
--- a/reflection-node/src/node.rs
+++ b/reflection-node/src/node.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::sync::{Arc, LazyLock};
 
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use tokio::sync::{Notify, RwLock};
 use tracing::info;
 
 use crate::database::{database_pool, run_migrations};
+use crate::migration::run_p2panda_migrations;
 pub use crate::topic_store::TrackedAuthor;
 use crate::topic_store::{TopicRow, TrackedTopicStore};
 use crate::topic_stream::{TopicStream, TopicStreamError, TopicStreamInner};
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@ pub enum NodeError {
     #[error(transparent)]
     DatabaseMigration(#[from] sqlx::migrate::MigrateError),
 
+    #[error(transparent)]
+    NodeMigration(#[from] crate::migration::MigrationError),
+
     #[error(transparent)]
     NodeSpawn(#[from] SpawnError),
 }
@@ -89,7 +93,7 @@ impl Node {
     pub async fn new(
         signing_key: SigningKey,
         network_id: impl Into<NetworkId>,
-        db_location: Option<&Path>,
+        base_path: Option<PathBuf>,
     ) -> Result<Self, NodeError> {
         let runtime = if let Ok(handle) = tokio::runtime::Handle::try_current() {
             OwnedRuntimeOrHandle::Handle(handle)
@@ -101,14 +105,9 @@ impl Node {
             )
         };
 
-        let inner = {
-            let network_id = network_id.into();
-            let db_file = db_location.map(|location| location.join(DATABASE_FILE));
-
-            runtime
-                .spawn(NodeInner::new(signing_key, network_id, db_file))
-                .await??
-        };
+        let inner = runtime
+            .spawn(NodeInner::new(signing_key, network_id.into(), base_path))
+            .await??;
 
         Ok(Self {
             inner: Arc::new(inner),
@@ -213,10 +212,13 @@ impl NodeInner {
     pub async fn new(
         signing_key: SigningKey,
         network_id: impl Into<NetworkId>,
-        db_file: Option<PathBuf>,
+        base_path: Option<PathBuf>,
     ) -> Result<Self, NodeError> {
         let verifying_key = signing_key.verifying_key();
 
+        let db_file = base_path
+            .clone()
+            .map(|location| location.join(DATABASE_FILE));
         let pool = database_pool(db_file).await?;
         run_migrations(&pool).await?;
 
@@ -236,6 +238,11 @@ impl NodeInner {
 
         let node = builder.spawn().await?;
 
+        // Ignore node migrations if this instance is running only temporarily in memory.
+        if let Some(ref base_path) = base_path {
+            run_p2panda_migrations(&node, base_path).await?;
+        }
+
         Ok(Self {
             network: RwLock::new(node),
             shutdown_notifier: Notify::new(),