diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index e05d0b9..59408a3 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     registry.initialize(get_engine(), app)
     registry.discover_builtins()
 
-    # Activate plugins that are marked active in the database
+    # Auto-install and activate all discovered builtin plugins
     from sqlalchemy import select as sa_select
     from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import async_sessionmaker
     from app.models.plugin import Plugin as PluginModel
@@ -105,25 +105,49 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     async_session = async_sessionmaker(get_engine(), expire_on_commit=False)
 
     async with async_session() as db:
-        result = await db.execute(
-            sa_select(PluginModel).where(PluginModel.active == True)  # noqa: E712
-        )
-        active_plugins = result.scalars().all()
-
-        for plugin_record in active_plugins:
-            plugin = registry.get_plugin(plugin_record.name)
+        for name in registry._plugins:
+            plugin = registry.get_plugin(name)
             if plugin is None:
                 continue
+
+            # Check if plugin already in DB
+            result = await db.execute(
+                sa_select(PluginModel).where(PluginModel.name == name)
+            )
+            plugin_record = result.scalar_one_or_none()
+
+            if plugin_record is None:
+                # Create DB record for this builtin plugin
+                plugin_record = PluginModel(
+                    name=name,
+                    version=plugin.manifest.version,
+                    status="installed",
+                    active=True,
+                )
+                db.add(plugin_record)
+                await db.flush()
+                logger.info(f"Created plugin record: {name}")
+
+            # Run migrations if not yet applied
+            if plugin.manifest.migrations:
+                try:
+                    await registry.migration_runner.run_all_migrations(
+                        db, name, plugin.manifest.migrations
+                    )
+                except Exception as exc:
+                    logger.warning(f"Migration for {name}: {exc}")
+
+            # Activate plugin and register routes
             try:
                 await plugin.on_activate(db, container, event_bus)
-                # Register plugin routes into FastAPI app
                 for route_def in plugin.manifest.routes:
                     router_module = importlib.import_module(route_def.module)
                     router = getattr(router_module, route_def.router_attr)
                     app.include_router(router)
-                logger.info(f"Activated plugin: {plugin_record.name}")
+                plugin_record.active = True
+                logger.info(f"Activated plugin: {name} ({len(plugin.manifest.routes)} routes)")
             except Exception as exc:
-                logger.warning(f"Failed to activate plugin {plugin_record.name}: {exc}")
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to activate plugin {name}: {exc}")
 
         await db.commit()