diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 7cc587a..1929802 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -22,32 +22,15 @@ include_once(dirname(dirname(__FILE__)) . "/config/bootstrap.php");
  *  Validate application state before processing request
  */
 
-// Check prerequisites
+// Check prerequisites (includes database connection and migrations)
 $prerequisites = new Prerequisites();
-$results = $prerequisites->validate();
-if (count($prerequisites->getErrors()) > 0) {
-    $prerequisites->generateWebSummary($results);
+if (!$prerequisites->validate()) {
+    $prerequisites->generateWebSummary();
     exit;
 }
 
-// Connect to the database
-try {
-    // SQLite will just create this if it doesn't exist.
-    $db = new PDO("sqlite:" . DB_FILE);
-    $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
-    $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE, PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
-} catch (PDOException $e) {
-    throw new SetupException(
-        "Database connection failed: " . $e->getMessage(),
-        'database_connection',
-        0,
-        $e
-    );
-}
-
-// Do any necessary database migrations
-$migrator = new Migrator($db);
-$migrator->migrate();
+// Get the working database connection from prerequisites
+$db = $prerequisites->getDatabase();
 
 // Make sure the initial setup is complete unless we're already heading to setup
 if (!(preg_match('/setup$/', $path))) {
diff --git a/src/Framework/Exception/SetupException.php b/src/Framework/Exception/SetupException.php
deleted file mode 100644
index befbfd7..0000000
--- a/src/Framework/Exception/SetupException.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-// Define an exception for validation errors
-class SetupException extends Exception {
-    private $setupIssue;
-
-    public function __construct(string $message, string $setupIssue = '', int $code = 0, Throwable $previous = null) {
-        parent::__construct($message, $code, $previous);
-        $this->setupIssue = $setupIssue;
-    }
-
-    // Exception handler
-    // Exceptions don't generally define their own handlers,
-    // but this is a very specific case.
-    public function handle(){
-        // try to log the error, but keep going if it fails
-        try {
-            Log::error($this->setupIssue . ", " . $this->getMessage());
-        } catch (Exception $e) {
-            // Do nothing and move on to the normal error handling
-            // We don't want to short-circuit this if there's a problem logging
-        }
-
-        // TODO: This doesn't need to be a switch anymore
-        //       May not need to exist at all
-        switch ($this->setupIssue){
-            case 'database_connection':
-            case 'db_migration':
-                // Unrecoverable errors.
-                // Show error message and exit
-                http_response_code(500);
-                echo "<h1>Configuration Error</h1>";
-                echo "<p>" . Util::escape_html($this->setupIssue) . '-' . Util::escape_html($this->getMessage()) . "</p>";
-                exit;
-        }
-    }
-
-
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Framework/Migrator/Migrator.php b/src/Framework/Migrator/Migrator.php
index 32d2d6c..02ada1e 100644
--- a/src/Framework/Migrator/Migrator.php
+++ b/src/Framework/Migrator/Migrator.php
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ class Migrator{
         $currentVersion = $this->getVersion();
 
         if ($newVersion <= $currentVersion){
-            throw new SetupException(
-                "New version ($newVersion) must be greater than current version ($currentVersion)",
-                'db_migration'
+            throw new Exception(
+                "New version ($newVersion) must be greater than current version ($currentVersion)"
             );
         }
 
@@ -89,9 +88,8 @@ class Migrator{
             Log::info("Updated database version to " . $this->getVersion());
         } catch (Exception $e) {
             $this->db->rollBack();
-            throw new SetupException(
-                "Migration failed: $filename",
-                'db_migration',
+            throw new Exception(
+                "Migration failed: $filename - " . $e->getMessage(),
                 0,
                 $e
             );
diff --git a/src/Framework/Prerequisites/Prerequisites.php b/src/Framework/Prerequisites/Prerequisites.php
index 6ff902e..7b064c3 100644
--- a/src/Framework/Prerequisites/Prerequisites.php
+++ b/src/Framework/Prerequisites/Prerequisites.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ class Prerequisites {
     private $logFile;
     private $isCli;
     private $isWeb;
+    private $database = null;
 
     public function __construct() {
         $this->isCli = php_sapi_name() === 'cli';
@@ -377,12 +378,68 @@ class Prerequisites {
             );
         }
 
-        return $canCreateDb;
+        if (!$canCreateDb) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Test database connection
+        try {
+            $db = new PDO("sqlite:" . $dbFile);
+            $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
+            $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE, PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
+            
+            // Test basic query to ensure database is functional
+            $db->query("SELECT 1")->fetchColumn();
+            
+            $this->addCheck(
+                'Database Connection',
+                true,
+                'Successfully connected to database'
+            );
+            
+            // Store working database connection
+            $this->database = $db;
+            
+            // Test migrations
+            return $this->checkMigrations($db);
+            
+        } catch (PDOException $e) {
+            $this->addCheck(
+                'Database Connection',
+                false,
+                'Failed to connect: ' . $e->getMessage(),
+                'error'
+            );
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    private function checkMigrations($db) {
+        try {
+            $migrator = new Migrator($db);
+            $migrator->migrate();
+            
+            $this->addCheck(
+                'Database Migrations',
+                true,
+                'All database migrations applied successfully'
+            );
+            return true;
+            
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            $this->addCheck(
+                'Database Migrations',
+                false,
+                'Migration failed: ' . $e->getMessage(),
+                'error'
+            );
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
     // validate prereqs
     // runs on each request and can be run from CLI
-    public function validate() {
+    public function validate(): bool {
         $this->log("=== tkr prerequisites check started at " . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . " ===", true);
 
         if ($this->isCli) {
@@ -406,7 +463,8 @@ class Prerequisites {
             $this->generateCliSummary($results);
         }
 
-        return $results;
+        // Return true only if no errors occurred
+        return count($this->errors) === 0;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -567,4 +625,14 @@ class Prerequisites {
     public function getWarnings() {
         return $this->warnings;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Get working database connection (only call after validate() returns true)
+     */
+    public function getDatabase(): PDO {
+        if ($this->database === null) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('Database not available - call validate() first');
+        }
+        return $this->database;
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file