diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 6266919dd..5ad044575 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
     "otlp",
     "pageleave",
     "pageview",
+    "pg_isready",
     "pkcco",
     "PKCE",
     "pooler",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 241661ba3..89568c05b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,10 +14,12 @@
     "build:packages": "only-allow pnpm && turbo run build --filter=./packages/*",
     "clean": "only-allow pnpm && turbo run clean && rimraf --glob **/.next && rimraf --glob **/.turbo && rimraf .turbo && rimraf --glob **/node_modules",
     "codegen": "only-allow pnpm && turbo run codegen",
-    "deps-compose": "docker compose -f dependencies.compose.yaml",
+    "deps-compose": "docker compose -p stack-dependencies -f dependencies.compose.yaml",
     "stop-deps": "POSTGRES_DELAY_MS=0 pnpm run deps-compose kill && POSTGRES_DELAY_MS=0 pnpm run deps-compose down -v",
     "init-db": "pnpm run prisma db push && pnpm run prisma db seed",
-    "start-deps:no-delay": "pnpm run deps-compose up --detach --build && sleep 5 && pnpm run init-db && echo \"\\nDependencies started in the background as Docker containers. 'pnpm run stop-deps' to stop them\"n",
+    "wait-until-postgres-is-ready:pg_isready": "until pg_isready -h localhost -p 5432; do sleep 1; done",
+    "wait-until-postgres-is-ready": "command -v pg_isready >/dev/null 2>&1 && pnpm run wait-until-postgres-is-ready:pg_isready || sleep 10  # not everyone has pg_isready installed, so we fallback to sleeping",
+    "start-deps:no-delay": "pnpm run deps-compose up --detach --build && pnpm run wait-until-postgres-is-ready && pnpm run init-db && echo \"\\nDependencies started in the background as Docker containers. 'pnpm run stop-deps' to stop them\"n",
     "start-deps": "POSTGRES_DELAY_MS=${POSTGRES_DELAY_MS:-20} pnpm run start-deps:no-delay",
     "restart-deps": "pnpm run stop-deps && pnpm run start-deps",
     "restart-deps:no-delay": "pnpm run stop-deps && pnpm run start-deps:no-delay",