diff --git a/docs/operations/deployment.md b/docs/operations/deployment.md
index 0156ee3..6729a2e 100644
--- a/docs/operations/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/operations/deployment.md
@@ -59,20 +59,29 @@ Keys are minted by the operator CLI and never over HTTP. Run it as a one-off
 container against the same database:
 
 ```bash
-docker compose run --rm api python -m hymical_forms.cli create-key --name admin
+docker compose run --rm --no-deps api python -m hymical_forms.cli create-key --name admin
 ```
 
 The key is printed once. Store it; it cannot be shown again. See
 [Authentication](../api/authentication.md).
 
+!!! warning "Keep `--no-deps` on every one-off command"
+
+    The `api` service depends on `migrate`, so `docker compose run` without
+    `--no-deps` runs `alembic upgrade head` before the command. After a
+    `docker compose build`, that would migrate the database under the old `api`
+    and `worker`, against the [deploy order](#deploy-order). With `--no-deps` the
+    command only checks the schema revision, like the API and the worker do, and
+    refuses to run against one it does not expect.
+
 ### Retention cleanup
 
 Nothing is deleted automatically. Run the sweep the same way, from whatever
 scheduler you already use:
 
 ```bash
-docker compose run --rm api python -m hymical_forms.cli cleanup-submissions --dry-run
-docker compose run --rm api python -m hymical_forms.cli cleanup-submissions
+docker compose run --rm --no-deps api python -m hymical_forms.cli cleanup-submissions --dry-run
+docker compose run --rm --no-deps api python -m hymical_forms.cli cleanup-submissions
 ```
 
 See [Submission retention](retention.md).
diff --git a/src/hymical_forms/migrations/env.py b/src/hymical_forms/migrations/env.py
index 6f53f05..c0120da 100644
--- a/src/hymical_forms/migrations/env.py
+++ b/src/hymical_forms/migrations/env.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from logging.config import fileConfig
+
 from alembic import context
 from sqlalchemy import Connection
 
@@ -16,6 +18,13 @@
 from hymical_forms.db import create_engine_from_url
 from hymical_forms.models import Base
 
+# Only the alembic command reads an ini file. Without this its logging section is
+# never applied and a migration run prints nothing, so an operator cannot tell
+# what it did. A Config built in code (the tests, schema.py) has no file and
+# leaves the caller's logging alone.
+if context.config.config_file_name is not None:
+    fileConfig(context.config.config_file_name, disable_existing_loggers=False)
+
 target_metadata = Base.metadata
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_alembic_command.py b/tests/test_alembic_command.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a9c4e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_alembic_command.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+"""
+the alembic command an operator runs to migrate, as the container image runs it
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPOSITORY_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+
+
+def test_the_alembic_command_reports_each_revision_it_applies(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    # The one-shot migrate step is otherwise silent, so an operator cannot tell
+    # from its output whether it applied six revisions or none. Revision 0001 is
+    # used because SQLite cannot replay the chain to head (see AGENTS.md).
+    database = tmp_path / "forms.db"
+    completed = subprocess.run(
+        [
+            sys.executable,
+            "-m",
+            "alembic",
+            "-x",
+            f"database_url=sqlite:///{database.as_posix()}",
+            "upgrade",
+            "0001",
+        ],
+        cwd=REPOSITORY_ROOT,
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        timeout=120,
+        check=False,
+    )
+
+    assert completed.returncode == 0, completed.stderr
+    assert "Running upgrade  -> 0001" in completed.stderr