diff --git a/backend/app/models/bounty_table.py b/backend/app/models/bounty_table.py
index 5f432d95..6dc65c6b 100644
--- a/backend/app/models/bounty_table.py
+++ b/backend/app/models/bounty_table.py
@@ -69,5 +69,5 @@ class BountyTable(Base):
         Index("ix_bounties_reward", reward_amount),
         Index("ix_bounties_deadline", deadline),
         Index("ix_bounties_popularity", popularity),
-        Index("ix_bounties_skills", skills),
+        # ix_bounties_skills removed: JSON column cannot use btree index (PostgreSQL limitation)
     )
diff --git a/scripts/dev-setup.sh b/scripts/dev-setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f983bba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,382 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SolFoundry — One-Command Development Environment Setup
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/dev-setup.sh          # Full setup (Docker recommended)
+#   ./scripts/dev-setup.sh --no-docker  # Manual setup without Docker
+#   ./scripts/dev-setup.sh --check  # Verify prerequisites only
+#
+# Prerequisites:
+#   Required: git, node (18+), python (3.10+)
+#   Recommended: docker, docker compose
+#
+# What this script does:
+#   1. Checks all prerequisites and versions
+#   2. Copies .env.example → .env (if not exists)
+#   3. Installs frontend dependencies (npm install)
+#   4. Creates Python virtual environment and installs backend deps
+#   5. Starts services via Docker Compose (or guides manual setup)
+#   6. Runs a quick health check to verify everything works
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Colors and helpers
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+BLUE='\033[0;34m'
+BOLD='\033[1m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+info()    { echo -e "${BLUE}ℹ${NC}  $*"; }
+success() { echo -e "${GREEN}✓${NC}  $*"; }
+warn()    { echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠${NC}  $*"; }
+error()   { echo -e "${RED}✗${NC}  $*"; }
+header()  { echo -e "\n${BOLD}$*${NC}"; }
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Find project root (where docker-compose.yml lives)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Parse arguments
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+USE_DOCKER=true
+CHECK_ONLY=false
+
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    --no-docker) USE_DOCKER=false ;;
+    --check)     CHECK_ONLY=true ;;
+    --help|-h)
+      echo "Usage: $0 [--no-docker] [--check] [--help]"
+      echo ""
+      echo "Options:"
+      echo "  --no-docker   Skip Docker, set up manually"
+      echo "  --check       Only verify prerequisites"
+      echo "  --help        Show this message"
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      error "Unknown option: $arg"
+      echo "Run '$0 --help' for usage"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Prerequisite checks
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ERRORS=0
+
+check_cmd() {
+  local cmd="$1"
+  local min_version="$2"
+  local install_hint="$3"
+
+  if command -v "$cmd" &>/dev/null; then
+    local version
+    version=$("$cmd" --version 2>&1 | head -1 | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)
+    local major minor
+    major=$(echo "${version:-0.0}" | cut -d. -f1)
+    minor=$(echo "${version:-0.0}" | cut -d. -f2)
+    local min_major min_minor
+    min_major=$(echo "${min_version:-0.0}" | cut -d. -f1)
+    min_minor=$(echo "${min_version:-0.0}" | cut -d. -f2)
+    if [ "${major:-0}" -lt "${min_major:-0}" ] || \
+       { [ "${major:-0}" -eq "${min_major:-0}" ] && [ "${minor:-0}" -lt "${min_minor:-0}" ]; }; then
+      warn "$cmd v${min_version}+ recommended (found v${version:-unknown})"
+    else
+      success "$cmd found (v${version:-unknown})"
+    fi
+    return 0
+  else
+    error "$cmd not found — $install_hint"
+    ERRORS=$((ERRORS + 1))
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+header "🔍 Checking prerequisites..."
+
+check_cmd "git"    "2.0"  "https://git-scm.com/downloads"     || true
+check_cmd "node"   "18.0" "https://nodejs.org (v18+ required)"  || true
+check_cmd "python3" "3.10" "https://python.org (v3.10+ required)" || true
+check_cmd "npm"    "9.0"  "Comes with Node.js"                  || true
+check_cmd "curl"   "7.0"  "https://curl.se/download.html"       || true
+
+# Check Node version >= 18
+if command -v node &>/dev/null; then
+  NODE_MAJOR=$(node -v | grep -oE '^v([0-9]+)' | tr -d 'v')
+  if [ "${NODE_MAJOR:-0}" -lt 18 ]; then
+    error "Node.js v18+ required (found v${NODE_MAJOR})"
+    ERRORS=$((ERRORS + 1))
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Check Python version >= 3.10 (validate both major and minor)
+if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
+  PY_VERSION=$(python3 -c "import sys; v=sys.version_info; print(f'{v.major}.{v.minor}')" 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0")
+  PY_MAJOR="${PY_VERSION%%.*}"
+  PY_MINOR="${PY_VERSION##*.}"
+  if [ "${PY_MAJOR:-0}" -lt 3 ] || { [ "${PY_MAJOR:-0}" -eq 3 ] && [ "${PY_MINOR:-0}" -lt 10 ]; }; then
+    error "Python 3.10+ required (found ${PY_VERSION})"
+    ERRORS=$((ERRORS + 1))
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Docker (recommended but optional)
+COMPOSE_CMD=""
+if $USE_DOCKER; then
+  if command -v docker &>/dev/null; then
+    success "docker found"
+    if docker compose version &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      success "docker compose found"
+      COMPOSE_CMD="docker compose"
+    elif docker-compose --version &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      success "docker-compose (legacy) found"
+      COMPOSE_CMD="docker-compose"
+    else
+      warn "docker compose not found — install Docker Compose v2"
+      USE_DOCKER=false
+    fi
+  else
+    warn "docker not found — will set up without Docker"
+    USE_DOCKER=false
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Optional tools (rust uses 'rustc' binary, anchor uses 'anchor')
+for tool in "rust:rustc:Rust (optional, for smart contracts)" "anchor:anchor:Anchor (optional, for Solana programs)"; do
+  name="${tool%%:*}"
+  rest="${tool#*:}"
+  binary="${rest%%:*}"
+  desc="${rest#*:}"
+  if command -v "$binary" &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    success "$desc — found"
+  else
+    info "$desc — not installed (not required for frontend/backend)"
+  fi
+done
+
+if [ "$ERRORS" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo ""
+  error "$ERRORS missing prerequisite(s). Install them and re-run."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+success "All prerequisites satisfied!"
+
+if $CHECK_ONLY; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Environment file
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+header "📋 Setting up environment..."
+
+if [ -f .env ]; then
+  info ".env already exists — keeping your settings"
+else
+  if [ ! -f .env.example ]; then
+    error ".env.example not found — cannot create .env"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  cp .env.example .env
+  success "Created .env from .env.example"
+  info "Edit .env to add GITHUB_TOKEN for full functionality"
+fi
+
+# Load .env safely: parse KEY=VALUE lines without executing arbitrary shell code.
+# Handles CRLF line endings (Windows editors) by stripping trailing \r.
+if [ -f .env ]; then
+  while IFS= read -r line || [ -n "$line" ]; do
+    # Skip blank lines and comments
+    [[ -z "$line" || "$line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*# ]] && continue
+    # Match KEY=VALUE where KEY is a valid identifier
+    if [[ "$line" =~ ^([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)=(.*)$ ]]; then
+      key="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+      val="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+      # Strip optional surrounding single or double quotes
+      val="${val#\"}" ; val="${val%\"}"
+      val="${val#\'}" ; val="${val%\'}"
+      # Strip trailing carriage return (CRLF line endings)
+      val="${val%$'\r'}"
+      export "$key"="$val"
+    fi
+  done < .env
+fi
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Frontend setup
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+header "🎨 Setting up frontend..."
+
+if [ ! -d "$PROJECT_ROOT/frontend" ]; then
+  error "frontend/ directory not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/frontend"
+
+if [ -d "node_modules" ]; then
+  info "node_modules exists — running npm install for updates..."
+fi
+
+npm install --no-audit --no-fund 2>&1 | tail -3
+success "Frontend dependencies installed"
+
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Backend setup
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+header "🐍 Setting up backend..."
+
+if [ ! -d "$PROJECT_ROOT/backend" ]; then
+  error "backend/ directory not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/backend"
+
+if [ ! -d ".venv" ]; then
+  python3 -m venv .venv
+  success "Created Python virtual environment"
+else
+  info "Virtual environment already exists"
+fi
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+source .venv/bin/activate
+
+pip install --quiet --upgrade pip
+pip install --quiet -r requirements.txt 2>&1 | tail -2
+success "Backend dependencies installed"
+
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Start services
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+SERVICES_HEALTHY=false
+
+if $USE_DOCKER; then
+  header "🐳 Starting services with Docker Compose..."
+
+  # Preflight: verify Docker daemon is accessible before attempting startup
+  if ! docker info &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    warn "Docker daemon is not accessible — falling back to manual setup"
+    USE_DOCKER=false
+  fi
+fi
+
+if $USE_DOCKER; then
+  # Capture compose output and check exit code; fall back to manual on failure
+  COMPOSE_OUT=$(mktemp)
+  if ! $COMPOSE_CMD up -d --build >"$COMPOSE_OUT" 2>&1; then
+    warn "Docker Compose startup failed — falling back to manual setup"
+    tail -5 "$COMPOSE_OUT" | while IFS= read -r l; do warn "$l"; done
+    rm -f "$COMPOSE_OUT"
+    USE_DOCKER=false
+  else
+    tail -5 "$COMPOSE_OUT"
+    rm -f "$COMPOSE_OUT"
+    success "Docker services started"
+
+    # Wait for services to be ready
+    info "Waiting for services to initialize..."
+    sleep 5
+
+    # Health check
+    header "🏥 Running health check..."
+
+    HEALTH_URL="http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}/health"
+    RETRIES=0
+    MAX_RETRIES=10
+
+    while [ $RETRIES -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; do
+      HEALTH=$(curl -sf --connect-timeout 2 --max-time 5 "$HEALTH_URL" 2>/dev/null) && {
+        STATUS=$(echo "$HEALTH" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('status','unknown'))" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+        if [ "$STATUS" = "healthy" ]; then
+          success "Health check passed: $STATUS"
+          SERVICES_HEALTHY=true
+          break
+        else
+          warn "Health check returned: $STATUS — retrying..."
+          RETRIES=$((RETRIES + 1))
+          sleep 2
+          continue
+        fi
+      }
+      RETRIES=$((RETRIES + 1))
+      sleep 2
+    done
+
+    if [ $RETRIES -eq $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+      warn "Health check timed out — services may still be starting"
+      info "Check logs: $COMPOSE_CMD logs -f"
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
+
+if ! $USE_DOCKER; then
+  header "📝 Manual setup instructions"
+  echo ""
+  info "Start PostgreSQL and Redis manually, then:"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  # Terminal 1 — Backend"
+  echo "  cd backend && source .venv/bin/activate"
+  echo "  uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port \${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  # Terminal 2 — Frontend"
+  echo "  cd frontend && npm run dev"
+  echo ""
+fi
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Summary
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if $SERVICES_HEALTHY; then
+  header "🎉 SolFoundry dev environment is ready!"
+  echo ""
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Frontend:${NC}  http://localhost:${FRONTEND_PORT:-3000}"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Backend:${NC}   http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}API Docs:${NC}  http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}/docs"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Health:${NC}    http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}/health"
+  echo ""
+  if $USE_DOCKER; then
+    echo -e "  ${BOLD}Logs:${NC}      $COMPOSE_CMD logs -f"
+    echo -e "  ${BOLD}Stop:${NC}      $COMPOSE_CMD down"
+    echo ""
+  fi
+elif $USE_DOCKER; then
+  header "⚠️  Services started — health check timed out (may still be initializing)"
+  echo ""
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Frontend:${NC}  http://localhost:${FRONTEND_PORT:-3000}"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Backend:${NC}   http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Logs:${NC}      $COMPOSE_CMD logs -f"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Stop:${NC}      $COMPOSE_CMD down"
+  echo ""
+else
+  header "✅ Dependencies installed — start services manually (see above)"
+  echo ""
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Frontend:${NC}  http://localhost:${FRONTEND_PORT:-3000}"
+  echo -e "  ${BOLD}Backend:${NC}   http://localhost:${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}"
+  echo ""
+fi
+info "Read CONTRIBUTING.md to start building → earn \$FNDRY!"