fix: auto-load .env (Python) + normalize Neon postgres scheme for live mode

The app read os.environ directly, so 'uv run app.py' ran offline unless the user
sourced .env first — and 'source .env' aborts on a Neon URL's '&' (and JSON values),
so DATABASE_URL/MEMORY_INDEX/MEM0_API_KEY never reached the process. Load .env in
Python at startup (real env wins via setdefault; empty values skipped; skipped under
pytest so the suite stays hermetically offline). Also normalize bare postgresql:// and
postgres:// to postgresql+psycopg:// so a copy-pasted Neon URL uses the shipped psycopg3
driver instead of failing on the absent psycopg2.

Co-Authored-By: Codex <codex@openai.com>

app.py

@@ -7,9 +7,51 @@ stub drives the cast so the demo is reproducible on stage with no credentials.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from src.ui.fishbowl.app import demo, launch
+import os
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
 
-__all__ = ["demo", "launch"]
+
+def _load_dotenv(filename: str = ".env") -> None:
+    """Load ``KEY=VALUE`` pairs from a sibling ``.env`` into the environment, if present.
+
+    Real environment variables win (``setdefault``) — this only fills gaps, never
+    overrides what the shell or CI already set.  Parsed in Python, not the shell, so
+    values with shell-special characters load correctly: a Neon ``DATABASE_URL``'s
+    ``&``, a JSON ``MEMORY_INDEX_CONFIG`` — all of which silently abort ``source .env``.
+    Absent ``.env`` → no-op, preserving the offline-by-default behaviour (no keys, stub).
+    """
+    path = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / filename
+    if not path.exists():
+        return
+    for raw in path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines():
+        line = raw.strip()
+        if not line or line.startswith("#"):
+            continue
+        if line.startswith("export "):
+            line = line[len("export ") :]
+        key, sep, value = line.partition("=")
+        if not sep:
+            continue
+        key, value = key.strip(), value.strip()
+        if len(value) >= 2 and value[0] == value[-1] and value[0] in "\"'":
+            value = value[1:-1]  # strip matching surrounding quotes
+        # Skip empty values: a blank `KEY=` in .env means "not configured", and
+        # setting it to "" would shadow `os.getenv(KEY, default)` callers (e.g.
+        # Gradio's GRADIO_SERVER_PORT) that expect absent → default.
+        if key and value:
+            os.environ.setdefault(key, value)
+
+
+# Load .env BEFORE importing the app: the registry/router/ledger/memory all read the
+# environment at import and on Summon, so credentials must be present first.  Skipped
+# under pytest so the test suite stays hermetically offline (no .env bleed into tests).
+if "pytest" not in sys.modules:
+    _load_dotenv()
+
+from src.ui.fishbowl.app import demo, launch  # noqa: E402  (must follow _load_dotenv)
+
+__all__ = ["demo", "launch", "_load_dotenv"]
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     launch()

src/core/ledger_factory.py

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ durably stored.
 With no ``DATABASE_URL`` the system never imports SQLAlchemy or a database driver,
 so the offline path stays import-clean and fully testable without a server.
 """
+
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
@@ -24,6 +25,21 @@ def database_url() -> str | None:
     return url or None
 
 
+def _normalize_db_url(url: str) -> str:
+    """Steer a bare Postgres URL to the installed psycopg3 driver.
+
+    Neon (and most providers) hand out ``postgresql://`` / ``postgres://``, which
+    SQLAlchemy maps to psycopg2 — but this project ships psycopg3 (the ``store``
+    extra), so a copy-pasted Neon URL would fail with a missing-driver error.
+    Rewrite the bare scheme to ``postgresql+psycopg://``; URLs that already name a
+    driver (``postgresql+...``) or use another backend (sqlite, …) pass through.
+    """
+    for scheme in ("postgresql://", "postgres://"):
+        if url.startswith(scheme):
+            return "postgresql+psycopg://" + url[len(scheme) :]
+    return url
+
+
 def make_ledger(url: str | None = None) -> Ledger:
     """Construct the configured ledger backend.
 
@@ -36,4 +52,4 @@ def make_ledger(url: str | None = None) -> Ledger:
         return Ledger()
     from src.core.sqlalchemy_ledger import SqlAlchemyLedger
 
-    return SqlAlchemyLedger(resolved)
+    return SqlAlchemyLedger(_normalize_db_url(resolved))