diff --git a/.changeset/onboarding-central-db-no-prompt.md b/.changeset/onboarding-central-db-no-prompt.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d5d53c57b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/onboarding-central-db-no-prompt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@runfusion/fusion": patch
+---
+
+summary: Onboarding no longer asks whether to create the central database — it always creates it.
+category: fix
+dev: `runOnboard` gated central-DB creation behind `runSkippableStep(prompts, "Central DB", ...)`. Declining produced an install Fusion cannot run on, acknowledged only by a "database was not created or initialized" line, so the negative answer had no useful outcome. It also blocked non-interactive startups: a `pnpm dev --tunnel` stopped on `Run central db now? (Y/n)` never reached listening, so nothing was served. The step now runs unconditionally when the database is absent; the "already exists" path is unchanged. Scripted prompt sequences in `onboard.test.ts` lost their leading central-DB answer accordingly, and the skip-everything case now asserts the database is still created.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/__tests__/onboard.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/__tests__/onboard.test.ts
index 0c0d1ed628..bd6f8e27cd 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/__tests__/onboard.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/__tests__/onboard.test.ts
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => {});
 
     await runOnboard({
-      input: inputFrom(["y", "y", "4", "y", "y", "n", "y"]),
+      input: inputFrom(["y", "4", "y", "y", "n", "y"]),
     });
     expect(logSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("Creating central DB"));
     expect(centralInitMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => {});
 
     await runOnboard({
-      input: inputFrom(["y", "y", "3", "local", "Local server", "http://localhost:8080/v1/", "", "qwen, , qwen", "y", "y", "n", "n", "n"]),
+      input: inputFrom(["y", "3", "local", "Local server", "http://localhost:8080/v1/", "", "qwen, , qwen", "y", "y", "n", "n", "n"]),
     });
 
     const registry = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, "utf8"));
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
       if (message.includes("Stored API key")) expect(persisted).toBe(true);
     });
 
-    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "y", "1", "test-key", "y", "y", "n", "y"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "1", "test-key", "y", "y", "n", "y"]) });
     expect(providerAuth.setApiKey).toHaveBeenCalledWith("openrouter", "test-key");
     expect(logSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith("✓ Stored API key for openrouter");
   });
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     mockProviderAuthFactory.mockReturnValue(providerAuth);
     const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => {});
 
-    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "y", "1", "test-key", "y", "y", "y", "y"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "1", "test-key", "y", "y", "y", "y"]) });
 
     expect(providerAuth.setApiKey).toHaveBeenCalledWith("openrouter", "test-key");
     expect(mockRunInit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     expect(providerAuth.setApiKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(mockRunInit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 
-    await runOnboard({ force: true, input: inputFrom(["y", "n", "n", "n", "n"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ force: true, input: inputFrom(["n", "n", "n", "n"]) });
     expect(globalSettingsState.cliOnboardingCompletedAt).not.toBe("2026-06-01T00:00:00.000Z");
   });
 
@@ -283,9 +283,15 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     const providerAuth = makeProviderAuth();
     mockProviderAuthFactory.mockReturnValue(providerAuth);
 
-    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["n", "n", "n", "n", "n"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["n", "n", "n", "n"]) });
 
-    expect(centralInitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    /*
+    FNXC:Onboarding 2026-08-19-03:38:
+    The central DB is no longer skippable: declining left an install Fusion cannot run on, and the
+    prompt blocked non-interactive startups outright (a `pnpm dev --tunnel` sat on it and never
+    listened). Skipping every OPTIONAL step must still leave a created database.
+    */
+    expect(centralInitMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(mockRunInit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(globalSettingsState.testMode).toBeUndefined();
     expect(typeof globalSettingsState.cliOnboardingCompletedAt).toBe("string");
@@ -296,7 +302,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     const providerAuth = makeProviderAuth();
     mockProviderAuthFactory.mockReturnValue(providerAuth);
 
-    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "n", "y", "y", "n", "y"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["n", "y", "y", "n", "y"]) });
     expect(providerAuth.setApiKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(mockRunInit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(globalSettingsState.testMode).toBe(false);
@@ -307,7 +313,7 @@ describe("onboard", () => {
     const providerAuth = makeProviderAuth();
     mockProviderAuthFactory.mockReturnValue(providerAuth);
 
-    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "y", "4", "n", "y", "n", "y"]) });
+    await runOnboard({ input: inputFrom(["y", "4", "n", "y", "n", "y"]) });
     expect(mockRunInit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(globalSettingsState.testMode).toBe(false);
     expect(typeof globalSettingsState.cliOnboardingCompletedAt).toBe("string");
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/onboard.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/onboard.ts
index c19c898a5c..7919b45c87 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/onboard.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/onboard.ts
@@ -281,16 +281,20 @@ export async function runOnboard(options: OnboardOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
     if (existsSync(centralDbPath)) {
       console.log(`✓ Central DB already exists: ${centralDbPath}`);
     } else {
-      const ranCentralDb = await runSkippableStep(prompts, "Central DB", async () => {
-        console.log(`Creating central DB: ${centralDbPath}`);
-        const central = new CentralCore();
-        await central.init();
-        await central.close();
-        console.log("✓ Central DB initialized");
-      });
-      if (!ranCentralDb) {
-        console.log("Central DB setup skipped; database was not created or initialized.");
-      }
+      /*
+      FNXC:Onboarding 2026-08-19-03:38:
+      The central DB is created unconditionally — no prompt. Fusion cannot run without it, so
+      declining produced an install that was broken in a way the message ("database was not created
+      or initialized") described but did not fix. It also blocked non-interactive startups: a
+      `pnpm dev --tunnel` sat on "Run central db now? (Y/n)" and never listened, so nothing was
+      served and the tunnel had no dev server to point at.
+      */
+      console.log("\nCentral DB:");
+      console.log(`Creating central DB: ${centralDbPath}`);
+      const central = new CentralCore();
+      await central.init();
+      await central.close();
+      console.log("✓ Central DB initialized");
     }
 
     const authStorage = createFusionAuthStorage();