diff --git a/Backend/app/db/db.py b/Backend/app/db/db.py
index ae0f517..965d8d0 100644
--- a/Backend/app/db/db.py
+++ b/Backend/app/db/db.py
@@ -3,28 +3,51 @@
 from sqlalchemy.exc import SQLAlchemyError
 import os
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
+from urllib.parse import quote_plus
+import socket
 
 # Load environment variables from .env
 load_dotenv()
 
 # Fetch database credentials
 USER = os.getenv("user")
-PASSWORD = os.getenv("password")
+PASSWORD = quote_plus(os.getenv("password") or "")
+
 HOST = os.getenv("host")
 PORT = os.getenv("port")
 DBNAME = os.getenv("dbname")
 
-# Corrected async SQLAlchemy connection string (removed `sslmode=require`)
-DATABASE_URL = f"postgresql+asyncpg://{USER}:{PASSWORD}@{HOST}:{PORT}/{DBNAME}"
+# Resolve IPv4 address for HOST to avoid intermittent DNS issues on Windows
+if HOST and PORT:
+    try:
+        addrinfo = socket.getaddrinfo(
+            HOST,
+            int(PORT),
+            socket.AF_INET,
+            socket.SOCK_STREAM,
+        )
+        HOST_IP = addrinfo[0][4][0] if addrinfo else HOST
+    except Exception:
+        HOST_IP = HOST
+else:
+    HOST_IP = HOST
+
+# Build async SQLAlchemy connection string
+DATABASE_URL = f"postgresql+asyncpg://{USER}:{PASSWORD}@{HOST_IP}:{PORT}/{DBNAME}"
+print(f"DB URL: postgresql+asyncpg://{USER}:***@{HOST_IP}:{PORT}/{DBNAME}")
 
 # Initialize async SQLAlchemy components
 try:
     engine = create_async_engine(
-        DATABASE_URL, echo=True, connect_args={"ssl": "require"}
+        DATABASE_URL,
+        echo=True,
+        connect_args={"ssl": "require"},
     )
 
     AsyncSessionLocal = sessionmaker(
-        bind=engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False
+        bind=engine,
+        class_=AsyncSession,
+        expire_on_commit=False,
     )
     Base = declarative_base()
     print("✅ Database connected successfully!")
diff --git a/Backend/app/main.py b/Backend/app/main.py
index 86d892a..5fbfc3c 100644
--- a/Backend/app/main.py
+++ b/Backend/app/main.py
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@
 from .routes.post import router as post_router
 from .routes.chat import router as chat_router
 from .routes.match import router as match_router
+from .routes.engagement import router as engagement_router
 from sqlalchemy.exc import SQLAlchemyError
 import logging
 import os
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from app.routes import ai
+import asyncio
 
 # Load environment variables
 load_dotenv()
@@ -27,13 +29,26 @@ async def create_tables():
     except SQLAlchemyError as e:
         print(f"❌ Error creating tables: {e}")
 
+async def startup_sequence():
+    await create_tables()
+    await seed_db()
 
-# Lifespan context manager for startup and shutdown events
+# Lifespan context manager for startup and shutdown events with retries
 @asynccontextmanager
 async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     print("App is starting...")
-    await create_tables()
-    await seed_db()
+    last_error = None
+    for attempt in range(1, 6):  # up to 5 retries
+        try:
+            await startup_sequence()
+            last_error = None
+            break
+        except Exception as e:
+            last_error = e
+            print(f"Startup attempt {attempt} failed: {e}")
+            await asyncio.sleep(2)
+    if last_error:
+        print(f"⚠️ Startup continuing without DB initialization due to repeated errors: {last_error}")
     yield
     print("App is shutting down...")
 
@@ -54,6 +69,7 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
 app.include_router(post_router)
 app.include_router(chat_router)
 app.include_router(match_router)
+app.include_router(engagement_router)
 app.include_router(ai.router)
 app.include_router(ai.youtube_router)
 
diff --git a/Backend/app/routes/engagement.py b/Backend/app/routes/engagement.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a67e3c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Backend/app/routes/engagement.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
+from sqlalchemy import select
+from typing import Optional
+
+from ..db.db import get_db
+from ..models.models import UserPost
+from ..schemas.engagement import EngagementRequest, EngagementMetrics
+from ..services.engagement_service import compute_engagement_metrics
+
+router = APIRouter(prefix="/engagement", tags=["Engagement"]) 
+
+
+@router.post("/compute", response_model=EngagementMetrics)
+async def compute_engagement(data: EngagementRequest, db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)):
+    result = await db.execute(select(UserPost).where(UserPost.user_id == data.creator_id))
+    posts = result.scalars().all()
+
+    metrics = compute_engagement_metrics(posts, data.follower_count)
+    return metrics
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Backend/app/schemas/engagement.py b/Backend/app/schemas/engagement.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3e1541
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Backend/app/schemas/engagement.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from typing import Optional
+
+
+class EngagementRequest(BaseModel):
+    creator_id: str
+    follower_count: Optional[int] = None
+
+
+class EngagementMetrics(BaseModel):
+    likes: int
+    comments: int
+    shares: int
+
+    avg_likes: float
+    avg_comments: float
+    avg_shares: float
+
+    engagement_rate: Optional[float] = None
+    total_posts: int
+    follower_count: Optional[int] = None
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Backend/app/services/engagement_service.py b/Backend/app/services/engagement_service.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb24d2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Backend/app/services/engagement_service.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+from typing import List, Optional, Dict, Any
+
+try:
+    from app.models.models import UserPost  # for typing clarity
+except Exception:
+    # Fallback for type hints if import is not available at runtime
+    class UserPost:  # type: ignore
+        engagement_metrics: Dict[str, Any]
+
+
+def compute_engagement_metrics(posts: List[UserPost], follower_count: Optional[int]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """
+    Compute standardized engagement metrics using existing UserPost.engagement_metrics JSON.
+
+    - likes, comments, shares are totals across posts
+    - avg_* are per-post averages (0.0 when no posts)
+    - engagement_rate = (likes + comments + shares) / follower_count
+      (None when follower_count is missing or <= 0)
+    - total_posts is count of posts
+    - follower_count echoed back in response
+    """
+    total_likes = 0
+    total_comments = 0
+    total_shares = 0
+
+    for post in posts:
+        metrics = getattr(post, "engagement_metrics", {}) or {}
+        # Defensive defaults
+        likes = int(metrics.get("likes", 0) or 0)
+        comments = int(metrics.get("comments", 0) or 0)
+        shares = int(metrics.get("shares", 0) or 0)
+
+        total_likes += likes
+        total_comments += comments
+        total_shares += shares
+
+    total_posts = len(posts)
+
+    if total_posts > 0:
+        avg_likes = total_likes / total_posts
+        avg_comments = total_comments / total_posts
+        avg_shares = total_shares / total_posts
+    else:
+        avg_likes = 0.0
+        avg_comments = 0.0
+        avg_shares = 0.0
+
+    engagement_rate: Optional[float]
+    if follower_count and follower_count > 0:
+        engagement_rate = (total_likes + total_comments + total_shares) / follower_count
+    else:
+        engagement_rate = None
+
+    return {
+        "likes": total_likes,
+        "comments": total_comments,
+        "shares": total_shares,
+        "avg_likes": avg_likes,
+        "avg_comments": avg_comments,
+        "avg_shares": avg_shares,
+        "engagement_rate": engagement_rate,
+        "total_posts": total_posts,
+        "follower_count": follower_count,
+    }
\ No newline at end of file