diff --git a/meshchatx/src/backend/database/provider.py b/meshchatx/src/backend/database/provider.py
index e60e294..afd04af 100644
--- a/meshchatx/src/backend/database/provider.py
+++ b/meshchatx/src/backend/database/provider.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ class DatabaseProvider:
         self.db_path = db_path
         self._local = threading.local()
         self._all_locals.add(self._local)
+        self._memory_connection = None
 
     @classmethod
     def get_instance(cls, db_path=None):
@@ -29,6 +30,21 @@ class DatabaseProvider:
 
     @property
     def connection(self):
+        # In-memory databases are private to the connection.
+        # If we use threading.local(), each thread gets a DIFFERENT in-memory database.
+        # For :memory:, we must share the connection across threads.
+        if self.db_path == ":memory:":
+            if self._memory_connection is None:
+                with self._lock:
+                    if self._memory_connection is None:
+                        self._memory_connection = sqlite3.connect(
+                            self.db_path,
+                            check_same_thread=False,
+                            isolation_level=None,
+                        )
+                        self._memory_connection.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
+            return self._memory_connection
+
         if not hasattr(self._local, "connection"):
             # isolation_level=None enables autocommit mode, letting us manage transactions manually
             self._local.connection = sqlite3.connect(
@@ -38,7 +54,12 @@ class DatabaseProvider:
             )
             self._local.connection.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
             # Enable WAL mode for better concurrency
-            self._local.connection.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
+            if self.db_path != ":memory:":
+                try:
+                    self._local.connection.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
+                except sqlite3.OperationalError:
+                    # Some environments might not support WAL
+                    pass
         return self._local.connection
 
     def execute(self, query, params=None, commit=None):
@@ -115,6 +136,14 @@ class DatabaseProvider:
         return [dict(row) for row in rows]
 
     def close(self):
+        if self.db_path == ":memory:" and self._memory_connection:
+            try:
+                self._memory_connection.commit()
+                self._memory_connection.close()
+            except Exception:  # noqa: S110
+                pass
+            self._memory_connection = None
+
         if hasattr(self._local, "connection"):
             try:
                 self.commit()  # Ensure everything is saved
@@ -125,6 +154,14 @@ class DatabaseProvider:
 
     def close_all(self):
         with self._lock:
+            if self._memory_connection:
+                try:
+                    self._memory_connection.commit()
+                    self._memory_connection.close()
+                except Exception:  # noqa: S110
+                    pass
+                self._memory_connection = None
+
             for loc in self._all_locals:
                 if hasattr(loc, "connection"):
                     try: