diff --git a/core/database.py b/core/database.py
index 8f21f53..293a303 100644
--- a/core/database.py
+++ b/core/database.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import os
 import logging
+import sqlite3
 from datetime import datetime
-from sqlalchemy import create_engine, Column, String, Text, Boolean, DateTime, Integer, ForeignKey, JSON, Index, func, text
+from sqlalchemy import event, create_engine, Column, String, Text, Boolean, DateTime, Integer, ForeignKey, JSON, Index, func, text
+from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
 from sqlalchemy.types import TypeDecorator
 from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base, declared_attr
 from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship, sessionmaker, backref
@@ -34,6 +36,18 @@ engine = create_engine(
 SessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)
 
 
+# Listening on the Engine class ensures this listener fires for all Engine
+# instances created within the process, not just the primary application engine.
+# The isinstance(sqlite3.Connection) check ensures that this PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON
+# configuration remains a no-op when using non-SQLite database backends.
+@event.listens_for(Engine, "connect")
+def set_sqlite_pragma(dbapi_connection, connection_record):
+    if isinstance(dbapi_connection, sqlite3.Connection):
+        cursor = dbapi_connection.cursor()
+        cursor.execute("PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON")
+        cursor.close()
+
+
 class EncryptedText(TypeDecorator):
     """Text column transparently encrypted at rest via src.secret_storage.
 
@@ -1484,6 +1498,10 @@ def _migrate_seed_email_account():
         logging.getLogger(__name__).warning(f"seed email account migration: {e}")
 
 
+# WARNING: Foreign-key enforcement is enabled globally for all SQLite connections.
+# Any future migrations or schema changes that temporarily violate foreign-key
+# constraints will fail. To perform such operations, foreign_keys must be
+# temporarily disabled around the migration workflow.
 def init_db():
     """
     Initialize the database by creating all tables.
diff --git a/tests/test_sqlite_foreign_keys.py b/tests/test_sqlite_foreign_keys.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3df88c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_sqlite_foreign_keys.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import pytest
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from core.database import Base, Session, ChatMessage
+from datetime import datetime
+
+def test_sqlite_foreign_keys_cascade():
+    engine = create_engine("sqlite:///:memory:", connect_args={"check_same_thread": False})
+    Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
+    
+    TestSessionLocal = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
+    db = TestSessionLocal()
+    
+    session_id = "test-session-123"
+    s = Session(
+        id=session_id,
+        name="Test Session",
+        endpoint_url="http://localhost:8000",
+        model="gpt-4",
+        created_at=datetime.utcnow(),
+        updated_at=datetime.utcnow()
+    )
+    m = ChatMessage(id="test-msg-123", session_id=session_id, role="user", content="test message")
+    
+    db.add(s)
+    db.add(m)
+    db.commit()
+    
+    assert db.query(Session).count() == 1
+    assert db.query(ChatMessage).count() == 1
+    
+    db.query(Session).filter(Session.id == session_id).delete()
+    db.commit()
+    
+    assert db.query(ChatMessage).count() == 0
+    
+    db.close()
+