diff --git a/.github/workflows/budibase_ci.yml b/.github/workflows/budibase_ci.yml
index 42a0c0a273..475bd4f66a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/budibase_ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/budibase_ci.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@ jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
+    services:
+      couchdb:
+        image: ibmcom/couchdb3
+        env:
+          COUCHDB_PASSWORD: budibase
+          COUCHDB_USER: budibase
+        ports:
+          - 4567:5984
+
     strategy:
       matrix:
         node-version: [14.x]
@@ -53,13 +62,6 @@ jobs:
         name: codecov-umbrella
         verbose: true 
 
-    # TODO: parallelise this
-    - name: Cypress run
-      uses: cypress-io/github-action@v2
-      with:
-        install: false
-        command: yarn test:e2e:ci
-
     - name: QA Core Integration Tests
       run: | 
         cd qa-core
diff --git a/packages/builder/cypress/setup.js b/packages/builder/cypress/setup.js
index d858801990..0e2f25b028 100644
--- a/packages/builder/cypress/setup.js
+++ b/packages/builder/cypress/setup.js
@@ -1,16 +1,14 @@
 const cypressConfig = require("../cypress.json")
-const path = require("path")
-
-const tmpdir = path.join(require("os").tmpdir(), ".budibase")
 
 // normal development system
 const SERVER_PORT = cypressConfig.env.PORT
 const WORKER_PORT = cypressConfig.env.WORKER_PORT
 
-process.env.NODE_ENV = "cypress"
+if (!process.env.NODE_ENV) {
+  process.env.NODE_ENV = "cypress"
+}
 process.env.ENABLE_ANALYTICS = "0"
 process.env.JWT_SECRET = cypressConfig.env.JWT_SECRET
-process.env.COUCH_URL = `leveldb://${tmpdir}/.data/`
 process.env.SELF_HOSTED = 1
 process.env.WORKER_URL = `http://localhost:${WORKER_PORT}/`
 process.env.APPS_URL = `http://localhost:${SERVER_PORT}/`
diff --git a/packages/server/src/db/index.js b/packages/server/src/db/index.js
index 75ad19b87f..381c295d18 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/db/index.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/db/index.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ exports.init = () => {
     find: true,
   }
 
-  if (env.isTest()) {
+  if (env.isTest() && !env.COUCH_DB_URL) {
     dbConfig.inMemory = true
     dbConfig.allDbs = true
   }
diff --git a/packages/worker/src/db/index.js b/packages/worker/src/db/index.js
index 25dc02962b..58fd8484ff 100644
--- a/packages/worker/src/db/index.js
+++ b/packages/worker/src/db/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const env = require("../environment")
 
 exports.init = () => {
   const dbConfig = {}
-  if (env.isTest()) {
+  if (env.isTest() && !env.COUCH_DB_URL) {
     dbConfig.inMemory = true
     dbConfig.allDbs = true
   }
diff --git a/qa-core/.env b/qa-core/.env
index 740b1b2b2a..36dd0a3656 100644
--- a/qa-core/.env
+++ b/qa-core/.env
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 BB_ADMIN_USER_EMAIL=qa@budibase.com
 BB_ADMIN_USER_PASSWORD=budibase
 ENCRYPTED_TEST_PUBLIC_API_KEY=a65722f06bee5caeadc5d7ca2f543a43-d610e627344210c643bb726f
+COUCH_DB_URL=http://budibase:budibase@localhost:4567
+COUCH_DB_USER=budibase
+COUCH_DB_PASSWORD=budibase
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/qa-core/docker-compose.yaml b/qa-core/docker-compose.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..abd8e4818e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qa-core/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+version: "3.8"
+services:
+  qa-core-couchdb:
+    # platform: linux/amd64
+    container_name: budi-couchdb-qa
+    restart: on-failure
+    image: ibmcom/couchdb3
+    environment:
+      - COUCHDB_PASSWORD=${COUCH_DB_PASSWORD}
+      - COUCHDB_USER=${COUCH_DB_USER}
+    ports:
+      - "4567:5984"
diff --git a/qa-core/package.json b/qa-core/package.json
index b2c3f464d7..529827bc9f 100644
--- a/qa-core/package.json
+++ b/qa-core/package.json
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
     "test": "jest --runInBand",
     "test:watch": "jest --watch",
     "test:debug": "DEBUG=1 jest",
-    "api:server:setup": "env-cmd ts-node ../packages/builder/cypress/ts/setup.ts",
+    "docker:up": "docker-compose up -d",
+    "docker:down": "docker-compose down",
+    "api:server:setup": "npm run docker:up && env-cmd ts-node ../packages/builder/cypress/ts/setup.ts",
     "api:server:setup:ci": "env-cmd node ../packages/builder/cypress/setup.js",
     "api:test:ci": "start-server-and-test api:server:setup:ci http://localhost:4100/builder test",
     "api:test": "start-server-and-test api:server:setup http://localhost:4100/builder test"
diff --git a/qa-core/src/tests/public-api/tables/rows.spec.ts b/qa-core/src/tests/public-api/tables/rows.spec.ts
index 754c077c84..41519fbf3f 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/tests/public-api/tables/rows.spec.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/tests/public-api/tables/rows.spec.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ describe("Public API - /rows endpoints", () => {
       },
     })
     expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(rows.length).toEqual(1)
     expect(rows[0]._id).toEqual(config.context._id)
     expect(rows[0].tableId).toEqual(config.context.tableId)
     expect(rows[0].testColumn).toEqual(config.context.testColumn)