diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/helm-tests.yml
similarity index 97%
rename from .github/workflows/ci.yml
rename to .github/workflows/helm-tests.yml
index 02264b1c..65f579c0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/helm-tests.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ name: CI
 on:
   push:
     branches:
-    - main
+    - '*'
     tags:
     - '*'
   pull_request:
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/.gitignore b/helm-chart/eoapi/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c0363794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+tmp/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/helm-template.sh b/helm-chart/eoapi/helm-template.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 46990d1b..d499bf26
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/helm-template.sh
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/helm-template.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export PGPASSWORD=password
 export POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
 export GITSHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD | cut -c1-10)
 
+mkdir -p tmp
 MANIFEST=./tmp/eoapi-manfests.yaml
 
 echo "" > $MANIFEST
diff --git a/.github/workflows/data/my_data.sql b/helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/my_data.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from .github/workflows/data/my_data.sql
rename to helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/my_data.sql
diff --git a/.github/workflows/data/noaa-emergency-response.json b/helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/noaa-emergency-response.json
similarity index 100%
rename from .github/workflows/data/noaa-emergency-response.json
rename to helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/noaa-emergency-response.json
diff --git a/.github/workflows/data/noaa-eri-nashville2020.json b/helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/noaa-eri-nashville2020.json
similarity index 100%
rename from .github/workflows/data/noaa-eri-nashville2020.json
rename to helm-chart/eoapi/initdb-data/noaa-eri-nashville2020.json
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/configmap.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/configmap.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d7073f1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/configmap.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: initdb-sql-config
+data:
+  initdb.sql: |
+    {{- range $path, $bytes := $.Files.Glob "initdb-data/*.sql"  -}}
+    {{ $.Files.Get $path | nindent 4 }}
+    {{- end }}
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: initdb-json-config
+data:
+  {{- range $path, $bytes := $.Files.Glob "initdb-data/*.json"  -}}
+  {{- base $path | nindent 2 -}}: | {{- $.Files.Get $path | nindent 4 -}}
+  {{- end -}}
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: initdb-sh-config
+data:
+  load.sh: |
+    pypgstac pgready --dsn postgresql://username:password@pgstac/postgis
+    pypgstac load items /opt/initdb/json-data/noaa-eri-nashville2020.json --dsn postgresql://username:password@pgstac/postgis --method insert_ignore
+    pypgstac load collections /opt/initdb/json-data/noaa-emergency-response.json --dsn postgresql://username:password@pgstac/postgis --method insert_ignore
+    psql postgresql://username:password@pgstac/postgis -f /opt/initdb/sql-data/initdb.sql
+    # run it forever like a docker process should
+    tail -f /dev/null
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/deployment.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/deployment.yaml
index 10970419..451cb449 100644
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/deployment.yaml
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ spec:
             - "-N"
             - "500"
           envFrom:
-            # NOTE: there's no reason we need to use a `ConfigMap` or `Secret` here to get os env vars into the pod.
-            # we could just template them out here immediately with `value: $_` but this allows us
-            # to store them in k8s intermediately and change them and then bounce deploys if needed
           - secretRef:
               name: pgstac-secrets
           ports:
@@ -35,7 +32,38 @@ spec:
           volumeMounts:
             - mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
               name: pgstac-claim
+        {{- if .Values.db.enable_data_fixtures }}
+        - name: loader
+          image: ghcr.io/stac-utils/pgstac:v0.7.1
+          command:
+            - "sh"
+          args:
+            - "/opt/initdb/load.sh"
+          envFrom:
+            - secretRef:
+                name: pgstac-secrets
+          ports:
+            - containerPort: 6543
+          volumeMounts:
+            - mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
+              name: pgstac-claim
+            - mountPath: /opt/initdb/sql-data
+              name: initdb-sql-volume
+            - mountPath: /opt/initdb/json-data
+              name: initdb-json-volume
+            - mountPath: /opt/initdb/
+              name: initdb-sh-volume
+        {{- end }}
       volumes:
         - name: pgstac-claim
           persistentVolumeClaim:
             claimName: pgstac-claim
+        - name: initdb-sql-volume
+          configMap:
+            name: initdb-sql-config
+        - name: initdb-json-volume
+          configMap:
+            name: initdb-json-config
+        - name: initdb-sh-volume
+          configMap:
+            name: initdb-sh-config
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/secrets.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/secrets.yaml
index b53d9e94..347c5f91 100644
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/secrets.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/templates/db/secrets.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ stringData:
   {{- range $envKey, $envValue := .Values.db.settings.secrets }}
   {{ upper $envKey }}: "{{ $envValue }}"
   {{- /* stac-utils seems to require different environment variable for postgres so handle here via if/else to
-      avoid having to pass more arg secrets passed */ -}}
+      avoid having to pass more arg secrets */ -}}
   {{- if eq $envKey "PGPASSWORD" }}
   POSTGRES_PASS: "{{ $envValue }}"
   {{- end }}
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/db_deploy_tests.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/db_deploy_tests.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7578e0ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/db_deploy_tests.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+suite: db defaults deployment
+templates:
+  - templates/db/deployment.yaml
+tests:
+  - it: "db deploy defaults"
+    set:
+      db.enabled: true
+      db.enable_data_fixtures: false
+    asserts:
+      - isKind:
+          of: Deployment
+      - matchRegex:
+          path: metadata.name
+          pattern: ^pgstac$
+      - equal:
+          path: spec.strategy.type
+          value: "Recreate"
+      - equal:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].name
+          value: "pgstac"
+      - isNull:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[1].name
+  - it: "db deploy with fixtures"
+    set:
+      db.enabled: true
+      db.enable_data_fixtures: true
+    asserts:
+      - isKind:
+          of: Deployment
+      - matchRegex:
+          path: metadata.name
+          pattern: ^pgstac$
+      - equal:
+          path: spec.strategy.type
+          value: "Recreate"
+      - equal:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].name
+          value: "pgstac"
+      - equal:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[1].name
+          value: "loader"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/deploy_tests.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/deploy_tests.yaml
index fa431ba0..90d23237 100644
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/deploy_tests.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/tests/deploy_tests.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ tests:
       raster.enabled: false
       stac.enabled: false
       vector.enabled: true
-      gitSha: "ABC123"
     asserts:
       - isKind:
           of: Deployment
@@ -37,7 +36,6 @@ tests:
       raster.enabled: true
       stac.enabled: false
       vector.enabled: false
-      gitSha: "ABC123"
     asserts:
       - isKind:
           of: Deployment
@@ -67,7 +65,6 @@ tests:
       raster.enabled: false
       stac.enabled: true
       vector.enabled: false
-      gitSha: "ABC123"
     asserts:
       - isKind:
           of: Deployment
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/tmp/eoapi-manfests.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/tmp/eoapi-manfests.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 178e3fbf..00000000
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/tmp/eoapi-manfests.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,383 +0,0 @@
-
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/db/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Secret
-metadata:
-  name: pgstac-secrets
-type: "Opaque"
-stringData:
-  DB_MAX_CONN_SIZE: "10"
-  DB_MIN_CONN_SIZE: "1"
-  PGDATA: "/var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata"
-  PGDATABASE: "postgis"
-  POSTGRES_DBNAME: "postgis"
-  PGPASSWORD: "password"
-  POSTGRES_PASS: "password"
-  PGUSER: "username"
-  POSTGRES_DB: "postgis"
-  POSTGRES_DBNAME: "postgis"
-  POSTGRES_HOST: "pgstac"
-  POSTGRES_HOST_READER: "pgstac"
-  POSTGRES_HOST_WRITER: "pgstac"
-  POSTGRES_PASS: "password"
-  POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "password"
-  POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
-  POSTGRES_USER: "username"
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/db/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
-metadata:
-  name: pgstac-claim
-spec:
-  accessModes:
-    - ReadWriteOnce
-  resources:
-    requests:
-      storage: 100Mi
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/db/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: pgstac
-  name: pgstac
-spec:
-  ports:
-  - name: "5432"
-    port: 5432
-    targetPort: 5432
-  selector:
-    app: pgstac
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/db/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  name: pgstac
-  labels:
-    app: pgstac
-spec:
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app: pgstac
-  strategy:
-    type: Recreate
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app: pgstac
-    spec:
-      restartPolicy: Always
-      containers:
-        - name: pgstac
-          image: ghcr.io/stac-utils/pgstac:v0.7.1
-          args:
-            - "postgres"
-            - "-N"
-            - "500"
-          envFrom:
-            # NOTE: there's no reason we need to use a `ConfigMap` or `Secret` here to get os env vars into the pod.
-            # we could just template them out here immediately with `value: $_` but this allows us
-            # to store them in k8s intermediately and change them and then bounce deploys if needed
-          - secretRef:
-              name: pgstac-secrets
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 5432
-          volumeMounts:
-            - mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
-              name: pgstac-claim
-      volumes:
-        - name: pgstac-claim
-          persistentVolumeClaim:
-            claimName: pgstac-claim
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: ConfigMap
-metadata:
-  name: raster-envvar-configmap
-data:
-  CPL_VSIL_CURL_ALLOWED_EXTENSIONS: ".tif,.TIF,.tiff"
-  GDAL_CACHEMAX: "200"
-  GDAL_DISABLE_READDIR_ON_OPEN: "EMPTY_DIR"
-  GDAL_HTTP_MERGE_CONSECUTIVE_RANGES: "YES"
-  GDAL_HTTP_MULTIPLEX: "YES"
-  GDAL_HTTP_VERSION: "2"
-  GDAL_INGESTED_BYTES_AT_OPEN: "32768"
-  HOST: "0.0.0.0"
-  PORT: "8080"
-  PYTHONWARNINGS: "ignore"
-  VSI_CACHE: "TRUE"
-  VSI_CACHE_SIZE: "5000000"
-  WEB_CONCURRENCY: "10"
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: ConfigMap
-metadata:
-  name: stac-envvar-configmap
-data:
-  HOST: "0.0.0.0"
-  PORT: "8080"
-  TITILER_ENDPOINT: "raster:8080"
-  WEB_CONCURRENCY: "10"
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: ConfigMap
-metadata:
-  name: vector-envvar-configmap
-data:
-  HOST: "0.0.0.0"
-  PORT: "8080"
-  TIPG_CATALOG_TTL: "0"
-  WEB_CONCURRENCY: "10"
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: raster
-  name: raster
-spec:
-  type: NodePort
-  ports:
-  - name: '8080'
-    port: 8080
-    targetPort: 8080
-  selector:
-    app: raster
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: stac
-  name: stac
-spec:
-  type: NodePort
-  ports:
-  - name: '8080'
-    port: 8080
-    targetPort: 8080
-  selector:
-    app: stac
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: vector
-  name: vector
-spec:
-  type: NodePort
-  ports:
-  - name: '8080'
-    port: 8080
-    targetPort: 8080
-  selector:
-    app: vector
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: raster
-    gitsha: a5ba4b476b
-  name: raster
-spec:
-  progressDeadlineSeconds: 600
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 5
-  strategy:
-    type: RollingUpdate
-    rollingUpdate:
-      maxSurge: 50%
-      maxUnavailable: 0
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app: raster
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app: raster
-    spec:
-      containers:
-      - image: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-raster:latest
-        name: raster
-        ports:
-          - containerPort: 8080
-        resources:
-          limits:
-            cpu: 512m
-            memory: 4096M
-          requests:
-            cpu: 256m
-            memory: 3072M
-        envFrom:
-          # NOTE: there's no reason we need to use a `ConfigMap` or `Secret` here to get os env vars into the pod.
-          # we could just template them out here immediately with `value: $_` but this allows us
-          # to store them in k8s intermediately and change them and then bounce deploys if needed
-        - secretRef:
-            name: pgstac-secrets
-        - configMapRef:
-            name: raster-envvar-configmap
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: stac
-    gitsha: a5ba4b476b
-  name: stac
-spec:
-  progressDeadlineSeconds: 600
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 5
-  strategy:
-    type: RollingUpdate
-    rollingUpdate:
-      maxSurge: 50%
-      maxUnavailable: 0
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app: stac
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app: stac
-    spec:
-      containers:
-      - image: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-stac:latest
-        name: stac
-        ports:
-          - containerPort: 8080
-        resources:
-          limits:
-            cpu: 512m
-            memory: 1024Mi
-          requests:
-            cpu: 256m
-            memory: 256Mi
-        envFrom:
-          # NOTE: there's no reason we need to use a `ConfigMap` or `Secret` here to get os env vars into the pod.
-          # we could just template them out here immediately with `value: $_` but this allows us
-          # to store them in k8s intermediately and change them and then bounce deploys if needed
-        - secretRef:
-            name: pgstac-secrets
-        - configMapRef:
-            name: stac-envvar-configmap
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: vector
-    gitsha: a5ba4b476b
-  name: vector
-spec:
-  progressDeadlineSeconds: 600
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 5
-  strategy:
-    type: RollingUpdate
-    rollingUpdate:
-      maxSurge: 50%
-      maxUnavailable: 0
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app: vector
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app: vector
-    spec:
-      containers:
-      - image: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-vector:latest
-        name: vector
-        ports:
-          - containerPort: 8080
-        resources:
-          limits:
-            cpu: 512m
-            memory: 1024Mi
-          requests:
-            cpu: 256m
-            memory: 256Mi
-        envFrom:
-          # NOTE: there's no reason we need to use a `ConfigMap` or `Secret` here to get os env vars into the pod.
-          # we could just template them out here immediately with `value: $_` but this allows us
-          # to store them in k8s intermediately and change them and then bounce deploys if needed
-        - secretRef:
-            name: pgstac-secrets
-        - configMapRef:
-            name: vector-envvar-configmap
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
-kind: Ingress
-metadata:
-  name: raster
-  annotations:
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/scheme: internet-facing
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/target-type: instance
-spec:
-  ingressClassName: alb
-  rules:
-    - http:
-        paths:
-          - pathType: Prefix
-            path: "/"
-            backend:
-              service:
-                name: raster
-                port:
-                  number: 8080
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
-kind: Ingress
-metadata:
-  name: stac
-  annotations:
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/scheme: internet-facing
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/target-type: instance
-spec:
-  ingressClassName: alb
-  rules:
-    - http:
-        paths:
-          - pathType: Prefix
-            path: "/"
-            backend:
-              service:
-                name: stac
-                port:
-                  number: 8080
----
-# Source: eoapi/templates/services/manifest.yaml
-apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
-kind: Ingress
-metadata:
-  name: vector
-  annotations:
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/scheme: internet-facing
-    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/target-type: instance
-spec:
-  ingressClassName: alb
-  rules:
-    - http:
-        paths:
-          - pathType: Prefix
-            path: "/"
-            backend:
-              service:
-                name: vector
-                port:
-                  number: 8080
diff --git a/helm-chart/eoapi/values.yaml b/helm-chart/eoapi/values.yaml
index c676b9a8..f896a4cb 100644
--- a/helm-chart/eoapi/values.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/eoapi/values.yaml
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ db:
   # environment options: "rds" || "k8s"
   environment: "k8s"
   enabled: true
+  # toggle to true if you want the db test fixtures loaded
+  enable_data_fixtures: false
   settings:
     resources:
       requests:
@@ -79,7 +81,6 @@ raster:
   image:
     name: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-raster
     tag: latest
-  # nothing definitive about this, just plumbed in after quick survey of `eoAPI/infrastructure/aws/cdk/config.py`
   settings:
     timeout: 10
     # https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/manage-resources-containers/
@@ -117,7 +118,6 @@ stac:
   image:
     name: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-stac
     tag: latest
-  # nothing definitive about this, just plumbed in after quick survey of `eoAPI/infrastructure/aws/cdk/config.py`
   settings:
     timeout: 10
     # https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/manage-resources-containers/
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ vector:
   image:
     name: ghcr.io/developmentseed/eoapi-vector
     tag: latest
-  # nothing definitive about this, just plumbed in after quick survey of `eoAPI/infrastructure/aws/cdk/config.py`
   settings:
     timeout: 10
     # https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/manage-resources-containers/