diff --git a/api/promote-testuser.js b/api/promote-testuser.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62be6ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/promote-testuser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+const { Pool } = require('pg');
+
+const pool = new Pool({
+  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
+  ssl: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? { rejectUnauthorized: false } : false,
+});
+
+export default async function handler(req, res) {
+  if (req.method !== 'POST') {
+    return res.status(405).json({ error: 'Method not allowed' });
+  }
+
+  const client = await pool.connect();
+  
+  try {
+    // Get the test user (ID 1)
+    const userResult = await client.query(
+      'SELECT id, username, email FROM users WHERE id = $1',
+      [1]
+    );
+    
+    if (userResult.rows.length === 0) {
+      return res.status(404).json({ 
+        error: 'Test user not found' 
+      });
+    }
+
+    const user = userResult.rows[0];
+
+    // Check if user is already an admin
+    const adminCheckQuery = `
+      SELECT ur.user_id 
+      FROM user_roles ur 
+      JOIN roles r ON ur.role_id = r.id 
+      WHERE ur.user_id = $1 AND r.name = 'admin'
+    `;
+    
+    const adminCheck = await client.query(adminCheckQuery, [user.id]);
+    
+    if (adminCheck.rows.length > 0) {
+      return res.status(200).json({
+        success: true,
+        message: 'User is already an admin',
+        user: {
+          id: user.id,
+          username: user.username,
+          email: user.email
+        }
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Get admin role ID
+    const roleResult = await client.query(
+      'SELECT id FROM roles WHERE name = $1',
+      ['admin']
+    );
+
+    if (roleResult.rows.length === 0) {
+      return res.status(500).json({ 
+        error: 'Admin role not found in database' 
+      });
+    }
+
+    const adminRoleId = roleResult.rows[0].id;
+
+    // Add user to admin role
+    await client.query(
+      'INSERT INTO user_roles (user_id, role_id) VALUES ($1, $2)',
+      [user.id, adminRoleId]
+    );
+
+    // Get updated user info with roles
+    const updatedUserQuery = `
+      SELECT 
+        u.id, u.username, u.email, u.first_name, u.last_name,
+        ARRAY_AGG(DISTINCT r.name) as roles
+      FROM users u
+      LEFT JOIN user_roles ur ON u.id = ur.user_id
+      LEFT JOIN roles r ON ur.role_id = r.id
+      WHERE u.id = $1
+      GROUP BY u.id, u.username, u.email, u.first_name, u.last_name
+    `;
+
+    const updatedUser = await client.query(updatedUserQuery, [user.id]);
+
+    res.status(200).json({
+      success: true,
+      message: 'Test user successfully promoted to admin',
+      user: {
+        id: updatedUser.rows[0].id,
+        username: updatedUser.rows[0].username,
+        email: updatedUser.rows[0].email,
+        firstName: updatedUser.rows[0].first_name,
+        lastName: updatedUser.rows[0].last_name,
+        roles: updatedUser.rows[0].roles || []
+      }
+    });
+
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Promote test user error:', error);
+    res.status(500).json({ 
+      error: 'Internal server error',
+      details: error.message 
+    });
+  } finally {
+    client.release();
+  }
+} 
\ No newline at end of file