diff --git a/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000000_add_categories_postdate_index_to_releases_table.php b/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000000_add_categories_postdate_index_to_releases_table.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1f78de18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000000_add_categories_postdate_index_to_releases_table.php
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     *
+     * This index optimizes queries that filter by passwordstatus + categories_id and order by postdate DESC,
+     * which is the common pattern for TV/Movie search APIs.
+     *
+     * Column order rationale:
+     * - passwordstatus first: low cardinality but always filtered with <= comparison
+     * - categories_id second: filtered with IN() clause
+     * - postdate third (DESC): used for ORDER BY, avoids filesort
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        // Use raw SQL to specify DESC for postdate which Laravel Blueprint doesn't support
+        DB::statement('CREATE INDEX ix_releases_password_categories_postdate ON releases (passwordstatus, categories_id, postdate DESC)');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('releases', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->dropIndex('ix_releases_password_categories_postdate');
+        });
+    }
+};
+
diff --git a/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000001_add_covering_index_for_tv_search.php b/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000001_add_covering_index_for_tv_search.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08b349f2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/migrations/2025_12_21_000001_add_covering_index_for_tv_search.php
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     *
+     * This index specifically optimizes the TV/Movie API search queries that:
+     * 1. Filter by passwordstatus (always <= 1 or = 0)
+     * 2. Filter by categories_id IN (...) for TV categories
+     * 3. Order by postdate DESC
+     *
+     * The index includes videos_id and tv_episodes_id as they are used in JOIN conditions,
+     * allowing the optimizer to evaluate join necessity directly from the index.
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        // Check if the index already exists
+        $indexExists = DB::select("SHOW INDEX FROM releases WHERE Key_name = 'ix_releases_tv_search_covering'");
+
+        if (empty($indexExists)) {
+            // Covering index for TV search - includes FK columns to help optimizer
+            DB::statement('CREATE INDEX ix_releases_tv_search_covering ON releases (passwordstatus, categories_id, postdate DESC, videos_id, tv_episodes_id, groups_id)');
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('releases', function ($table) {
+            $table->dropIndex('ix_releases_tv_search_covering');
+        });
+    }
+};
+