diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/Admin/CategoryController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/Admin/CategoryController.php
index 284dfa4..6fc86be 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/Admin/CategoryController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/Admin/CategoryController.php
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class CategoryController extends Controller
         if ($request->filled('search')) {
             $needle = trim((string) $request->search);
             $categories = $categories->filter(
-                static fn ($category) => str_contains((string) $category->name, $needle)
+                static fn ($category) => strpos((string) $category->name, $needle) !== false
             )->values();
         }
 
diff --git a/app/Services/CategoryService.php b/app/Services/CategoryService.php
index f313b84..6c86ea8 100644
--- a/app/Services/CategoryService.php
+++ b/app/Services/CategoryService.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ namespace App\Services;
 use App\Models\Category;
 use App\Models\Product;
 use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
 
 class CategoryService
 {
@@ -145,11 +146,56 @@ class CategoryService
             return collect();
         }
 
-        return Category::query()
+        if (! Schema::hasTable('categories')) {
+            return $this->fallbackClientCategories($groupsWithProducts);
+        }
+
+        if (! Schema::hasColumn('categories', 'sort_order')) {
+            return $this->fallbackClientCategories($groupsWithProducts);
+        }
+
+        $categories = Category::query()
             ->where('active', 1)
             ->whereIn('name', $groupsWithProducts)
             ->orderBy('sort_order')
             ->orderBy('id')
             ->get(['id', 'name', 'sort_order']);
+
+        if ($categories->isEmpty()) {
+            $this->syncFromProducts();
+
+            return Category::query()
+                ->where('active', 1)
+                ->whereIn('name', $groupsWithProducts)
+                ->orderBy('sort_order')
+                ->orderBy('id')
+                ->get(['id', 'name', 'sort_order']);
+        }
+
+        return $categories;
+    }
+
+    /** وقتی جدول categories هنوز migrate نشده — از group_type محصولات */
+    private function fallbackClientCategories(Collection $groupsWithProducts): Collection
+    {
+        $ordered = collect(self::DEFAULT_CATEGORY_NAMES)
+            ->merge($groupsWithProducts)
+            ->unique()
+            ->values();
+
+        $order = 0;
+
+        return $ordered
+            ->filter(static fn (string $name) => $groupsWithProducts->contains($name))
+            ->values()
+            ->map(static function (string $name) use (&$order) {
+                $order++;
+
+                return (object) [
+                    'id' => $order,
+                    'name' => $name,
+                    'sort_order' => $order,
+                ];
+            });
     }
 }
diff --git a/database/migrations/2026_06_16_000002_ensure_categories_table_exists.php b/database/migrations/2026_06_16_000002_ensure_categories_table_exists.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..464daab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/migrations/2026_06_16_000002_ensure_categories_table_exists.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+/**
+ * اگر migration قدیمی در جدول migrations ثبت شده ولی جدول categories ساخته نشده
+ * (Nothing to migrate + Table doesn't exist) — این فایل idempotent جدول را درست می‌کند.
+ */
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        if (! Schema::hasTable('categories')) {
+            Schema::create('categories', function (Blueprint $table) {
+                $table->id();
+                $table->string('name')->unique();
+                $table->boolean('active')->default(true);
+                $table->boolean('show_in_filter')->default(true);
+                $table->boolean('show_in_select')->default(true);
+                $table->unsignedSmallInteger('sort_order')->default(0);
+                $table->timestamp('created_at')->nullable();
+            });
+
+            return;
+        }
+
+        Schema::table('categories', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            if (! Schema::hasColumn('categories', 'show_in_filter')) {
+                $table->boolean('show_in_filter')->default(true);
+            }
+            if (! Schema::hasColumn('categories', 'show_in_select')) {
+                $table->boolean('show_in_select')->default(true);
+            }
+            if (! Schema::hasColumn('categories', 'sort_order')) {
+                $table->unsignedSmallInteger('sort_order')->default(0);
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        // عمداً خالی — rollback جدول را حذف نمی‌کند
+    }
+};
diff --git a/database/sql/categories_table_deploy.sql b/database/sql/categories_table_deploy.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81e554f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/sql/categories_table_deploy.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+-- جدول دسته‌بندی محصولات (تب‌های فیلتر اپ + ادمین)
+-- خطای 500 روی GET /customer/categories وقتی این جدول نیست
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `categories` (
+  `id` bigint unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
+  `name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
+  `active` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  `show_in_filter` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  `show_in_select` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  `sort_order` smallint unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+  `created_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
+  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
+  UNIQUE KEY `categories_name_unique` (`name`)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+
+-- بعد از اجرا: ادمین → دسته‌بندی → «همگام‌سازی از محصولات»
+-- یا: POST /admin/categories/sync-from-products