diff --git a/.changeset/templates-ref-v0-5-0.md b/.changeset/templates-ref-v0-5-0.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..220fe8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/templates-ref-v0-5-0.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+"seamless-cli": patch
+---
+
+Scaffold from seamless-templates v0.5.0, which teaches the express starter to read `DATABASE_URL` and
+negotiate TLS when the connection string carries `sslmode=require`. This is what turns on the managed
+bundled database wiring: the CLI already computed the connection string, but the pinned v0.4.0
+starter did not declare the placeholder, so nothing was written.
diff --git a/src/core/images.ts b/src/core/images.ts
index b22560e..c1abf6b 100644
--- a/src/core/images.ts
+++ b/src/core/images.ts
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ export const SEAMLESS_AUTH_ADMIN_DASHBOARD_IMAGE = `ghcr.io/fells-code/seamless-
 // SEAMLESS_TEMPLATES_REF, or point at a local checkout with SEAMLESS_TEMPLATES_DIR.
 export const SEAMLESS_TEMPLATES_REPO = "fells-code/seamless-templates";
 
-export const SEAMLESS_TEMPLATES_REF = "v0.4.0";
+export const SEAMLESS_TEMPLATES_REF = "v0.5.0";