diff --git a/auth.go b/auth.go
index ac91712..e39dedb 100644
--- a/auth.go
+++ b/auth.go
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ func NewHeaderBearerTokenGetter(header string) *BearerGetter {
 //
 // store is the TokenStore that stores and verify the tokens
 func New(tokenStore *JwtStore, store storage.Database) *TokenAuth {
+	if !store.Active() {
+		panic("auth: store is not active - did you forget to call store.Start()?")
+	}
 	t := &TokenAuth{
 		tokenStore: tokenStore,
 		store:      store,
@@ -672,6 +675,9 @@ func (t *TokenAuth) NewPassword(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 // Routes handle for auth enpoints
 func (t *TokenAuth) Routes(server *ooo.Server) {
+	if !t.store.Active() {
+		panic("auth: store is not active - did you forget to call store.Start()?")
+	}
 	server.Router.HandleFunc("/authorize", t.Authorize()).Methods(http.MethodPost, http.MethodPut)
 	server.Router.HandleFunc("/profile", t.Profile()).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	server.Router.HandleFunc("/users", t.Users()).Methods(http.MethodGet)
diff --git a/auth_test.go b/auth_test.go
index 09aaf69..e932e04 100644
--- a/auth_test.go
+++ b/auth_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ func TestRegisterAndAuthorize(t *testing.T) {
 	authStore := storage.New(storage.LayeredConfig{
 		Memory: storage.NewMemoryLayer(),
 	})
+	authStore.Start(storage.Options{})
 	go storage.WatchStorageNoop(authStore)
 	auth := New(
 		NewJwtStore("a-secret-key-0-asdasdada-asdasdasd-asdasdsaweenvurh@!@#12", time.Second*1),
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index e038e0e..7071d26 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/benitogf/auth
 go 1.25
 
 require (
-	github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260109055348-efad8e781ed7
+	github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260202060447-566ed1c50fb9
 	github.com/golang-jwt/jwt v3.2.2+incompatible
 	github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index b87d10b..1e7a0d4 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ github.com/benitogf/jsonpatch v0.0.0-20260109052650-eec54232a9a2 h1:OC5ZiOG0sQ5Q
 github.com/benitogf/jsonpatch v0.0.0-20260109052650-eec54232a9a2/go.mod h1:O1Z+hTPUrXzHUjmKlpmNYK9wcncZ5rS3K8PqItDO0x0=
 github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260109055348-efad8e781ed7 h1:qNmJ0qTWXW8k8XYLMfXy4cEYEA2VwMTL6P+GUFbdhHo=
 github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260109055348-efad8e781ed7/go.mod h1:fqf1bDkBBOOiCExWW1qdj59ldb/yqfJc3gTfskl02cU=
+github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260202060447-566ed1c50fb9 h1:P4TAfI7Hr8NzOuHqnwkO21lef3yaMG0TEo0M+F0ue4Y=
+github.com/benitogf/ooo v0.0.0-20260202060447-566ed1c50fb9/go.mod h1:fqf1bDkBBOOiCExWW1qdj59ldb/yqfJc3gTfskl02cU=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/felixge/httpsnoop v1.0.4 h1:NFTV2Zj1bL4mc9sqWACXbQFVBBg2W3GPvqp8/ESS2Wg=