diff --git a/cognee/infrastructure/databases/relational/sqlalchemy/SqlAlchemyAdapter.py b/cognee/infrastructure/databases/relational/sqlalchemy/SqlAlchemyAdapter.py
index a23c1b297..483228bfb 100644
--- a/cognee/infrastructure/databases/relational/sqlalchemy/SqlAlchemyAdapter.py
+++ b/cognee/infrastructure/databases/relational/sqlalchemy/SqlAlchemyAdapter.py
@@ -31,23 +31,39 @@ class SQLAlchemyAdapter:
     """
 
     def __init__(self, connection_string: str, connect_args: Optional[dict] = None):
+        """
+        Initialize the SQLAlchemy adapter with connection settings.
+
+        Parameters:
+        -----------
+            connection_string (str): The database connection string (e.g., 'sqlite:///path/to/db'
+                or 'postgresql://user:pass@host:port/db').
+            connect_args (Optional[dict]): Optional dictionary of connection arguments to pass to
+                the database engine. These are driver-specific parameters such as SSL settings,
+                timeouts, or connection pool options. If DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS environment variable
+                is set, those values will be merged with this parameter (programmatic values take
+                precedence over environment variables). Defaults to None.
+
+        Environment Variables:
+        ----------------------
+            DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS: Optional JSON string containing connection arguments.
+                Example: '{"sslmode": "require", "connect_timeout": 10}'
+        """
         self.db_path: str = None
         self.db_uri: str = connection_string
 
         env_connect_args = os.getenv("DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS")
         if env_connect_args:
             try:
-                env_connect_args = json.loads(env_connect_args)
-                if isinstance(env_connect_args, dict):
-                    if connect_args is None:
-                        connect_args = {}
-                    connect_args.update(env_connect_args)
+                parsed_env_args = json.loads(env_connect_args)
+                if isinstance(parsed_env_args, dict):
+                    # Merge: env vars as base, programmatic args override
+                    merged_args = {**parsed_env_args, **(connect_args or {})}
+                    connect_args = merged_args
                 else:
-                    logger.warning(
-                        f"DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS is not a valid JSON dictionary: {env_connect_args}"
-                    )
-            except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
-                logger.warning(f"Failed to parse DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS as JSON: {e}")
+                    logger.warning("DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS is not a valid JSON dictionary, ignoring")
+            except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                logger.warning("Failed to parse DATABASE_CONNECT_ARGS as JSON, ignoring")
 
         if "sqlite" in connection_string:
             [prefix, db_path] = connection_string.split("///")
@@ -69,7 +85,7 @@ class SQLAlchemyAdapter:
             self.engine = create_async_engine(
                 connection_string,
                 poolclass=NullPool,
-                connect_args={**(connect_args or {}), **{"timeout": 30}},
+                connect_args={**{"timeout": 30}, **(connect_args or {})},
             )
         else:
             self.engine = create_async_engine(