Unable to use psql through PGAdapter + Emulator image

Hello!

I am following the instructions for running the PGAdapter + Emulator image in the [README](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/pgadapter#emulator), but can't seem to connect to it through psql. I can see the container is running and it doesn't have any error logs.

is there a step I'm missing?

```sh
➜ ~ docker pull gcr.io/cloud-spanner-pg-adapter/pgadapter-emulator
docker run \
-d -p 5432:5432 \
gcr.io/cloud-spanner-pg-adapter/pgadapter-emulator
sleep 2
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -d test-database
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from cloud-spanner-pg-adapter/pgadapter-emulator
Digest: sha256:f78f4a39218bf7b0236189a78523bbd20097ed8a768a252ad80e3ad1aa781ec2
Status: Image is up to date for gcr.io/cloud-spanner-pg-adapter/pgadapter-emulator:latest
gcr.io/cloud-spanner-pg-adapter/pgadapter-emulator:latest
a0a1b0eabd900852dee2bbcf843f792f5f02715d0ce2201df930bf8c066f56fb
psql: error: connection to server at "localhost" (::1), port 5432 failed: FATAL: database "test-database" does not exist
```

**Container Logs**

```
java -jar pgadapter.jar -p emulator-project -i test-instance -r autoConfigEmulator=true -c "" -x

WARNING: All log messages before absl::InitializeLog() is called are written to STDERR

I0000 00:00:1783374891.297170 16 emulator_main.cc:39] Cloud Spanner Emulator running.

I0000 00:00:1783374891.297184 16 emulator_main.cc:40] Server address: 0.0.0.0:9010

-- Starting PGAdapter version 0.55.1 --

-- PostgreSQL version: 14.1 --

WARNING: A restricted method in java.lang.System has been called

WARNING: java.lang.System::loadLibrary has been called by org.newsclub.net.unix.NativeLibraryLoader$StandardLibraryCandidate in an unnamed module (file:/home/pgadapter/lib/junixsocket-common-2.10.1.jar)

WARNING: Use --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED to avoid a warning for callers in this module

WARNING: Restricted methods will be blocked in a future release unless native access is enabled

[2026-07-06 21:54:51.425] [INFO] (com.google.cloud.spanner.pgadapter.ProxyServer startServer): Server started on port 5432

2026/07/06 21:54:52 gateway.go:163: Cloud Spanner emulator running.

2026/07/06 21:54:52 gateway.go:164: REST server listening at 0.0.0.0:9020

2026/07/06 21:54:52 gateway.go:165: gRPC server listening at 0.0.0.0:9010

```

Start with the emulator section of the README and reproduce the supplied Docker and psql commands. Check whether the documented startup flow explains database creation or the expected connection target; done means the README provides a verified command that connects successfully or clearly states the required setup.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.