fix

apps/api/cmd/seed-a1/main.go

@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@
 //	go run ./cmd/seed-a1 -mode backfill-categories -mysql-dump path/to/descrybe_new.sql
 //	go run ./cmd/seed-a1 -mode backfill-attributes
 //
-// DATABASE_URL / -postgres required.
+// DATABASE_URL / -postgres required (also loaded from monorepo-root .env via config.LoadDotEnv).
 // Day-to-day: `npm run seed:a1` (reimport + category prompts + mapped category backfill). Maintainer snapshot: `npm run seed:a1:export`.
 // recover-jobs is opt-in only and will reintroduce job history.
+// Prefer admin UI Sync A1 on the company row (uses API DATABASE_URL; no CLI env needed).
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ import (
 	"compress/gzip"
 
 	"github.com/descrybe/descrybe-v2/apps/api/internal/billing"
+	"github.com/descrybe/descrybe-v2/apps/api/internal/config"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgconn"
@@ -82,6 +84,8 @@ type tableSpec struct {
 }
 
 func main() {
+	config.LoadDotEnv()
+
 	postgresURL := flag.String("postgres", os.Getenv("DATABASE_URL"), "Postgres URL (DATABASE_URL)")
 	mode := flag.String("mode", "reimport", "export | reimport | recover-jobs | apply-category-prompts | backfill-categories | backfill-attributes")
 	file := flag.String("file", "", "gzipped seed archive path (required for export/reimport)")
@@ -93,7 +97,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	if strings.TrimSpace(*postgresURL) == "" {
-		log.Fatal("-postgres / DATABASE_URL is required")
+		log.Fatal("-postgres / DATABASE_URL is required (export it, pass -postgres, or put DATABASE_URL in monorepo-root .env — same as the API; prefer admin Sync A1)")
 	}
 	companyID, err := uuid.Parse(strings.TrimSpace(*company))
 	if err != nil {