diff --git a/scripts/db-import.sh b/scripts/db-import.sh
index 8064dcb..f794a35 100644
--- a/scripts/db-import.sh
+++ b/scripts/db-import.sh
@@ -5,10 +5,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 ENV_FILE="${ENV_FILE:-$ROOT_DIR/.env}"
 DUMP_FILE=""
-TARGET_HOST="127.0.0.1"
-TARGET_PORT="3306"
-TARGET_USER="root"
-TARGET_PASSWORD=""
 DRY_RUN=0
 FORCE=0
 
@@ -19,62 +15,47 @@ if [[ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]]; then
     set +a
 fi
 
-# Use password from .env if not overridden
-TARGET_PASSWORD="${TARGET_PASSWORD:-${DOCKER_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD:-}}"
-
 usage() {
     cat <<EOF
-Usage: $(basename "$0") --from FILE [options]
+Usage: $(basename "$0") --from FILE [--dry-run] [--force]
 
-Restores a full database dump (produced by db-export.sh) into a MySQL instance.
-Works with both the local Docker container and a remote MySQL server.
+Restores a full database dump (produced by db-export.sh) into the
+ac-database Docker container. The container must be running.
 
 Options:
-  --from FILE         Dump file to restore (.sql or .sql.gz) (required)
-  --host HOST         Target MySQL host     (default: 127.0.0.1)
-  --port PORT         Target MySQL port     (default: 3306)
-  --user USER         Target MySQL user     (default: root)
-  --password PASS     Target MySQL password (default: from .env DOCKER_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD)
-  --dry-run           Show what would happen without executing
-  --force             Skip the confirmation prompt
-  -h, --help          Show this help
+  --from FILE   Dump file to restore (.sql or .sql.gz) (required)
+  --dry-run     Show what would happen without executing
+  --force       Skip the confirmation prompt
+  -h, --help    Show this help
 
 Examples:
-  # Restore into local Docker container (new server, container must be running)
   $(basename "$0") --from backups/2025-01-01_12-00-00.sql.gz
-
-  # Restore into a remote MySQL server
-  $(basename "$0") --from backups/dump.sql.gz \\
-    --host db.example.com --port 3306 \\
-    --user root --password secret
+  $(basename "$0") --from /mnt/backup/dump.sql.gz --force
 EOF
 }
 
 log() { printf '[db-import] %s\n' "$*"; }
 die() { printf 'ERROR: %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
-mysql_cmd() {
-    mysql \
-        --host="$TARGET_HOST" \
-        --port="$TARGET_PORT" \
-        --user="$TARGET_USER" \
-        --password="$TARGET_PASSWORD" \
-        --connect-timeout=10 \
-        "$@"
+require_running_db() {
+    if ! docker compose ps --status running --services 2>/dev/null | grep -qx 'ac-database'; then
+        die "ac-database is not running. Start it with: docker compose up -d ac-database"
+    fi
+}
+
+mysql_exec() {
+    docker compose exec -T ac-database bash -lc \
+        "mysql -uroot -p\"\$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD\""
 }
 
 # ── argument parsing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 while (($#)); do
     case "$1" in
-        --from)     DUMP_FILE="$2";     shift ;;
-        --host)     TARGET_HOST="$2";   shift ;;
-        --port)     TARGET_PORT="$2";   shift ;;
-        --user)     TARGET_USER="$2";   shift ;;
-        --password) TARGET_PASSWORD="$2"; shift ;;
-        --dry-run)  DRY_RUN=1 ;;
-        --force)    FORCE=1 ;;
-        -h|--help)  usage; exit 0 ;;
+        --from)    DUMP_FILE="$2"; shift ;;
+        --dry-run) DRY_RUN=1 ;;
+        --force)   FORCE=1 ;;
+        -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
         *) printf 'Unknown option: %s\n\n' "$1" >&2; usage >&2; exit 1 ;;
     esac
     shift
@@ -84,11 +65,6 @@ done
 
 [[ -z "$DUMP_FILE" ]] && { usage >&2; die "--from FILE is required"; }
 [[ -f "$DUMP_FILE" ]] || die "file not found: $DUMP_FILE"
-[[ -z "$TARGET_PASSWORD" ]] && die "no password set — use --password or set DOCKER_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD in .env"
-
-if ! command -v mysql >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    die "'mysql' client not found. Install it: apt install mysql-client  or  brew install mysql-client"
-fi
 
 cd "$ROOT_DIR"
 
@@ -97,9 +73,8 @@ cd "$ROOT_DIR"
 file_size="$(du -sh "$DUMP_FILE" | cut -f1)"
 
 printf '\nMigration plan:\n'
-printf '  Source file : %s (%s)\n' "$DUMP_FILE" "$file_size"
-printf '  Target host : %s:%s\n'   "$TARGET_HOST" "$TARGET_PORT"
-printf '  Target user : %s\n\n'    "$TARGET_USER"
+printf '  Source : %s (%s)\n' "$DUMP_FILE" "$file_size"
+printf '  Target : ac-database container\n\n'
 
 if [[ "$DRY_RUN" -eq 1 ]]; then
     log "dry-run mode — nothing imported"
@@ -112,27 +87,21 @@ if [[ "$FORCE" -eq 0 ]]; then
     [[ "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]] || { log "aborted"; exit 0; }
 fi
 
-# ── connectivity check ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-log "checking connection to ${TARGET_HOST}:${TARGET_PORT}..."
-if ! mysql_cmd --execute="SELECT 1;" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    die "cannot connect to MySQL at ${TARGET_HOST}:${TARGET_PORT} as ${TARGET_USER}"
-fi
-log "connection OK"
-
 # ── import ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-log "restoring $DUMP_FILE → ${TARGET_HOST}:${TARGET_PORT}..."
+require_running_db
+
+log "restoring $DUMP_FILE into ac-database..."
 log "this may take several minutes..."
 
 if [[ "$DUMP_FILE" == *.gz ]]; then
-    zcat "$DUMP_FILE" | mysql_cmd
+    zcat "$DUMP_FILE" | mysql_exec
 else
-    mysql_cmd < "$DUMP_FILE"
+    mysql_exec < "$DUMP_FILE"
 fi
 
 log "import complete"
 log ""
-log "next steps on the new server:"
-log "  1. Update realmlist:  bash scripts/sync-realmlist.sh"
+log "next steps:"
+log "  1. Update realmlist:  bash sync-realmlist.sh"
 log "  2. Start the server:  bash scripts/prod-deploy.sh --no-build"