diff --git a/packages/server/src/scripts/snapshot.ts b/packages/server/src/scripts/snapshot.ts
index b094a8b7..86a3683f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/scripts/snapshot.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/scripts/snapshot.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
-import { getRawDb } from '../db/index.js';
+import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { config } from '../config.js';
 import { createSnapshot, pruneSnapshots } from '../utils/backup.js';
 
-const p = createSnapshot(getRawDb(), 'manual');
-pruneSnapshots();
-console.log('Manual snapshot written: ' + p);
+// Standalone manual-snapshot CLI (run via `./backup.sh` → docker exec). Unlike the
+// scheduled worker and the pre-migration hook (which run inside the server process
+// where initDatabase() already ran), this is a FRESH node process — getRawDb() would
+// be undefined here. Open our own handle. VACUUM INTO takes a consistent read snapshot,
+// so this is safe to run concurrently with the live server on the same WAL database.
+const db = new Database(config.dbPath);
+try {
+  const p = createSnapshot(db, 'manual');
+  pruneSnapshots();
+  console.log('Manual snapshot written: ' + p);
+} finally {
+  db.close();
+}