diff --git a/deploy/replicas.env.example b/deploy/replicas.env.example
index 03c25cc..3bbf7e2 100644
--- a/deploy/replicas.env.example
+++ b/deploy/replicas.env.example
@@ -9,3 +9,8 @@ postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@SLAVE_2_IP:5432/superadmin"
 
 # Read-only app user on replicas (program-settings API). Grants re-applied after data repair.
 # REPLICA_APP_DB_USER=montime
+
+# Publisher DB for pg_dump / count checks. Required when DATABASE_URL password has @
+# (Prisma tolerates it; libpq URI parsing breaks → host "Montime@127.0.0.1").
+# Use postgres superuser on localhost; URL-encode special chars (@ → %40).
+# PUBLISHER_DSN="postgresql://postgres:PASS@127.0.0.1:5432/superadmin"
diff --git a/deploy/sync-replica-data.sh b/deploy/sync-replica-data.sh
index 7dacfb3..2417005 100644
--- a/deploy/sync-replica-data.sh
+++ b/deploy/sync-replica-data.sh
@@ -45,10 +45,30 @@ if [[ -z "${DATABASE_URL:-}" && -f "$API_DIR/.env" ]]; then
   set -a && source "$API_DIR/.env" && set +a
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "${DATABASE_URL:-}" ]]; then
-  echo "DATABASE_URL is empty (publisher)." >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
+# Prisma DATABASE_URL often has @ in the password (e.g. Admin@12345) which breaks
+# libpq URI parsing → host "Montime@127.0.0.1". Use an explicit publisher DSN.
+resolve_publisher_dsn() {
+  if [[ -n "${PUBLISHER_DSN:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "$PUBLISHER_DSN"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "${PGHOST:-}" && -n "${PGUSER:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "host=${PGHOST} port=${PGPORT:-5432} dbname=${PGDATABASE:-superadmin} user=${PGUSER} password=${PGPASSWORD:-}"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "${DATABASE_URL:-}" ]]; then
+    local url="${DATABASE_URL%%\?*}"
+    if [[ "$url" == postgresql://* || "$url" == postgres://* ]]; then
+      echo "$url"
+      return 0
+    fi
+  fi
+  echo "Set PUBLISHER_DSN in deploy/replicas.env (postgresql://…@127.0.0.1:5432/superadmin)." >&2
+  echo "Prisma DATABASE_URL alone is not reliable for pg_dump when the password contains @." >&2
+  return 1
+}
+
+PUBLISHER="$(resolve_publisher_dsn)" || exit 1
 
 mapfile -t REPLICAS < <(
   printf '%s\n' "$REPLICA_DSNS" | tr ',' '\n' | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//' | grep -v '^$'
@@ -76,6 +96,12 @@ label() {
   echo "${host:-?}:${port:-5432}/${db:-?}"
 }
 
+if ! run_psql "$(libpq_dsn "$PUBLISHER")" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -At -c "SELECT 1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "Cannot connect to publisher ($(label "$PUBLISHER"))." >&2
+  echo "Add PUBLISHER_DSN to deploy/replicas.env — URL-encode @ in passwords as %40." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 table_count() {
   local dsn="$1" table="$2"
   run_psql "$(libpq_dsn "$dsn")" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -At -c \
@@ -102,7 +128,7 @@ grant_app_user() {
 copy_table_from_publisher() {
   local replica_dsn="$1" table="$2"
   local pub_dsn
-  pub_dsn="$(libpq_dsn "$DATABASE_URL")"
+  pub_dsn="$(libpq_dsn "$PUBLISHER")"
   pg_dump "$pub_dsn" \
     -t "public.\"$table\"" \
     --data-only \
@@ -127,7 +153,7 @@ repair_replica() {
   fi
 
   for table in "${SYNC_TABLES[@]}"; do
-    pub="$(table_count "$DATABASE_URL" "$table")"
+    pub="$(table_count "$PUBLISHER" "$table")"
     replica="$(table_count "$replica_dsn" "$table")"
     if [[ "$pub" != "$replica" ]]; then
       drifted+=("$table")
@@ -155,7 +181,7 @@ repair_replica() {
     run_psql "$(libpq_dsn "$replica_dsn")" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -q \
       -c "TRUNCATE TABLE public.\"$table\" CASCADE"
     copy_table_from_publisher "$replica_dsn" "$table"
-    pub="$(table_count "$DATABASE_URL" "$table")"
+    pub="$(table_count "$PUBLISHER" "$table")"
     replica="$(table_count "$replica_dsn" "$table")"
     if [[ "$pub" != "$replica" ]]; then
       echo "  ! repair failed for $table (publisher=$pub replica=$replica)" >&2
@@ -194,7 +220,7 @@ check_replicas() {
         FROM pg_stat_subscription" 2>/dev/null || echo "  (no pg_stat_subscription)"
 
     for table in "${SYNC_TABLES[@]}"; do
-      pub="$(table_count "$DATABASE_URL" "$table")"
+      pub="$(table_count "$PUBLISHER" "$table")"
       replica="$(table_count "$dsn" "$table")"
       if [[ "$pub" == "$replica" ]]; then
         echo "  $table OK ($pub)"