diff --git a/examples/crash_reporter/backend/scripts/ingest_alpha_smoke_tickets.php b/examples/crash_reporter/backend/scripts/ingest_alpha_smoke_tickets.php
index edffadd..70dd4f1 100644
--- a/examples/crash_reporter/backend/scripts/ingest_alpha_smoke_tickets.php
+++ b/examples/crash_reporter/backend/scripts/ingest_alpha_smoke_tickets.php
@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@
  *
  * Usage:
  *   php scripts/ingest_alpha_smoke_tickets.php [--file=path] [--url=BASE] [--owner=admin] [--dry-run]
+ *
+ * Default input: <repo>/tmp/alpha_smoke_round1.txt (project root, not examples/).
  */
 declare(strict_types=1);
 
-$repoRoot = dirname(__DIR__, 3);
+// scripts → backend → crash_reporter → examples → repo root
+$repoRoot = dirname(__DIR__, 4);
 $defaultFile = $repoRoot . '/tmp/alpha_smoke_round1.txt';
 $opts = getopt('', ['file::', 'url::', 'owner::', 'dry-run', 'device::', 'app-version::']);