diff --git a/stress_test/generate_mock_data.php b/stress_test/generate_mock_data.php
index a0e00ff2..06e7ce7b 100644
--- a/stress_test/generate_mock_data.php
+++ b/stress_test/generate_mock_data.php
@@ -1,25 +1,51 @@
 <?php
+/**
+ * generate_mock_data.php
+ * Standalone JWT generator for stress testing.
+ * Does NOT use connect.php (which requires HTTP context and JWT auth).
+ * Reads the JWT secret the same way driver_socket.php does.
+ */
 error_reporting(0);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-// stress_test/generate_mock_data.php
-// Generates a valid JWT for the driver using the system's JWT_SECRET_KEY
-require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/backend/connect.php';
+ini_set('display_errors', '0');
+
+// Load JWT library from loction_server vendor
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/loction_server/vendor/autoload.php';
 
 use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
-use Firebase\JWT\Key;
 
+// ── Load .env (same parser as driver_socket.php) ──
+function loadEnvFile(string $path): void {
+    if (!file_exists($path)) return;
+    foreach (file($path, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES) as $line) {
+        if (str_starts_with(trim($line), '#') || !str_contains($line, '=')) continue;
+        [$name, $value] = explode('=', $line, 2);
+        putenv(trim($name) . '=' . trim($value, "\"'"));
+    }
+}
+
+// Try location server env first (same source driver_socket.php uses)
+loadEnvFile('/home/location/env/.env');
+// Fallback: try backend .env
+loadEnvFile(dirname(__DIR__) . '/backend/.env');
+
+// ── Resolve JWT secret (same logic as driver_socket.php) ──
 function getJwtSecret(): string {
     $keyPath = getenv('JWT_SECRET_KEY_PATH');
     if ($keyPath && file_exists($keyPath)) {
         return trim(file_get_contents($keyPath));
     }
-    return getenv('JWT_SECRET_KEY') ?: '';
+    $key = getenv('JWT_SECRET_KEY');
+    if ($key) return $key;
+    // backend .env uses JWT_SECRET (without _KEY suffix)
+    $key = getenv('JWT_SECRET');
+    if ($key) return $key;
+    return '';
 }
 
 $secret = getJwtSecret();
 if (empty($secret)) {
-    die("Error: JWT_SECRET_KEY not found. Cannot generate mock JWT.\n");
+    echo json_encode(['error' => 'JWT secret not found', 'jwt' => '']);
+    exit(1);
 }
 
 $driverId = $argv[1] ?? '999999';
@@ -28,12 +54,12 @@ $payload = [
     'sub'  => (string)$driverId,
     'role' => 'driver',
     'iat'  => time(),
-    'exp'  => time() + 86400
+    'exp'  => time() + 86400,
 ];
 
 $jwt = JWT::encode($payload, $secret, 'HS256');
 
 echo json_encode([
     'driver_id' => $driverId,
-    'jwt' => $jwt
+    'jwt'       => $jwt,
 ]);