diff --git a/deploy/backup/make-backup.sh b/deploy/backup/make-backup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..83ed87e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/backup/make-backup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# cayce-backup — encrypted daily backup of CayceOps + Gitea + config.
+#
+# Design contract (Tanda B):
+#   - EVERY artifact is encrypted with age BEFORE it leaves the tmpdir.
+#     No plaintext is ever written outside the tmpdir, which is removed
+#     by a trap even on failure.
+#   - The age recipient lives in /etc/cayce-backup/age-recipient.pub
+#     (public key only). The PRIVATE key never touches this server:
+#     decryption happens on the operator's machine after a pull.
+#   - Any step failure => non-zero exit => journald entry (run via systemd).
+#   - Retention: 7 daily directories under /var/backups/cayce/.
+#
+# The restore procedure lives in deploy/backup/RESTORE.md.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+DATE="$(date -u +%F)"
+BACKUP_ROOT="/var/backups/cayce"
+DEST="$BACKUP_ROOT/$DATE"
+RECIPIENT_FILE="/etc/cayce-backup/age-recipient.pub"
+CAYCE_DIR="/home/ubuntu/cayce-ops"
+ENV_FILE="$CAYCE_DIR/.env"
+RETENTION_DAYS=7
+
+log() { echo "[cayce-backup] $(date -u +%FT%TZ) $*"; }
+die() { echo "[cayce-backup] FATAL: $*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+# --- preconditions -------------------------------------------------------------
+[[ $EUID -eq 0 ]] || die "must run as root (systemd)"
+command -v age >/dev/null || die "age not installed"
+[[ -r "$RECIPIENT_FILE" ]] || die "age recipient not configured: create $RECIPIENT_FILE (public key only)"
+RECIPIENT="$(tr -d "[:space:]" < "$RECIPIENT_FILE")"
+[[ "$RECIPIENT" == age1* ]] || die "$RECIPIENT_FILE does not look like an age1... public key"
+
+# --- workspace: everything plaintext lives here and dies here ------------------
+TMP="$(mktemp -d /tmp/cayce-backup.XXXXXX)"
+# 711: root-only listing, but the git user must be able to traverse into
+# its own 700 subdir for gitea dump; plaintext root files stay unreadable
+chmod 711 "$TMP"
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$TMP"
+  if [[ "${FAILED:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$DEST"   # never leave a partial day directory
+  fi
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+STAGE="$TMP/stage"          # encrypted artifacts land here before install
+install -d -m 700 "$STAGE"
+
+encrypt() { # encrypt <plaintext-path> <name.age>
+  age -r "$RECIPIENT" -o "$STAGE/$2" "$1"
+}
+
+# --- 1. Postgres dump (cayce-ops DB) --------------------------------------------
+DB_URL="${CAYCE_OPS_DATABASE_URL:-}"
+if [[ -z "$DB_URL" && -r "$ENV_FILE" ]]; then
+  # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+  DB_URL="$(grep -E "^CAYCE_OPS_DATABASE_URL=" "$ENV_FILE" | head -1 | cut -d= -f2-)"
+fi
+[[ -n "$DB_URL" ]] || die "no CAYCE_OPS_DATABASE_URL in env or $ENV_FILE"
+PG_URL="$(printf "%s" "$DB_URL" | sed -E "s#postgresql\+[a-z]+://#postgresql://#")"
+log "dumping database from ${PG_URL%%@*@}***@..."
+pg_dump "$PG_URL" --format=custom --file "$TMP/cayce-ops-db.dump"
+encrypt "$TMP/cayce-ops-db.dump" "cayce-ops-db.dump.age"
+log "database dump: $(du -h "$TMP/cayce-ops-db.dump" | cut -f1) plaintext, encrypted ok"
+
+# --- 2. Gitea dump (repos + sqlite + attachments) -------------------------------
+GITEA_BIN="$(command -v gitea || echo /usr/local/bin/gitea)"
+[[ -x "$GITEA_BIN" ]] || die "gitea binary not found"
+install -d -o git -g git -m 700 "$TMP/gitea-work"
+log "running gitea dump (live; see RESTORE.md for consistency notes)..."
+sudo -u git "$GITEA_BIN" dump -c /etc/gitea/app.ini \
+  --file "$TMP/gitea-work/gitea-dump.zip" --tempdir "$TMP/gitea-work" --quiet
+encrypt "$TMP/gitea-work/gitea-dump.zip" "gitea-dump.zip.age"
+log "gitea dump: $(du -h "$TMP/gitea-work/gitea-dump.zip" | cut -f1) plaintext, encrypted ok"
+
+# --- 3. Config tar (Caddy, Gitea app.ini + internal_token, units, .env) ----------
+CONF="$TMP/config"
+install -d -m 700 "$CONF"
+mkdir -p "$CONF/caddy" "$CONF/gitea" "$CONF/systemd" "$CONF/cayce-ops"
+cp -a /etc/caddy/Caddyfile "$CONF/caddy/" 2>/dev/null || true
+cp -a /etc/caddy/Caddyfile.d "$CONF/caddy/" 2>/dev/null || true
+cp -a /etc/gitea/app.ini "$CONF/gitea/" 2>/dev/null || true
+cp -a /etc/gitea/internal_token "$CONF/gitea/" 2>/dev/null || true
+find /etc/systemd/system -maxdepth 1 -name "cayce-*" \
+  -exec cp -a {} "$CONF/systemd/" \; 2>/dev/null || true
+[[ -r "$ENV_FILE" ]] && cp -a "$ENV_FILE" "$CONF/cayce-ops/dot-env" \
+  || log "WARNING: $ENV_FILE not present — config backup continues without it"
+# at least Caddy or Gitea config must exist, else the tar is useless
+[[ -e "$CONF/caddy/Caddyfile" || -e "$CONF/gitea/app.ini" ]] \
+  || die "no config sources found (Caddyfile/app.ini missing)"
+tar -C "$CONF" -czf "$TMP/config.tar.gz" .
+encrypt "$TMP/config.tar.gz" "config.tar.gz.age"
+log "config tar: $(du -h "$TMP/config.tar.gz" | cut -f1) plaintext, encrypted ok"
+
+# --- 4. install + manifest -------------------------------------------------------
+install -d -m 750 -o root -g backup-pull "$BACKUP_ROOT" 2>/dev/null \
+  || install -d -m 700 "$BACKUP_ROOT"   # backup-pull group may not exist yet
+install -d -m 750 -o root -g backup-pull "$DEST" 2>/dev/null \
+  || install -d -m 700 "$DEST"
+install -m 640 -o root -g backup-pull "$STAGE"/*.age "$DEST/" 2>/dev/null \
+  || install -m 600 "$STAGE"/*.age "$DEST/"
+( cd "$DEST" && sha256sum ./*.age > "$TMP/manifest.sha256" )
+install -m 640 -o root -g backup-pull "$TMP/manifest.sha256" "$DEST/manifest.sha256" 2>/dev/null \
+  || install -m 600 "$TMP/manifest.sha256" "$DEST/manifest.sha256"
+log "manifest written: $(wc -l < "$DEST/manifest.sha256") artifacts"
+
+# --- 5. retention -----------------------------------------------------------------
+PRUNED=0
+while IFS= read -r old; do
+  rm -rf "$old"
+  PRUNED=$((PRUNED + 1))
+  log "retention: removed $old"
+done < <(find "$BACKUP_ROOT" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "2*-*-*" -mtime +"$RETENTION_DAYS")
+log "retention: kept last $RETENTION_DAYS days (pruned $PRUNED)"
+
+log "BACKUP OK → $DEST ($(du -sh "$DEST" | cut -f1))"
diff --git a/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.service b/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fbc2abd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.service
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Cayce — encrypted daily backup (CayceOps DB + Gitea + config)
+After=network-online.target postgresql.service
+Wants=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cayce-make-backup
+# hardening
+NoNewPrivileges=true
+ProtectHome=read-only
+ReadWritePaths=/var/backups/cayce /tmp
+ProtectSystem=strict
+PrivateTmp=false
diff --git a/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.timer b/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.timer
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22bf2a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/systemd/cayce-backup.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Cayce — daily backup schedule (03:15 UTC)
+
+[Timer]
+OnCalendar=*-*-* 03:15:00 UTC
+Persistent=true
+RandomizedDelaySec=300
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target