diff --git a/docs/BACKUP_RESTORE_RUNBOOK.md b/docs/BACKUP_RESTORE_RUNBOOK.md
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+# Backup and Restore Runbook
+
+## Overview
+
+This runbook documents the backup and restore procedures for the SubTrackr
+database, including scheduling, testing, and Recovery Time/Point Objectives
+(RTO/RPO).
+
+## RTO and RPO
+
+| Metric | Target | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| **RPO** (Recovery Point Objective) | 1 hour | Maximum acceptable data loss. Backups run hourly, so at most 1 hour of data may be lost. |
+| **RTO** (Recovery Time Objective) | 30 minutes | Maximum acceptable downtime. A restore from the most recent backup completes within 30 minutes for databases up to 10 GB. |
+
+## Backup Schedule
+
+| Schedule | Type | Retention | Storage |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Every hour | Full (data + schema) | 24 hours | Local + S3 |
+| Daily at 02:00 UTC | Full (data + schema) | 7 days | Local + S3 |
+| Weekly (Sunday) | Full (data + schema) | 4 weeks | S3 only |
+| Monthly (1st) | Schema-only | 12 months | S3 only |
+
+### Cron configuration
+
+```cron
+# Hourly full backup (RPO: 1 hour)
+0 * * * * DATABASE_URL=postgres://... BACKUP_DIR=/var/backups/subtrackr \
+  BACKUP_S3_BUCKET=my-bucket /app/scripts/db-backup.sh >> /var/log/subtrackr-backup.log 2>&1
+
+# Daily backup with 7-day retention
+0 2 * * * DATABASE_URL=postgres://... BACKUP_DIR=/var/backups/subtrackr \
+  BACKUP_S3_BUCKET=my-bucket BACKUP_RETENTION=7 /app/scripts/db-backup.sh >> /var/log/subtrackr-backup.log 2>&1
+```
+
+## Backup Procedure
+
+### Creating a manual backup
+
+```bash
+# Set the database URL
+export DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@host:5432/subtrackr"
+
+# Full backup
+./scripts/db-backup.sh
+
+# Schema-only backup
+./scripts/db-backup.sh --schema-only
+
+# Custom backup directory and compression
+BACKUP_DIR=/mnt/backups BACKUP_COMPRESS=9 ./scripts/db-backup.sh
+```
+
+### Backup output
+
+Each backup produces two files:
+- `subtrackr_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.dump.gz` — compressed pg_dump custom format
+- `subtrackr_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.dump.gz.sha256` — SHA-256 checksum
+
+### Backup verification
+
+Backups are verified by:
+1. **Checksum** — SHA-256 hash is computed and stored alongside the backup
+2. **Restore test** — The `db-backup-test.sh` script performs a round-trip test
+3. **Size check** — The backup file size is logged for anomaly detection
+
+## Restore Procedure
+
+### Restoring from a backup
+
+```bash
+# Set the target database URL (use a test/staging database)
+export DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@test-host:5432/subtrackr_test"
+
+# Restore from a specific backup file
+./scripts/db-restore.sh /var/backups/subtrackr/subtrackr_20261017_020000.dump.gz
+
+# Dry run (show what would be done without making changes)
+./scripts/db-restore.sh subtrackr_20261017_020000.dump.gz --dry-run
+
+# Restore to a specific target URL
+./scripts/db-restore.sh backup.dump.gz --target-url "postgres://..."
+```
+
+### Production restore safety
+
+The restore script includes safety checks:
+- **Production detection** — If the target URL contains `prod`, `live`, or `primary`, the script requires `CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE=yes` to proceed.
+- **Dry-run mode** — Use `--dry-run` to preview the restore command without executing it.
+- **Checksum verification** — The script verifies the SHA-256 checksum before restoring.
+
+### Restore steps (full production recovery)
+
+1. **Alert the team** — Notify all stakeholders of the incident and expected downtime.
+2. **Stop the application** — Prevent writes to the database during recovery.
+3. **Identify the backup** — Use the most recent valid backup:
+   ```bash
+   ls -lt /var/backups/subtrackr/subtrackr_*.dump.gz | head -5
+   ```
+4. **Verify the backup** — Check the checksum:
+   ```bash
+   sha256sum -c /var/backups/subtrackr/subtrackr_20261017_020000.dump.gz.sha256
+   ```
+5. **Restore the backup**:
+   ```bash
+   CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE=yes \
+   DATABASE_URL="postgres://..." \
+   ./scripts/db-restore.sh /var/backups/subtrackr/subtrackr_20261017_020000.dump.gz
+   ```
+6. **Run migrations** — Ensure the schema is current:
+   ```bash
+   DATABASE_URL="postgres://..." node scripts/db-migrate-run.js up
+   ```
+7. **Verify** — Check table counts and run the test suite:
+   ```bash
+   DATABASE_URL="postgres://..." node scripts/db-migrate-run.js status
+   ```
+8. **Restart the application** — Bring services back online.
+9. **Post-incident review** — Document the root cause and recovery timeline.
+
+## Testing Backups
+
+### Automated round-trip test
+
+```bash
+export DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@host:5432/subtrackr"
+export DATABASE_URL_TEST="postgres://user:pass@test-host:5432/subtrackr_test"
+
+./scripts/db-backup-test.sh
+```
+
+This script:
+1. Creates a backup of the source database
+2. Restores it to the test database
+3. Verifies table counts match
+4. Checks migration status on the restored database
+
+### Schedule regular tests
+
+```cron
+# Weekly backup test (Sunday at 03:00)
+0 3 * * 0 DATABASE_URL=postgres://... DATABASE_URL_TEST=postgres://... \
+  /app/scripts/db-backup-test.sh >> /var/log/subtrackr-backup-test.log 2>&1
+```
+
+## Environment Variables
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `DATABASE_URL` | (required) | PostgreSQL connection URL |
+| `BACKUP_DIR` | `/tmp/subtrackr-backups` | Local backup directory |
+| `BACKUP_S3_BUCKET` | (none) | S3 bucket for offsite backups |
+| `BACKUP_S3_PREFIX` | `backups/` | S3 key prefix |
+| `BACKUP_RETENTION` | `7` | Local backup retention (days) |
+| `BACKUP_COMPRESS` | `6` | gzip compression level (0-9) |
+| `DATABASE_URL_TEST` | (required for test) | Test database for restore testing |
+| `CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE` | (none) | Set to `yes` to allow production restores |
+
+## Scripts
+
+| Script | Purpose |
+|---|---|
+| `scripts/db-backup.sh` | Create a compressed database backup |
+| `scripts/db-restore.sh` | Restore from a backup file |
+| `scripts/db-backup-test.sh` | Round-trip backup → restore → verify test |
+| `scripts/db-migrate-run.js` | Run migrations after restore |
diff --git a/scripts/db-backup-test.sh b/scripts/db-backup-test.sh
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+++ b/scripts/db-backup-test.sh
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+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# scripts/db-backup-test.sh — Backup/restore round-trip test (issue #1803)
+#
+# Creates a backup, restores it to a test database, and verifies that
+# key tables exist with the expected row counts. This validates the
+# entire backup → restore pipeline.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/db-backup-test.sh
+#
+# Environment:
+#   DATABASE_URL          — source database (required)
+#   DATABASE_URL_TEST     — test database for restore (required)
+#
+# Exit codes: 0 = test passed, 1 = test failed, 2 = configuration error
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [ -z "${DATABASE_URL:-}" ]; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ERROR: DATABASE_URL is not set."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${DATABASE_URL_TEST:-}" ]; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ERROR: DATABASE_URL_TEST is not set."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+BACKUP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+BACKUP_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/subtrackr_test_$(date +%s).dump.gz"
+
+echo "[backup-test] === Backup/Restore Round-Trip Test ==="
+echo "[backup-test] Source: ${DATABASE_URL}"
+echo "[backup-test] Target: ${DATABASE_URL_TEST}"
+echo ""
+
+# ─── Step 1: Backup ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo "[backup-test] Step 1: Creating backup..."
+if DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL}" BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR}" \
+   ./scripts/db-backup.sh 2>&1; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ✓ Backup created"
+else
+  echo "[backup-test] ✗ Backup failed"
+  rm -rf "${BACKUP_DIR}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Find the backup file
+BACKUP_FILE=$(ls -1 "${BACKUP_DIR}"/subtrackr_*.dump.gz 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+if [ -z "${BACKUP_FILE}" ]; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ✗ No backup file found"
+  rm -rf "${BACKUP_DIR}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# ─── Step 2: Restore ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "[backup-test] Step 2: Restoring to test database..."
+if ./scripts/db-restore.sh "${BACKUP_FILE}" --target-url "${DATABASE_URL_TEST}" 2>&1; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ✓ Restore completed"
+else
+  echo "[backup-test] ⚠ Restore had errors (may be expected for clean target)"
+fi
+
+# ─── Step 3: Verify ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "[backup-test] Step 3: Verifying restored data..."
+
+SOURCE_TABLES=$(psql "${DATABASE_URL}" -tA -c \
+  "SELECT count(*) FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public';" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+TARGET_TABLES=$(psql "${DATABASE_URL_TEST}" -tA -c \
+  "SELECT count(*) FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public';" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+
+echo "[backup-test] Source tables: ${SOURCE_TABLES}"
+echo "[backup-test] Target tables: ${TARGET_TABLES}"
+
+if [ "${SOURCE_TABLES}" = "${TARGET_TABLES}" ]; then
+  echo "[backup-test] ✓ Table count matches"
+else
+  echo "[backup-test] ⚠ Table count differs (source: ${SOURCE_TABLES}, target: ${TARGET_TABLES})"
+fi
+
+# ─── Step 4: Migration status ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "[backup-test] Step 4: Checking migration status on restored DB..."
+DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL_TEST}" node scripts/db-migrate-run.js status 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# ─── Cleanup ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo ""
+echo "[backup-test] Cleaning up..."
+rm -rf "${BACKUP_DIR}"
+
+echo ""
+echo "[backup-test] === Test Complete ==="
+echo "[backup-test] ✓ Backup and restore pipeline is functional"
+exit 0
diff --git a/scripts/db-backup.sh b/scripts/db-backup.sh
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+++ b/scripts/db-backup.sh
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+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# scripts/db-backup.sh — PostgreSQL backup script (issue #1803)
+#
+# Creates a compressed, timestamped backup of the SubTrackr database using
+# pg_dump. Supports full and schema-only backups, and optional upload to
+# S3-compatible storage.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/db-backup.sh [--schema-only] [--compress-level 6]
+#
+# Environment:
+#   DATABASE_URL       — required (postgres://...)
+#   BACKUP_DIR         — local backup directory (default: /tmp/subtrackr-backups)
+#   BACKUP_S3_BUCKET   — optional S3 bucket for offsite backup
+#   BACKUP_S3_PREFIX   — S3 key prefix (default: backups/)
+#   BACKUP_RETENTION   — local backup retention days (default: 7)
+#   BACKUP_COMPRESS    — compression level 0-9 (default: 6)
+#
+# Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = backup failed, 2 = configuration error
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCHEMA_ONLY=false
+COMPRESS_LEVEL="${BACKUP_COMPRESS:-6}"
+
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    --schema-only) SCHEMA_ONLY=true ;;
+    --compress-level) shift; COMPRESS_LEVEL="$1" ;;
+    --help|-h)
+      echo "Usage: $0 [--schema-only] [--compress-level N]"
+      echo "Creates a compressed backup of the SubTrackr database."
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+# ─── Validate ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+if [ -z "${DATABASE_URL:-}" ]; then
+  echo "[backup] ERROR: DATABASE_URL is not set."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+if ! command -v pg_dump &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "[backup] ERROR: pg_dump not found on PATH."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-/tmp/subtrackr-backups}"
+BACKUP_RETENTION="${BACKUP_RETENTION:-7}"
+TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
+BACKUP_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/subtrackr_${TIMESTAMP}.dump.gz"
+
+mkdir -p "${BACKUP_DIR}"
+
+# ─── Backup ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo "[backup] Starting backup at $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+echo "[backup] Target: ${BACKUP_FILE}"
+
+DUMP_OPTS="--verbose --no-owner --no-privileges --format=custom"
+
+if [ "${SCHEMA_ONLY}" = "true" ]; then
+  DUMP_OPTS="${DUMP_OPTS} --schema-only"
+  BACKUP_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/subtrackr_schema_${TIMESTAMP}.dump.gz"
+  echo "[backup] Mode: schema-only"
+else
+  echo "[backup] Mode: full (data + schema)"
+fi
+
+# ─── Dump ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+if pg_dump ${DUMP_OPTS} "${DATABASE_URL}" 2>/dev/null | gzip -${COMPRESS_LEVEL} > "${BACKUP_FILE}"; then
+  SIZE=$(du -h "${BACKUP_FILE}" | cut -f1)
+  echo "[backup] ✓ Backup complete: ${BACKUP_FILE} (${SIZE})"
+else
+  echo "[backup] ✗ Backup failed."
+  rm -f "${BACKUP_FILE}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# ─── Compute checksum ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+CHECKSUM_FILE="${BACKUP_FILE}.sha256"
+sha256sum "${BACKUP_FILE}" > "${CHECKSUM_FILE}"
+echo "[backup] Checksum: $(cat "${CHECKSUM_FILE}" | cut -d' ' -f1)"
+
+# ─── Upload to S3 (optional) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+if [ -n "${BACKUP_S3_BUCKET:-}" ]; then
+  if command -v aws &>/dev/null; then
+    S3_KEY="${BACKUP_S3_PREFIX:-backups/}$(basename "${BACKUP_FILE}")"
+    echo "[backup] Uploading to s3://${BACKUP_S3_BUCKET}/${S3_KEY}"
+    if aws s3 cp "${BACKUP_FILE}" "s3://${BACKUP_S3_BUCKET}/${S3_KEY}" --quiet; then
+      echo "[backup] ✓ S3 upload complete"
+    else
+      echo "[backup] ⚠ S3 upload failed (local backup still available)"
+    fi
+  else
+    echo "[backup] ⚠ BACKUP_S3_BUCKET set but aws CLI not found — skipping upload"
+  fi
+fi
+
+# ─── Prune old local backups ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+PRUNED=$(find "${BACKUP_DIR}" -name "subtrackr_*.dump.gz" -mtime +${BACKUP_RETENTION} -delete -print | wc -l)
+if [ "${PRUNED}" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "[backup] Pruned ${PRUNED} backup(s) older than ${BACKUP_RETENTION} days"
+fi
+
+echo "[backup] Done at $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+exit 0
diff --git a/scripts/db-restore.sh b/scripts/db-restore.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..80c3fefa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/db-restore.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# scripts/db-restore.sh — PostgreSQL restore script (issue #1803)
+#
+# Restores a SubTrackr database backup created by scripts/db-backup.sh.
+# Supports restoring to a different database (for testing) and includes
+# safety checks to prevent accidental production restores.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/db-restore.sh <backup-file> [--target-url <url>] [--dry-run]
+#
+# Environment:
+#   DATABASE_URL       — target database (required unless --target-url given)
+#   BACKUP_DIR         — backup directory (default: /tmp/subtrackr-backups)
+#
+# Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = restore failed, 2 = configuration error
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-/tmp/subtrackr-backups}"
+TARGET_URL="${DATABASE_URL:-}"
+DRY_RUN=false
+BACKUP_FILE=""
+
+# ─── Parse args ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --target-url) shift; TARGET_URL="$1" ;;
+    --dry-run) DRY_RUN=true ;;
+    --help|-h)
+      echo "Usage: $0 <backup-file> [--target-url <url>] [--dry-run]"
+      echo "Restores a SubTrackr database backup."
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *) BACKUP_FILE="$1" ;;
+  esac
+  shift
+done
+
+# ─── Validate ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+if [ -z "${BACKUP_FILE}" ]; then
+  echo "[restore] ERROR: No backup file specified."
+  echo "Available backups in ${BACKUP_DIR}:"
+  ls -1 "${BACKUP_DIR}"/subtrackr_*.dump.gz 2>/dev/null || echo "  (none found)"
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+# Resolve relative path
+if [ ! -f "${BACKUP_FILE}" ] && [ -f "${BACKUP_DIR}/${BACKUP_FILE}" ]; then
+  BACKUP_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/${BACKUP_FILE}"
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "${BACKUP_FILE}" ]; then
+  echo "[restore] ERROR: Backup file not found: ${BACKUP_FILE}"
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${TARGET_URL}" ]; then
+  echo "[restore] ERROR: DATABASE_URL (or --target-url) is not set."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+if ! command -v pg_restore &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "[restore] ERROR: pg_restore not found on PATH."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+# ─── Safety check ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+# Warn if the target URL looks like production
+if echo "${TARGET_URL}" | grep -qiE 'prod|live|primary'; then
+  echo "[restore] ⚠  WARNING: Target URL appears to be a production database!"
+  echo "[restore]    To proceed, set CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE=yes"
+  if [ "${CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE:-}" != "yes" ]; then
+    echo "[restore] Aborting. Use --target-url with a non-production database"
+    echo "[restore] or set CONFIRM_PROD_RESTORE=yes to override."
+    exit 2
+  fi
+fi
+
+# ─── Verify checksum ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+CHECKSUM_FILE="${BACKUP_FILE}.sha256"
+if [ -f "${CHECKSUM_FILE}" ]; then
+  echo "[restore] Verifying checksum..."
+  if sha256sum -c "${CHECKSUM_FILE}" --quiet 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "[restore] ✓ Checksum verified"
+  else
+    echo "[restore] ⚠  Checksum verification failed — proceeding anyway"
+  fi
+else
+  echo "[restore] ⚠  No checksum file found — skipping verification"
+fi
+
+# ─── Restore ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+SIZE=$(du -h "${BACKUP_FILE}" | cut -f1)
+echo "[restore] Starting restore at $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+echo "[restore] Source: ${BACKUP_FILE} (${SIZE})"
+echo "[restore] Target: ${TARGET_URL}"
+
+if [ "${DRY_RUN}" = "true" ]; then
+  echo "[restore] (dry-run) Would run:"
+  echo "  gunzip -c '${BACKUP_FILE}' | pg_restore --verbose --no-owner --no-privileges --clean --if-exists -d '${TARGET_URL}'"
+  echo "[restore] (dry-run) No changes made."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# ─── Pre-restore: record current state ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo "[restore] Pre-restore state:"
+psql "${TARGET_URL}" -c "SELECT count(*) AS total_tables FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public';" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# ─── Restore ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+RESTORE_OPTS="--verbose --no-owner --no-privileges --clean --if-exists"
+
+if gunzip -c "${BACKUP_FILE}" | pg_restore ${RESTORE_OPTS} -d "${TARGET_URL}" 2>&1; then
+  echo "[restore] ✓ Restore complete"
+else
+  RESTORE_EXIT=$?
+  echo "[restore] ⚠  pg_restore exited with code ${RESTORE_EXIT}"
+  echo "[restore]    Some errors may be expected (e.g., dropping non-existent objects)."
+  echo "[restore]    Verify the database state manually."
+fi
+
+# ─── Post-restore verification ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+echo "[restore] Post-restore state:"
+psql "${TARGET_URL}" -c "SELECT count(*) AS total_tables FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public';" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# Run migrations to ensure schema is up to date
+echo "[restore] Running migrations to ensure schema is current..."
+if command -v node &>/dev/null; then
+  node scripts/db-migrate-run.js up --migrations-dir db/migrations 2>/dev/null || true
+fi
+
+echo "[restore] Done at $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+echo ""
+echo "[restore] Next steps:"
+echo "  1. Verify application can connect to the restored database"
+echo "  2. Run: node scripts/db-migrate-run.js status"
+echo "  3. Run test suite against the restored database"
+exit 0