diff --git a/scripts/gitea_backup.sh b/scripts/gitea_backup.sh
new file mode 100755
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/gitea_backup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Gitea backup script — run on the VPS before any hardening changes.
+# Usage: sudo bash scripts/gitea_backup.sh [off-site-dest]
+#
+# off-site-dest: optional rsync/scp destination for off-site copy
+#   e.g. user@backup-host:/backups/gitea/
+#
+# Refs: #971, #990
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+BACKUP_DIR="/opt/gitea/backups"
+TIMESTAMP=$(date +"%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
+GITEA_CONF="/etc/gitea/app.ini"
+GITEA_WORK_DIR="/var/lib/gitea"
+OFFSITE_DEST="${1:-}"
+
+echo "=== Gitea Backup — $TIMESTAMP ==="
+
+# Ensure backup directory exists
+mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
+cd "$BACKUP_DIR"
+
+# Run the dump
+echo "[1/4] Running gitea dump..."
+gitea dump -c "$GITEA_CONF"
+
+# Find the newest zip (gitea dump names it gitea-dump-*.zip)
+BACKUP_FILE=$(ls -t "$BACKUP_DIR"/gitea-dump-*.zip 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+
+if [ -z "$BACKUP_FILE" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: No backup zip found in $BACKUP_DIR"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+BACKUP_SIZE=$(stat -c%s "$BACKUP_FILE" 2>/dev/null || stat -f%z "$BACKUP_FILE")
+echo "[2/4] Backup created: $BACKUP_FILE ($BACKUP_SIZE bytes)"
+
+if [ "$BACKUP_SIZE" -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: Backup file is 0 bytes"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Lock down permissions
+chmod 600 "$BACKUP_FILE"
+
+# Verify contents
+echo "[3/4] Verifying backup contents..."
+CONTENTS=$(unzip -l "$BACKUP_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+check_component() {
+    if echo "$CONTENTS" | grep -q "$1"; then
+        echo "  OK: $2"
+    else
+        echo "  WARN: $2 not found in backup"
+    fi
+}
+
+check_component "gitea-db.sql"    "Database dump"
+check_component "gitea-repo"      "Repositories"
+check_component "custom"          "Custom config"
+check_component "app.ini"         "app.ini"
+
+# Off-site copy
+if [ -n "$OFFSITE_DEST" ]; then
+    echo "[4/4] Copying to off-site: $OFFSITE_DEST"
+    rsync -avz "$BACKUP_FILE" "$OFFSITE_DEST"
+    echo "  Off-site copy complete."
+else
+    echo "[4/4] No off-site destination provided. Skipping."
+    echo "  To copy later: scp $BACKUP_FILE user@backup-host:/backups/gitea/"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Backup complete ==="
+echo "File: $BACKUP_FILE"
+echo "Size: $BACKUP_SIZE bytes"
+echo ""
+echo "To verify restore on a clean instance:"
+echo "  1. Copy zip to test machine"
+echo "  2. unzip $BACKUP_FILE"
+echo "  3. gitea restore --from <extracted-dir> -c /etc/gitea/app.ini"
+echo "  4. Verify repos and DB are intact"