diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f0eacee6..1c85c9d2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
     "test:run": "vitest run",
     "db:generate": "pnpm --filter @paperclip/db generate",
     "db:migrate": "pnpm --filter @paperclip/db migrate",
+    "db:backup": "./scripts/backup-db.sh",
     "paperclip": "node cli/node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs cli/src/index.ts"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/scripts/backup-db.sh b/scripts/backup-db.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d67f9b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/backup-db.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Backup the embedded PostgreSQL database to data/backups/
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/backup-db.sh          # default: custom format (.dump)
+#   ./scripts/backup-db.sh --sql    # plain SQL format (.sql)
+#
+# Requires: pg_dump (brew install postgresql)
+# The embedded postgres must be running (start with: pnpm dev)
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+BACKUP_DIR="$PROJECT_ROOT/data/backups"
+
+# Read config for port, fall back to default
+PORT=54329
+CONFIG_FILE="$PROJECT_ROOT/.paperclip/config.json"
+if [ -f "$CONFIG_FILE" ]; then
+  CONFIGURED_PORT=$(python3 -c "
+import json, sys
+try:
+    c = json.load(open('$CONFIG_FILE'))
+    print(c.get('database', {}).get('embeddedPostgresPort', ''))
+except: pass
+" 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -n "$CONFIGURED_PORT" ]; then
+    PORT="$CONFIGURED_PORT"
+  fi
+fi
+
+DB_NAME="paperclip"
+DB_USER="paperclip"
+DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
+
+# Check pg_dump is available
+if ! command -v pg_dump &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Error: pg_dump not found. Install with: brew install postgresql" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check the database is reachable
+if ! PGPASSWORD="$DB_USER" pg_isready -h "$DB_HOST" -p "$PORT" -U "$DB_USER" &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Error: Cannot connect to embedded PostgreSQL on port $PORT." >&2
+  echo "       Make sure the server is running (pnpm dev)." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
+
+TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
+
+# Choose format
+FORMAT="custom"
+EXT="dump"
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "--sql" ]]; then
+  FORMAT="plain"
+  EXT="sql"
+fi
+
+BACKUP_FILE="$BACKUP_DIR/paperclip-${TIMESTAMP}.${EXT}"
+
+echo "Backing up database '$DB_NAME' on port $PORT..."
+
+PGPASSWORD="$DB_USER" pg_dump \
+  -h "$DB_HOST" \
+  -p "$PORT" \
+  -U "$DB_USER" \
+  -d "$DB_NAME" \
+  --format="$FORMAT" \
+  --file="$BACKUP_FILE"
+
+SIZE=$(du -h "$BACKUP_FILE" | cut -f1)
+echo "Backup saved: $BACKUP_FILE ($SIZE)"
+
+# Prune backups older than 30 days
+PRUNED=0
+find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "paperclip-*" -mtime +30 -type f -print0 | while IFS= read -r -d '' old; do
+  rm "$old"
+  PRUNED=$((PRUNED + 1))
+done
+if [ "$PRUNED" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "Pruned $PRUNED backup(s) older than 30 days."
+fi