diff --git a/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh b/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b6de496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,379 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# DashCaddy Host-Side Updater
+# Triggered by systemd path unit when the container writes trigger.json.
+# Reads the trigger, backs up current API + data/, copies new files, rebuilds container.
+# Writes result.json so the new container knows the outcome.
+#
+# This runs on the HOST, outside the container.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+readonly UPDATES_DIR="/opt/dashcaddy/updates"
+readonly TRIGGER_FILE="${UPDATES_DIR}/trigger.json"
+readonly RESULT_FILE="${UPDATES_DIR}/result.json"
+readonly BACKUPS_DIR="${UPDATES_DIR}/backups"
+readonly CONTAINER_NAME="dashcaddy-api"
+readonly IMAGE_TAG="dashcaddy-dashcaddy-api:latest"
+readonly MAX_BACKUPS=3
+readonly HEALTH_TIMEOUT=60
+
+# Data directory backup — stored alongside code backups so everything rolls back together
+readonly DATA_SOURCE_DIR="/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data"
+readonly DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX="data-backup"
+
+log() { echo "[dashcaddy-update] $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') $*"; }
+
+write_result() {
+  local success="$1" version="$2" duration="$3"
+  shift 3
+  local error="${1:-}"
+
+  if [[ "$success" == "true" ]]; then
+    cat > "$RESULT_FILE" <<EOF
+{
+  "success": true,
+  "version": "${version}",
+  "duration": ${duration},
+  "timestamp": "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+}
+EOF
+  else
+    cat > "$RESULT_FILE" <<EOF
+{
+  "success": false,
+  "version": "${version}",
+  "duration": ${duration},
+  "error": "${error}",
+  "timestamp": "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
+}
+EOF
+  fi
+}
+
+cleanup_old_backups() {
+  local count
+  count=$(find "$BACKUPS_DIR" -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
+  if (( count > MAX_BACKUPS )); then
+    log "Cleaning old backups (${count} > ${MAX_BACKUPS})"
+    find "$BACKUPS_DIR" -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d -printf '%T+ %p\n' \
+      | sort | head -n $(( count - MAX_BACKUPS )) | cut -d' ' -f2- \
+      | xargs rm -rf
+  fi
+}
+
+# ── Data backup (rsync for efficiency + permissions) ──────────────────────────
+backup_data_dir() {
+  local backup_dir="$1"
+  if [[ -d "$DATA_SOURCE_DIR" ]]; then
+    log "Backing up data/ to ${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}/"
+    mkdir -p "${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}"
+    rsync -a --delete "$DATA_SOURCE_DIR/" "${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}/" 2>/dev/null \
+      || cp -a "$DATA_SOURCE_DIR" "${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}"
+    log "Data backup complete ($(du -sh "${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1))"
+  else
+    log "WARNING: Data source dir $DATA_SOURCE_DIR not found — skipping data backup"
+  fi
+}
+
+# ── Data restore ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+restore_data_dir() {
+  local backup_dir="$1"
+  local data_backup="${backup_dir}/${DATA_BACKUP_PREFIX}"
+  if [[ -d "$data_backup" ]]; then
+    log "Restoring data/ from backup..."
+    rsync -a --delete "$data_backup/" "$DATA_SOURCE_DIR/" 2>/dev/null \
+      || cp -a "$data_backup" "$DATA_SOURCE_DIR"
+    log "Data restored successfully"
+  else
+    log "WARNING: No data backup found at ${data_backup} — data/ not restored"
+  fi
+}
+
+wait_for_health() {
+  local port="${1:-3001}"
+  local timeout="$HEALTH_TIMEOUT"
+  local elapsed=0
+
+  log "Waiting for health check (timeout: ${timeout}s)..."
+  while (( elapsed < timeout )); do
+    if curl -fsSL --max-time 3 "http://localhost:${port}/health" &>/dev/null; then
+      log "Health check passed after ${elapsed}s"
+      return 0
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+    elapsed=$(( elapsed + 2 ))
+  done
+
+  log "Health check FAILED after ${timeout}s"
+  return 1
+}
+
+# ── Shared rollback: restore code + data ────────────────────────────────────
+rollback_restore() {
+  local backup_dir="$1"
+  log "Rolling back: restoring code files..."
+  for item in "$backup_dir"/*.js "$backup_dir"/package.json "$backup_dir"/package-lock.json "$backup_dir"/Dockerfile "$backup_dir"/openapi.yaml "$backup_dir"/VERSION; do
+    [[ -f "$item" ]] && cp -f "$item" "$api_source_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/routes" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/routes"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/routes" "$api_source_dir/routes"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/src" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/src"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/src" "$api_source_dir/src"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/dns-providers" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/dns-providers" "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+  fi
+  restore_data_dir "$backup_dir"
+}
+
+# ── Deployment mode ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Reproduce the SAME container the install created so an auto-update keeps every
+# volume + env var (docker socket, Caddyfile, config/credentials, updates mount),
+# not a minimal subset. Standard installs use docker-compose (compose file in the
+# api source dir); the publish/dev host uses /opt/dashcaddy/start.sh; otherwise a
+# bare docker run is the last resort. build_image() and restart_container() both
+# honor the detected mode so build and run stay consistent.
+deploy_mode() {
+  if [[ -f "$api_source_dir/docker-compose.yml" || -f "$api_source_dir/compose.yml" || -f "$api_source_dir/compose.yaml" ]]; then
+    echo compose
+  elif [[ -x /opt/dashcaddy/start.sh ]]; then
+    echo startsh
+  else
+    echo run
+  fi
+}
+
+# Build the API image using whatever the install is wired for. Returns the build
+# command's exit status so callers can detect failure.
+build_image() {
+  cd "$api_source_dir" || return 1
+  case "$(deploy_mode)" in
+    compose) docker compose build 2>&1 || docker-compose build 2>&1 ;;
+    *)       docker build -t "$IMAGE_TAG" . 2>&1 ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# ── Shared container restart — recreate with the full, install-defined spec ───
+# Recreates (rm + run / compose up) so new code AND new env vars take effect.
+restart_container() {
+  cd "$api_source_dir" 2>/dev/null || true
+  case "$(deploy_mode)" in
+    compose)
+      log "Recreating container via docker compose (full compose spec)..."
+      docker compose up -d 2>&1 || docker-compose up -d 2>&1
+      ;;
+    startsh)
+      log "Recreating container via /opt/dashcaddy/start.sh (full container spec)..."
+      bash /opt/dashcaddy/start.sh
+      ;;
+    *)
+      log "Recreating container via minimal docker run (fallback)..."
+      docker rm -f "$CONTAINER_NAME" 2>/dev/null || true
+      docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name "$CONTAINER_NAME" \
+        -p 127.0.0.1:3001:3001 \
+        -v /opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data:/app/data \
+        -e SERVICES_FILE=/app/data/services.json \
+        "$IMAGE_TAG"
+      ;;
+  esac
+  log "Container recreated"
+}
+
+# ── Code-only restore (used after failed build when data hasn't changed yet) ──
+code_restore() {
+  local backup_dir="$1"
+  log "Restoring code files..."
+  for item in "$backup_dir"/*.js "$backup_dir"/package.json "$backup_dir"/package-lock.json "$backup_dir"/Dockerfile "$backup_dir"/openapi.yaml "$backup_dir"/VERSION; do
+    [[ -f "$item" ]] && cp -f "$item" "$api_source_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/routes" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/routes"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/routes" "$api_source_dir/routes"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/src" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/src"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/src" "$api_source_dir/src"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$backup_dir/dns-providers" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+    cp -rf "$backup_dir/dns-providers" "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+  fi
+}
+
+main() {
+  local start_time
+  start_time=$(date +%s)
+
+  # 1. Read trigger
+  if [[ ! -f "$TRIGGER_FILE" ]]; then
+    log "No trigger file found — nothing to do"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+
+  # Parse trigger.json (uses python3 which is available on all supported distros)
+  local action version from_version staging_dir api_source_dir commit
+  local frontend_staging_dir frontend_target_dir
+  action=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['action'])")
+  version=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['version'])")
+  from_version=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['fromVersion'])")
+  staging_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['stagingDir'])")
+  api_source_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['apiSourceDir'])")
+  commit=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('commit') or '')")
+  frontend_staging_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('frontendStagingDir') or '')")
+  frontend_target_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('frontendTargetDir') or '')")
+  # Handle action=rollback (no new version to deploy)
+  local to_version="${version}"
+
+  log "=== ${action^^}: v${from_version} -> v${to_version} ==="
+  log "Staging: ${staging_dir}"
+  log "API source: ${api_source_dir}"
+
+  # Consume the trigger immediately so we don't re-process on failure
+  mv "$TRIGGER_FILE" "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+
+  # ── Handle rollback ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  if [[ "$action" == "rollback" ]]; then
+    local backup_dir="${BACKUPS_DIR}/${version}"
+    if [[ ! -d "$backup_dir" ]]; then
+      log "ERROR: No backup found for version ${version}"
+      write_result "false" "$version" "$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))" "No backup found for version ${version}"
+      rm -f "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+
+    log "Performing rollback to v${version}..."
+    rollback_restore "$backup_dir"
+
+    # Rebuild old code
+    log "Rebuilding container..."
+    build_image 2>&1 | tail -3 || true
+
+    restart_container
+    wait_for_health || log "WARNING: Health check failed after rollback"
+
+    write_result "true" "$version" "$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))"
+    rm -f "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+    log "=== Rollback complete ==="
+    exit 0
+  fi
+
+  # ── Handle update ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  if [[ ! -d "$staging_dir" ]]; then
+    log "ERROR: Staging directory not found: ${staging_dir}"
+    write_result "false" "$to_version" "$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))" "Staging directory not found"
+    rm -f "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # 2. Backup current API code + data/
+  local backup_dir="${BACKUPS_DIR}/${from_version}"
+  mkdir -p "$backup_dir"
+  log "Backing up current API files to ${backup_dir}"
+  for item in "$api_source_dir"/*.js "$api_source_dir"/package.json "$api_source_dir"/package-lock.json "$api_source_dir"/Dockerfile "$api_source_dir"/openapi.yaml "$api_source_dir"/VERSION; do
+    [[ -f "$item" ]] && cp -f "$item" "$backup_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+  [[ -d "$api_source_dir/routes" ]] && cp -rf "$api_source_dir/routes" "$backup_dir/"
+  [[ -d "$api_source_dir/src" ]] && cp -rf "$api_source_dir/src" "$backup_dir/"
+  [[ -d "$api_source_dir/dns-providers" ]] && cp -rf "$api_source_dir/dns-providers" "$backup_dir/"
+
+  # Backup data/ directory (services.json, config.json, credentials, etc.)
+  backup_data_dir "$backup_dir"
+
+  cleanup_old_backups
+
+  # 3. Copy new files from staging to API source
+  log "Deploying new API files..."
+  for item in "$staging_dir"/*.js "$staging_dir"/package.json "$staging_dir"/package-lock.json "$staging_dir"/Dockerfile "$staging_dir"/openapi.yaml "$staging_dir"/VERSION; do
+    [[ -f "$item" ]] && cp -f "$item" "$api_source_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+  if [[ -d "$staging_dir/routes" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/routes"
+    cp -rf "$staging_dir/routes" "$api_source_dir/routes"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$staging_dir/src" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/src"
+    cp -rf "$staging_dir/src" "$api_source_dir/src"
+  fi
+  if [[ -d "$staging_dir/dns-providers" ]]; then
+    rm -rf "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+    cp -rf "$staging_dir/dns-providers" "$api_source_dir/dns-providers"
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$commit" ]]; then
+    echo "$commit" > "$api_source_dir/VERSION"
+  fi
+
+  # 3b. Sync frontend
+  if [[ -z "$frontend_staging_dir" ]]; then
+    parent_staging=$(dirname "$staging_dir")
+    [[ -d "$parent_staging/status" ]] && frontend_staging_dir="$parent_staging/status"
+  fi
+  if [[ -z "$frontend_target_dir" ]]; then
+    for candidate in /var/www/dashcaddy-status /etc/dashcaddy/sites/status; do
+      [[ -d "$candidate" ]] && frontend_target_dir="$candidate" && break
+    done
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$frontend_staging_dir" && -n "$frontend_target_dir" && -d "$frontend_staging_dir" ]]; then
+    log "Syncing frontend: $frontend_staging_dir -> $frontend_target_dir"
+    mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir"
+    [[ -f "$frontend_staging_dir/index.html" ]] && cp -f "$frontend_staging_dir/index.html" "$frontend_target_dir/index.html"
+    [[ -f "$frontend_staging_dir/sw.js" ]] && cp -f "$frontend_staging_dir/sw.js" "$frontend_target_dir/sw.js"
+    for sub in dist css vendor js; do
+      if [[ -d "$frontend_staging_dir/$sub" ]]; then
+        mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir/$sub"
+        cp -rf "$frontend_staging_dir/$sub/"* "$frontend_target_dir/$sub/" 2>/dev/null || true
+      fi
+    done
+    if [[ -d "$frontend_staging_dir/assets" ]]; then
+      mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir/assets"
+      cp -rf "$frontend_staging_dir/assets/"* "$frontend_target_dir/assets/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  # 4. Rebuild container
+  log "Rebuilding container..."
+  local build_ok=false
+  if build_image; then
+    build_ok=true
+  fi
+
+  if [[ "$build_ok" != "true" ]]; then
+    log "ERROR: Docker build failed — rolling back code + data"
+    code_restore "$backup_dir"
+    build_image 2>&1 | tail -3 || true
+    restart_container
+    wait_for_health || true
+    write_result "false" "$to_version" "$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))" "Docker build failed"
+    rm -f "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # 5. Restart container (recreate so new code + env vars take effect)
+  restart_container
+
+  # 6. Health check
+  if wait_for_health; then
+    local duration=$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))
+    log "=== Update successful: v${to_version} in ${duration}s ==="
+    write_result "true" "$to_version" "$duration"
+  else
+    local duration=$(( $(date +%s) - start_time ))
+    log "ERROR: Health check failed after update — rolling back code + data"
+    rollback_restore "$backup_dir"
+    build_image 2>&1 | tail -3 || true
+    restart_container
+    wait_for_health || log "WARNING: Rollback health check also failed"
+    write_result "false" "$to_version" "$duration" "Health check failed after update"
+  fi
+
+  # 7. Cleanup
+  rm -f "${TRIGGER_FILE}.processing"
+  rm -rf "${UPDATES_DIR}/staging" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+  log "=== Update process complete ==="
+}
+
+main "$@"