diff --git a/src/main/services/BackupService.ts b/src/main/services/BackupService.ts
index 06b975a..6e60a0b 100644
--- a/src/main/services/BackupService.ts
+++ b/src/main/services/BackupService.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
-import { mkdir, rename, stat, readdir, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { mkdir, rename, stat, readdir, unlink, readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { applyGfsRetention } from './backupRotation.js';
 
 const KST_OFFSET_MS = 9 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+const MARKER_FILENAME = '.last-snapshot';
 
 function toKstDateKey(d: Date): string {
   const k = new Date(d.getTime() + KST_OFFSET_MS);
@@ -20,6 +21,15 @@ export interface RotateResult {
   removed: string[];
 }
 
+export interface DailyResult {
+  snapshotted: boolean;
+  reason?: string;
+  path?: string;
+  bytes?: number;
+  kept?: string[];
+  removed?: string[];
+}
+
 export class BackupService {
   constructor(
     private db: Database.Database,
@@ -64,4 +74,32 @@ export class BackupService {
     }
     return { kept: decision.keep, removed: decision.remove };
   }
+
+  async lastSnapshotAt(): Promise<string | null> {
+    try {
+      const raw = await readFile(join(this.backupDir, MARKER_FILENAME), 'utf8');
+      return raw.trim() || null;
+    } catch (e: unknown) {
+      if ((e as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'ENOENT') return null;
+      throw e;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async runDaily(): Promise<DailyResult> {
+    const today = toKstDateKey(this.now());
+    const last = await this.lastSnapshotAt();
+    if (last === today) {
+      return { snapshotted: false, reason: 'already snapshotted today' };
+    }
+    const snap = await this.snapshot();
+    await writeFile(join(this.backupDir, MARKER_FILENAME), today, 'utf8');
+    const rot = await this.rotate();
+    return {
+      snapshotted: true,
+      path: snap.path,
+      bytes: snap.bytes,
+      kept: rot.kept,
+      removed: rot.removed
+    };
+  }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/BackupService.test.ts b/tests/unit/BackupService.test.ts
index cfe9eef..4a0ad8e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/BackupService.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/BackupService.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { runMigrations } from '@main/db/migrations/index.js';
 import { BackupService } from '@main/services/BackupService.js';
+import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 
 describe('BackupService.snapshot', () => {
   let dir: string;
@@ -96,3 +97,75 @@ describe('BackupService.snapshot', () => {
     expect(remaining.filter((f) => f.endsWith('.sqlite'))).toEqual([]);
   });
 });
+
+describe('BackupService.runDaily', () => {
+  let dir: string;
+  let db: Database.Database;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'inkling-backup-'));
+    db = new Database(':memory:');
+    runMigrations(db);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    db.close();
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it('snapshots when marker is absent', async () => {
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    const r = await svc.runDaily();
+    expect(r.snapshotted).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir, '.last-snapshot'))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir, 'inkling-2026-04-26.sqlite'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('skips when marker shows today already snapshotted', async () => {
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    await svc.runDaily(); // first
+    const r = await svc.runDaily(); // second same day
+    expect(r.snapshotted).toBe(false);
+    expect(r.reason).toMatch(/already/);
+  });
+
+  it('snapshots again when marker shows different date', async () => {
+    // Pre-seed marker as yesterday
+    const dir2 = dir;
+    await new BackupService(db, dir2, () => new Date('2026-04-25T12:00:00Z')).runDaily();
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir2, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    const r = await svc.runDaily();
+    expect(r.snapshotted).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir2, 'inkling-2026-04-26.sqlite'))).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(dir2, 'inkling-2026-04-25.sqlite'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('runs rotation after snapshot', async () => {
+    // Pre-create an old file that should be rotated out
+    const ancient = join(dir, 'inkling-2024-01-01.sqlite');
+    writeFileSync(ancient, 'fake');
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    const r = await svc.runDaily();
+    expect(r.snapshotted).toBe(true);
+    expect(r.removed).toContain('inkling-2024-01-01.sqlite');
+    expect(existsSync(ancient)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('marker contains ISO date matching the snapshot file', async () => {
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    await svc.runDaily();
+    const marker = readFileSync(join(dir, '.last-snapshot'), 'utf8').trim();
+    expect(marker).toBe('2026-04-26');
+  });
+
+  it('lastSnapshotAt returns null when marker absent', async () => {
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    expect(await svc.lastSnapshotAt()).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('lastSnapshotAt returns marker date when present', async () => {
+    const svc = new BackupService(db, dir, () => new Date('2026-04-26T12:00:00Z'));
+    await svc.runDaily();
+    expect(await svc.lastSnapshotAt()).toBe('2026-04-26');
+  });
+});