diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 64f5f71..b079453 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 Dark-mode control plane for Incus VM backups using ZFS block devices, Restic, and S3-compatible storage.
 
+Backups include the instance disk or dataset plus Incus metadata captured with `incus config show`, `incus config show --expanded`, `incus info`, and snapshot listing. VM disks are stored as `.raw`; containers are stored as ZFS send streams (`.zfs`).
+
 ## Layout
 
 - `management/`: Central Express API with cookie login, SQLite storage, node registry, central schedules, and proxy calls to node agents.
diff --git a/backend/src/routes/backup.js b/backend/src/routes/backup.js
index 3121ec4..2d46881 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/backup.js
+++ b/backend/src/routes/backup.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { Router } from 'express';
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
 import { finished } from 'node:stream/promises';
 import { setTimeout as delay } from 'node:timers/promises';
 import { config } from '../config.js';
@@ -86,8 +89,12 @@ export async function runBackupJob(job, instance = null) {
     setJobProgress(job, { percent: 93 });
     await deleteIncusSnapshotWithRetry(job, snapshotName);
 
+    setJobStep(job, 'Backing up Incus metadata');
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 95 });
+    await backupInstanceMetadata(job, 'virtual-machine');
+
     setJobStep(job, 'Applying Restic retention policy');
-    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 96 });
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 97 });
     await runRestic(retentionArgs(job.vmName), {
       log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line),
     });
@@ -142,8 +149,12 @@ async function runContainerBackupJob(job) {
     setJobProgress(job, { percent: 93 });
     await deleteIncusSnapshotWithRetry(job, snapshotName);
 
+    setJobStep(job, 'Backing up Incus metadata');
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 95 });
+    await backupInstanceMetadata(job, 'container');
+
     setJobStep(job, 'Applying Restic retention policy');
-    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 96 });
+    setJobProgress(job, { percent: 97 });
     await runRestic(retentionArgs(job.vmName), {
       log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line),
     });
@@ -173,6 +184,46 @@ async function zfsDatasetUsed(dataset) {
   return Number.isFinite(size) && size > 0 ? size : null;
 }
 
+async function backupInstanceMetadata(job, instanceType) {
+  const tempDir = await mkdtemp(path.join(tmpdir(), `incus-backup-${job.vmName}-`));
+  try {
+    const metadataDir = path.join(tempDir, job.vmName);
+    await writeMetadataFile(metadataDir, 'README.txt', metadataReadme(job.vmName, instanceType));
+    await writeCommandOutput(metadataDir, 'config.yaml', ['config', 'show', job.vmName]);
+    await writeCommandOutput(metadataDir, 'config-expanded.yaml', ['config', 'show', job.vmName, '--expanded']);
+    await writeCommandOutput(metadataDir, 'info.txt', ['info', job.vmName]);
+    await writeCommandOutput(metadataDir, 'snapshots.json', ['snapshot', 'list', job.vmName, '--format', 'json']);
+    await runRestic(['backup', metadataDir, '--tag', job.vmName, '--tag', 'metadata', '--tag', instanceType], {
+      log: (line) => appendJobLog(job, line),
+    });
+  } finally {
+    await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+}
+
+async function writeCommandOutput(directory, filename, args) {
+  const result = await spawnCommand('incus', args);
+  await writeMetadataFile(directory, filename, result.stdout);
+}
+
+async function writeMetadataFile(directory, filename, content) {
+  const { mkdir } = await import('node:fs/promises');
+  await mkdir(directory, { recursive: true });
+  await writeFile(path.join(directory, filename), content || '', { mode: 0o600 });
+}
+
+function metadataReadme(instanceName, instanceType) {
+  return [
+    `Instance: ${instanceName}`,
+    `Type: ${instanceType}`,
+    `Created: ${new Date().toISOString()}`,
+    '',
+    'This directory contains Incus metadata captured alongside the disk/dataset backup.',
+    'It is intended for disaster-recovery reconstruction and restore preflight workflows.',
+    '',
+  ].join('\n');
+}
+
 function waitForProcess(child, label) {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     child.on('error', reject);