diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index f13c52c..38fc20f 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,18 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                 });
             }
 
+            // Scheduled synthesis generation (check every 60 seconds)
+            {
+                let scheduler_state = state.clone();
+                tokio::spawn(async move {
+                    let mut interval = tokio::time::interval(std::time::Duration::from_secs(60));
+                    loop {
+                        interval.tick().await;
+                        ai_synth_backend::services::scheduler::run_scheduled_jobs(&scheduler_state).await;
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
             let shutdown_pool = state.pool.clone();
             let app = router::build_router(state, &config);
 
diff --git a/backend/src/services/mod.rs b/backend/src/services/mod.rs
index 36aee0a..a4f9ae7 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/mod.rs
+++ b/backend/src/services/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pub mod export;
 pub mod llm;
 pub mod prompts;
 pub mod rate_limiter;
+pub mod scheduler;
 pub mod scraper;
 pub mod source_scraper;
 pub mod synthesis;
diff --git a/backend/src/services/scheduler.rs b/backend/src/services/scheduler.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73994f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/services/scheduler.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+//! Background scheduler for automated synthesis generation.
+
+use chrono::Datelike;
+
+use crate::app_state::AppState;
+use crate::db;
+use crate::services::{email, synthesis};
+use crate::models::synthesis::NewsSection;
+use std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool;
+use tokio::sync::watch;
+use uuid::Uuid;
+
+/// Get the day code for the current UTC day.
+fn current_day_code() -> &'static str {
+    match chrono::Utc::now().weekday() {
+        chrono::Weekday::Mon => "mon",
+        chrono::Weekday::Tue => "tue",
+        chrono::Weekday::Wed => "wed",
+        chrono::Weekday::Thu => "thu",
+        chrono::Weekday::Fri => "fri",
+        chrono::Weekday::Sat => "sat",
+        chrono::Weekday::Sun => "sun",
+    }
+}
+
+/// Check for due schedules and run them sequentially.
+pub async fn run_scheduled_jobs(state: &AppState) {
+    let day = current_day_code();
+    let time = chrono::Utc::now().format("%H:%M").to_string();
+
+    let due = match db::schedules::find_due_schedules(&state.pool, day, &time).await {
+        Ok(s) => s,
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!(error = %e, "Failed to query due schedules");
+            return;
+        }
+    };
+
+    if due.is_empty() { return; }
+
+    tracing::info!(count = due.len(), "Found due scheduled jobs");
+
+    for schedule in due {
+        if state.job_store.has_active_job(schedule.user_id).is_some() {
+            tracing::info!(user_id = %schedule.user_id, "Skipping scheduled job — manual generation in progress");
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        tracing::info!(schedule_id = %schedule.id, theme_id = %schedule.theme_id, "Running scheduled generation");
+
+        let (tx, _rx) = watch::channel(synthesis::ProgressEvent::Progress {
+            step: "init".into(), message: "Scheduled generation...".into(), percent: 0,
+        });
+        let job_id = Uuid::new_v4();
+        let cancelled = AtomicBool::new(false);
+
+        let result = synthesis::run_generation_inner(
+            job_id, state, schedule.user_id, schedule.theme_id,
+            &tx, None, &cancelled,
+        ).await;
+
+        match result {
+            Ok(synthesis_id) => {
+                tracing::info!(synthesis_id = %synthesis_id, "Scheduled generation completed");
+
+                // Send emails
+                let emails: Vec<String> = serde_json::from_value(schedule.emails.clone()).unwrap_or_default();
+                if !emails.is_empty() {
+                    if let Ok(Some(synth)) = db::syntheses::get_by_id(&state.pool, synthesis_id).await {
+                        let sections: Vec<NewsSection> = serde_json::from_value(synth.sections).unwrap_or_default();
+                        let date = synth.created_at.format("%d %B %Y").to_string();
+
+                        for addr in &emails {
+                            match email::send_synthesis_email(
+                                &state.http_client, &state.config.resend_api_key,
+                                &state.config.email_from, addr, &synth.week, &date, &sections,
+                            ).await {
+                                Ok(()) => tracing::info!(to = addr, "Scheduled email sent"),
+                                Err(e) => tracing::warn!(to = addr, error = %e, "Failed to send scheduled email"),
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                db::schedules::mark_run(&state.pool, schedule.id).await.ok();
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                tracing::error!(schedule_id = %schedule.id, error = %e, "Scheduled generation failed");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}