diff --git a/backend/alembic/versions/0fd2a90a9c2c_add_maintenance_schedules_table.py b/backend/alembic/versions/0fd2a90a9c2c_add_maintenance_schedules_table.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..14e518b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/alembic/versions/0fd2a90a9c2c_add_maintenance_schedules_table.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""add maintenance_schedules table
+
+Revision ID: 0fd2a90a9c2c
+Revises: 6e8128ef2aa8
+Create Date: 2026-02-17
+
+"""
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from sqlalchemy.dialects import postgresql
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = '0fd2a90a9c2c'
+down_revision = '6e8128ef2aa8'
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+
+def upgrade() -> None:
+    op.create_table(
+        'maintenance_schedules',
+        sa.Column('id', postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True), primary_key=True),
+        sa.Column('tree_id', postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True),
+                  sa.ForeignKey('trees.id', ondelete='CASCADE'), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column('created_by', postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True),
+                  sa.ForeignKey('users.id', ondelete='SET NULL'), nullable=True),
+        sa.Column('cron_expression', sa.String(100), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column('timezone', sa.String(100), nullable=False, server_default='UTC'),
+        sa.Column('target_list_id', postgresql.UUID(as_uuid=True),
+                  sa.ForeignKey('target_lists.id', ondelete='SET NULL'), nullable=True),
+        sa.Column('is_active', sa.Boolean(), nullable=False, server_default='true'),
+        sa.Column('next_run_at', sa.DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=True),
+        sa.Column('last_run_at', sa.DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=True),
+        sa.Column('created_at', sa.DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column('updated_at', sa.DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=False),
+    )
+    op.create_index('ix_maintenance_schedules_tree_id', 'maintenance_schedules', ['tree_id'])
+    op.create_unique_constraint('uq_maintenance_schedules_tree_id', 'maintenance_schedules', ['tree_id'])
+
+
+def downgrade() -> None:
+    op.drop_constraint('uq_maintenance_schedules_tree_id', 'maintenance_schedules', type_='unique')
+    op.drop_index('ix_maintenance_schedules_tree_id', table_name='maintenance_schedules')
+    op.drop_table('maintenance_schedules')
diff --git a/backend/app/api/endpoints/maintenance_schedules.py b/backend/app/api/endpoints/maintenance_schedules.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1703dd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/api/endpoints/maintenance_schedules.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""Maintenance schedule CRUD endpoints."""
+from typing import Annotated
+from uuid import UUID
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException
+from sqlalchemy import select
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
+from croniter import croniter
+import pytz
+
+from app.api.deps import get_current_active_user, get_db
+from app.models.maintenance_schedule import MaintenanceSchedule
+from app.models.user import User
+from app.schemas.maintenance_schedule import (
+    MaintenanceScheduleCreate,
+    MaintenanceScheduleUpdate,
+    MaintenanceScheduleResponse,
+)
+
+router = APIRouter(prefix="/maintenance-schedules", tags=["maintenance-schedules"])
+
+
+def _compute_next_run(cron_expression: str, tz_name: str) -> datetime:
+    """Compute next run time from cron expression, returned as UTC."""
+    tz = pytz.timezone(tz_name)
+    now = datetime.now(tz)
+    cron = croniter(cron_expression, now)
+    return cron.get_next(datetime).astimezone(timezone.utc)
+
+
+@router.post("", response_model=MaintenanceScheduleResponse, status_code=201)
+async def create_schedule(
+    data: MaintenanceScheduleCreate,
+    current_user: Annotated[User, Depends(get_current_active_user)],
+    db: Annotated[AsyncSession, Depends(get_db)],
+):
+    """Create a cron schedule for a maintenance flow. One per flow."""
+    # Check no existing schedule for this tree
+    existing = await db.execute(
+        select(MaintenanceSchedule).where(MaintenanceSchedule.tree_id == data.tree_id)
+    )
+    if existing.scalar_one_or_none():
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=409, detail="Schedule already exists for this tree")
+
+    try:
+        next_run = _compute_next_run(data.cron_expression, data.timezone)
+    except (ValueError, KeyError) as e:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=422, detail=f"Invalid cron expression or timezone: {e}")
+
+    schedule = MaintenanceSchedule(
+        tree_id=data.tree_id,
+        created_by=current_user.id,
+        cron_expression=data.cron_expression,
+        timezone=data.timezone,
+        target_list_id=data.target_list_id,
+        is_active=True,
+        next_run_at=next_run,
+    )
+    db.add(schedule)
+    await db.commit()
+    await db.refresh(schedule)
+    return schedule
+
+
+@router.get("/tree/{tree_id}", response_model=MaintenanceScheduleResponse)
+async def get_schedule_for_tree(
+    tree_id: UUID,
+    current_user: Annotated[User, Depends(get_current_active_user)],
+    db: Annotated[AsyncSession, Depends(get_db)],
+):
+    """Get the schedule for a specific maintenance flow."""
+    result = await db.execute(
+        select(MaintenanceSchedule).where(MaintenanceSchedule.tree_id == tree_id)
+    )
+    schedule = result.scalar_one_or_none()
+    if not schedule:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="No schedule found for this tree")
+    return schedule
+
+
+@router.patch("/{schedule_id}", response_model=MaintenanceScheduleResponse)
+async def update_schedule(
+    schedule_id: UUID,
+    data: MaintenanceScheduleUpdate,
+    current_user: Annotated[User, Depends(get_current_active_user)],
+    db: Annotated[AsyncSession, Depends(get_db)],
+):
+    """Update a schedule (disable, change cron, change timezone, change target list)."""
+    result = await db.execute(
+        select(MaintenanceSchedule).where(MaintenanceSchedule.id == schedule_id)
+    )
+    schedule = result.scalar_one_or_none()
+    if not schedule:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Schedule not found")
+
+    update_fields = data.model_fields_set
+    if "cron_expression" in update_fields and data.cron_expression is not None:
+        schedule.cron_expression = data.cron_expression
+    if "timezone" in update_fields and data.timezone is not None:
+        schedule.timezone = data.timezone
+    if "target_list_id" in update_fields:
+        schedule.target_list_id = data.target_list_id
+    if "is_active" in update_fields and data.is_active is not None:
+        schedule.is_active = data.is_active
+
+    # Recompute next_run_at if schedule timing changed
+    if "cron_expression" in update_fields or "timezone" in update_fields:
+        try:
+            schedule.next_run_at = _compute_next_run(schedule.cron_expression, schedule.timezone)
+        except (ValueError, KeyError) as e:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=422, detail=f"Invalid cron expression or timezone: {e}")
+
+    await db.commit()
+    await db.refresh(schedule)
+    return schedule
diff --git a/backend/app/api/router.py b/backend/app/api/router.py
index 228cce49..08580d80 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/router.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/router.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from app.api.endpoints import auth, trees, sessions, invite, categories, tags, f
 from app.api.endpoints import admin_dashboard, admin_audit, admin_plan_limits, admin_feature_flags, admin_settings, admin_categories
 from app.api.endpoints import ratings, analytics
 from app.api.endpoints import target_lists
+from app.api.endpoints import maintenance_schedules
 
 api_router = APIRouter()
 
@@ -30,3 +31,4 @@ api_router.include_router(tree_markdown.router)
 api_router.include_router(ratings.router)
 api_router.include_router(analytics.router)
 api_router.include_router(target_lists.router)
+api_router.include_router(maintenance_schedules.router)
diff --git a/backend/app/models/__init__.py b/backend/app/models/__init__.py
index 52b28ff3..8638db7c 100644
--- a/backend/app/models/__init__.py
+++ b/backend/app/models/__init__.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from .feature_flag import FeatureFlag, PlanFeatureDefault, AccountFeatureOverrid
 from .platform_setting import PlatformSetting
 from .user_pinned_tree import UserPinnedTree
 from .target_list import TargetList
+from .maintenance_schedule import MaintenanceSchedule
 
 __all__ = [
     "User",
@@ -57,4 +58,5 @@ __all__ = [
     "PlatformSetting",
     "UserPinnedTree",
     "TargetList",
+    "MaintenanceSchedule",
 ]
diff --git a/backend/app/models/maintenance_schedule.py b/backend/app/models/maintenance_schedule.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..91280eb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/models/maintenance_schedule.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import uuid
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from typing import Optional
+from sqlalchemy import String, DateTime, ForeignKey, Boolean, UniqueConstraint
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Mapped, mapped_column
+from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import UUID
+from app.core.database import Base
+
+
+class MaintenanceSchedule(Base):
+    __tablename__ = "maintenance_schedules"
+    __table_args__ = (
+        UniqueConstraint("tree_id", name="uq_maintenance_schedules_tree_id"),
+    )
+
+    id: Mapped[uuid.UUID] = mapped_column(
+        UUID(as_uuid=True), primary_key=True, default=uuid.uuid4
+    )
+    tree_id: Mapped[uuid.UUID] = mapped_column(
+        UUID(as_uuid=True), ForeignKey("trees.id", ondelete="CASCADE"),
+        nullable=False, index=True
+    )
+    created_by: Mapped[Optional[uuid.UUID]] = mapped_column(
+        UUID(as_uuid=True), ForeignKey("users.id", ondelete="SET NULL"), nullable=True
+    )
+    cron_expression: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(100), nullable=False)
+    timezone: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(100), nullable=False, default="UTC")
+    target_list_id: Mapped[Optional[uuid.UUID]] = mapped_column(
+        UUID(as_uuid=True), ForeignKey("target_lists.id", ondelete="SET NULL"), nullable=True
+    )
+    is_active: Mapped[bool] = mapped_column(Boolean, nullable=False, default=True)
+    next_run_at: Mapped[Optional[datetime]] = mapped_column(
+        DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=True
+    )
+    last_run_at: Mapped[Optional[datetime]] = mapped_column(
+        DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=True
+    )
+    created_at: Mapped[datetime] = mapped_column(
+        DateTime(timezone=True), default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    )
+    updated_at: Mapped[datetime] = mapped_column(
+        DateTime(timezone=True),
+        default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc),
+        onupdate=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc),
+    )
diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/maintenance_schedule.py b/backend/app/schemas/maintenance_schedule.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5a191b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/maintenance_schedule.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+from typing import Optional
+from uuid import UUID
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+
+
+class MaintenanceScheduleCreate(BaseModel):
+    tree_id: UUID
+    cron_expression: str = Field(..., min_length=9, max_length=100)
+    timezone: str = Field("UTC", max_length=100)
+    target_list_id: Optional[UUID] = None
+
+
+class MaintenanceScheduleUpdate(BaseModel):
+    cron_expression: Optional[str] = Field(None, min_length=9, max_length=100)
+    timezone: Optional[str] = Field(None, max_length=100)
+    target_list_id: Optional[UUID] = None
+    is_active: Optional[bool] = None
+
+
+class MaintenanceScheduleResponse(BaseModel):
+    id: UUID
+    tree_id: UUID
+    created_by: Optional[UUID]
+    cron_expression: str
+    timezone: str
+    target_list_id: Optional[UUID]
+    is_active: bool
+    next_run_at: Optional[datetime]
+    last_run_at: Optional[datetime]
+    created_at: datetime
+    updated_at: datetime
+
+    model_config = {"from_attributes": True}
diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 28975527..686c481e 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -30,3 +30,6 @@ resend==2.21.0
 
 # Utilities
 python-dotenv==1.0.1
+croniter>=2.0.0
+pytz>=2024.1
+apscheduler>=3.10.4
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_maintenance_schedules.py b/backend/tests/test_maintenance_schedules.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..954339c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/test_maintenance_schedules.py
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+"""Tests for maintenance schedule CRUD."""
+import pytest
+from httpx import AsyncClient
+
+
+async def _create_maintenance_tree(client, headers):
+    resp = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/trees",
+        json={
+            "name": "Scheduled Patch",
+            "tree_type": "maintenance",
+            "tree_structure": {
+                "steps": [
+                    {"id": "s1", "type": "procedure_step", "title": "Step",
+                     "description": "Do it", "content_type": "action"},
+                    {"id": "end", "type": "procedure_end", "title": "Done"},
+                ]
+            },
+        },
+        headers=headers,
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 201, resp.text
+    return resp.json()["id"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_schedule(client: AsyncClient, auth_headers: dict):
+    tree_id = await _create_maintenance_tree(client, auth_headers)
+    resp = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/maintenance-schedules",
+        json={
+            "tree_id": tree_id,
+            "cron_expression": "0 9 15 * *",
+            "timezone": "America/New_York",
+        },
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 201, resp.text
+    data = resp.json()
+    assert data["cron_expression"] == "0 9 15 * *"
+    assert data["timezone"] == "America/New_York"
+    assert data["is_active"] is True
+    assert data["next_run_at"] is not None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_duplicate_schedule_rejected(client: AsyncClient, auth_headers: dict):
+    """Cannot create two schedules for the same tree."""
+    tree_id = await _create_maintenance_tree(client, auth_headers)
+    await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/maintenance-schedules",
+        json={"tree_id": tree_id, "cron_expression": "0 0 1 * *", "timezone": "UTC"},
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    resp = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/maintenance-schedules",
+        json={"tree_id": tree_id, "cron_expression": "0 6 1 * *", "timezone": "UTC"},
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 409
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_schedule_for_tree(client: AsyncClient, auth_headers: dict):
+    tree_id = await _create_maintenance_tree(client, auth_headers)
+    await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/maintenance-schedules",
+        json={"tree_id": tree_id, "cron_expression": "0 0 1 * *", "timezone": "UTC"},
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    resp = await client.get(f"/api/v1/maintenance-schedules/tree/{tree_id}", headers=auth_headers)
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    assert resp.json()["cron_expression"] == "0 0 1 * *"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_disable_schedule(client: AsyncClient, auth_headers: dict):
+    tree_id = await _create_maintenance_tree(client, auth_headers)
+    create = await client.post(
+        "/api/v1/maintenance-schedules",
+        json={"tree_id": tree_id, "cron_expression": "0 6 * * 1", "timezone": "UTC"},
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    sched_id = create.json()["id"]
+    resp = await client.patch(
+        f"/api/v1/maintenance-schedules/{sched_id}",
+        json={"is_active": False},
+        headers=auth_headers,
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    assert resp.json()["is_active"] is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_schedule_not_found(client: AsyncClient, auth_headers: dict):
+    tree_id = await _create_maintenance_tree(client, auth_headers)
+    resp = await client.get(f"/api/v1/maintenance-schedules/tree/{tree_id}", headers=auth_headers)
+    assert resp.status_code == 404