diff --git a/api/contraband_sync.py b/api/contraband_sync.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca5e8a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/contraband_sync.py
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""CONTRABAND Auto-Sync — Pulls latest source data and rebuilds contraband.json"""
+import os, re, json, subprocess, sys
+from datetime import datetime
+
+REPO_URL = "https://github.com/fmhy/edit.git"
+REPO_DIR = "/opt/contraband-source"
+OUTPUT = "/var/www/jaeswift-homepage/api/data/contraband.json"
+LOG = "/var/log/contraband-sync.log"
+
+def log(msg):
+    ts = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+    line = f"[{ts}] {msg}"
+    print(line)
+    with open(LOG, "a") as f:
+        f.write(line + "\n")
+
+CATEGORY_MAP = {
+    'ai': {'code': 'CRT-001', 'name': 'AI TOOLS', 'icon': '🤖'},
+    'video': {'code': 'CRT-002', 'name': 'STREAMING & VIDEO', 'icon': '📡'},
+    'audio': {'code': 'CRT-003', 'name': 'AUDIO & MUSIC', 'icon': '🎧'},
+    'gaming': {'code': 'CRT-004', 'name': 'GAMING', 'icon': '🎮'},
+    'reading': {'code': 'CRT-005', 'name': 'READING & BOOKS', 'icon': '📚'},
+    'torrenting': {'code': 'CRT-006', 'name': 'TORRENTING', 'icon': '🔻'},
+    'downloading': {'code': 'CRT-007', 'name': 'DOWNLOADING', 'icon': '⬇️'},
+    'educational': {'code': 'CRT-008', 'name': 'EDUCATIONAL', 'icon': '🎓'},
+    'dev-tools': {'code': 'CRT-009', 'name': 'DEV TOOLS', 'icon': '⚙️'},
+    'gaming-tools': {'code': 'CRT-010', 'name': 'GAMING TOOLS', 'icon': '🕹️'},
+    'image-tools': {'code': 'CRT-011', 'name': 'IMAGE TOOLS', 'icon': '🖼️'},
+    'video-tools': {'code': 'CRT-012', 'name': 'VIDEO TOOLS', 'icon': '🎬'},
+    'internet-tools': {'code': 'CRT-013', 'name': 'INTERNET TOOLS', 'icon': '🌐'},
+    'social-media-tools': {'code': 'CRT-014', 'name': 'SOCIAL MEDIA', 'icon': '📱'},
+    'text-tools': {'code': 'CRT-015', 'name': 'TEXT TOOLS', 'icon': '📝'},
+    'file-tools': {'code': 'CRT-016', 'name': 'FILE TOOLS', 'icon': '📁'},
+    'system-tools': {'code': 'CRT-017', 'name': 'SYSTEM TOOLS', 'icon': '💻'},
+    'storage': {'code': 'CRT-018', 'name': 'STORAGE & CLOUD', 'icon': '💾'},
+    'privacy': {'code': 'CRT-019', 'name': 'PRIVACY & SECURITY', 'icon': '🔒'},
+    'linux-macos': {'code': 'CRT-020', 'name': 'LINUX & MACOS', 'icon': '🐧'},
+    'mobile': {'code': 'CRT-021', 'name': 'MOBILE', 'icon': '📲'},
+    'misc': {'code': 'CRT-022', 'name': 'MISCELLANEOUS', 'icon': '📦'},
+    'non-english': {'code': 'CRT-023', 'name': 'NON-ENGLISH', 'icon': '🌍'},
+    'unsafe': {'code': 'CRT-024', 'name': 'UNSAFE SITES', 'icon': '⚠️'},
+}
+
+def parse_entry(line):
+    """Parse a markdown bullet line into an entry dict."""
+    line = line.strip()
+    if not line or line.startswith('#'):
+        return None
+
+    # Remove leading bullet
+    line = re.sub(r'^[\-\*]\s*', '', line)
+    if not line:
+        return None
+
+    starred = False
+    if line.startswith('⭐'):
+        starred = True
+        line = line[1:].strip()
+
+    entry = {'name': '', 'url': '', 'description': '', 'starred': starred, 'extra_links': []}
+
+    # Extract main link: [name](url)
+    main_match = re.match(r'\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)', line)
+    if main_match:
+        entry['name'] = main_match.group(1).strip()
+        entry['url'] = main_match.group(2).strip()
+        rest = line[main_match.end():].strip()
+    else:
+        # No link, just text
+        entry['name'] = line
+        rest = ''
+
+    if rest:
+        # Remove leading separators
+        rest = re.sub(r'^[\s\-–—/,]+', '', rest).strip()
+
+        # Extract extra links
+        extra_links = re.findall(r'\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)', rest)
+        for ename, eurl in extra_links:
+            entry['extra_links'].append({'name': ename.strip(), 'url': eurl.strip()})
+
+        # Description is the non-link text
+        desc = re.sub(r'\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)', '', rest).strip()
+        desc = re.sub(r'^[\s\-–—/,]+', '', desc).strip()
+        desc = re.sub(r'[\s\-–—/,]+$', '', desc).strip()
+        entry['description'] = desc
+
+    if not entry['name'] and not entry['url']:
+        return None
+
+    return entry
+
+def parse_markdown_file(filepath, cat_key):
+    """Parse a single markdown file into structured category data."""
+    cat_info = CATEGORY_MAP.get(cat_key, {'code': f'CRT-{cat_key.upper()}', 'name': cat_key.upper(), 'icon': '📄'})
+
+    with open(filepath, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        lines = f.readlines()
+
+    subcategories = []
+    current_sub = None
+
+    for line in lines:
+        line_stripped = line.strip()
+
+        # Skip frontmatter
+        if line_stripped == '---':
+            continue
+        if line_stripped.startswith('title:') or line_stripped.startswith('description:'):
+            continue
+
+        # Subcategory headers: # ► or ## or ## ▷
+        header_match = re.match(r'^(#{1,3})\s*[►▷]?\s*(.+)', line_stripped)
+        if header_match:
+            level = len(header_match.group(1))
+            name = header_match.group(2).strip()
+            name = re.sub(r'[►▷]', '', name).strip()
+            if name and not name.lower().startswith('note') and len(name) > 1:
+                current_sub = {'name': name, 'entries': [], 'notes': []}
+                subcategories.append(current_sub)
+            continue
+
+        # Note lines
+        if line_stripped.startswith('!!!') or line_stripped.startswith(':::'):
+            note_text = re.sub(r'^[!:]+\s*(note|warning|tip|info)?\s*', '', line_stripped, flags=re.IGNORECASE).strip()
+            if note_text and current_sub:
+                current_sub['notes'].append(note_text)
+            continue
+
+        # Bullet entries
+        if re.match(r'^[\-\*]\s', line_stripped):
+            if current_sub is None:
+                current_sub = {'name': 'General', 'entries': [], 'notes': []}
+                subcategories.append(current_sub)
+
+            entry = parse_entry(line_stripped)
+            if entry:
+                current_sub['entries'].append(entry)
+
+    # Build category
+    total_entries = sum(len(s['entries']) for s in subcategories)
+    starred_count = sum(1 for s in subcategories for e in s['entries'] if e['starred'])
+
+    return {
+        'code': cat_info['code'],
+        'name': cat_info['name'],
+        'icon': cat_info['icon'],
+        'slug': cat_key,
+        'entry_count': total_entries,
+        'starred_count': starred_count,
+        'subcategory_count': len(subcategories),
+        'subcategories': subcategories
+    }
+
+def sync():
+    log("Starting sync...")
+
+    # Clone or pull
+    if os.path.exists(os.path.join(REPO_DIR, '.git')):
+        log("Pulling latest...")
+        result = subprocess.run(['git', '-C', REPO_DIR, 'pull', '--ff-only'], capture_output=True, text=True)
+        log(f"Git pull: {result.stdout.strip()}")
+        if 'Already up to date' in result.stdout:
+            log("No changes detected. Rebuilding anyway.")
+    else:
+        log("Cloning repo...")
+        subprocess.run(['git', 'clone', '--depth', '1', REPO_URL, REPO_DIR], check=True)
+        log("Clone complete.")
+
+    docs_dir = os.path.join(REPO_DIR, 'docs')
+    if not os.path.exists(docs_dir):
+        log(f"ERROR: docs dir not found at {docs_dir}")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Map filenames to category keys
+    file_map = {}
+    for fname in os.listdir(docs_dir):
+        if not fname.endswith('.md'):
+            continue
+        key = fname.replace('.md', '').lower()
+        # Skip non-category files
+        if key in ('index', 'startpage', 'sandbox', 'posts', 'beginners-guide', 'feedback'):
+            continue
+        # Normalise keys
+        key_norm = key.replace('-', '-')
+        if key_norm in CATEGORY_MAP or key_norm.replace('-', '') in [k.replace('-', '') for k in CATEGORY_MAP]:
+            file_map[fname] = key_norm if key_norm in CATEGORY_MAP else key
+        else:
+            file_map[fname] = key
+
+    log(f"Found {len(file_map)} category files to parse")
+
+    categories = []
+    total_entries = 0
+    total_starred = 0
+
+    for fname, cat_key in sorted(file_map.items()):
+        filepath = os.path.join(docs_dir, fname)
+        try:
+            cat = parse_markdown_file(filepath, cat_key)
+            categories.append(cat)
+            total_entries += cat['entry_count']
+            total_starred += cat['starred_count']
+            log(f"  {cat['code']} {cat['name']}: {cat['entry_count']} entries ({cat['starred_count']} starred)")
+        except Exception as e:
+            log(f"  ERROR parsing {fname}: {e}")
+
+    # Sort by code
+    categories.sort(key=lambda c: c['code'])
+
+    # Build output
+    output = {
+        'source': 'curated',
+        'last_updated': datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'),
+        'total_entries': total_entries,
+        'total_starred': total_starred,
+        'total_categories': len(categories),
+        'categories': categories
+    }
+
+    # Write
+    os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(OUTPUT), exist_ok=True)
+    with open(OUTPUT, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        json.dump(output, f, ensure_ascii=False)
+
+    size_mb = os.path.getsize(OUTPUT) / (1024 * 1024)
+    log(f"Output: {OUTPUT} ({size_mb:.1f} MB)")
+    log(f"Total: {total_entries} entries, {total_starred} starred, {len(categories)} categories")
+
+    # Restart API
+    log("Restarting jaeswift-api...")
+    result = subprocess.run(['systemctl', 'restart', 'jaeswift-api'], capture_output=True, text=True)
+    if result.returncode == 0:
+        log("API restarted successfully.")
+    else:
+        log(f"API restart failed: {result.stderr}")
+
+    log("Sync complete.")
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sync()