diff --git a/.githooks/pre-commit b/.githooks/pre-commit
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..912a677d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.githooks/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# pre-commit: block commits containing secrets
+# Scans staged files for known secret patterns
+set -e
+
+PATTERNS_FILE="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.secret-patterns.txt"
+STAGED=$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM 2>/dev/null)
+
+if [ ! -f "$PATTERNS_FILE" ]; then
+    exit 0  # no patterns file = no scanning
+fi
+
+FOUND=0
+for file in $STAGED; do
+    [ -f "$file" ] || continue
+    while IFS= read -r pattern; do
+        [ -z "$pattern" ] && continue
+        [[ "$pattern" == \#* ]] && continue
+        MATCH=$(git diff --cached -- "$file" | grep -nP "$pattern" 2>/dev/null | head -3)
+        if [ -n "$MATCH" ]; then
+            echo "SECRET DETECTED in $file (pattern: $pattern):"
+            echo "$MATCH"
+            FOUND=1
+        fi
+    done < "$PATTERNS_FILE"
+done
+
+if [ $FOUND -eq 1 ]; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "COMMIT BLOCKED — secret pattern detected."
+    echo "Override (NOT RECOMMENDED): git commit --no-verify"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/.githooks/pre-push b/.githooks/pre-push
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a4643c23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.githooks/pre-push
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# pre-push: block pushes containing secrets + run quality gates
+# Scans all commits being pushed for secret patterns
+set -e
+
+PATTERNS_FILE="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.secret-patterns.txt"
+
+if [ ! -f "$PATTERNS_FILE" ]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Get commits being pushed
+RANGE="@{u}..HEAD"
+COMMITS=$(git rev-list "$RANGE" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+if [ -z "$COMMITS" ]; then
+    # No upstream — scan last 5 commits
+    COMMITS=$(git rev-list HEAD~5..HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+fi
+
+FOUND=0
+while IFS= read -r pattern; do
+    [ -z "$pattern" ] && continue
+    [[ "$pattern" == \#* ]] && continue
+    MATCH=$(git log -p $RANGE 2>/dev/null | grep -nP "$pattern" 2>/dev/null | head -5)
+    if [ -n "$MATCH" ]; then
+        echo "SECRET in push history (pattern: $pattern):"
+        echo "$MATCH"
+        FOUND=1
+    fi
+done < "$PATTERNS_FILE"
+
+if [ $FOUND -eq 1 ]; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "PUSH BLOCKED — secrets detected in commit history."
+    echo "Scrub with: git filter-repo --replace-text .secret-patterns.txt"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "No secrets detected."
+exit 0
diff --git a/.secret-patterns.txt b/.secret-patterns.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24fe5cfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.secret-patterns.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Secret patterns — one regex per line, # for comments
+# Block commits/pushes containing these patterns
+
+# Nostr private keys
+nsec1[a-z0-9]{20,}
+
+# API keys (PPQ, OpenAI, etc.)
+sk-[A-Za-z0-9]{10,}
+
+# z.ai key format (32-char hex hash + dot + alphanumeric)
+[0-9a-f]{32}\.[A-Za-z0-9]{8,}
+
+# Private keys (PEM format)
+-----BEGIN [A-Z ]*PRIVATE KEY
+
+# Bearer tokens
+Bearer [A-Za-z0-9\-._~+/]{20,}
+
+# Hardcoded password/secret assignments (not env vars)
+password.*=.*['\"][^'\"]{4,}['\"]
+api_key.*=.*['\"][^'\"]{8,}['\"]
+secret_key.*=.*['\"][^'\"]{8,}['\"]
+
+# Signal phone numbers
+\+1\d{10}
+
+# Matrix access tokens
+syt\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]{10,}