diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2025038
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+.env
+discord-bot.txt
+discord_*.json
+__pycache__/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e69de29..7cde9ac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# pull-messages-from-discord
+
+Pull messages from a Discord channel for the last N hours and save them as JSON.
+
+## Setup
+
+Put the bot token in `.env` (gitignored):
+
+```
+HM_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=...
+```
+
+The bot needs View Channel + Read Message History on the channel, and the
+Message Content Intent enabled in the Developer Portal (otherwise `content`
+and `embeds` come back empty).
+
+## Usage
+
+```
+uv run script.py --channel homelab-alerts --time 24h
+uv run script.py -c homelab-alerts -t 24
+```
+
+Options: `-c/--channel` (required), `-t/--time` hours, `24` or `24h` (default 24),
+`-g/--guild` name or ID if the channel name is ambiguous, `-o/--output` file path.
+
+Output goes next to the script: `discord_<channel>_<UTC timestamp>.json`.
+
+## jq examples
+
+```
+jq '.count' discord_homelab-alerts_*.json
+jq -r '.messages[] | "\(.timestamp) \(.content)"' file.json
+jq '.messages[].embeds[].title' file.json
+jq '.messages[] | select(.content | test("error"; "i"))' file.json
+```
diff --git a/script.py b/script.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b52428a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script.py
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+# /// script
+# requires-python = ">=3.11"
+# dependencies = ["httpx"]
+# ///
+"""Pull messages from a Discord channel for the last N hours and save them as JSON."""
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+import time
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import httpx
+
+API = "https://discord.com/api/v10"
+DISCORD_EPOCH_MS = 1420070400000
+SCRIPT_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+# 0 text, 5 announcement
+TEXT_CHANNEL_TYPES = {0, 5}
+
+
+def load_token() -> str:
+    token = os.environ.get("HM_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN")
+    if token:
+        return token
+    for name in (".env", "discord-bot.txt"):
+        path = SCRIPT_DIR / name
+        if not path.is_file():
+            continue
+        for line in path.read_text().splitlines():
+            line = line.strip()
+            if not line or line.startswith("#") or "=" not in line:
+                continue
+            key, _, value = line.partition("=")
+            if key.strip() == "HM_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN":
+                return value.strip().strip("'\"")
+    sys.exit("error: HM_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN not found in environment, .env, or discord-bot.txt")
+
+
+def parse_hours(value: str) -> int:
+    m = re.fullmatch(r"(\d+)h?", value.strip().lower())
+    if not m or int(m.group(1)) == 0:
+        raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(f"invalid time {value!r}; use hours, e.g. 24 or 24h")
+    return int(m.group(1))
+
+
+def datetime_to_snowflake(dt: datetime) -> int:
+    return (int(dt.timestamp() * 1000) - DISCORD_EPOCH_MS) << 22
+
+
+def api_get(client: httpx.Client, path: str, params: dict | None = None):
+    while True:
+        resp = client.get(f"{API}{path}", params=params)
+        if resp.status_code == 429:
+            time.sleep(float(resp.json().get("retry_after", 1)) + 0.1)
+            continue
+        if resp.status_code == 401:
+            sys.exit("error: 401 unauthorized - bot token invalid")
+        if resp.status_code == 403:
+            sys.exit(f"error: 403 forbidden on {path} - bot needs View Channel + Read Message History")
+        if resp.status_code >= 400:
+            sys.exit(f"error: {resp.status_code} on {path}: {resp.text}")
+        return resp.json()
+
+
+def find_channel(client: httpx.Client, name: str, guild_filter: str | None) -> tuple[dict, dict]:
+    matches = []
+    for guild in api_get(client, "/users/@me/guilds"):
+        if guild_filter and guild_filter not in (guild["id"], guild["name"]):
+            continue
+        for ch in api_get(client, f"/guilds/{guild['id']}/channels"):
+            if ch["type"] in TEXT_CHANNEL_TYPES and name in (ch["name"], ch["id"]):
+                matches.append((guild, ch))
+    if not matches:
+        sys.exit(f"error: no text channel named {name!r} visible to bot")
+    if len(matches) > 1:
+        options = "\n".join(
+            f"  {ch['id']}  guild={g['name']!r}  parent_id={ch.get('parent_id')}" for g, ch in matches
+        )
+        sys.exit(
+            f"error: {len(matches)} channels match {name!r}:\n{options}\n"
+            "Pass a channel ID to --channel (or --guild to narrow by server)."
+        )
+    return matches[0]
+
+
+def fetch_messages(client: httpx.Client, channel_id: str, since: datetime) -> list[dict]:
+    messages: list[dict] = []
+    after = str(datetime_to_snowflake(since))
+    while True:
+        page = api_get(client, f"/channels/{channel_id}/messages", {"limit": 100, "after": after})
+        if not page:
+            break
+        messages.extend(page)
+        after = max(page, key=lambda m: int(m["id"]))["id"]
+        if len(page) < 100:
+            break
+    messages.sort(key=lambda m: int(m["id"]))
+    return messages
+
+
+def slim(msg: dict) -> dict:
+    author = msg.get("author", {})
+    return {
+        "id": msg["id"],
+        "timestamp": msg["timestamp"],
+        "edited_timestamp": msg.get("edited_timestamp"),
+        "author": {
+            "id": author.get("id"),
+            "username": author.get("username"),
+            "bot": author.get("bot", False),
+        },
+        "content": msg.get("content", ""),
+        "embeds": msg.get("embeds", []),
+        "attachments": [
+            {"filename": a.get("filename"), "url": a.get("url")} for a in msg.get("attachments", [])
+        ],
+    }
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    parser.add_argument("-c", "--channel", required=True, help="channel name, e.g. homelab-alerts")
+    parser.add_argument("-t", "--time", type=parse_hours, default=24, help="hours back, e.g. 24 or 24h (default 24)")
+    parser.add_argument("-g", "--guild", help="guild name or ID (only if channel name is ambiguous)")
+    parser.add_argument("-o", "--output", type=Path, help="output file (default: next to script)")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    channel_name = args.channel.lstrip("#")
+    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    since = now - timedelta(hours=args.time)
+
+    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bot {load_token()}", "User-Agent": "DiscordBot (pull-messages, 1.0)"}
+    with httpx.Client(headers=headers, timeout=30) as client:
+        guild, channel = find_channel(client, channel_name, args.guild)
+        raw = fetch_messages(client, channel["id"], since)
+
+    result = {
+        "channel": channel_name,
+        "channel_id": channel["id"],
+        "guild": guild["name"],
+        "since": since.isoformat(),
+        "fetched_at": now.isoformat(),
+        "hours": args.time,
+        "count": len(raw),
+        "messages": [slim(m) for m in raw],
+    }
+    out = args.output or SCRIPT_DIR / f"discord_{channel_name}_{now:%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ}.json"
+    out.write_text(json.dumps(result, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False) + "\n")
+    print(f"Saved {len(raw)} messages -> {out}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()