diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index edfe7c7..e60e0dc 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@ TENANT_ID=your-tenant-id
 CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
 CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
 MONGO_URI=mongodb://root:example@mongo:27017/
+ENABLE_PERIODIC_FETCH=false
+FETCH_INTERVAL_MINUTES=60
diff --git a/backend/config.py b/backend/config.py
index f0ace81..c995e13 100644
--- a/backend/config.py
+++ b/backend/config.py
@@ -8,3 +8,7 @@ CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("CLIENT_ID")
 CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("CLIENT_SECRET")
 MONGO_URI = os.getenv("MONGO_URI")
 DB_NAME = "micro_soc"
+
+# Optional periodic fetch settings
+ENABLE_PERIODIC_FETCH = os.getenv("ENABLE_PERIODIC_FETCH", "false").lower() == "true"
+FETCH_INTERVAL_MINUTES = int(os.getenv("FETCH_INTERVAL_MINUTES", "60"))
diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index 4fef48b..2c3eb05 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+import asyncio
+import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
-from routes.fetch import router as fetch_router
+from routes.fetch import router as fetch_router, run_fetch
 from routes.events import router as events_router
+from config import ENABLE_PERIODIC_FETCH, FETCH_INTERVAL_MINUTES
 
 app = FastAPI()
 
@@ -15,3 +18,33 @@ app.include_router(events_router, prefix="/api")
 # works regardless of the working directory used to start uvicorn.
 frontend_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "frontend"
 app.mount("/", StaticFiles(directory=frontend_dir, html=True), name="frontend")
+
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("aoc.fetcher")
+
+
+async def _periodic_fetch():
+    while True:
+        try:
+            await asyncio.to_thread(run_fetch)
+            logger.info("Periodic fetch completed.")
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.error("Periodic fetch failed: %s", exc)
+        await asyncio.sleep(FETCH_INTERVAL_MINUTES * 60)
+
+
+@app.on_event("startup")
+async def start_periodic_fetch():
+    if ENABLE_PERIODIC_FETCH:
+        app.state.fetch_task = asyncio.create_task(_periodic_fetch())
+
+
+@app.on_event("shutdown")
+async def stop_periodic_fetch():
+    task = getattr(app.state, "fetch_task", None)
+    if task:
+        task.cancel()
+        try:
+            await task
+        except Exception:
+            pass
diff --git a/backend/routes/fetch.py b/backend/routes/fetch.py
index 7baa661..18432c6 100644
--- a/backend/routes/fetch.py
+++ b/backend/routes/fetch.py
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ from models.event_model import normalize_event
 router = APIRouter()
 
 
-@router.get("/fetch-audit-logs")
-def fetch_logs(hours: int = 168):
+def run_fetch(hours: int = 168):
     window = max(1, min(hours, 720))  # cap to 30 days for sanity
     logs = []
     errors = []
@@ -38,3 +37,11 @@ def fetch_logs(hours: int = 168):
                 ops.append(UpdateOne({"id": doc.get("id"), "timestamp": doc.get("timestamp")}, {"$set": doc}, upsert=True))
         events_collection.bulk_write(ops, ordered=False)
     return {"stored_events": len(normalized), "errors": errors}
+
+
+@router.get("/fetch-audit-logs")
+def fetch_logs(hours: int = 168):
+    try:
+        return run_fetch(hours=hours)
+    except Exception as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=502, detail=str(exc)) from exc