diff --git a/.gitleaks.toml b/.gitleaks.toml
index 3587bd4..8a35146 100644
--- a/.gitleaks.toml
+++ b/.gitleaks.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 # Homelab bootstrap — gitleaks allowlist (tests, examples, placeholders)
+#
+# IMPORTANT: `useDefault = true` is required — without it gitleaks loads ONLY
+# this file (title + allowlist) with ZERO detection rules, so it would never
+# flag a real secret. Fixed 2026-07 (security-hardening track); if you're
+# re-pushing this template to a repo that already had the old version, that
+# repo's secret scanning was a no-op until this lands.
 title = "homelab gitea bootstrap"
 
+[extend]
+useDefault = true
+
 [allowlist]
 description = "Test fixtures and example configs are not production secrets"
 paths = [
diff --git a/scripts/git-hooks/install.sh b/scripts/git-hooks/install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0dff3fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/git-hooks/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# One-time installer for the local pre-commit gitleaks hook.
+# Run once per clone: bash scripts/git-hooks/install.sh
+#
+# Respects `core.hooksPath` if you've set one (local or global) — some setups
+# point git at a hooks dir outside `.git/hooks/` (e.g. a machine-wide
+# `~/.git-hooks/`), and installing to `.git/hooks/` in that case would be a
+# silent no-op. If an existing hook is already at that path, this chains to
+# it so nothing already relying on it breaks.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+cd "$REPO_ROOT"
+
+HOOKS_DIR="$(git config --get core.hooksPath || true)"
+if [ -z "$HOOKS_DIR" ]; then
+  HOOKS_DIR=".git/hooks"
+elif [[ "$HOOKS_DIR" != /* ]]; then
+  HOOKS_DIR="$REPO_ROOT/$HOOKS_DIR"
+fi
+mkdir -p "$HOOKS_DIR"
+
+TARGET="$HOOKS_DIR/pre-commit"
+if [ -f "$TARGET" ] && ! grep -q "gitleaks" "$TARGET" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "⚠️  Existing pre-commit hook found at $TARGET that isn't ours — chaining instead of overwriting."
+  CHAINED="$HOOKS_DIR/pre-commit.d-gitleaks"
+  cp scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit "$CHAINED"
+  chmod +x "$CHAINED"
+  if ! grep -q "pre-commit.d-gitleaks" "$TARGET" 2>/dev/null; then
+    printf '\n# Added by levkinops ansible repo (scripts/git-hooks/install.sh)\n"%s"\n' "$CHAINED" >> "$TARGET"
+  fi
+else
+  cp scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit "$TARGET"
+  chmod +x "$TARGET"
+fi
+
+echo "✓ Installed pre-commit gitleaks hook → $TARGET"
+if [ "$HOOKS_DIR" != ".git/hooks" ] && [ "$HOOKS_DIR" != "$REPO_ROOT/.git/hooks" ]; then
+  echo "  (using core.hooksPath=$HOOKS_DIR — applies to every repo that shares this hooksPath)"
+fi
+if ! command -v gitleaks >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "  Note: gitleaks isn't installed locally yet. Install it for the hook to actually run:"
+  echo "    macOS:  brew install gitleaks"
+  echo "    Linux:  see https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks#installing"
+  echo "  Until then this hook is a no-op locally (CI still scans every push)."
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit b/scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14e6898
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Local pre-commit secret scan — mirrors the `secret-scanning` CI job (gitleaks)
+# so leaked secrets are caught before they ever leave your machine, not just at
+# CI time. Installed via `make install-git-hooks`.
+#
+# Uses the same .gitleaks.toml allowlist as CI. Only scans staged content.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+cd "$REPO_ROOT"
+
+if ! command -v gitleaks >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "⚠️  gitleaks not installed locally — skipping local secret scan."
+  echo "    Install: brew install gitleaks   (CI will still catch it either way)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "🔐 Running gitleaks on staged changes..."
+if ! gitleaks protect --staged --config .gitleaks.toml --no-banner --redact; then
+  echo ""
+  echo "❌ gitleaks found a potential secret in your staged changes."
+  echo "   Fix it, or if it's a false positive, add an allowlist entry to .gitleaks.toml."
+  echo "   Bypass (not recommended): git commit --no-verify"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "✓ gitleaks: no secrets found in staged changes"