diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3cd2ebd..b840d36 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,6 +76,42 @@ MESHCORE_SERIAL_PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0 uv run uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --p
 
 Access the app at http://localhost:8000 (or your server's IP/hostname).
 
+### Systemd Service (Linux)
+
+To run as a system service:
+
+```bash
+# 1. Create service user (with home directory for uv cache)
+sudo useradd -r -m -s /bin/false remoteterm
+
+# 2. Install to /opt/remoteterm
+sudo mkdir -p /opt/remoteterm
+sudo cp -r . /opt/remoteterm/
+sudo chown -R remoteterm:remoteterm /opt/remoteterm
+
+# 3. Create virtualenv and install deps (may need to install uv for the user with curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sudo -u remoteterm sh)
+cd /opt/remoteterm
+sudo -u remoteterm uv venv
+sudo -u remoteterm uv sync
+
+# 4. Build frontend
+cd /opt/remoteterm/frontend
+sudo -u remoteterm npm install
+sudo -u remoteterm npm run build
+
+# 5. Install and start service
+sudo cp /opt/remoteterm/remoteterm.service /etc/systemd/system/
+sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+sudo systemctl enable remoteterm
+sudo systemctl start remoteterm
+
+# Check status
+sudo systemctl status remoteterm
+sudo journalctl -u remoteterm -f
+```
+
+Edit `/etc/systemd/system/remoteterm.service` to set `MESHCORE_SERIAL_PORT` if auto-detection doesn't work.
+
 ## Environment Variables
 
 | Variable | Default | Description |
diff --git a/remoteterm.service b/remoteterm.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ef3796
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remoteterm.service
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=RemoteTerm for MeshCore
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+User=remoteterm
+Group=remoteterm
+WorkingDirectory=/opt/remoteterm
+ExecStart=/opt/remoteterm/.venv/bin/uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=5
+
+# Environment
+Environment=MESHCORE_DATABASE_PATH=/opt/remoteterm/data/meshcore.db
+# Uncomment and set if auto-detection doesn't work:
+# Environment=MESHCORE_SERIAL_PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0
+
+# Give access to serial devices
+SupplementaryGroups=dialout
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target