diff --git a/scripts/maintenance/backup.sh b/scripts/maintenance/backup.sh
index 8d492ac..92e35ad 100755
--- a/scripts/maintenance/backup.sh
+++ b/scripts/maintenance/backup.sh
@@ -1,50 +1,142 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-
 set -euo pipefail
 
 show_help() {
-    cat <<'EOF'
-Usage: $(basename "$0") [OPTIONS]
-
-Create a timestamped backup of a directory using tar.gz.
+  cat <<'EOF'
+Usage: backup.sh [options]
 
 Options:
-  -d DIR   Directory to backup (default: current directory)
-  -o DIR   Output directory for backup files (default: ./backups)
-  -h       Show this help message
+  -d, --dir DIR       Directory to back up (default: current directory)
+  -o, --output DIR    Output directory for backup archive (default: ./backups)
+  -n, --dry-run       Display planned actions without creating archive
+  -h, --help          Show this help message and exit
+
+Description:
+  Creates a timestamped compressed backup (.tar.gz) of the specified
+  directory. Prevents recursive inclusion if the output directory is
+  inside the source directory, cleans up incomplete archives on failure,
+  and handles spaces and Unicode characters safely.
 EOF
+  exit 0
 }
 
-# Default values
 SRC_DIR="."
 OUT_DIR="./backups"
+DRY_RUN=false
 
-while getopts "d:o:h" opt; do
-    case $opt in
-        d) SRC_DIR="$OPTARG" ;;
-        o) OUT_DIR="$OPTARG" ;;
-        h) show_help; exit 0 ;;
-        *) show_help; exit 1 ;;
-    esac
+while (( "$#" )); do
+  case "$1" in
+    -h|--help)
+      show_help
+      ;;
+    -n|--dry-run)
+      DRY_RUN=true
+      ;;
+    -d|--dir)
+      if [[ -n "${2-}" && "${2-}" != -* ]]; then
+        SRC_DIR="$2"
+        shift
+      else
+        echo "Error: Argument for $1 is missing" >&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      ;;
+    -o|--output)
+      if [[ -n "${2-}" && "${2-}" != -* ]]; then
+        OUT_DIR="$2"
+        shift
+      else
+        echo "Error: Argument for $1 is missing" >&2
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      ;;
+    -*)
+      echo "Error: Unknown option: $1" >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Error: Unexpected positional argument: $1" >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+  shift
 done
 
 if ! command -v tar >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo "Error: 'tar' command not found." >&2
-    exit 1
+  echo "Error: 'tar' utility is required but not installed." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -e "$SRC_DIR" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: Source path '$SRC_DIR' does not exist." >&2
+  exit 1
 fi
 
-# Resolve absolute paths
-SRC_DIR=$(realpath "$SRC_DIR")
-OUT_DIR=$(realpath "$OUT_DIR")
+if [[ ! -d "$SRC_DIR" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: Source path '$SRC_DIR' is not a directory." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+SRC_DIR="$(realpath "$SRC_DIR")"
+
+if [[ "$SRC_DIR" == "/" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: Refusing to create full root '/' backup without targeted configuration." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
 
-mkdir -p "$OUT_DIR"
+# Resolve output directory
+if $DRY_RUN; then
+  # Don't create directory in dry-run mode
+  OUT_DIR="$(realpath -m "$OUT_DIR")"
+else
+  mkdir -p "$OUT_DIR"
+  OUT_DIR="$(realpath "$OUT_DIR")"
+fi
 
-TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
-BASE_NAME=$(basename "$SRC_DIR")
+TIMESTAMP="$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"
+BASE_NAME="$(basename "$SRC_DIR")"
+PARENT_DIR="$(dirname "$SRC_DIR")"
 BACKUP_FILE="$OUT_DIR/${BASE_NAME}_backup_${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz"
 
+# Build tar exclusion arguments if OUT_DIR is inside or equal to SRC_DIR
+declare -a TAR_OPTS=()
+
+if [[ "$OUT_DIR" == "$SRC_DIR" ]]; then
+  TAR_OPTS+=(--exclude="${BASE_NAME}/*.tar.gz" --exclude="${BASE_NAME}/*.tar.bz2" --exclude="${BASE_NAME}/*.tar.xz")
+elif [[ "$OUT_DIR" == "$SRC_DIR"/* ]]; then
+  # Output directory is inside the source directory; compute relative path to exclude
+  REL_OUT="${OUT_DIR#"$SRC_DIR"/}"
+  TAR_OPTS+=(--exclude="${BASE_NAME}/${REL_OUT}" --exclude="${BASE_NAME}/*.tar.gz")
+fi
+
+if $DRY_RUN; then
+  echo "[DRY RUN] Source directory: $SRC_DIR"
+  echo "[DRY RUN] Output directory: $OUT_DIR"
+  echo "[DRY RUN] Target archive:   $BACKUP_FILE"
+  if [[ ${#TAR_OPTS[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
+    echo "[DRY RUN] Exclusions:       ${TAR_OPTS[*]}"
+  fi
+  echo "[DRY RUN] Command: tar -czf \"$BACKUP_FILE\" ${TAR_OPTS[*]} -C \"$PARENT_DIR\" \"$BASE_NAME\""
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Setup cleanup on failure/interruption
+cleanup_on_error() {
+  local exit_code=$?
+  if [[ $exit_code -ne 0 && -f "$BACKUP_FILE" ]]; then
+    echo "Warning: Backup interrupted or failed. Removing partial archive: $BACKUP_FILE" >&2
+    rm -f "$BACKUP_FILE"
+  fi
+  exit "$exit_code"
+}
+trap cleanup_on_error EXIT INT TERM
+
 echo "Creating backup of '$SRC_DIR' at '$BACKUP_FILE' ..."
 
-tar -czf "$BACKUP_FILE" -C "$(dirname "$SRC_DIR")" "$(basename "$SRC_DIR")"
+tar -czf "$BACKUP_FILE" "${TAR_OPTS[@]}" -C "$PARENT_DIR" "$BASE_NAME"
+
+# Remove trap on success
+trap - EXIT INT TERM
 
-echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_FILE"
+ARCHIVE_SIZE="$(du -h "$BACKUP_FILE" | cut -f1)"
+echo "Backup completed successfully: $BACKUP_FILE (Size: $ARCHIVE_SIZE)"