diff --git a/run_bot.sh b/run_bot.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4b436e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run_bot.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# run_bot.sh — starts bot.py and auto-restarts it on crash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+VENV="$DIR/venv/bin/activate"
+LOG="$DIR/bot.log"
+RETRY_DELAY=5   # seconds to wait before restarting after a crash
+
+echo "[run_bot] Starting watchdog. Logs → $LOG" | tee -a "$LOG"
+
+while true; do
+    echo "[run_bot] $(date -u '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC') — launching bot.py" | tee -a "$LOG"
+    source "$VENV"
+    python -u "$DIR/bot.py" >> "$LOG" 2>&1 || true
+    EXIT=$?
+    echo "[run_bot] $(date -u '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC') — bot.py exited (code $EXIT), restarting in ${RETRY_DELAY}s..." | tee -a "$LOG"
+    sleep "$RETRY_DELAY"
+done