diff --git a/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.test.ts b/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0573d1017
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { DEFAULT_CONFIG, pollOnce, runNotifier, type NotifierConfig } from "./backlog-ready-notifier";
+
+describe("backlog-ready-notifier slice 1", () => {
+  test("default config has sensible poll interval", () => {
+    expect(DEFAULT_CONFIG.pollIntervalMin).toBe(10);
+    expect(DEFAULT_CONFIG.once).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("pollOnce returns a result with no-op scan", () => {
+    const result = pollOnce(DEFAULT_CONFIG);
+    expect(result.readyRowsFound).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.assignmentsPublished).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.note).toContain("slice-1 skeleton");
+    expect(result.pollAt).toMatch(/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T/);
+  });
+
+  test("runNotifier with once: true exits after one iteration", async () => {
+    const config: NotifierConfig = { ...DEFAULT_CONFIG, once: true };
+    const results = await runNotifier(config);
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(results[0].readyRowsFound).toBe(0);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.ts b/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d7851e0c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+// backlog-ready-notifier.ts — B-0441 slice 1: skeleton + no-op poll loop
+//
+// Background service that proactively surfaces ready-to-grind backlog rows
+// (open, dependencies satisfied) to agents whose queue is empty. Composes
+// with B-0440 (Standing-by detector): B-0440 catches the failure mode AFTER
+// it occurs (reactive); this service PREVENTS the failure mode by surfacing
+// work BEFORE the agent goes idle (proactive).
+//
+// This slice ships ONLY the skeleton. Future slices add backlog parsing,
+// queue-state detection, and bus integration.
+//
+// Run: bun tools/bg/backlog-ready-notifier.ts [--once] [--poll-min N]
+// Compose with: B-0441 + B-0400 (bus) + B-0440 (reactive peer).
+
+export type NotifierConfig = {
+  /** How often to poll, in minutes */
+  pollIntervalMin: number;
+  /** When true, run a single poll and exit */
+  once: boolean;
+};
+
+export const DEFAULT_CONFIG: NotifierConfig = {
+  pollIntervalMin: 10,
+  once: false,
+};
+
+export type PollResult = {
+  pollAt: string; // ISO-8601
+  readyRowsFound: number;
+  assignmentsPublished: number;
+  note: string;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Single poll iteration. Slice 1 returns a no-op result. Future slices
+ * implement backlog scan + queue-state detection + assignment publish.
+ */
+export function pollOnce(_config: NotifierConfig): PollResult {
+  return {
+    pollAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+    readyRowsFound: 0,
+    assignmentsPublished: 0,
+    note: "slice-1 skeleton — no scan yet; future slices add backlog-readiness + queue-state + bus publish",
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run the notifier loop. When `once: true`, runs exactly one iteration and
+ * returns its result. Otherwise sleeps for pollIntervalMin between
+ * iterations and runs forever; results are NOT accumulated.
+ */
+export async function runNotifier(config: NotifierConfig = DEFAULT_CONFIG): Promise<PollResult[]> {
+  if (config.once) {
+    const result = pollOnce(config);
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
+    return [result];
+  }
+
+  while (true) {
+    const result = pollOnce(config);
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
+    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, config.pollIntervalMin * 60 * 1000));
+  }
+}
+
+function parsePositiveMinutes(raw: string | undefined, name: string): number {
+  if (raw === undefined) throw new Error(`${name} requires a value`);
+  const n = Number(raw);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(n) || n <= 0) {
+    throw new Error(`${name} must be a positive finite number; got "${raw}"`);
+  }
+  return n;
+}
+
+function parseArgs(argv: string[]): NotifierConfig {
+  const config: NotifierConfig = { ...DEFAULT_CONFIG };
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < argv.length; i++) {
+    const arg = argv[i];
+    if (arg === "--once") config.once = true;
+    else if (arg === "--poll-min") {
+      config.pollIntervalMin = parsePositiveMinutes(argv[++i], "--poll-min");
+    }
+  }
+
+  return config;
+}
+
+if (import.meta.main) {
+  const config = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
+  await runNotifier(config);
+}