diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a092e8b..ea64075 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ it started as a simple music bot and became a massive mess of features i actuall
 - deepseek api for the ai stuff
 - wavelink + lavalink (java) for music
 - psutil + lm-sensors for hardware stats
-- runs as systemd services: `discordbot` and `lavalink`
+- runs as systemd services: `discordbot`, `lavalink`, and a weekly `discordbot-refresh.timer` that auto-updates the Blue Archive roster
 
 ## commands
 
diff --git a/blue_archive/refresh_roster.py b/blue_archive/refresh_roster.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff56829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blue_archive/refresh_roster.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+"""Refresh the bundled Blue Archive roster from the live ennead.cc API.
+
+Loads the current ba_students.json, merges any characters that have been
+released since the last run, and atomically writes the result back. Run weekly
+via the discordbot-refresh systemd timer so fresh clones stay current without
+depending on the live API at startup.
+"""
+import asyncio
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from blue_archive.data import db, fetch_banners
+
+OUT = Path(__file__).with_name("ba_students.json")
+
+
+async def main() -> None:
+    db.load()
+    banners = await fetch_banners()
+    added = await db.merge_ennead(banners)
+
+    tmp = OUT.with_suffix(".json.tmp")
+    tmp.write_text(json.dumps(db.students, ensure_ascii=False), encoding="utf-8")
+    tmp.replace(OUT)  # atomic swap so a reader never sees a partial file
+    print(f"refreshed {OUT.name}: {len(db.students)} students (+{added} new)")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    asyncio.run(main())