diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e660fd9..098c261 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
+thanks.yaml
 bin/
diff --git a/cmd/thanks/main.go b/cmd/thanks/main.go
index 7ba6864..e1ba1d2 100644
--- a/cmd/thanks/main.go
+++ b/cmd/thanks/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 
 	"git.gentoo.party/sam/thanks/internal/jobs"
 )
@@ -13,10 +14,14 @@ var (
 	BuildTime = "unknown"
 )
 
-var flagVersion = false
+var (
+	flagVersion = false
+	jobsFile    = "thanks.yaml"
+)
 
 func init() {
 	flag.BoolVar(&flagVersion, "v", false, "show program version")
+	flag.StringVar(&jobsFile, "jobs", "thanks.yaml", "backup job definitions file")
 }
 
 func main() {
@@ -27,15 +32,15 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	myJob := jobs.BackupJob{
-		Source:     "zroot/home/sam/thanks",
-		Target:     "zrust/backup/weller/thanks",
-		TargetHost: "backup@woodford.gentoo.party",
-		Keep:       30,
-		Prefix:     "thanks-",
-		Recursive:  false,
+	backupJobs, err := jobs.ParseFile(jobsFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error reading backup job definitions: %s\n", err.Error())
 	}
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	myJob.Do(ctx)
+	for _, myJob := range backupJobs {
+		myJob.Do(ctx)
+	}
+
+	log.Printf("backups completed successfully")
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b3dc617..5206e69 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
 module git.gentoo.party/sam/thanks
 
 go 1.25.5
+
+require (
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
+)
+
+require (
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4c1710
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/internal/jobs/jobs.go b/internal/jobs/jobs.go
index 8a41856..7c1f890 100644
--- a/internal/jobs/jobs.go
+++ b/internal/jobs/jobs.go
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 type BackupJob struct {
-	Source     string // the source dataset (e.g., zroot)
-	TargetHost string // SSH-compatible host
-	Target     string // the target dataset
-	Keep       int    // number of snapshots to keep
-	Prefix     string // name each snapshot with this prefix
-	Recursive  bool   // create recursive snapshots
+	Source     string `yaml:"source"`     // the source dataset (e.g., zroot)
+	TargetHost string `yaml:"targetHost"` // SSH-compatible host
+	Target     string `yaml:"target"`     // the target dataset
+	Keep       int    `yaml:"keep"`       // number of snapshots to keep
+	Recursive  bool   `yaml:"recursive"`  // create recursive snapshots
+	Prefix     string `yaml:"prefix"`     // name each snapshot with this prefix
 }
 
 //	func (j *BackupJob) getBaseSnap() {
diff --git a/internal/jobs/parse.go b/internal/jobs/parse.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f2d6ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/jobs/parse.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package jobs
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"os"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+type JobsRoot struct {
+	Jobs []BackupJob `yaml:"jobs"`
+}
+
+func Parse(reader io.Reader) ([]BackupJob, error) {
+	dec := yaml.NewDecoder(reader)
+	var jobsRoot JobsRoot
+	err := dec.Decode(&jobsRoot)
+	return jobsRoot.Jobs, err
+}
+
+func ParseFile(path string) ([]BackupJob, error) {
+	f, err := os.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return Parse(f)
+}
diff --git a/internal/jobs/parse_test.go b/internal/jobs/parse_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1f4bc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/jobs/parse_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package jobs_test
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.gentoo.party/sam/thanks/internal/jobs"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+const testParseStr = `
+jobs:
+  - source: "zroot/home/sam/thanks"
+    target: "zrust/backup/weller/thanks"
+    targetHost: "backup@woodford.gentoo.party"
+    keep: 30
+    prefix: "thanks-"
+    recursive: false
+`
+
+func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
+	reader := strings.NewReader(testParseStr)
+	backupJobs, err := jobs.Parse(reader)
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, backupJobs[0].Source, "zroot/home/sam/thanks")
+}