diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a415ff50d5..1ea9cc4e44 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     "selfhost:postgres:migrate": "tsx scripts/migrate-selfhost-sqlite-to-postgres.ts",
     "selfhost:env-reference": "node scripts/gen-selfhost-env-reference.mjs",
     "selfhost:env-reference:check": "node scripts/gen-selfhost-env-reference.mjs --check",
+    "selfhost:validate-observability": "node scripts/validate-observability-configs.mjs",
     "cf-typegen": "wrangler types && perl -pi -e 's/[[:blank:]]+$//' worker-configuration.d.ts",
     "cf-typegen:check": "wrangler types --check",
     "db:migrate:local": "wrangler d1 migrations apply gittensory --local",
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@
     "test:smoke:observability": "node scripts/smoke-observability-traces.mjs",
     "test:smoke:browser:install": "playwright install chromium",
     "test:smoke:browser": "node scripts/smoke-ui-browser.mjs",
-    "test:ci": "git diff --check && npm run actionlint && npm run db:migrations:check && npm run selfhost:env-reference:check && npm run cf-typegen:check && npm run typecheck && npm run test:coverage && npm run test:workers && npm run build:mcp && npm run test:mcp-pack && npm run build:miner && npm run rees:test && npm run ui:openapi:check && npm run ui:openapi:settings-parity && npm run ui:version-audit && npm run ui:lint && npm run ui:typecheck && npm run ui:test && npm run ui:build",
+    "test:ci": "git diff --check && npm run actionlint && npm run db:migrations:check && npm run selfhost:env-reference:check && npm run selfhost:validate-observability && npm run cf-typegen:check && npm run typecheck && npm run test:coverage && npm run test:workers && npm run build:mcp && npm run test:mcp-pack && npm run build:miner && npm run rees:test && npm run ui:openapi:check && npm run ui:openapi:settings-parity && npm run ui:version-audit && npm run ui:lint && npm run ui:typecheck && npm run ui:test && npm run ui:build",
     "test:release": "npm run test:ci && npm run changelog:check",
     "test:release:mcp": "npm run test:ci && npm run changelog:check:mcp",
     "test:watch": "vitest",
diff --git a/scripts/validate-observability-configs.d.mts b/scripts/validate-observability-configs.d.mts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..89b17aad3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-observability-configs.d.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export declare function validateDashboards(dir: string): string[];
+
+export declare function validateAlertRules(path: string): string[];
diff --git a/scripts/validate-observability-configs.mjs b/scripts/validate-observability-configs.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3d57c13b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/validate-observability-configs.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Validate Grafana dashboard JSON and Prometheus alert-rule YAML syntax + basic shape (#1943 deliverable:
+// "Add validation for dashboard JSON / alert rule syntax"). Catches a broken JSON/YAML file or a
+// structurally malformed dashboard/rule before it silently fails to load in the running stack -- Grafana
+// and Prometheus both fail OPEN on a malformed file (skip it, log a warning), so nothing else would catch
+// this until an operator notices a panel or alert is simply missing.
+//
+// The alert-rule `expr` check is a lightweight sanity check (balanced brackets, no dangling binary
+// operator), NOT a real PromQL parser -- this repo has no promtool/PromQL-grammar dependency, and adding
+// one is out of scope for this "if available" deliverable. It catches the obvious copy-paste/typo class
+// of mistake; it does not validate PromQL semantics (unknown functions, wrong label matchers, etc.).
+import { readFileSync, readdirSync } from "node:fs";
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import { parse as parseYaml } from "yaml";
+
+// Valid JSON/YAML can parse to a non-object (null, a string, a number, an array of non-objects) --
+// dereferencing a property on that crashes instead of producing a validation error. Every dereference
+// below goes through this guard first.
+function isObject(value) {
+  return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
+
+const BINARY_OPERATORS = ["==", "!=", ">=", "<=", ">", "<", "+", "-", "*", "/", "%", "^", "and", "or", "unless"];
+
+// A deliberately lightweight PromQL sanity check -- NOT a real parser (no promtool dependency; see the
+// module doc comment). Catches the class of mistake a copy-paste/typo produces: unbalanced brackets, or
+// an expression left dangling on a binary operator with no right-hand side (e.g. "up ==").
+function promqlSanityIssue(expr) {
+  const trimmed = expr.trim();
+  // A stack, not a depth counter: a depth counter only checks NESTING COUNT, so "sum(foo[5m))" -- opened
+  // with "(" and "[", closed with ")" and ")" -- reaches depth 0 and would wrongly look balanced. The
+  // stack checks each closer against the delimiter it's actually supposed to match.
+  const pairs = { ")": "(", "]": "[", "}": "{" };
+  const opens = new Set(["(", "[", "{"]);
+  const stack = [];
+  for (const ch of trimmed) {
+    if (opens.has(ch)) {
+      stack.push(ch);
+    } else if (ch in pairs) {
+      const top = stack.pop();
+      if (top !== pairs[ch]) {
+        return `unbalanced brackets (unexpected "${ch}"${top ? `, expected the match for "${top}"` : ""})`;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  if (stack.length > 0) return `unbalanced brackets (unclosed "${stack[stack.length - 1]}")`;
+  const lastToken = trimmed.split(/\s+/).pop() ?? "";
+  if (BINARY_OPERATORS.includes(lastToken)) {
+    return `expression ends in the binary operator "${lastToken}" with no right-hand side`;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+export function validateDashboards(dir) {
+  const errors = [];
+  let files;
+  try {
+    files = readdirSync(dir).filter((f) => f.endsWith(".json"));
+  } catch (error) {
+    return [`${dir}: could not read directory — ${error.message}`];
+  }
+  if (files.length === 0) errors.push(`${dir}: no dashboard JSON files found`);
+  for (const file of files) {
+    const path = `${dir}/${file}`;
+    let dashboard;
+    try {
+      dashboard = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, "utf8"));
+    } catch (error) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: invalid JSON — ${error.message}`);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (!isObject(dashboard)) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: top level must be a JSON object, not ${JSON.stringify(dashboard)}`);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (typeof dashboard.title !== "string" || !dashboard.title) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: missing a non-empty top-level "title"`);
+    }
+    if (!Array.isArray(dashboard.panels)) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: missing a top-level "panels" array`);
+    }
+  }
+  return errors;
+}
+
+export function validateAlertRules(path) {
+  const errors = [];
+  let doc;
+  try {
+    doc = parseYaml(readFileSync(path, "utf8"));
+  } catch (error) {
+    return [`${path}: invalid YAML — ${error.message}`];
+  }
+  if (!Array.isArray(doc?.groups)) {
+    return [`${path}: missing a top-level "groups" array`];
+  }
+  for (const [groupIndex, group] of doc.groups.entries()) {
+    if (!isObject(group)) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: groups[${groupIndex}] must be an object, not ${JSON.stringify(group)}`);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (typeof group.name !== "string" || !group.name) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: a group is missing a non-empty "name"`);
+    }
+    if (!Array.isArray(group.rules)) {
+      errors.push(`${path}: group "${group.name ?? "?"}" is missing a "rules" array`);
+      continue;
+    }
+    for (const [ruleIndex, rule] of group.rules.entries()) {
+      if (!isObject(rule)) {
+        errors.push(
+          `${path}: group "${group.name}" rules[${ruleIndex}] must be an object, not ${JSON.stringify(rule)}`,
+        );
+        continue;
+      }
+      const label = rule.alert ?? "(unnamed rule)";
+      if (typeof rule.alert !== "string" || !rule.alert) {
+        errors.push(`${path}: a rule in group "${group.name}" is missing "alert"`);
+      }
+      if (typeof rule.expr !== "string" || !rule.expr) {
+        errors.push(`${path}: rule "${label}" is missing a non-empty "expr"`);
+      } else {
+        const issue = promqlSanityIssue(rule.expr);
+        if (issue) errors.push(`${path}: rule "${label}" has a suspect "expr" — ${issue}`);
+      }
+      if (typeof rule.labels?.severity !== "string" || !rule.labels.severity) {
+        errors.push(`${path}: rule "${label}" is missing "labels.severity"`);
+      }
+      if (typeof rule.annotations?.summary !== "string" || !rule.annotations.summary) {
+        errors.push(`${path}: rule "${label}" is missing "annotations.summary"`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return errors;
+}
+
+/* v8 ignore start -- CLI entrypoint; the exported functions above carry the tested logic. */
+function main() {
+  const errors = [...validateDashboards("grafana/dashboards"), ...validateAlertRules("prometheus/rules/alerts.yml")];
+  if (errors.length > 0) {
+    console.error(`validate-observability-configs: ${errors.length} problem(s) found:`);
+    for (const e of errors) console.error(`  - ${e}`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  console.log("validate-observability-configs: dashboards and alert rules are valid");
+}
+
+if (import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1] ?? "").href) main();
+/* v8 ignore stop */
diff --git a/test/unit/validate-observability-configs-script.test.ts b/test/unit/validate-observability-configs-script.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9fa5410a50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/validate-observability-configs-script.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { validateAlertRules, validateDashboards } from "../../scripts/validate-observability-configs.mjs";
+
+function tmpDashboardDir(files: Record<string, string>): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gt-dash-"));
+  for (const [name, content] of Object.entries(files)) {
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, name), content);
+  }
+  return dir;
+}
+
+function tmpAlertFile(content: string): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gt-alerts-"));
+  const path = join(dir, "alerts.yml");
+  writeFileSync(path, content);
+  return path;
+}
+
+describe("validate-observability-configs (#1943)", () => {
+  it("passes the real dashboards and alert rules shipped in the repo", () => {
+    expect(validateDashboards("grafana/dashboards")).toEqual([]);
+    expect(validateAlertRules("prometheus/rules/alerts.yml")).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  describe("validateDashboards", () => {
+    it("flags invalid JSON", () => {
+      const dir = tmpDashboardDir({ "broken.json": "{ not json" });
+      const errors = validateDashboards(dir);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("invalid JSON"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags a dashboard missing title or panels", () => {
+      const dir = tmpDashboardDir({ "incomplete.json": JSON.stringify({}) });
+      const errors = validateDashboards(dir);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing a non-empty top-level "title"'))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing a top-level "panels" array'))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags an empty dashboards directory", () => {
+      const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gt-dash-empty-"));
+      const errors = validateDashboards(dir);
+      expect(errors).toEqual([`${dir}: no dashboard JSON files found`]);
+    });
+
+    it("passes a well-formed dashboard", () => {
+      const dir = tmpDashboardDir({
+        "ok.json": JSON.stringify({ title: "OK Dashboard", panels: [] }),
+      });
+      expect(validateDashboards(dir)).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it("reports the directory itself when unreadable", () => {
+      const errors = validateDashboards(join(tmpdir(), "gt-does-not-exist-" + Math.random()));
+      expect(errors.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(errors[0]).toContain("could not read directory");
+    });
+
+    it("reports a validation error (not a crash) when a dashboard file is valid JSON but not an object", () => {
+      const dir = tmpDashboardDir({ "null.json": "null", "array.json": "[]", "string.json": '"hi"' });
+      const errors = validateDashboards(dir);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("null.json") && e.includes("must be a JSON object"))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("array.json") && e.includes("must be a JSON object"))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("string.json") && e.includes("must be a JSON object"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("validateAlertRules", () => {
+    it("flags invalid YAML", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile("groups:\n  - name: [unterminated");
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("invalid YAML"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags a missing top-level groups array", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile("not_groups: []");
+      expect(validateAlertRules(path)).toEqual([`${path}: missing a top-level "groups" array`]);
+    });
+
+    it("flags a group missing name or rules", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile("groups:\n  - {}\n");
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing a non-empty "name"'))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing a "rules" array'))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags a rule missing alert, expr, severity, or summary", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile(
+        ["groups:", "  - name: test-group", "    rules:", "      - expr: up == 0"].join("\n"),
+      );
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing "alert"'))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing "labels.severity"'))).toBe(true);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes('missing "annotations.summary"'))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("passes a well-formed rule", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile(
+        [
+          "groups:",
+          "  - name: test-group",
+          "    rules:",
+          "      - alert: TestAlert",
+          "        expr: up == 0",
+          "        for: 5m",
+          "        labels:",
+          "          severity: warning",
+          "        annotations:",
+          "          summary: test",
+        ].join("\n"),
+      );
+      expect(validateAlertRules(path)).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it("reports the file itself when unreadable", () => {
+      const path = join(tmpdir(), "gt-does-not-exist-" + Math.random() + ".yml");
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(errors[0]).toContain("invalid YAML");
+    });
+
+    it("reports a validation error (not a crash) when a group entry is not an object", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile("groups:\n  - null\n  - 5\n  - just-a-string\n");
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.length).toBe(3);
+      for (const e of errors) expect(e).toContain("must be an object");
+    });
+
+    it("reports a validation error (not a crash) when a rule entry is not an object", () => {
+      const path = tmpAlertFile(["groups:", "  - name: test-group", "    rules:", "      - null"].join("\n"));
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(path);
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("rules[0]") && e.includes("must be an object"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    function ruleFile(expr: string): string {
+      return tmpAlertFile(
+        [
+          "groups:",
+          "  - name: test-group",
+          "    rules:",
+          "      - alert: TestAlert",
+          `        expr: ${expr}`,
+          "        labels:",
+          "          severity: warning",
+          "        annotations:",
+          "          summary: test",
+        ].join("\n"),
+      );
+    }
+
+    it("flags an expr with a dangling binary operator", () => {
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(ruleFile("up =="));
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("dangling") || e.includes('binary operator "=="'))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags an expr with unbalanced brackets", () => {
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(ruleFile("sum(rate(foo[5m])"));
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("unbalanced brackets"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags an expr with an unexpected closing bracket", () => {
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(ruleFile("up)"));
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("unbalanced brackets"))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it("flags mismatched bracket TYPES even when nesting depth balances out (REGRESSION)", () => {
+      // sum(foo[5m)) -- opened with "(" and "[", closed with ")" and ")". A naive depth counter (net
+      // opens - closes = 0) wrongly calls this balanced; the closer must match its actual opener.
+      const errors = validateAlertRules(ruleFile("sum(foo[5m))"));
+      expect(errors.some((e) => e.includes("unbalanced brackets") && e.includes('expected the match for "["'))).toBe(
+        true,
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("passes well-formed real-shaped PromQL expressions", () => {
+      for (const expr of [
+        "up == 0",
+        "sum(rate(gittensory_jobs_total[5m])) by (status) > 10",
+        'histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(gittensory_http_duration_seconds_bucket{route="/health"}[5m]))',
+        "(a + b) / c",
+      ]) {
+        expect(validateAlertRules(ruleFile(expr))).toEqual([]);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});