diff --git a/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh b/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh
index 4f9a64b..f7c0570 100755
--- a/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh
+++ b/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 # already-filled bindings file is left untouched.
 set -euo pipefail
 
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")" && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=SCRIPTDIR/lib/users-config.sh
+. "$HERE/lib/users-config.sh"   # read_role_marker — the traits line bootstrap wrote
+
 log()  { printf 'rig-coolify-backup: %s\n' "$*"; }
 warn() { printf 'rig-coolify-backup: WARNING: %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
 die()  { printf 'rig-coolify-backup: ERROR: %s\n' "$1" >&2; exit "${2:-1}"; }
@@ -67,6 +71,18 @@ done
 [ -n "$PG_USER" ]      || die "--pg-user must not be empty" 2
 [ -n "$PG_DB" ]        || die "--pg-db must not be empty" 2
 
+# --- role-marker sanity (issue #25) ------------------------------------------
+# Same advisory check as `rig coolify install`, same reasoning: this command
+# dumps the CONTROL PLANE's database, so a marker naming any other role almost
+# certainly means the wrong SSH session — but the marker is advisory and may be
+# absent, so WARN, never die, and warn before the root check so the harness can
+# prove it non-root (RIG_ROLE_MARKER points it at fixtures, repo precedent).
+MARKER_LINE="$(read_role_marker "${RIG_ROLE_MARKER:-/etc/rig/role}")"
+case "$MARKER_LINE" in
+  ""|"role=control-plane "*) ;;
+  *) warn "this box's role marker says '${MARKER_LINE}' — not a control-plane box. The nightly dump targets Coolify's own database, which lives on role control-plane; if this is the wrong box, stop here and re-check your SSH session." ;;
+esac
+
 # --- guards ----------------------------------------------------------------
 [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ] || die "must run as root"
 if [ -r /etc/os-release ]; then
diff --git a/commands/coolify-install.sh b/commands/coolify-install.sh
index 9c18cdd..aee7868 100755
--- a/commands/coolify-install.sh
+++ b/commands/coolify-install.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@
 # explicit act.
 set -euo pipefail
 
-log() { printf 'rig-coolify: %s\n' "$*"; }
-die() { printf 'rig-coolify: ERROR: %s\n' "$1" >&2; exit "${2:-1}"; }
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")" && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=SCRIPTDIR/lib/users-config.sh
+. "$HERE/lib/users-config.sh"   # read_role_marker — the traits line bootstrap wrote
+
+log()  { printf 'rig-coolify: %s\n' "$*"; }
+warn() { printf 'rig-coolify: WARNING: %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
+die()  { printf 'rig-coolify: ERROR: %s\n' "$1" >&2; exit "${2:-1}"; }
 
 usage() {
   cat <<'EOF'
@@ -32,6 +37,26 @@ if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
   die "--version <pin> is required" 2
 fi
 
+# --- role-marker sanity (issue #25) ------------------------------------------
+# Coolify belongs on the control-plane box and nowhere else — but the marker is
+# ADVISORY, never a gate. It may legitimately be absent (a box bootstrapped
+# before rig wrote markers, or a hand-built one), and rig refuses to guess from
+# silence. When the marker EXISTS and names another role, the likeliest story
+# is an operator in the wrong SSH session about to put a control plane on a
+# workload box — so say it loudly. But WARN, never die: the operator may also
+# be deliberately repurposing the box, and an advisory file must never outrank
+# the human running the command (contrast close-root, where the marker IS the
+# gate — shutting the root door blind is irreversible in a way an extra
+# Coolify is not). Placed BEFORE the root check for the same reason arg errors
+# are: the harness proves it non-root, and reading a 0644 file needs no
+# privilege. RIG_ROLE_MARKER overrides the path so tests point it at fixtures
+# (repo precedent: users-apply, users-close-root).
+MARKER_LINE="$(read_role_marker "${RIG_ROLE_MARKER:-/etc/rig/role}")"
+case "$MARKER_LINE" in
+  ""|"role=control-plane "*) ;;
+  *) warn "this box's role marker says '${MARKER_LINE}' — not a control-plane box. Coolify belongs on role control-plane; if this is the wrong box, stop here and re-check your SSH session. Repurposing it on purpose? Re-run 'rig bootstrap control-plane' first so the marker tells the truth." ;;
+esac
+
 [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ] || die "must run as root"
 
 export AUTOUPDATE=false
diff --git a/test/cli.sh b/test/cli.sh
index 5449708..4429c55 100644
--- a/test/cli.sh
+++ b/test/cli.sh
@@ -200,6 +200,52 @@ else
   echo "skip: coolify backup non-root refusal (running as root)"
 fi
 
+# --- role-marker sanity: coolify verbs off the control plane (#25) -----------
+# Both coolify commands read /etc/rig/role and WARN — never die — when the
+# marker names a non-control-plane role: the likeliest story is the wrong SSH
+# session, but the marker is advisory and must not outrank the operator. The
+# warning fires BEFORE the root check (same testability rule as arg errors),
+# so a non-root run prints it and then hits the root refusal — provable here
+# with RIG_ROLE_MARKER pointed at fixtures (repo precedent: the close-root
+# marker gate). Counting fires proves silence too: a control-plane marker, an
+# absent marker, and a marker-less box must all stay quiet, because warning on
+# absence would nag every pre-marker box on every legitimate run.
+marker_warns() { # marker_warns <marker_path> <cmd...> — how many warnings fired
+  local marker="$1"; shift
+  env RIG_ROLE_MARKER="$marker" "$@" 2>&1 | grep -c "not a control-plane box" || true
+}
+MARKER_FIX="$(mktemp -d)"
+printf 'role=workload class=server host=no join=authkey\n'      > "$MARKER_FIX/workload"
+printf 'role=control-plane class=server host=no join=authkey\n' > "$MARKER_FIX/control-plane"
+if [ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]; then
+  check "coolify: warns on a non-control-plane marker" 0 "1" \
+    marker_warns "$MARKER_FIX/workload" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-install.sh" --version 4.1.2
+  check "coolify: control-plane marker stays silent" 0 "0" \
+    marker_warns "$MARKER_FIX/control-plane" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-install.sh" --version 4.1.2
+  check "coolify: absent marker stays silent (advisory, not a gate)" 0 "0" \
+    marker_warns "$MARKER_FIX/absent" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-install.sh" --version 4.1.2
+  # The warning must stay a warning: the run proceeds past it and stops at the
+  # root check (exit 1), never turned into a marker refusal.
+  check "coolify: the marker warns but never refuses" 1 "must run as root" \
+    env RIG_ROLE_MARKER="$MARKER_FIX/workload" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-install.sh" --version 4.1.2
+  check "coolify backup: warns on a non-control-plane marker" 0 "1" \
+    marker_warns "$MARKER_FIX/workload" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh"
+  check "coolify backup: control-plane marker stays silent" 0 "0" \
+    marker_warns "$MARKER_FIX/control-plane" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh"
+  check "coolify backup: the marker warns but never refuses" 1 "must run as root" \
+    env RIG_ROLE_MARKER="$MARKER_FIX/workload" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh"
+else
+  echo "skip: coolify role-marker warning checks (running as root)"
+fi
+rm -rf "$MARKER_FIX"
+# Root runs skip the live checks above, so also pin the warning's presence in
+# both shipped scripts — a deleted advisory cannot ship green (repo precedent:
+# the staging/runner tag greps).
+check "coolify: marker warning present in the shipped script" 0 "" \
+  grep -q "not a control-plane box" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-install.sh"
+check "coolify backup: marker warning present in the shipped script" 0 "" \
+  grep -q "not a control-plane box" "$ROOT/commands/coolify-backup-install.sh"
+
 # --- rig db (ad-hoc dump/restore) -------------------------------------------
 check "bare db shows usage, exit 2"       2 "usage:" "$ROOT/bin/rig" db
 check "db --help exits 0"                 0 "usage:" "$ROOT/bin/rig" db --help