diff --git a/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/servicemonitor.yaml b/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/servicemonitor.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3cd93a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/servicemonitor.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+{{- if .Values.backend.metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled }}
+apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
+kind: ServiceMonitor
+metadata:
+  name: {{ include "pargar.fullname" . }}-backend
+  labels:
+    {{- include "pargar.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+    app.kubernetes.io/component: backend
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      {{- include "pargar.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
+      app.kubernetes.io/component: backend
+  namespaceSelector:
+    matchNames:
+      - {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  endpoints:
+    - port: http
+      path: /metrics
+      interval: {{ .Values.backend.metrics.serviceMonitor.interval | default "30s" }}
+      scheme: http
+      # /metrics answers 401 without it; Prometheus sends it as
+      # Authorization: Bearer <token>.
+      authorization:
+        type: Bearer
+        credentials:
+          name: {{ include "pargar.appSecretName" . }}
+          key: metrics-token
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/deploy/helm/pargar/values.yaml b/deploy/helm/pargar/values.yaml
index 1a6299c..12c7d25 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/pargar/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/pargar/values.yaml
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ backend:
     pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
   service:
     port: 8080
+  metrics:
+    # Prometheus Operator ServiceMonitor. /metrics is bearer-protected by
+    # METRICS_TOKEN, so the endpoint carries authorization credentials
+    # (pargar-app secret) instead of scraping anonymously.
+    serviceMonitor:
+      enabled: false
+      interval: 30s
   resources:
     requests:
       cpu: 50m