diff --git a/hermes_cli/backup.py b/hermes_cli/backup.py
index 3dba945e13..c9cee26ffc 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/backup.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/backup.py
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ _EXCLUDED_DIRS = {
                         # zipping them re-ships the DB once per snapshot
     "checkpoints",      # session-local trajectory caches — regenerated per-session,
                         # session-hash-keyed so they don't port to another machine anyway
+    # Live browser profiles (e.g. the CDP Brave profile under browser-profiles/).
+    # Chromium holds its SQLite DBs with exclusive locks while running, and
+    # sqlite3.Connection.backup() retries SQLITE_BUSY forever instead of honoring
+    # the busy timeout — a full backup hangs mid-archive on the first locked DB.
+    # Profiles are regenerable (cache + re-login) and unsafe to snapshot live.
+    "browser-profiles",
     # Python dependency trees (plugin / MCP-server venvs under HERMES_HOME) —
     # regenerated by reinstalling; never irreplaceable state.
     ".venv",
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
index ecef05fbef..6451b5080b 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
@@ -1135,6 +1135,51 @@ class TestSafeCopyDb:
         assert not dst.exists()
 
 
+    def test_locked_source_fails_fast_not_hang(self, tmp_path):
+        import subprocess
+        import sys
+        import time
+
+        from hermes_cli.backup import _safe_copy_db
+        src = tmp_path / "locked.db"
+        dst = tmp_path / "copy.db"
+
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(str(src))
+        conn.execute("CREATE TABLE t (x INTEGER)")
+        conn.commit()
+        conn.close()
+
+        # Hold an EXCLUSIVE transaction in a separate process. POSIX file
+        # locks only conflict across processes, so an in-process connection
+        # cannot reproduce the "database is locked" condition.
+        holder = (
+            "import sqlite3, time\n"
+            f"c = sqlite3.connect({str(src)!r})\n"
+            "c.execute('BEGIN EXCLUSIVE')\n"
+            "print('LOCKED', flush=True)\n"
+            "time.sleep(60)\n"
+        )
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(
+            [sys.executable, "-c", holder],
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            text=True,
+        )
+        try:
+            assert proc.stdout is not None
+            assert proc.stdout.readline().strip() == "LOCKED"
+            started = time.monotonic()
+            result = _safe_copy_db(src, dst)
+            elapsed = time.monotonic() - started
+            assert result is False
+            # The busy timeout is 5s, so a fast failure lands around there.
+            # The regression this guards against is backup() retrying
+            # SQLITE_BUSY forever, which would never return at all.
+            assert elapsed < 30
+        finally:
+            proc.kill()
+            proc.wait()
+
+
     def test_is_zeroed_sqlite_file_detects_nul_header(self, tmp_path):
         from hermes_cli.backup import is_zeroed_sqlite_file
         p = tmp_path / "state.db"