diff --git a/src/db/backup.ts b/src/db/backup.ts
index 07fd3ee8..8057109b 100644
--- a/src/db/backup.ts
+++ b/src/db/backup.ts
@@ -181,6 +181,83 @@ export function isBackupData(value: unknown): value is BackupData {
   )
 }
 
+/** Result of {@link validateBackup}. `valid` is true iff `errors` is empty. */
+export interface BackupValidation {
+  valid: boolean
+  errors: string[]
+  warnings: string[]
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description Dry-run check a value before `import()`, without mutating the brain:
+ * structural validity, a supported `formatVersion`, entity-id uniqueness + required
+ * fields, and relation-endpoint coverage. `import()` throws on a non-`BackupData` or a
+ * too-new `formatVersion`; `validateBackup()` lets a consumer (e.g. a serializer checking
+ * a `.wbench` graph payload) surface issues first.
+ * @param data - The value to validate (need not be a `BackupData`).
+ * @returns `{ valid, errors, warnings }`.
+ * @example
+ * const { valid, errors } = validateBackup(payload)
+ * if (!valid) throw new Error(`invalid backup: ${errors.join('; ')}`)
+ * await brain.import(payload)
+ */
+export function validateBackup(data: unknown): BackupValidation {
+  const errors: string[] = []
+  const warnings: string[] = []
+
+  if (!isBackupData(data)) {
+    errors.push(`not a BackupData document (expected format: '${BACKUP_FORMAT}')`)
+    return { valid: false, errors, warnings }
+  }
+  if (typeof data.formatVersion !== 'number') {
+    errors.push('formatVersion is missing or not a number')
+  } else if (data.formatVersion > BACKUP_FORMAT_VERSION) {
+    errors.push(
+      `formatVersion ${data.formatVersion} is newer than supported (max ${BACKUP_FORMAT_VERSION})`
+    )
+  }
+
+  const ids = new Set<string>()
+  for (const e of data.entities) {
+    if (!e || typeof e.id !== 'string' || e.id.length === 0) {
+      errors.push('an entity is missing an id')
+      continue
+    }
+    if (ids.has(e.id)) errors.push(`duplicate entity id: ${e.id}`)
+    ids.add(e.id)
+    if (e.type === undefined || e.type === null || (e.type as string) === '') {
+      errors.push(`entity ${e.id} is missing a type`)
+    }
+  }
+
+  const dangling = new Set(data.danglingIds ?? [])
+  for (const r of data.relations) {
+    if (!r || typeof r.id !== 'string') {
+      errors.push('a relation is missing an id')
+      continue
+    }
+    if (r.type === undefined || r.type === null || (r.type as string) === '') {
+      errors.push(`relation ${r.id} is missing a type`)
+    }
+    if (!r.from || !r.to) {
+      errors.push(`relation ${r.id} is missing from/to`)
+      continue
+    }
+    if (!ids.has(r.from) && !dangling.has(r.from)) {
+      warnings.push(`relation ${r.id}: from-endpoint ${r.from} is not in entities`)
+    }
+    if (!ids.has(r.to) && !dangling.has(r.to)) {
+      warnings.push(`relation ${r.id}: to-endpoint ${r.to} is not in entities`)
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!data.embedding || typeof data.embedding.dimensions !== 'number') {
+    warnings.push('embedding manifest is missing or has no dimensions')
+  }
+
+  return { valid: errors.length === 0, errors, warnings }
+}
+
 // ============================================================================
 // EXPORT
 // ============================================================================
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 5cae505a..3f060c6d 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ export { Db } from './db/db.js'
 
 // Portable graph backup/restore — db.export() / brain.export() / brain.import()
 // (BackupData v1; identical wire format to the 7.x line).
-export { isBackupData } from './db/backup.js'
+export { isBackupData, validateBackup } from './db/backup.js'
 export type {
   BackupData,
   BackupEntity,
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ export type {
   ExportSelector,
   ExportOptions,
   ImportOptions,
-  ImportResult
+  ImportResult,
+  BackupValidation
 } from './db/backup.js'
 export {
   GenerationConflictError,
diff --git a/tests/unit/db/db-backup.test.ts b/tests/unit/db/db-backup.test.ts
index e5ccd7f0..03b7df6c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/db/db-backup.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/db/db-backup.test.ts
@@ -10,9 +10,14 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest'
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs/promises'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
 import { Brainy } from '../../../src/brainy'
 import { createTestConfig } from '../../helpers/test-factory'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../../../src/types/graphTypes'
+import { validateBackup } from '../../../src/db/backup'
 import type { BackupData } from '../../../src/db/backup'
 
 describe('8.0 portable graph export/import (BackupData v1)', () => {
@@ -177,4 +182,114 @@ describe('8.0 portable graph export/import (BackupData v1)', () => {
       await expect(brain.import(future)).rejects.toThrow(/formatVersion/)
     })
   })
+
+  describe('id remapping (clone)', () => {
+    it('imports a subgraph under fresh ids (a copy, not a move)', async () => {
+      const a = await brain.add({ data: 'A', type: NounType.Thing, subtype: 'x' })
+      const b = await brain.add({ data: 'B', type: NounType.Thing, subtype: 'x' })
+      await brain.relate({ from: a, to: b, type: VerbType.RelatedTo, subtype: 'r' })
+      const backup = await brain.export({ ids: [a, b] }, { includeVectors: true })
+
+      const remap = new Map<string, string>([
+        [a, randomUUID()],
+        [b, randomUUID()]
+      ])
+      const result = await brain.import(backup, { remapIds: (id) => remap.get(id) ?? id })
+      expect(result.imported).toBe(2)
+      expect((await brain.get(remap.get(a)!))?.id).toBe(remap.get(a))
+      expect((await brain.get(a))?.id).toBe(a) // original still present
+      const rels = await brain.related({ from: remap.get(a)! })
+      expect(rels.some((r) => r.to === remap.get(b))).toBe(true)
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('validateBackup() — dry-run check', () => {
+    const valid = (): BackupData => ({
+      format: 'brainy-backup',
+      formatVersion: 1,
+      brainyVersion: 'x',
+      createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+      embedding: { model: 'all-MiniLM-L6-v2', dimensions: 384 },
+      entities: [{ id: 'a', type: NounType.Thing }],
+      relations: [],
+      stats: { entityCount: 1, relationCount: 0, blobCount: 0, vectorDimensions: 384 }
+    })
+
+    it('accepts a well-formed backup', () => {
+      const r = validateBackup(valid())
+      expect(r.valid).toBe(true)
+      expect(r.errors).toHaveLength(0)
+    })
+
+    it('rejects a non-BackupData value', () => {
+      const r = validateBackup({ entities: [] })
+      expect(r.valid).toBe(false)
+      expect(r.errors[0]).toMatch(/BackupData/)
+    })
+
+    it('rejects a newer formatVersion', () => {
+      const r = validateBackup({ ...valid(), formatVersion: 999 })
+      expect(r.valid).toBe(false)
+      expect(r.errors.some((e) => /formatVersion/.test(e))).toBe(true)
+    })
+
+    it('flags duplicate entity ids as an error', () => {
+      const b = valid()
+      b.entities = [
+        { id: 'dup', type: NounType.Thing },
+        { id: 'dup', type: NounType.Thing }
+      ]
+      const r = validateBackup(b)
+      expect(r.valid).toBe(false)
+      expect(r.errors.some((e) => /duplicate/.test(e))).toBe(true)
+    })
+
+    it('warns (not errors) on a relation endpoint missing from entities', () => {
+      const b = valid()
+      b.relations = [{ id: 'r1', from: 'a', to: 'missing', type: VerbType.RelatedTo }]
+      const r = validateBackup(b)
+      expect(r.valid).toBe(true) // a dangling endpoint is a warning, not a hard error
+      expect(r.warnings.some((w) => /missing/.test(w))).toBe(true)
+    })
+  })
+})
+
+describe('8.0 export includeContent (VFS blobs, filesystem)', () => {
+  let dir: string
+  let brain: Brainy
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-blob-'))
+    brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'filesystem', rootDirectory: dir } })
+    await brain.init()
+  })
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await brain.close()
+    await fs.rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('captures VFS file bytes in blobs and writes them on import', async () => {
+    await brain.vfs.writeFile('/hello.txt', 'Hello blobs')
+
+    const backup = await brain.export(
+      { vfsPath: '/hello.txt' },
+      { includeVectors: true, includeContent: true }
+    )
+    expect(backup.stats.blobCount).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
+    const b64 = Object.values(backup.blobs ?? {})[0]
+    expect(Buffer.from(b64, 'base64').toString()).toBe('Hello blobs')
+
+    const dir2 = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-blob2-'))
+    const target = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'filesystem', rootDirectory: dir2 } })
+    await target.init()
+    try {
+      const result = await target.import(backup)
+      expect(result.blobsWritten).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
+      expect(result.imported).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
+    } finally {
+      await target.close()
+      await fs.rm(dir2, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
 })