diff --git a/scripts/patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay.mjs b/scripts/patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..182ecd41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/**
+ * Patch: add a 2-minute deploy delay before ActivityPub syndication.
+ *
+ * When a post is created (via Micropub or Mastodon-API compose), the
+ * blog's deploy pipeline (Gitea → Eleventy → rsync) takes ~1-2 minutes.
+ * If ActivityPub fires immediately, followers receive a Create activity
+ * whose `url` still 404s — Mastodon clients show a broken link.
+ *
+ * This patch inserts a `setTimeout`-based delay at the top of the
+ * `syndicate()` function. The delay is configurable via the
+ * AP_SYNDICATE_DELAY_MS environment variable (default: 120000 = 2 min).
+ */
+
+import { access, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+
+const candidates = [
+  "node_modules/@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub/lib/syndicator.js",
+  "node_modules/@indiekit/indiekit/node_modules/@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub/lib/syndicator.js",
+];
+
+const MARKER = "// [patch] ap-syndicate-deploy-delay";
+
+// The line right after the early-exit guards — insert before the
+// try { const actorUrl = ... } block.
+const INSERT_AFTER = `      try {
+        const actorUrl = plugin._getActorUrl();`;
+
+const DELAY_BLOCK = `      // [patch] ap-syndicate-deploy-delay — wait for deploy pipeline before federating
+      const _apDelay = Number.parseInt(process.env.AP_SYNDICATE_DELAY_MS ?? "120000", 10);
+      if (_apDelay > 0) {
+        console.info(\`[ActivityPub] Delaying syndication by \${_apDelay}ms for \${properties.url}\`);
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, _apDelay));
+      }
+      ${MARKER}
+      try {
+        const actorUrl = plugin._getActorUrl();`;
+
+async function exists(p) {
+  try { await access(p); return true; } catch { return false; }
+}
+
+let patched = false;
+for (const filePath of candidates) {
+  if (!(await exists(filePath))) continue;
+  let src = await readFile(filePath, "utf8");
+  if (src.includes(MARKER)) {
+    console.log(`[postinstall] patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay: already applied in ${filePath}`);
+    patched = true;
+    break;
+  }
+  if (!src.includes(INSERT_AFTER)) {
+    console.log(`[postinstall] patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay: insertion point not found in ${filePath}`);
+    continue;
+  }
+  src = src.replace(INSERT_AFTER, DELAY_BLOCK);
+  await writeFile(filePath, src, "utf8");
+  console.log(`[postinstall] patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay: applied in ${filePath}`);
+  patched = true;
+  break;
+}
+
+if (!patched) {
+  console.log("[postinstall] patch-ap-syndicate-deploy-delay: no target file found");
+}