diff --git a/app/rest.py b/app/rest.py
index 246b5cc..9d98f2d 100644
--- a/app/rest.py
+++ b/app/rest.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ from app.services.blocklist import (
     update_candidate_status,
 )
 from app.services.pihole import PiholeClient
-from app.services.discover import discover_all, build_sources_yaml, validate_source
+from app.services.discover import discover_all, build_sources_yaml, validate_source, scan_log_directories
 from app.services.nl_source import interpret as _nl_interpret
 from app.services.incidents import (
     build_bundle,
@@ -820,6 +820,28 @@ def setup_discover() -> dict:
     return discover_all()
 
 
+@router.get("/api/setup/scan")
+def setup_scan(
+    query: str = "",
+    dirs: str = "",
+    max_results: int = 25,
+) -> dict:
+    """Scan the filesystem for log files ranked by recency and keyword match.
+
+    Accepts an optional ?query= to weight results toward files matching the
+    problem context (e.g. 'nginx 502', 'docker timeout', 'ssh refused').
+    Accepts an optional ?dirs= comma-separated list to override default scan
+    directories (/var/log, /opt).
+    """
+    scan_dirs = [d.strip() for d in dirs.split(",") if d.strip()] or None
+    candidates = scan_log_directories(
+        query=query or None,
+        dirs=scan_dirs,
+        max_results=min(max_results, 100),
+    )
+    return {"candidates": candidates, "query": query or None}
+
+
 @router.post("/api/setup/write")
 def setup_write(body: SetupWriteBody, background_tasks: BackgroundTasks) -> dict:
     """Validate and write sources.yaml from a list of selected source definitions.
diff --git a/app/services/discover.py b/app/services/discover.py
index e511d9a..6c8498c 100644
--- a/app/services/discover.py
+++ b/app/services/discover.py
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 import shutil
 import subprocess
+import time
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
@@ -171,3 +173,113 @@ def validate_source(src: dict[str, Any]) -> str | None:
     if src_type == "docker" and not src.get("container"):
         return f"Docker source '{src['id']}' is missing 'container'"
     return None
+
+
+# Extensions considered as log files in the filesystem scanner.
+_LOG_EXTENSIONS = {"", ".log", ".txt", ".out", ".err"}
+# Max file size to consider (500 MB).
+_MAX_SIZE = 500 * 1024 * 1024
+# Recency half-life in days — files older than this are scored near 0.
+_RECENCY_HALFLIFE_DAYS = 30
+
+
+def _path_to_source_id(path: Path) -> str:
+    """Convert an absolute path to a kebab-case source ID."""
+    raw = re.sub(r"[^a-zA-Z0-9]+", "-", str(path)).strip("-").lower()
+    return raw[:64]
+
+
+def scan_log_directories(
+    query: str | None = None,
+    dirs: list[str] | None = None,
+    max_depth: int = 4,
+    max_results: int = 25,
+) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+    """Scan filesystem directories for log files ranked by recency and keyword match.
+
+    Scoring weights:
+    - Recency  (0-1): mtime within the last 30 days, decays exponentially
+    - Size     (0-1): prefer 1 KB – 50 MB; empty or huge files score low
+    - Keyword  (0-1): stem matches between query words and path components
+
+    Returns up to *max_results* candidates sorted by descending score.
+    """
+    if dirs is None:
+        dirs = ["/var/log", "/opt"]
+
+    now = time.time()
+    query_stems: list[str] = []
+    if query:
+        query_stems = [w.lower() for w in re.split(r"\W+", query) if len(w) >= 3]
+
+    candidates: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
+
+    def _walk(root: Path, depth: int) -> None:
+        if depth > max_depth:
+            return
+        try:
+            entries = list(root.iterdir())
+        except OSError:
+            return
+        for entry in entries:
+            if entry.name.startswith("."):
+                continue
+            if entry.is_symlink():
+                continue
+            if entry.is_dir():
+                _walk(entry, depth + 1)
+                continue
+            if not entry.is_file():
+                continue
+            if entry.suffix.lower() not in _LOG_EXTENSIONS:
+                continue
+            # Skip compressed archives
+            if entry.name.endswith((".gz", ".bz2", ".xz", ".zst")):
+                continue
+            try:
+                stat = entry.stat()
+            except OSError:
+                continue
+            if stat.st_size == 0 or stat.st_size > _MAX_SIZE:
+                continue
+            if not os.access(entry, os.R_OK):
+                continue
+
+            age_days = (now - stat.st_mtime) / 86400
+            recency = max(0.0, 1.0 - age_days / _RECENCY_HALFLIFE_DAYS)
+
+            if stat.st_size < 1024:
+                size_score = 0.3
+            elif stat.st_size <= 50 * 1024 * 1024:
+                size_score = 1.0
+            else:
+                # Large files: linear decay from 50 MB to 500 MB
+                size_score = max(0.1, 1.0 - (stat.st_size - 50 * 1024 * 1024) / _MAX_SIZE)
+
+            keyword_score = 0.0
+            if query_stems:
+                path_lower = str(entry).lower()
+                matches = sum(1 for stem in query_stems if stem in path_lower)
+                keyword_score = min(1.0, matches / max(len(query_stems), 1))
+
+            if query_stems:
+                total = recency * 0.4 + size_score * 0.2 + keyword_score * 0.4
+            else:
+                total = recency * 0.7 + size_score * 0.3
+
+            candidates.append({
+                "type": "file",
+                "id": _path_to_source_id(entry),
+                "path": str(entry),
+                "label": entry.name,
+                "size_bytes": stat.st_size,
+                "mtime": stat.st_mtime,
+                "score": round(total, 3),
+                "available": True,
+            })
+
+    for d in dirs:
+        _walk(Path(d), depth=0)
+
+    candidates.sort(key=lambda c: c["score"], reverse=True)
+    return candidates[:max_results]
diff --git a/tests/test_discover_scan.py b/tests/test_discover_scan.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d16624
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_discover_scan.py
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+"""Tests for scan_log_directories in app.services.discover."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from app.services.discover import scan_log_directories, _path_to_source_id
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Helpers
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def _make_log(tmp_path: Path, name: str, content: str = "hello\n", age_days: float = 0) -> Path:
+    p = tmp_path / name
+    p.write_text(content)
+    mtime = time.time() - age_days * 86400
+    os.utime(p, (mtime, mtime))
+    return p
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# _path_to_source_id
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_path_to_source_id_basic():
+    result = _path_to_source_id(Path("/var/log/nginx/access.log"))
+    assert result.startswith("var-log-nginx-access")
+    assert "/" not in result
+    assert " " not in result
+
+
+def test_path_to_source_id_max_length():
+    long_path = Path("/" + "a" * 200 + ".log")
+    assert len(_path_to_source_id(long_path)) <= 64
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# scan_log_directories
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_scan_finds_log_files(tmp_path):
+    _make_log(tmp_path, "app.log", "error: something\n")
+    _make_log(tmp_path, "system.log", "kernel: ok\n")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    paths = [r["path"] for r in results]
+    assert str(tmp_path / "app.log") in paths
+    assert str(tmp_path / "system.log") in paths
+
+
+def test_scan_ignores_empty_files(tmp_path):
+    _make_log(tmp_path, "empty.log", "")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    assert not any(r["label"] == "empty.log" for r in results)
+
+
+def test_scan_ignores_non_log_extensions(tmp_path):
+    (tmp_path / "config.yaml").write_text("key: value\n")
+    (tmp_path / "data.json").write_text('{"a":1}\n')
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    names = [r["label"] for r in results]
+    assert "config.yaml" not in names
+    assert "data.json" not in names
+
+
+def test_scan_ignores_compressed(tmp_path):
+    _make_log(tmp_path, "old.log.gz", "compressed content")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    assert not any(r["label"].endswith(".gz") for r in results)
+
+
+def test_scan_respects_max_results(tmp_path):
+    for i in range(20):
+        _make_log(tmp_path, f"app{i}.log", f"log line {i}\n")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)], max_results=5)
+    assert len(results) <= 5
+
+
+def test_scan_recent_files_score_higher(tmp_path):
+    recent = _make_log(tmp_path, "recent.log", "new stuff\n", age_days=0)
+    old = _make_log(tmp_path, "old.log", "old stuff\n", age_days=60)
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    scores = {r["path"]: r["score"] for r in results}
+    assert scores[str(recent)] > scores[str(old)]
+
+
+def test_scan_keyword_match_boosts_score(tmp_path):
+    nginx_log = _make_log(tmp_path, "nginx.log", "GET / 200\n", age_days=5)
+    other_log = _make_log(tmp_path, "kernel.log", "boot ok\n", age_days=5)
+    results = scan_log_directories(query="nginx 502 error", dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    scores = {r["path"]: r["score"] for r in results}
+    assert scores[str(nginx_log)] > scores[str(other_log)]
+
+
+def test_scan_returns_required_fields(tmp_path):
+    _make_log(tmp_path, "test.log", "data\n")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    assert results
+    r = results[0]
+    assert r["type"] == "file"
+    assert "id" in r
+    assert "path" in r
+    assert "label" in r
+    assert "size_bytes" in r
+    assert "mtime" in r
+    assert "score" in r
+    assert r["available"] is True
+
+
+def test_scan_missing_dir_is_graceful():
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=["/nonexistent/path/xyz"])
+    assert results == []
+
+
+def test_scan_subdirectory_recursive(tmp_path):
+    subdir = tmp_path / "subapp"
+    subdir.mkdir()
+    _make_log(subdir, "subapp.log", "nested log\n")
+    results = scan_log_directories(dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    paths = [r["path"] for r in results]
+    assert str(subdir / "subapp.log") in paths
+
+
+def test_scan_no_query_weights_recency_heavily(tmp_path):
+    """Without a query, recency (0.7) dominates over size (0.3)."""
+    fresh = _make_log(tmp_path, "fresh.log", "x" * 100, age_days=0)
+    stale = _make_log(tmp_path, "stale.log", "x" * 10000, age_days=20)
+    results = scan_log_directories(query=None, dirs=[str(tmp_path)])
+    scores = {r["path"]: r["score"] for r in results}
+    assert scores[str(fresh)] > scores[str(stale)]
diff --git a/web/src/views/SourcesView.vue b/web/src/views/SourcesView.vue
index d718874..8ff9c5d 100644
--- a/web/src/views/SourcesView.vue
+++ b/web/src/views/SourcesView.vue
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@
         <p class="text-text-dim text-sm">All hosts and services in the gleaned corpus.</p>
       </div>
       <div class="flex items-center gap-2 shrink-0">
+        <button
+          @click="toggleScanPanel"
+          class="btn-secondary text-sm"
+        >
+          Scan
+        </button>
         <button
           @click="showAddPanel = !showAddPanel"
           class="btn-secondary text-sm"
@@ -27,6 +33,73 @@
       />
     </div>
 
+    <!-- Filesystem scan panel -->
+    <div v-if="showScanPanel && !showWizard" class="mb-6 rounded border border-surface-border bg-surface-raised p-4">
+      <h2 class="text-text-primary font-medium text-sm mb-3">Scan for log files</h2>
+      <div class="flex gap-2 mb-4">
+        <input
+          v-model="scanQuery"
+          type="text"
+          placeholder="Optional: describe the problem (e.g. 'nginx 502 gateway error')"
+          class="input-field flex-1 text-sm"
+          @keydown.enter="runScan"
+        />
+        <button @click="runScan" :disabled="scanning" class="btn-primary text-sm px-4">
+          {{ scanning ? 'Scanning…' : 'Scan' }}
+        </button>
+      </div>
+
+      <div v-if="scanError" class="text-sev-error text-sm mb-3">{{ scanError }}</div>
+
+      <div v-if="scanCandidates.length > 0">
+        <p class="text-text-dim text-xs mb-2">
+          {{ scanCandidates.length }} file{{ scanCandidates.length === 1 ? '' : 's' }} found — ranked by recency{{ scanQuery ? ' and keyword match' : '' }}.
+          Select files to add as sources.
+        </p>
+        <div class="divide-y divide-surface-border border border-surface-border rounded overflow-hidden mb-3">
+          <label
+            v-for="c in scanCandidates"
+            :key="c.path"
+            class="flex items-start gap-3 px-3 py-2 hover:bg-surface cursor-pointer"
+          >
+            <input
+              type="checkbox"
+              :value="c"
+              v-model="scanSelected"
+              class="mt-0.5 shrink-0"
+            />
+            <div class="min-w-0 flex-1">
+              <div class="flex items-center gap-2 flex-wrap">
+                <span class="font-mono text-xs text-accent truncate">{{ c.path }}</span>
+                <span class="text-text-dim text-xs shrink-0">{{ formatBytes(c.size_bytes) }}</span>
+                <span class="text-text-dim text-xs shrink-0">{{ formatAge(c.mtime) }}</span>
+                <span
+                  v-if="scanQuery"
+                  class="text-text-dim text-xs shrink-0"
+                  :title="`Relevance score: ${c.score}`"
+                >score {{ (c.score * 100).toFixed(0) }}%</span>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          </label>
+        </div>
+        <div class="flex items-center gap-3">
+          <button
+            :disabled="scanSelected.length === 0 || scanAdding"
+            @click="addScanSelected"
+            class="btn-primary text-sm"
+          >
+            {{ scanAdding ? 'Adding…' : `Add ${scanSelected.length || ''} selected` }}
+          </button>
+          <button @click="scanSelected = []" class="btn-secondary text-sm">Deselect all</button>
+          <button @click="scanSelected = [...scanCandidates]" class="btn-secondary text-sm">Select all</button>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div v-else-if="scanRan && !scanning" class="text-text-dim text-sm">
+        No log files found in the scanned directories.
+      </div>
+    </div>
+
     <!-- Post-setup Add Source panel (condensed wizard steps 1-2) -->
     <div v-else-if="showAddPanel" class="mb-6">
       <SetupWizard
@@ -184,6 +257,17 @@ interface DbSource {
   latest: string | null
 }
 
+interface ScanCandidate {
+  type: string
+  id: string
+  path: string
+  label: string
+  size_bytes: number
+  mtime: number
+  score: number
+  available: boolean
+}
+
 const sources = ref<SourceRow[]>([])
 const loading = ref(true)
 const busy = ref(new Set<string>())
@@ -191,6 +275,14 @@ const actionMsg = ref('')
 const actionError = ref(false)
 const showWizard = ref(false)
 const showAddPanel = ref(false)
+const showScanPanel = ref(false)
+const scanQuery = ref('')
+const scanning = ref(false)
+const scanRan = ref(false)
+const scanError = ref('')
+const scanCandidates = ref<ScanCandidate[]>([])
+const scanSelected = ref<ScanCandidate[]>([])
+const scanAdding = ref(false)
 
 const BASE = import.meta.env.BASE_URL.replace(/\/$/, '')
 
@@ -347,6 +439,82 @@ async function handleUpload(e: Event): Promise<void> {
   ;(e.target as HTMLInputElement).value = ''
 }
 
+function toggleScanPanel(): void {
+  showScanPanel.value = !showScanPanel.value
+  if (!showScanPanel.value) {
+    scanCandidates.value = []
+    scanSelected.value = []
+    scanRan.value = false
+    scanError.value = ''
+  }
+}
+
+async function runScan(): Promise<void> {
+  scanning.value = true
+  scanError.value = ''
+  scanCandidates.value = []
+  scanSelected.value = []
+  try {
+    const params = new URLSearchParams({ max_results: '30' })
+    if (scanQuery.value.trim()) params.set('query', scanQuery.value.trim())
+    const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/api/setup/scan?${params}`)
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}))
+      scanError.value = data.detail ?? 'Scan failed'
+      return
+    }
+    const data = await res.json()
+    scanCandidates.value = data.candidates ?? []
+    scanRan.value = true
+  } catch (err) {
+    scanError.value = String(err)
+  } finally {
+    scanning.value = false
+  }
+}
+
+async function addScanSelected(): Promise<void> {
+  if (scanSelected.value.length === 0) return
+  scanAdding.value = true
+  actionMsg.value = ''
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/api/setup/write`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ sources: scanSelected.value }),
+    })
+    const data = await res.json()
+    if (res.ok) {
+      actionMsg.value = `Added ${scanSelected.value.length} source${scanSelected.value.length === 1 ? '' : 's'} to sources.yaml`
+      actionError.value = false
+      showScanPanel.value = false
+      scanCandidates.value = []
+      scanSelected.value = []
+      scanRan.value = false
+      await loadSources()
+    } else {
+      actionMsg.value = data.detail ?? 'Failed to add sources'
+      actionError.value = true
+    }
+  } finally {
+    scanAdding.value = false
+  }
+}
+
+function formatBytes(bytes: number): string {
+  if (bytes < 1024) return `${bytes} B`
+  if (bytes < 1024 * 1024) return `${(bytes / 1024).toFixed(1)} KB`
+  return `${(bytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)} MB`
+}
+
+function formatAge(mtime: number): string {
+  const ageDays = (Date.now() / 1000 - mtime) / 86400
+  if (ageDays < 1) return 'today'
+  if (ageDays < 2) return 'yesterday'
+  if (ageDays < 30) return `${Math.floor(ageDays)}d ago`
+  return `${Math.floor(ageDays / 30)}mo ago`
+}
+
 function formatTs(iso: string | null): string {
   if (!iso) return '—'
   try {