diff --git a/lib/kamal/configuration/docs/proxy.yml b/lib/kamal/configuration/docs/proxy.yml
index 87e428e3c..824c43b2e 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/configuration/docs/proxy.yml
+++ b/lib/kamal/configuration/docs/proxy.yml
@@ -148,6 +148,20 @@ proxy:
       - X-Request-ID
       - X-Request-Start
 
+  # Basic authentication
+  #
+  # Protect the app behind HTTP Basic Auth, enforced by kamal-proxy. Requests
+  # without valid credentials receive a 401 response.
+  #
+  # Both `username` and `password` are required. Because credentials are sent on
+  # every request, enable `ssl` when using basic auth.
+  #
+  # Avoid committing the password in plain text - inject it from a secret instead:
+  #   password: <%= ENV["WEB_PASSWORD"] %>
+  basic_auth:
+    username: "admin"
+    password: "secret"
+
   # Run configuration
   #
   # These options are used when booting the proxy container.
diff --git a/lib/kamal/configuration/proxy.rb b/lib/kamal/configuration/proxy.rb
index 3f2d83fad..5edecc044 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/configuration/proxy.rb
+++ b/lib/kamal/configuration/proxy.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,16 @@ def path_prefixes
     proxy_config["path_prefixes"] || proxy_config["path_prefix"]&.split(",") || []
   end
 
+  def basic_auth?
+    proxy_config["basic_auth"].is_a?(Hash)
+  end
+
+  def basic_auth
+    return nil unless basic_auth?
+    auth = proxy_config["basic_auth"]
+    "#{auth["username"]}:#{auth["password"]}"
+  end
+
   def deploy_options
     {
       host: hosts,
@@ -90,12 +100,19 @@ def deploy_options
       "tls-redirect": proxy_config.dig("ssl_redirect"),
       "log-request-header": proxy_config.dig("logging", "request_headers") || DEFAULT_LOG_REQUEST_HEADERS,
       "log-response-header": proxy_config.dig("logging", "response_headers"),
-      "error-pages": error_pages
+      "error-pages": error_pages,
+      "basic-auth": basic_auth
     }.compact
   end
 
   def deploy_command_args(target:)
-    optionize ({ target: "#{target}:#{app_port}" }).merge(deploy_options), with: "="
+    options = deploy_options
+    basic_auth = options.delete(:"basic-auth")
+
+    [
+      *optionize({ target: "#{target}:#{app_port}" }.merge(options), with: "="),
+      *basic_auth_args(basic_auth)
+    ]
   end
 
   def stop_options(drain_timeout: nil, message: nil)
@@ -114,6 +131,13 @@ def merge(other)
   end
 
   private
+    # Wrap the basic auth credentials so they're redacted in command logs and
+    # other human-visible output, while still passed verbatim to kamal-proxy.
+    def basic_auth_args(value)
+      return [] if value.blank?
+      [ Kamal::Utils.sensitive("--basic-auth=#{Kamal::Utils.escape_shell_value(value)}", redaction: "--basic-auth=[REDACTED]") ]
+    end
+
     def tls_path(directory, filename)
       File.join([ directory, role_name, filename ].compact) if custom_ssl_certificate?
     end
diff --git a/lib/kamal/configuration/validator/proxy.rb b/lib/kamal/configuration/validator/proxy.rb
index 5dc3fd46b..c7c1661d7 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/configuration/validator/proxy.rb
+++ b/lib/kamal/configuration/validator/proxy.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ def validate!
         end
       end
 
+      if config["basic_auth"].is_a?(Hash)
+        if config["basic_auth"]["username"].blank? || config["basic_auth"]["password"].blank?
+          error "basic_auth requires both username and password to be set"
+        end
+      end
+
       if run_config = config["run"]
         if run_config["bind_ips"].present?
           ensure_valid_bind_ips(config["bind_ips"])
diff --git a/test/configuration/proxy_test.rb b/test/configuration/proxy_test.rb
index e0b328f3b..10fa91505 100644
--- a/test/configuration/proxy_test.rb
+++ b/test/configuration/proxy_test.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,57 @@ class ConfigurationProxyTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
   end
 
+  test "basic auth in deploy options and command args" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => { "username" => "abc", "password" => "123456" } }
+
+    proxy = config.proxy
+    assert_equal "abc:123456", proxy.deploy_options[:"basic-auth"]
+
+    args = proxy.deploy_command_args(target: "172.1.0.2")
+    assert_match(/--basic-auth=\S*abc:123456/, args.map(&:to_s).join(" "))
+  end
+
+  test "basic auth credentials are redacted in command args" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => { "username" => "abc", "password" => "123456" } }
+
+    args = config.proxy.deploy_command_args(target: "172.1.0.2")
+    redacted = Kamal::Utils.redacted(args).join(" ")
+
+    assert_includes redacted, "--basic-auth=[REDACTED]"
+    assert_not_includes redacted, "123456"
+  end
+
+  test "basic auth must be a hash" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => "abc" }
+    assert_raises(Kamal::ConfigurationError) { config.proxy }
+  end
+
+  test "no basic auth option when not configured" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "host" => "example.com" }
+
+    proxy = config.proxy
+    assert_nil proxy.deploy_options[:"basic-auth"]
+    assert_not proxy.basic_auth?
+    assert_not_includes proxy.deploy_command_args(target: "172.1.0.2").join(" "), "--basic-auth"
+  end
+
+  test "basic auth with only username" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => { "username" => "abc" } }
+    assert_raises(Kamal::ConfigurationError) { config.proxy }
+  end
+
+  test "basic auth with only password" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => { "password" => "123456" } }
+    assert_raises(Kamal::ConfigurationError) { config.proxy }
+  end
+
+  test "basic auth specialized on a role overrides root proxy config" do
+    @deploy[:proxy] = { "basic_auth" => { "username" => "abc", "password" => "123456" } }
+    @deploy[:servers] = { "web" => { "hosts" => [ "1.1.1.1" ], "proxy" => { "basic_auth" => { "username" => "xyz", "password" => "secret" } } } }
+
+    assert_equal "xyz:secret", config.role(:web).proxy.deploy_options[:"basic-auth"]
+  end
+
   private
     def config
       Kamal::Configuration.new(@deploy)