diff --git a/lib/src/gpg_signing.rs b/lib/src/gpg_signing.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b27dc16b17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/gpg_signing.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+// Copyright 2023 The Jujutsu Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#![allow(missing_docs)]
+
+use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
+use std::fmt::Debug;
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::process::{Command, ExitStatus, Stdio};
+use std::str;
+
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+use crate::signing::{SigStatus, SignError, SigningBackend, Verification};
+
+// Search for one of the:
+//  [GNUPG:] GOODSIG <long keyid> <primary uid..>
+//  [GNUPG:] EXPKEYSIG <long keyid> <primary uid..>
+//  [GNUPG:] NO_PUBKEY <long keyid>
+//  [GNUPG:] BADSIG <long keyid> <primary uid..>
+// in the output from --status-fd=1
+// Assume signature is invalid if none of the above was found
+fn parse_gpg_verify_output(
+    output: &[u8],
+    allow_expired_keys: bool,
+) -> Result<Verification, SignError> {
+    output
+        .split(|&b| b == b'\n')
+        .filter_map(|line| line.strip_prefix(b"[GNUPG:] "))
+        .find_map(|line| {
+            let mut parts = line.splitn(3, |&b| b == b' ').fuse();
+            let status = match parts.next()? {
+                b"GOODSIG" => SigStatus::Good,
+                b"EXPKEYSIG" => {
+                    if allow_expired_keys {
+                        SigStatus::Good
+                    } else {
+                        SigStatus::Bad
+                    }
+                }
+                b"NO_PUBKEY" => SigStatus::Unknown,
+                b"BADSIG" => SigStatus::Bad,
+                _ => return None,
+            };
+            let key = parts
+                .next()
+                .and_then(|bs| str::from_utf8(bs).ok())
+                .map(|value| value.trim().to_owned());
+            let display = parts
+                .next()
+                .and_then(|bs| str::from_utf8(bs).ok())
+                .map(|value| value.trim().to_owned());
+            Some(Verification::new(status, key, display))
+        })
+        .ok_or(SignError::InvalidSignatureFormat)
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct GpgBackend {
+    program: OsString,
+    allow_expired_keys: bool,
+    extra_args: Vec<OsString>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+pub enum GpgError {
+    #[error("GPG failed with exit status {exit_status}:\n{stderr}")]
+    Command {
+        exit_status: ExitStatus,
+        stderr: String,
+    },
+    #[error("Failed to run GPG")]
+    Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
+}
+
+impl From<GpgError> for SignError {
+    fn from(e: GpgError) -> Self {
+        SignError::Backend(Box::new(e))
+    }
+}
+
+impl GpgBackend {
+    pub fn new(program: OsString, allow_expired_keys: bool) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            program,
+            allow_expired_keys,
+            extra_args: vec![],
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Primarily intended for testing
+    pub fn with_extra_args(mut self, args: &[OsString]) -> Self {
+        self.extra_args.extend_from_slice(args);
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn from_config(config: &config::Config) -> Self {
+        Self::new(
+            config
+                .get_string("signing.backends.gpg.program")
+                .unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpg2".into())
+                .into(),
+            config
+                .get_bool("signing.backends.gpg.allow-expired-keys")
+                .unwrap_or(false),
+        )
+    }
+
+    fn run(&self, input: &[u8], args: &[&OsStr], check: bool) -> Result<Vec<u8>, GpgError> {
+        let process = Command::new(&self.program)
+            .stdin(Stdio::piped())
+            .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+            .stderr(if check { Stdio::piped() } else { Stdio::null() })
+            .args(&self.extra_args)
+            .args(args)
+            .spawn()?;
+        process.stdin.as_ref().unwrap().write_all(input)?;
+        let output = process.wait_with_output()?;
+        if check && !output.status.success() {
+            Err(GpgError::Command {
+                exit_status: output.status,
+                stderr: String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).trim_end().into(),
+            })
+        } else {
+            Ok(output.stdout)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl SigningBackend for GpgBackend {
+    fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        "gpg"
+    }
+
+    fn can_read(&self, signature: &[u8]) -> bool {
+        signature.starts_with(b"-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----")
+    }
+
+    fn sign(&self, data: &[u8], key: Option<&str>) -> Result<Vec<u8>, SignError> {
+        Ok(match key {
+            Some(key) => self.run(data, &["-abu".as_ref(), key.as_ref()], true)?,
+            None => self.run(data, &["-ab".as_ref()], true)?,
+        })
+    }
+
+    fn verify(&self, data: &[u8], signature: &[u8]) -> Result<Verification, SignError> {
+        let mut signature_file = tempfile::Builder::new()
+            .prefix(".jj-gpg-sig-tmp-")
+            .tempfile()
+            .map_err(GpgError::Io)?;
+        signature_file.write_all(signature).map_err(GpgError::Io)?;
+        signature_file.flush().map_err(GpgError::Io)?;
+
+        let sig_path = signature_file.into_temp_path();
+
+        let output = self.run(
+            data,
+            &[
+                "--status-fd=1".as_ref(),
+                "--verify".as_ref(),
+                // the only reason we have those .as_refs transmuting to &OsStr everywhere
+                sig_path.as_os_str(),
+                "-".as_ref(),
+            ],
+            false,
+        )?;
+
+        parse_gpg_verify_output(&output, self.allow_expired_keys)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gpg_verify_invalid_signature_format() {
+        use assert_matches::assert_matches;
+        assert_matches!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"", true),
+            Err(SignError::InvalidSignatureFormat)
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gpg_verify_bad_signature() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"[GNUPG:] BADSIG 123 456", true).unwrap(),
+            Verification::new(SigStatus::Bad, Some("123".into()), Some("456".into()))
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gpg_verify_unknown_signature() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"[GNUPG:] NO_PUBKEY 123", true).unwrap(),
+            Verification::new(SigStatus::Unknown, Some("123".into()), None)
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gpg_verify_good_signature() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"[GNUPG:] GOODSIG 123 456", true).unwrap(),
+            Verification::new(SigStatus::Good, Some("123".into()), Some("456".into()))
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gpg_verify_expired_signature() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"[GNUPG:] EXPKEYSIG 123 456", true).unwrap(),
+            Verification::new(SigStatus::Good, Some("123".into()), Some("456".into()))
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_gpg_verify_output(b"[GNUPG:] EXPKEYSIG 123 456", false).unwrap(),
+            Verification::new(SigStatus::Bad, Some("123".into()), Some("456".into()))
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/lib.rs b/lib/src/lib.rs
index 2340a3bb1a..78af65a757 100644
--- a/lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ pub mod fsmonitor;
 pub mod git;
 pub mod git_backend;
 pub mod gitignore;
+pub mod gpg_signing;
 pub mod hex_util;
 pub mod id_prefix;
 pub mod index;
diff --git a/lib/src/signing.rs b/lib/src/signing.rs
index 17659e04f9..607121df48 100644
--- a/lib/src/signing.rs
+++ b/lib/src/signing.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ use std::sync::RwLock;
 use thiserror::Error;
 
 use crate::backend::CommitId;
+use crate::gpg_signing::GpgBackend;
 use crate::settings::UserSettings;
 
 /// A status of the signature, part of the [Verification] type.
@@ -60,6 +61,15 @@ impl Verification {
             display: None,
         }
     }
+
+    /// Create a new verification
+    pub fn new(status: SigStatus, key: Option<String>, display: Option<String>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            status,
+            key,
+            display,
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// The backend for signing and verifying cryptographic signatures.
@@ -150,10 +160,10 @@ impl Signer {
     /// Creates a signer based on user settings. Uses all known backends, and
     /// chooses one of them to be used for signing depending on the config.
     pub fn from_settings(settings: &UserSettings) -> Result<Self, SignInitError> {
-        let mut backends: Vec<Box<dyn SigningBackend>> = vec![
-            // Box::new(GpgBackend::from_settings(settings)?),
-            // Box::new(SshBackend::from_settings(settings)?),
-            // Box::new(X509Backend::from_settings(settings)?),
+        let mut backends = vec![
+            Box::new(GpgBackend::from_config(settings.config())) as Box<dyn SigningBackend>,
+            // Box::new(SshBackend::from_settings(settings)?) as Box<dyn SigningBackend>,
+            // Box::new(X509Backend::from_settings(settings)?) as Box<dyn SigningBackend>,
         ];
 
         let main_backend = settings