diff --git a/docs/AURORA_NATIVE_RUNTIME.md b/docs/AURORA_NATIVE_RUNTIME.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58bb83a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/AURORA_NATIVE_RUNTIME.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Aurora Native Runtime
+
+Aurora Native is a per-platform PHP development engine that does not require Docker. The existing container engine remains supported while native runtime bundles are developed and verified.
+
+## Runtime targets
+
+- Linux: x64 and arm64
+- macOS: Intel and Apple silicon
+- Windows: x64, with arm64 evaluated after the first stable runtime
+
+Each signed runtime bundle contains a `runtime.json` manifest plus versioned executables for PHP, web servers, databases, Node.js, and application tooling. Bundles install below Aurora's user-data directory and never modify system PHP or database installations.
+
+## Isolation model
+
+Every project receives reserved loopback ports, generated service configuration, isolated database data, logs, PID files, and environment variables below `.aurora/native`. A shared Aurora router owns friendly HTTPS project hostnames. Project files remain directly accessible on the host.
+
+## Delivery sequence
+
+1. Runtime manifest, platform detection, checksum verification, and engine abstraction.
+2. Native process supervisor and loopback port allocator.
+3. Linux x64 bundle with PHP 8.4, nginx, and MariaDB 11.8.
+4. WordPress provisioning, lifecycle, logs, database import/export, and Adminer.
+5. macOS arm64/x64 and Windows x64 bundles.
+6. Additional PHP/database versions, Apache, Drupal, Node.js, and developer services.
+
+Native project creation must stay disabled until the platform bundle passes executable, service-health, database, routing, and cleanup checks. Existing projects default to the container engine for backward compatibility.
diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index ea1e1a0..15372e1 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { registerCreateIpc } from './ipc/create'
 import { registerWindowIpc } from './ipc/window'
 import { registerSecretsIpc } from './ipc/secrets'
 import { registerRemoteIpc } from './ipc/remote'
+import { registerRuntimeIpc } from './ipc/runtime'
 import { killAllRunningCommands, powerOffAllProjects } from './commandRunner'
 import { startAutomaticUpdates } from './updater'
 
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(() => {
   registerWindowIpc()
   registerSecretsIpc()
   registerRemoteIpc()
+  registerRuntimeIpc()
 
   createWindow()
   startAutomaticUpdates()
diff --git a/src/main/ipc/runtime.ts b/src/main/ipc/runtime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41ff521
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ipc/runtime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import { ipcMain } from 'electron'
+import { getRuntimeStatus } from '../nativeRuntime'
+
+export function registerRuntimeIpc(): void {
+  ipcMain.handle('runtime:status', () => getRuntimeStatus())
+}
diff --git a/src/main/nativeRuntime.test.ts b/src/main/nativeRuntime.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ecfb13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/nativeRuntime.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { validateNativeRuntimeManifest } from './nativeRuntime'
+
+const valid = { schema: 1, runtimeVersion: '0.1.0', platform: 'linux', arch: 'x64', components: [{ id: 'php', version: '8.4.12', executable: 'php/8.4/bin/php', sha256: 'a'.repeat(64) }] }
+
+describe('Aurora Native runtime manifest', () => {
+  it('accepts a signed-component-shaped platform manifest', () => expect(validateNativeRuntimeManifest(valid)).toMatchObject(valid))
+  it('rejects executable paths that escape the runtime', () => expect(() => validateNativeRuntimeManifest({ ...valid, components: [{ ...valid.components[0], executable: '../php' }] })).toThrow(/Unsafe executable path/))
+  it('rejects malformed component checksums', () => expect(() => validateNativeRuntimeManifest({ ...valid, components: [{ ...valid.components[0], sha256: 'bad' }] })).toThrow(/checksum/))
+})
diff --git a/src/main/nativeRuntime.ts b/src/main/nativeRuntime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da8d59d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/nativeRuntime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import { app } from 'electron'
+import { execFile } from 'child_process'
+import { access, readFile } from 'fs/promises'
+import { isAbsolute, join, resolve, sep } from 'path'
+import { promisify } from 'util'
+import type { AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest, AuroraRuntimeStatus } from '../shared/types'
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile)
+const supportedPlatforms = new Set(['linux', 'darwin', 'win32'])
+const supportedArchitectures = new Set(['x64', 'arm64'])
+const componentIds = new Set(['php', 'nginx', 'apache', 'mariadb', 'mysql', 'postgres', 'node', 'composer', 'wp-cli', 'drush'])
+
+export function validateNativeRuntimeManifest(value: unknown): AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest {
+  if (!value || typeof value !== 'object') throw new Error('Runtime manifest must be an object.')
+  const manifest = value as Record<string, unknown>
+  if (manifest.schema !== 1) throw new Error('Unsupported native runtime manifest schema.')
+  if (typeof manifest.runtimeVersion !== 'string' || !/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(?:[-+][a-zA-Z0-9.-]+)?$/.test(manifest.runtimeVersion)) throw new Error('Invalid native runtime version.')
+  if (typeof manifest.platform !== 'string' || !supportedPlatforms.has(manifest.platform)) throw new Error('Unsupported native runtime platform.')
+  if (typeof manifest.arch !== 'string' || !supportedArchitectures.has(manifest.arch)) throw new Error('Unsupported native runtime architecture.')
+  if (!Array.isArray(manifest.components) || manifest.components.length === 0) throw new Error('Native runtime manifest has no components.')
+  const components = manifest.components.map((item) => {
+    if (!item || typeof item !== 'object') throw new Error('Invalid native runtime component.')
+    const component = item as Record<string, unknown>
+    if (typeof component.id !== 'string' || !componentIds.has(component.id)) throw new Error('Unknown native runtime component.')
+    if (typeof component.version !== 'string' || !component.version.trim()) throw new Error(`Missing version for ${component.id}.`)
+    if (typeof component.executable !== 'string' || !component.executable || isAbsolute(component.executable) || component.executable.split(/[\\/]/).includes('..')) throw new Error(`Unsafe executable path for ${component.id}.`)
+    if (typeof component.sha256 !== 'string' || !/^[a-f0-9]{64}$/i.test(component.sha256)) throw new Error(`Invalid checksum for ${component.id}.`)
+    return component as unknown as AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest['components'][number]
+  })
+  return { schema: 1, runtimeVersion: manifest.runtimeVersion, platform: manifest.platform as AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest['platform'], arch: manifest.arch as AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest['arch'], components }
+}
+
+function runtimeRoot(): string {
+  return join(app.getPath('userData'), 'runtimes', `${process.platform}-${process.arch}`)
+}
+
+async function nativeStatus(): Promise<AuroraRuntimeStatus['native']> {
+  if (!supportedPlatforms.has(process.platform) || !supportedArchitectures.has(process.arch)) return { available: false, platform: process.platform, arch: process.arch, components: [], reason: 'This platform does not have an Aurora Native runtime target yet.' }
+  const root = runtimeRoot()
+  try {
+    const manifest = validateNativeRuntimeManifest(JSON.parse(await readFile(join(root, 'runtime.json'), 'utf8')))
+    if (manifest.platform !== process.platform || manifest.arch !== process.arch) throw new Error('The installed runtime targets a different platform.')
+    const canonicalRoot = resolve(root)
+    for (const component of manifest.components) {
+      const executable = resolve(root, component.executable)
+      if (executable !== canonicalRoot && !executable.startsWith(`${canonicalRoot}${sep}`)) throw new Error(`Unsafe executable path for ${component.id}.`)
+      await access(executable)
+    }
+    return { available: true, platform: process.platform, arch: process.arch, runtimeVersion: manifest.runtimeVersion, components: manifest.components }
+  } catch (error) {
+    return { available: false, platform: process.platform, arch: process.arch, components: [], reason: error instanceof Error && !error.message.includes('ENOENT') ? error.message : 'Aurora Native runtime is not installed yet.' }
+  }
+}
+
+async function containerStatus(): Promise<AuroraRuntimeStatus['container']> {
+  for (const provider of ['docker', 'podman'] as const) {
+    try {
+      const { stdout } = await execFileAsync(provider, ['--version'], { timeout: 5000 })
+      return { available: true, provider, version: stdout.trim() }
+    } catch { /* try next provider */ }
+  }
+  return { available: false, provider: null, reason: 'Docker or Podman was not detected.' }
+}
+
+export async function getRuntimeStatus(): Promise<AuroraRuntimeStatus> {
+  const [container, native] = await Promise.all([containerStatus(), nativeStatus()])
+  return { selectedEngine: native.available ? 'native' : 'container', container, native }
+}
diff --git a/src/preload/index.ts b/src/preload/index.ts
index e41ff64..ec7d1a5 100644
--- a/src/preload/index.ts
+++ b/src/preload/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
   AuroraSiteCredentials,
   AuroraRemoteSiteProfile,
   AuroraRemoteSiteStatus,
+  AuroraRuntimeStatus,
   AuroraStackOptions,
   EnvironmentUpdate,
   LogDataEvent,
@@ -155,6 +156,9 @@ const api = {
     pull: (operationId: string, name: string): Promise<void> =>
       ipcRenderer.invoke('remote:pull', operationId, name)
   },
+  runtime: {
+    status: (): Promise<AuroraRuntimeStatus> => ipcRenderer.invoke('runtime:status')
+  },
   zoom: {
     in: (): Promise<number> => ipcRenderer.invoke('window:zoomIn'),
     out: (): Promise<number> => ipcRenderer.invoke('window:zoomOut'),
diff --git a/src/shared/types.ts b/src/shared/types.ts
index 3ea9c07..ad43cfd 100644
--- a/src/shared/types.ts
+++ b/src/shared/types.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,26 @@
 export type ProjectStatus = 'running' | 'stopped' | 'paused' | 'starting' | 'stopping' | string
+export type AuroraRuntimeEngine = 'container' | 'native'
+
+export interface AuroraNativeRuntimeComponent {
+  id: 'php' | 'nginx' | 'apache' | 'mariadb' | 'mysql' | 'postgres' | 'node' | 'composer' | 'wp-cli' | 'drush'
+  version: string
+  executable: string
+  sha256: string
+}
+
+export interface AuroraNativeRuntimeManifest {
+  schema: 1
+  runtimeVersion: string
+  platform: 'linux' | 'darwin' | 'win32'
+  arch: 'x64' | 'arm64'
+  components: AuroraNativeRuntimeComponent[]
+}
+
+export interface AuroraRuntimeStatus {
+  selectedEngine: AuroraRuntimeEngine
+  container: { available: boolean; provider: 'docker' | 'podman' | null; version?: string; reason?: string }
+  native: { available: boolean; platform: string; arch: string; runtimeVersion?: string; components: AuroraNativeRuntimeComponent[]; reason?: string }
+}
 
 export interface AuroraProjectSummary {
   name: string