diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 09292fa2..ed763eb8 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 !**/components.json
 
 !app/**
+!apps/agent/**
 !packages/**
 !public/**
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2feb66be..ee1bd691 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ COPY --from=deps /deps/shoutrrr /usr/local/bin/shoutrrr
 
 COPY ./package.json ./bun.lock ./
 COPY ./packages/core/package.json ./packages/core/package.json
+COPY ./packages/contracts/package.json ./packages/contracts/package.json
+COPY ./apps/agent/package.json ./apps/agent/package.json
 
 RUN bun install --frozen-lockfile --ignore-scripts
 
@@ -86,11 +88,14 @@ WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY ./package.json ./bun.lock ./
 COPY ./packages/core/package.json ./packages/core/package.json
+COPY ./packages/contracts/package.json ./packages/contracts/package.json
+COPY ./apps/agent/package.json ./apps/agent/package.json
 RUN bun install --frozen-lockfile
 
 COPY . .
 
 RUN bun run build
+RUN bun build apps/agent/src/index.ts --outfile .output/agent/index.mjs --target bun
 
 FROM base AS production
 
diff --git a/app/server/modules/lifecycle/__tests__/shutdown.test.ts b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/__tests__/shutdown.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7625c890
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/__tests__/shutdown.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, mock, spyOn, test } from "bun:test";
+import { Scheduler } from "../../../core/scheduler";
+import * as backendModule from "../../backends/backend";
+import type { VolumeBackend } from "../../backends/backend";
+import * as bootstrapModule from "../bootstrap";
+import { createTestVolume } from "~/test/helpers/volume";
+
+const loadShutdownModule = async () => {
+	const moduleUrl = new URL("../shutdown.ts", import.meta.url);
+	moduleUrl.searchParams.set("test", crypto.randomUUID());
+	return import(moduleUrl.href);
+};
+
+afterEach(() => {
+	mock.restore();
+});
+
+describe("shutdown", () => {
+	test("stops the agent runtime before unmounting mounted volumes", async () => {
+		const events: string[] = [];
+		const stopScheduler = mock(async () => {
+			events.push("scheduler.stop");
+		});
+		const stopApplicationRuntime = mock(async () => {
+			events.push("agents.stop");
+		});
+		const unmountVolume = mock(async () => {
+			events.push("backend.unmount");
+			return { status: "unmounted" as const };
+		});
+
+		await createTestVolume({
+			name: "Shutdown test volume",
+			config: {
+				backend: "directory",
+				path: "/Applications",
+			},
+			status: "mounted",
+		});
+
+		spyOn(Scheduler, "stop").mockImplementation(stopScheduler);
+		spyOn(bootstrapModule, "stopApplicationRuntime").mockImplementation(stopApplicationRuntime);
+		spyOn(backendModule, "createVolumeBackend").mockImplementation(
+			() =>
+				({
+					mount: async () => ({ status: "mounted" as const }),
+					unmount: unmountVolume,
+					checkHealth: async () => ({ status: "mounted" as const }),
+				}) satisfies VolumeBackend,
+		);
+
+		const { shutdown } = await loadShutdownModule();
+
+		await shutdown();
+
+		expect(events).toEqual(["scheduler.stop", "agents.stop", "backend.unmount"]);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/app/server/modules/lifecycle/bootstrap.ts b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/bootstrap.ts
index bb8f44ea..791ebce8 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/lifecycle/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/bootstrap.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { runDbMigrations } from "../../db/db";
+import { agentManager, spawnLocalAgent, stopAgentRuntime } from "../agents/agents-manager";
 import { runMigrations } from "./migrations";
 import { startup } from "./startup";
 
@@ -7,6 +8,8 @@ let bootstrapPromise: Promise<void> | undefined;
 const runBootstrap = async () => {
 	await runDbMigrations();
 	await runMigrations();
+	agentManager.start();
+	await spawnLocalAgent();
 	await startup();
 };
 
@@ -22,3 +25,11 @@ export const bootstrapApplication = async () => {
 		throw err;
 	}
 };
+
+export const stopApplicationRuntime = async () => {
+	try {
+		await stopAgentRuntime();
+	} finally {
+		bootstrapPromise = undefined;
+	}
+};
diff --git a/app/server/modules/lifecycle/shutdown.ts b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/shutdown.ts
index 3bb76073..4deff2af 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/lifecycle/shutdown.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/lifecycle/shutdown.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ import { Scheduler } from "../../core/scheduler";
 import { db } from "../../db/db";
 import { logger } from "@zerobyte/core/node";
 import { createVolumeBackend } from "../backends/backend";
+import { stopApplicationRuntime } from "./bootstrap";
 
 export const shutdown = async () => {
 	await Scheduler.stop();
+	await stopApplicationRuntime();
 
 	const volumes = await db.query.volumesTable.findMany({
 		where: { status: "mounted" },
diff --git a/app/server/plugins/bootstrap.ts b/app/server/plugins/bootstrap.ts
index 4dbc7c9e..ede70123 100644
--- a/app/server/plugins/bootstrap.ts
+++ b/app/server/plugins/bootstrap.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { definePlugin } from "nitro";
-import { bootstrapApplication } from "../modules/lifecycle/bootstrap";
+import { bootstrapApplication, stopApplicationRuntime } from "../modules/lifecycle/bootstrap";
 import { logger } from "@zerobyte/core/node";
 import { toMessage } from "../utils/errors";
 
-export default definePlugin(async () => {
+export default definePlugin(async (nitroApp) => {
+	nitroApp.hooks.hook("close", stopApplicationRuntime);
+
 	await bootstrapApplication().catch((err) => {
 		logger.error(`Bootstrap failed: ${toMessage(err)}`);
 		process.exit(1);