diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-runner-binary.yml b/.github/workflows/build-runner-binary.yml
index 4fe736f4b..ee90a6810 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-runner-binary.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-runner-binary.yml
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ jobs:
           curl -fsSL "${URL}" | tar xz -C /tmp/
           cp "/tmp/boxlite-c-v${VERSION}-linux-x64-gnu/lib/libboxlite.a" sdks/go/libboxlite.a
 
+      - name: Smoke-test libboxlite ABI for Go SDK
+        run: bash scripts/build/check-libboxlite-abi.sh sdks/go/libboxlite.a
+
       - name: Rewrite go.work for minimal modules
         run: |
           printf 'go 1.25.4\n\nuse (\n\t./runner\n\t./daemon\n\t./common-go\n\t./api-client-go\n\t./libs/computer-use\n\t../sdks/go\n)\n' > apps/go.work
diff --git a/make/dist.mk b/make/dist.mk
index f2f7d0877..0c1e7fd63 100644
--- a/make/dist.mk
+++ b/make/dist.mk
@@ -38,4 +38,11 @@ dist\:go:
 	@echo "📦 Building Go SDK (release)..."
 	@cargo build --release -p boxlite-c
 	@bash $(SCRIPT_DIR)/build/fix-go-symbols.sh target/release/libboxlite.a
+	@bash $(SCRIPT_DIR)/build/check-libboxlite-abi.sh target/release/libboxlite.a
+	@cp target/release/libboxlite.a sdks/go/libboxlite.a
+	@go clean -cache
+	@echo "✅ Go SDK static library staged at sdks/go/libboxlite.a"
 	@echo "✅ Go SDK release built"
+
+dist\:runner:
+	@bash $(SCRIPT_DIR)/build/build-runner-binary.sh
diff --git a/make/help.mk b/make/help.mk
index e1402164d..5d1543eb1 100644
--- a/make/help.mk
+++ b/make/help.mk
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ help:
 	@echo "    make dist:c         - Build C SDK release and stage to sdks/c/dist/"
 	@echo "    make dist:node      - Build npm package with napi-rs"
 	@echo "    make dist:go        - Build Go SDK release"
+	@echo "    make dist:runner    - Build local runner release artifact without deploying"
 	@echo ""
 	@echo "Platform: $$(uname) ($$(uname -m))"
 	@echo ""
diff --git a/scripts/build/build-runner-binary.sh b/scripts/build/build-runner-binary.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7dd98a13a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/build-runner-binary.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Build a local Linux amd64 runner release artifact without deploying it.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_BUILD_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$SCRIPT_BUILD_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/common.sh"
+
+REPO_ROOT="$PROJECT_ROOT"
+VERSION="${VERSION:-$(grep -m 1 '^version' "$REPO_ROOT/Cargo.toml" | sed -E 's/^version *= *"([^"]+)".*/\1/')}"
+COMMIT="${COMMIT:-$(git -C "$REPO_ROOT" rev-parse --short HEAD)}"
+OUTPUT_DIR="${OUTPUT_DIR:-$REPO_ROOT/dist/runner-release}"
+RUNNER_BIN="$OUTPUT_DIR/boxlite-runner"
+RUNNER_TARBALL="$OUTPUT_DIR/boxlite-runner-v${VERSION}-linux-amd64-${COMMIT}.tar.gz"
+
+if [[ -z "$VERSION" ]]; then
+    print_error "Could not read version from $REPO_ROOT/Cargo.toml"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$(detect_os)" != "linux" ]]; then
+    print_error "Runner release artifacts must be built on Linux because the binary uses cgo"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+require_command git "Install git"
+require_command go "Install Go"
+require_command tar "Install tar"
+require_command sha256sum "Install coreutils"
+
+if [[ "${SKIP_SUBMODULE_UPDATE:-0}" != "1" ]]; then
+    print_section "Updating submodules"
+    git -C "$REPO_ROOT" submodule update --init --recursive
+fi
+
+print_section "Building and validating Go SDK static library"
+make -C "$REPO_ROOT" dist:go
+bash "$SCRIPT_BUILD_DIR/check-libboxlite-abi.sh" "$REPO_ROOT/sdks/go/libboxlite.a"
+
+print_section "Building embedded daemon assets"
+cd "$REPO_ROOT/apps"
+CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 \
+    go build \
+    -ldflags "-X github.com/boxlite-ai/daemon/internal.Version=${VERSION}" \
+    -o "$REPO_ROOT/apps/runner/pkg/daemon/static/daemon-amd64" \
+    ./daemon/cmd/daemon/
+
+CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 \
+    go build \
+    -o "$REPO_ROOT/apps/runner/pkg/daemon/static/boxlite-computer-use" \
+    ./libs/computer-use/
+
+print_section "Building runner"
+mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"
+CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 \
+    go build \
+    -ldflags "-X github.com/boxlite-ai/runner/internal.Version=${VERSION}" \
+    -o "$RUNNER_BIN" \
+    ./runner/cmd/runner/
+
+tar -C "$OUTPUT_DIR" -czf "$RUNNER_TARBALL" "$(basename "$RUNNER_BIN")"
+
+print_success "Runner artifact built"
+echo "binary:  $RUNNER_BIN"
+echo "tarball: $RUNNER_TARBALL"
+sha256sum "$RUNNER_BIN" "$RUNNER_TARBALL"
diff --git a/scripts/build/check-libboxlite-abi.sh b/scripts/build/check-libboxlite-abi.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..99b42c477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/check-libboxlite-abi.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Smoke-test the C ABI used by the Go SDK prebuilt static library.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_BUILD_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$SCRIPT_BUILD_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/common.sh"
+
+LIB="${1:-target/release/libboxlite.a}"
+REPO_ROOT="$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+if [[ "$LIB" != /* ]]; then
+    LIB="$REPO_ROOT/$LIB"
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "$LIB" ]]; then
+    print_error "Library not found: $LIB"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+require_command cc "Install a C compiler"
+
+TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"' EXIT
+
+PROBE_C="$TMP_DIR/check-libboxlite-abi.c"
+PROBE_BIN="$TMP_DIR/check-libboxlite-abi"
+
+cat > "$PROBE_C" <<'C'
+#include "boxlite.h"
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+int main(void) {
+    CBoxliteOptions *opts = NULL;
+    CBoxliteError err = {0};
+
+    enum BoxliteErrorCode new_code = boxlite_options_new(
+        "ghcr.io/boxlite-ai/boxlite-agent-base:latest",
+        &opts,
+        &err
+    );
+    enum BoxliteErrorCode port_code = boxlite_options_add_port(
+        opts,
+        33689,
+        2280,
+        BoxlitePortProtocolTcp,
+        NULL
+    );
+
+    printf("new=%d add_port=%d\n", (int)new_code, (int)port_code);
+    if (opts != NULL) {
+        boxlite_options_free(opts);
+    }
+
+    return (new_code == Ok && port_code == Ok) ? 0 : 1;
+}
+C
+
+OS="$(detect_os)"
+case "$OS" in
+    linux)
+        LINK_FLAGS=(-lresolv -lpthread -ldl -lrt -lm)
+        ;;
+    macos)
+        LINK_FLAGS=(-framework CoreFoundation -framework Security -framework IOKit -framework Hypervisor -framework vmnet -lresolv)
+        ;;
+    *)
+        print_error "Unsupported platform: $(uname -s)"
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac
+
+cc -I"$REPO_ROOT/sdks/c/include" "$PROBE_C" "$LIB" "${LINK_FLAGS[@]}" -o "$PROBE_BIN"
+
+set +e
+OUTPUT="$("$PROBE_BIN" 2>&1)"
+STATUS=$?
+set -e
+echo "$OUTPUT"
+
+if [[ "$STATUS" -ne 0 || "$OUTPUT" != "new=0 add_port=0" ]]; then
+    print_error "libboxlite ABI smoke check failed for $LIB"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+print_success "libboxlite ABI smoke check passed for $LIB"
diff --git a/scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh b/scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh
index 2a372eadf..bc5eb97a1 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 #   scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh 0.9.5            # explicit version
 #   AWS_REGION=us-west-2 scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh
 #   STAGE=production scripts/deploy/runner-update-binary.sh
+#
+# For unreleased main builds, use `make dist:runner` first to create a local
+# artifact. This script intentionally downloads published GitHub release assets.
 
 set -euo pipefail