diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4c1d517..380ab78 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ dev = [
     "pytest-cov>=5.0",
     "ruff>=0.6",
 ]
+build = [
+    "pyinstaller>=6.15",
+]
 
 [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
 packages = ["src/git_auto_tracker"]
diff --git a/scripts/build_exe.py b/scripts/build_exe.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e5d0a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build_exe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+"""Build a self-contained git-auto-tracker executable (local dev option).
+
+Creates a dedicated build environment (.venv-build), installs the package
+non-editable together with PyInstaller, builds the executable and
+smoke-tests it against a temporary fixture repository.
+
+Git is NOT bundled: it remains an external prerequisite on the target
+machine (functional specification, Section 28).
+
+Usage (from the project root, any Python >= 3.12):
+
+    python scripts/build_exe.py               build + smoke test (onedir)
+    python scripts/build_exe.py --onefile     single-file executable
+    python scripts/build_exe.py --skip-smoke  build without smoke test
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import venv
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+BUILD_VENV = ROOT / ".venv-build"
+ENTRY = ROOT / "src" / "git_auto_tracker" / "__main__.py"
+DIST = ROOT / "dist"
+NAME = "git-auto-tracker"
+
+
+def _log(message: str) -> None:
+    print(f"[build] {message}")
+
+
+def _run(cmd: list[str], cwd: Path | None = None) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
+    _log(f"$ {' '.join(cmd)}")
+    return subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=str(cwd) if cwd else None, check=True)
+
+
+def create_build_env() -> Path:
+    if BUILD_VENV.exists():
+        _log(f"Removing stale build environment {BUILD_VENV}")
+        shutil.rmtree(BUILD_VENV)
+    _log(f"Creating clean build environment {BUILD_VENV}")
+    venv.EnvBuilder(with_pip=True).create(BUILD_VENV)
+    python = BUILD_VENV / (
+        "Scripts/python.exe" if sys.platform == "win32" else "bin/python"
+    )
+    # Non-editable install: reliable input for PyInstaller module analysis.
+    # Argument list, no shell: the '>=6.15' requirement string is safe here.
+    _run([str(python), "-m", "pip", "install", "--quiet", ".", "pyinstaller>=6.15"])
+    return python
+
+
+def build(python: Path, onefile: bool) -> Path:
+    mode = "--onefile" if onefile else "--onedir"
+    _run(
+        [
+            str(python),
+            "-m", "PyInstaller",
+            "--name", NAME,
+            mode,
+            "--console",
+            "--noconfirm",
+            "--clean",
+            "--distpath", str(DIST),
+            "--workpath", str(ROOT / "build" / "pyinstaller"),
+            "--specpath", str(ROOT / "build"),
+            str(ENTRY),
+        ]
+    )
+    suffix = ".exe" if sys.platform == "win32" else ""
+    exe = DIST / (NAME + suffix) if onefile else DIST / NAME / (NAME + suffix)
+    if not exe.is_file():
+        raise SystemExit(f"expected executable not found: {exe}")
+    return exe
+
+
+def smoke(exe: Path) -> None:
+    """--version, then a real dry-run against a fixture repository."""
+    _log("Smoke testing the executable")
+    proc = subprocess.run([str(exe), "--version"], capture_output=True, text=True)
+    if proc.returncode != 0 or "git-auto-tracker" not in proc.stdout:
+        raise SystemExit(f"smoke test failed: --version returned {proc.returncode}")
+
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="gat-smoke-") as tmp:
+        repo = Path(tmp) / "project"
+        repo.mkdir()
+        _run(["git", "init", "-b", "main"], cwd=repo)
+        _run(["git", "config", "user.name", "Smoke Test"], cwd=repo)
+        _run(["git", "config", "user.email", "smoke@example.com"], cwd=repo)
+        (repo / "README.md").write_text("v1\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        _run(["git", "add", "."], cwd=repo)
+        _run(["git", "commit", "-m", "initial"], cwd=repo)
+        (repo / "README.md").write_text("v2\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+        cfg = Path(tmp) / "cfg.yaml"
+        cfg.write_text(
+            "repository:\n"
+            f'  path: "{repo.as_posix()}"\n'
+            "  branch: main\n"
+            "logging:\n"
+            "  level: INFO\n"
+            "  console: true\n"
+            "  file: null\n",
+            encoding="utf-8",
+        )
+        proc = subprocess.run(
+            [str(exe), "--config", str(cfg), "run", "--dry-run"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            encoding="utf-8",
+        )
+        if proc.returncode != 0 or "SCADA automatic change capture" not in proc.stdout:
+            print(proc.stdout, file=sys.stderr)
+            print(proc.stderr, file=sys.stderr)
+            raise SystemExit(f"smoke test failed: dry-run exited with {proc.returncode}")
+    _log("Smoke test passed")
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--onefile",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="single-file executable instead of onedir",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--skip-smoke", action="store_true", help="skip the smoke test"
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    python = create_build_env()
+    exe = build(python, args.onefile)
+    _log(f"Executable: {exe}")
+    if not args.skip_smoke:
+        smoke(exe)
+    _log("Done.")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
\ No newline at end of file