diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9701178..4b30235 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -45,3 +45,17 @@ crash-*
 oom-*
 leak-*
 timeout-*
+
+# dpkg-buildpackage output — debhelper's build tree and the produced .deb/.changes, plus
+# the classic out-of-tree autotools-style build dir some debhelper versions still create.
+# debian/control, changelog, copyright, rules, postinst, postrm, source/format and
+# *.lintian-overrides are real packaging source and stay tracked; everything below is
+# regenerated by `dpkg-buildpackage` on every run.
+debian/.debhelper/
+debian/velox/
+debian/files
+debian/*.substvars
+debian/*.debhelper.log
+debian/*.debhelper
+debian/debhelper-build-stamp
+obj-*/
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cf658d4..2cd189f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ option(VELOX_BUILD_FUZZ   "Build libFuzzer targets (clang only)"  OFF)
 option(VELOX_ENABLE_MEDIA "Build the HLS/DASH media grabber (M4)" OFF)
 option(VELOX_WERROR       "Treat warnings as errors"              ON)
 
+# Central OS detection (docs/adr/0020-cross-platform-strategy.md). Included early: the
+# dependency finds below gate Linux-only libraries on VELOX_OS_LINUX.
+include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/platform.cmake)
+
 # Project-wide warning flags. Set via add_compile_options (a directory property), not the
 # CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS cache variable, because the dev/tsan presets overwrite that cache var
 # wholesale for sanitizer flags — a target's warnings must not ride on it.
@@ -55,12 +59,24 @@ endif()
 if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/daemon/CMakeLists.txt)
     find_package(SQLite3 REQUIRED)
     find_package(nlohmann_json 3.11 REQUIRED)
-    find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
-    pkg_check_modules(LIBSECRET REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libsecret-1)
+    # libsecret / Secret Service is Linux-only (docs/adr/0020-cross-platform-strategy.md,
+    # docs/08-porting.md): macOS uses Keychain behind the same credential-store seam, so
+    # this stays REQUIRED on Linux and simply absent elsewhere — PORT's job is to add the
+    # macOS side of that seam, not to touch this find.
+    if(VELOX_OS_LINUX)
+        find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
+        pkg_check_modules(LIBSECRET REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libsecret-1)
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 if(VELOX_BUILD_GUI AND EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/CMakeLists.txt)
-    find_package(Qt6 6.6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets Svg Network LinguistTools)
+    # DBus (gui/docs/pkg-qa-requests-m1.md R4) backs the org.freedesktop.portal
+    # GlobalShortcuts path — Linux/portal-only, same reasoning as libsecret above.
+    if(VELOX_OS_LINUX)
+        find_package(Qt6 6.6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets Svg Network DBus LinguistTools)
+    else()
+        find_package(Qt6 6.6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Widgets Svg Network LinguistTools)
+    endif()
     qt_standard_project_setup()
 endif()
 
@@ -105,3 +121,63 @@ if(VELOX_BUILD_TESTS)
         endif()
     endforeach()
 endif()
+
+# --- Install rules (M6 packaging; docs/07-packaging.md; owned by PKG/QA) ------------
+#
+# Guarded by `if(TARGET ...)`, not by editing each lane's own CMakeLists.txt: install()
+# is a packaging concern, and reaching into daemon/CMakeLists.txt (DAEMON's), cli's build
+# file (also DAEMON's) or gui/CMakeLists.txt (GUI's) to add it there would cross a lane
+# boundary CLAUDE.md draws on purpose. Every target below is defined by its own lane;
+# this only says where the packaged binary already built by that lane's rules goes.
+#
+# libveloxcore is intentionally absent here: it stays a static library linked into each
+# binary (user decision, see docs/07-packaging.md) — there is no .so to install.
+#
+# CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR is multiarch-adjusted (lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/) by GNUInstallDirs on
+# Debian; systemd user units and the Mozilla native-messaging directory are NOT
+# architecture-specific paths, so those two destinations are written literally
+# (lib/systemd/user, lib/mozilla/...) rather than built from that variable.
+include(GNUInstallDirs)
+
+if(TARGET veloxd)
+    install(TARGETS veloxd RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/man/veloxd.8
+            DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}/man8)
+    # velox.socket ships alongside velox.service: DAEMON wired real sd_listen_fds()
+    # socket activation (daemon/src/rpc/systemd_activation.cpp) — see
+    # packaging/systemd/README.md for the pair's own rationale.
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/systemd/velox.service
+                  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/systemd/velox.socket
+            DESTINATION lib/systemd/user)
+endif()
+
+if(TARGET velox)
+    install(TARGETS velox RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
+    # DAEMON owns cli/ and its man page (CLAUDE.md); packaging only installs it.
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cli/man/velox.1
+            DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}/man1)
+endif()
+
+if(TARGET velox-gui)
+    install(TARGETS velox-gui RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/man/velox-gui.1
+            DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}/man1)
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/desktop/velox.desktop
+            DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}/applications)
+    foreach(iconsize 16 22 24 32 48 64 128 256)
+        install(FILES
+                ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/icons/hicolor/${iconsize}x${iconsize}/apps/velox.png
+                DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}/icons/hicolor/${iconsize}x${iconsize}/apps)
+    endforeach()
+endif()
+
+# nmhost and its manifest are DAEMON's (CLAUDE.md: nmhost/ and packaging/nativehost/).
+# This lights up the moment DAEMON's target exists, the same way the add_subdirectory()
+# guards above do — no coordinated edit needed when it lands.
+if(TARGET velox-nmhost)
+    install(TARGETS velox-nmhost RUNTIME DESTINATION libexec/velox)
+    install(FILES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/packaging/nativehost/com.velox.host.json
+            DESTINATION lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts)
+else()
+    message(STATUS "velox: nmhost has not landed yet — native-messaging manifest not installed.")
+endif()
diff --git a/cmake/platform.cmake b/cmake/platform.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e193425
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/platform.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# cmake/platform.cmake — central OS detection and per-OS source selection.
+#
+# Owned by PKG/QA (docs/adr/0020-cross-platform-strategy.md §4-5, amended: PORT owns
+# **/platform/<os>/** and the macOS/Windows packaging trees, but this file is root build
+# infrastructure and lands in Phase 0 — CORE's and DAEMON's own seams need
+# velox_platform_sources() to select their platform/linux/*.cpp before PORT ever starts).
+#
+# Sets exactly one of VELOX_OS_LINUX / VELOX_OS_MACOS / VELOX_OS_WINDOWS. Selection lives
+# here and nowhere else — no lane's own CMakeLists.txt should reimplement this check.
+if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
+    set(VELOX_OS_LINUX TRUE)
+elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Darwin")
+    set(VELOX_OS_MACOS TRUE)
+elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
+    set(VELOX_OS_WINDOWS TRUE)
+else()
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "velox: unsupported CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME '${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME}' — "
+                        "expected Linux, Darwin or Windows.")
+endif()
+
+# velox_platform_sources(<target> <dir>) adds <dir>/platform/<os>/*.cpp to <target>, where
+# <os> is linux, macos or windows to match this file's VELOX_OS_* selection. <dir> is
+# relative to the calling lane's own CMakeLists.txt (e.g. src/io, src/rpc) — the seam
+# headers themselves (<dir>/platform/*.hpp) are not globbed here, they're ordinary sources
+# the owning lane already lists.
+function(velox_platform_sources target dir)
+    if(VELOX_OS_LINUX)
+        set(os_dir "linux")
+    elseif(VELOX_OS_MACOS)
+        set(os_dir "macos")
+    elseif(VELOX_OS_WINDOWS)
+        set(os_dir "windows")
+    endif()
+
+    file(GLOB platform_sources CONFIGURE_DEPENDS
+         "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${dir}/platform/${os_dir}/*.cpp")
+
+    if(NOT platform_sources)
+        message(WARNING "velox: velox_platform_sources(${target} ${dir}) found no "
+                        "sources under ${dir}/platform/${os_dir}/ — is the seam missing "
+                        "its ${os_dir} backend?")
+    endif()
+
+    target_sources(${target} PRIVATE ${platform_sources})
+endfunction()
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cc9f48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+velox (0.1.0-1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
+
+  * Local test build only. Not signed, not uploaded anywhere — see
+    packaging/README.md for what this package is and is not.
+  * libveloxcore is linked statically; no libveloxcore.so is shipped.
+  * Placeholder app icon (packaging/icons/) — replace before any real release.
+  * No real pairing-approval UI is built yet (needs libdbus-1-dev, not in this
+    build's Build-Depends): pairing requires VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1. See
+    packaging/README.md and postinst's own notice.
+
+ -- Velox Local Test Build <noreply@example.invalid>  Sat, 12 Sep 2026 22:30:43 +0400
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7910135
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+Source: velox
+Section: net
+Priority: optional
+Maintainer: Velox Local Test Build <noreply@example.invalid>
+Build-Depends: debhelper-compat (= 13),
+               cmake (>= 3.28),
+               ninja-build,
+               pkg-config,
+               g++ (>= 13),
+               qt6-base-dev,
+               qt6-tools-dev,
+               qt6-tools-dev-tools,
+               qt6-svg-dev,
+               libcurl4-openssl-dev,
+               libssl-dev,
+               libsqlite3-dev,
+               nlohmann-json3-dev,
+               libsecret-1-dev
+Standards-Version: 4.6.2
+Rules-Requires-Root: no
+
+Package: velox
+Architecture: amd64
+Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Description: IDM-class download manager for Linux (local test build)
+ Velox is a segmented, resumable download manager for Linux: a daemon
+ (veloxd) that does the transfer work, a Qt GUI, a CLI, and a Firefox
+ extension for capture.
+ .
+ This package ships veloxd, the velox CLI, the velox-gui Qt client and
+ velox-nmhost, the Firefox native-messaging host.
+ .
+ THIS IS A LOCAL TEST BUILD, not a release: it uses a placeholder app
+ icon and has no real pairing-approval UI (see /usr/share/doc/velox, or
+ packaging/README.md in the source tree, for both limitations).
diff --git a/debian/copyright b/debian/copyright
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9f92d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/copyright
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
+Upstream-Name: velox
+Source: (no public upstream repository yet — local test build only)
+
+Files: *
+Copyright: 2026, the Velox project
+License: Unlicensed-TODO
+
+Files: debian/*
+Copyright: 2026, the Velox project
+License: Unlicensed-TODO
+
+License: Unlicensed-TODO
+ No license has been chosen for Velox's own source yet. This is a genuine,
+ open project decision — not something packaging can invent on its own —
+ and is tracked as a release blocker in packaging/README.md. `lintian` is
+ expected to flag this package over it (a package normally must declare a
+ real license); that is correct behaviour on lintian's part, not a bug in
+ this packaging, and stays that way until the project adopts one.
+ .
+ Nothing above changes the licenses of this package's dynamically-linked
+ runtime dependencies (Qt, libcurl, SQLite, OpenSSL, nlohmann-json,
+ libsecret and friends) — those remain under their own upstream licenses,
+ covered by their own packages' Depends, and are not redistributed by this
+ source package. See packaging/README.md's licence-audit note for what
+ that still needs before a real release.
diff --git a/debian/postinst b/debian/postinst
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ffbb70f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/postinst
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# postinst for velox (local test build). See packaging/README.md.
+set -e
+
+NM_MANIFEST_SRC=/usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.velox.host.json
+NM_MANIFEST_NAME=com.velox.host.json
+
+# Every real (human) user with a home directory — UID range matches Debian's own
+# adduser default (login.defs UID_MIN=1000), not just "everyone in /home" (a service
+# account can have a home dir too) and not root.
+real_users() {
+    getent passwd | awk -F: '$3 >= 1000 && $3 < 60000 && $6 != "" {print $1":"$6}'
+}
+
+# Per-user native-messaging manifest (ADR 0003 / docs/05 §4.A): needed for BOTH
+# deb/tarball and snap Firefox — the system-wide manifest this package also installs at
+# $NM_MANIFEST_SRC only covers deb/tarball Firefox, never snap. Runs unconditionally,
+# not just when snap is detected: a per-user login.defs-based install can't assume every
+# user runs the same Firefox flavour, and dropping a JSON file nobody reads is harmless.
+install_per_user_manifests() {
+    [ -f "$NM_MANIFEST_SRC" ] || {
+        echo "velox: native-messaging host not built yet (nmhost lane not landed) —" \
+             "skipping per-user manifest install."
+        return 0
+    }
+    real_users | while IFS=: read -r user home; do
+        [ -d "$home" ] || continue
+        dest_dir="$home/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts"
+        install -d -o "$user" -g "$user" -m 0755 "$dest_dir" 2>/dev/null || {
+            echo "velox: could not create $dest_dir for $user — skipping" >&2
+            continue
+        }
+        cp "$NM_MANIFEST_SRC" "$dest_dir/$NM_MANIFEST_NAME"
+        chown "$user:$user" "$dest_dir/$NM_MANIFEST_NAME"
+        chmod 0644 "$dest_dir/$NM_MANIFEST_NAME"
+    done
+}
+
+# docs/07-packaging.md: detect snap Firefox and say so — the extension pairs over
+# loopback WebSocket there (ADR 0003), not native messaging from inside the sandbox.
+note_snap_firefox() {
+    if command -v snap >/dev/null 2>&1 && snap list firefox >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        cat <<'EOF'
+
+velox: Firefox is installed as a snap on this system. The extension will pair with
+       veloxd over the loopback WebSocket (ws://127.0.0.1:<port>), not native
+       messaging — this is expected (see docs/adr/0003, ADR 0003) and needs no
+       action from you.
+EOF
+    fi
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+    configure)
+        install_per_user_manifests
+        note_snap_firefox
+
+        cat <<'EOF'
+
+============================================================================
+velox: LOCAL TEST BUILD — read this before pairing the extension
+============================================================================
+No real pairing-approval UI is built into this package yet (it needs
+libdbus-1-dev, which this build's dependencies do not include). veloxd's
+only pairing approver in this build auto-rejects every request UNLESS you
+set VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1 in its environment — there is no prompt to accept or
+decline; it is all-or-nothing. Do not run this on a machine or account
+where you would not want every pairing request accepted automatically.
+
+  systemctl --user edit velox.service
+    # add, in the [Service] section:
+    #   Environment=VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1
+
+debhelper's dh_installsystemduser marks velox.service and velox.socket enabled (the
+pair together, via velox.service's Also=velox.socket) for your next login session
+automatically. For your CURRENT session, start socket activation now yourself — a
+root postinst has no live user session to reach:
+
+  systemctl --user daemon-reload
+  systemctl --user enable --now velox.socket
+
+See packaging/README.md in the source tree for the rest of this build's
+testing-only limitations (placeholder icon, no license chosen yet, no
+libveloxcore.so — it is linked statically).
+============================================================================
+EOF
+        ;;
+esac
+
+#DEBHELPER#
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/debian/postrm b/debian/postrm
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5c5e371
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/postrm
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# postrm for velox (local test build). See packaging/README.md.
+set -e
+
+NM_MANIFEST_NAME=com.velox.host.json
+
+real_users() {
+    getent passwd | awk -F: '$3 >= 1000 && $3 < 60000 && $6 != "" {print $1":"$6}'
+}
+
+# Undoes exactly what postinst's install_per_user_manifests() did — never anything
+# beyond that file. In particular this never touches a user's Velox data
+# ($XDG_DATA_HOME/velox, i.e. normally ~/.local/share/velox — the task database and
+# any settings) on either `remove` or `purge`: per-user, root-owned deletion across
+# every account on the system is exactly the kind of destructive multi-user operation
+# that deserves its own careful design and testing, not a first cut bolted onto this
+# local test package. Documented as a deliberate simplification in
+# packaging/README.md, not a silent gap.
+remove_per_user_manifests() {
+    real_users | while IFS=: read -r user home; do
+        f="$home/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/$NM_MANIFEST_NAME"
+        [ -e "$f" ] && rm -f "$f"
+    done
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+    remove|purge)
+        remove_per_user_manifests
+        ;;
+esac
+
+#DEBHELPER#
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..eb2e3e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/make -f
+# Velox — local test .deb build. Not a release build (no signing, no LTO tuning beyond
+# what the flags below ask for): see packaging/README.md.
+#
+# Explicit cmake flags rather than a CMakePresets.json preset: dh_auto_configure already
+# sets its own CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX / build-dir conventions, which fighting a preset's own
+# cache variables (build/<preset>/, etc.) would only complicate. The flags mirror the
+# `release` preset's intent (RelWithDebInfo, no tests) without inheriting its binaryDir.
+export DEB_BUILD_MAINT_OPTIONS = hardening=+all
+
+%:
+	dh $@
+
+override_dh_auto_configure:
+	dh_auto_configure -- \
+		-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
+		-DVELOX_BUILD_TESTS=OFF \
+		-DVELOX_BUILD_GUI=ON \
+		-DVELOX_WERROR=OFF
+
+# dh_installsystemd (system units) is disabled: velox.service/velox.socket are --user
+# units, not system ones, so that helper has nothing to do here. dh_installsystemduser is
+# NOT overridden — it runs normally, finds both units under lib/systemd/user/ in the
+# install tree, and marks them enabled for each user's *next* systemd --user login (it
+# cannot reach an already-running session from a root maintainer script at install time;
+# postinst prints the manual start commands for the current session, matching
+# packaging/README.md's own instructions).
+override_dh_installsystemd:
diff --git a/debian/source/format b/debian/source/format
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89ae9db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/source/format
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.0 (native)
diff --git a/debian/velox.lintian-overrides b/debian/velox.lintian-overrides
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13dd9c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/velox.lintian-overrides
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# initial-upload-closes-no-bugs: this is a local test build (packaging/README.md),
+# never intended for the Debian/Ubuntu archive — there is no ITP bug to close.
+initial-upload-closes-no-bugs
+
+# maintainer-script-calls-systemctl (postinst): both flagged lines are inside a
+# heredoc of instructions printed for the *admin* to run themselves (velox.service is
+# a --user unit; postinst has no live user session to invoke systemctl against
+# itself). lintian's check is a text scan and can't tell printed advice from an actual
+# invocation — verified by reading the built postinst, see packaging/README.md.
+maintainer-script-calls-systemctl
diff --git a/docs/07-packaging.md b/docs/07-packaging.md
index 953842f..d04039c 100644
--- a/docs/07-packaging.md
+++ b/docs/07-packaging.md
@@ -9,16 +9,28 @@ Owner: lane **PKG/QA**. Target: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
 /usr/bin/velox-gui
 /usr/bin/velox                       # CLI
 /usr/libexec/velox/velox-nmhost      # native messaging host
-/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libveloxcore.so.1
 /usr/share/applications/velox.desktop
 /usr/share/icons/hicolor/*/apps/velox.png
 /usr/share/man/man1/velox.1.gz
 /usr/lib/systemd/user/velox.service
-/usr/lib/systemd/user/velox.socket   # socket activation
+/usr/lib/systemd/user/velox.socket   # real socket activation, see below
 /usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.velox.host.json
 /etc/xdg/autostart/velox-gui.desktop # optional, off by default
 ```
 
+`libveloxcore` is **static**, linked into `veloxd`, `velox` and `velox-gui` directly —
+there is no `libveloxcore.so.*` to install. A shared, versioned `libveloxcore.so.1` was
+the original plan here; the user decided against building one for now (no consumer needs
+it as a shared object yet, and it would need CORE's `core/CMakeLists.txt` to grow a
+`SOVERSION`). Revisit as a CORE-lane request if that changes — this doc was corrected in
+the same commit as the decision rather than left describing something unshipped.
+
+`velox.service` and `velox.socket` are both DAEMON's (`packaging/systemd/README.md`,
+`daemon/src/rpc/systemd_activation.cpp`) — real `sd_listen_fds()` socket activation, not a
+plain `exec`. This package installs both units verbatim and lets `dh_installsystemduser`
+(compat 13) pick them up from the install tree; see `packaging/README.md` for what that
+does and does not do at install time for an already-running session.
+
 `postinst` additionally drops per-user native-messaging manifests for the packaging formats
 that need them, and **detects whether Firefox is a snap** — if so it prints (and the GUI's
 first-run wizard shows) a one-line note that the extension will pair over loopback.
diff --git a/packaging/README.md b/packaging/README.md
index bb94fb5..f3b533f 100644
--- a/packaging/README.md
+++ b/packaging/README.md
@@ -1 +1,101 @@
 Owner: lane PKG/QA. See ../docs/07-packaging.md.
+
+## `.deb` — local test build only
+
+There is no PPA, no GPG signing, no Launchpad wiring here. This produces a `.deb` you
+install with `dpkg -i` on the box you built it on (or an identical one), for testing —
+not something to hand to a user or publish anywhere. See `docs/07-packaging.md`'s
+package matrix for the eventual PPA plan.
+
+```sh
+sudo ./tools/bootstrap.sh --packaging          # debhelper, dpkg-dev, lintian, devscripts, fakeroot
+dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b                   # from the repo root; -b = binary only, no signing
+sudo dpkg -i ../velox_0.1.0-1_amd64.deb
+lintian ../velox_0.1.0-1_amd64.deb
+```
+
+Uninstall: `sudo dpkg -r velox` (or `sudo dpkg -P velox` to purge — see below for what
+purge does and does not do here).
+
+### Known limitations of this build — read before relying on any of these
+
+- **`libveloxcore` is static, not `.so.1`.** The install layout in `docs/07-packaging.md`
+  originally called for a shared, versioned `libveloxcore.so.1`; the user decided against
+  building one for now (no consumer needs it as a shared object yet, and it would need a
+  `SOVERSION` added to CORE's own `core/CMakeLists.txt`). The doc was corrected in the
+  same commit as this packaging work — it no longer describes something unshipped.
+
+- **Placeholder app icon.** `gui/resources/icons/` (GUI's lane) is empty — no real icon
+  art exists anywhere in the repo yet. `packaging/icons/hicolor/*/apps/velox.png` is a
+  plain generated placeholder (flat color, a download-arrow glyph), good enough to
+  install correctly and pass `desktop-file-validate`/lintian's icon checks, and nothing
+  more. **Replace it before any real release** — and do the icon-set licence audit
+  `docs/07-packaging.md`'s release checklist asks for once real art exists (this
+  placeholder was drawn from scratch for this package, so it has no licence question of
+  its own, but it is not real Velox branding either).
+
+- **No license has been chosen for Velox's own source yet.** There is no top-level
+  `LICENSE` file in the repo. `debian/copyright` says so plainly (`License:
+  Unlicensed-TODO`) rather than inventing one — that is a real project decision, above
+  any one lane. Expect `lintian` to flag this package over it; that is lintian doing its
+  job, not a bug in this packaging, and it stays a known exception to "lintian clean"
+  until the project adopts a license. The release checklist's "Licence audit" item (Qt,
+  libcurl, SQLite, ffmpeg, icon set) is separate and still open regardless.
+
+- **Pairing has no real approval UI in this build.** `libdbus-1-dev` is not in this
+  build's `Build-Depends` (D1's GUI-dialog/desktop-notification approver needs it and
+  isn't wired up yet — `daemon/src/main.cpp` still uses `EnvAutoApprover`
+  unconditionally). That approver auto-**rejects** every pairing request unless
+  `VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1` is set in `veloxd`'s environment — there is no prompt, no
+  accept/decline, it is all-or-nothing. `postinst` prints this prominently after
+  install; it is repeated here so it isn't missed by anyone reading only one of the two.
+  **Do not set `VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1` on a machine or account where auto-accepting every
+  pairing request is unacceptable.**
+
+- **Socket activation is real.** `velox.service` and `velox.socket` both ship, verbatim
+  from DAEMON's `packaging/systemd/README.md` — `veloxd` receives the pre-bound fd via
+  `sd_listen_fds()` (`daemon/src/rpc/systemd_activation.cpp`) rather than binding its own
+  socket. `debian/rules` does **not** disable `dh_installsystemduser` (only the
+  system-level `dh_installsystemd`, since these are `--user` units); debhelper finds both
+  units under `lib/systemd/user/` in the install tree and enables the pair together
+  (`Also=velox.socket` in `velox.service`'s `[Install]`).
+
+- **The systemd `--user` service starts enabled for your *next* login, not this one.**
+  debhelper's `dh_installsystemduser` (verified in the built package's `postinst`) marks
+  `velox.service` enabled automatically — that takes effect the next time each user's
+  `systemd --user` instance starts. It cannot reach an *already-running* session from a
+  root maintainer script, so for the session you're in right now, `postinst` prints:
+  ```sh
+  systemctl --user daemon-reload
+  systemctl --user start velox.service
+  ```
+
+- **`dpkg -P velox` (purge) does not delete user data.** The uninstall test this package
+  is built to pass is "manifests, units and sockets removed; user data untouched *unless
+  purged*" — this build is deliberately conservative and leaves `$XDG_DATA_HOME/velox`
+  (normally `~/.local/share/velox`, the task database) alone on **both** `remove` and
+  `purge`, for every account. A root maintainer script deleting per-user data across
+  every account on the system is exactly the kind of destructive, hard-to-test operation
+  that deserves its own design pass, not a first cut bolted on here. `postrm` only ever
+  undoes what `postinst` did: the per-user native-messaging manifest it copied in.
+
+### The uninstall test, concretely
+
+What `docs/07-packaging.md`'s release checklist asks for, and what this build actually
+does:
+
+| Removed on `dpkg -r`/`-P`? | |
+|---|---|
+| `/usr/bin/{veloxd,velox,velox-gui}`, `/usr/libexec/velox/velox-nmhost` | yes — dpkg itself, ordinary package files |
+| `/usr/lib/systemd/user/{velox.service,velox.socket}` | yes — same |
+| `/usr/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.velox.host.json` | yes — same |
+| Per-user `~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.velox.host.json` | yes — `postrm`, both `remove` and `purge` |
+| `$XDG_DATA_HOME/velox` (task DB, settings) | **no, on either `remove` or `purge`** — see above |
+
+### Native messaging
+
+`velox-nmhost` (DAEMON's `nmhost/`) and its manifest (DAEMON's
+`packaging/nativehost/com.velox.host.json`) now ship in this package — the top-level
+`CMakeLists.txt`'s install rules are guarded on `if(TARGET velox-nmhost)`, the same way its
+`add_subdirectory()` calls are, so this lit up automatically the day that lane merged, no
+packaging change needed on this end.
diff --git a/packaging/debian/.gitkeep b/packaging/debian/.gitkeep
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/packaging/desktop/velox.desktop b/packaging/desktop/velox.desktop
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5498f12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/desktop/velox.desktop
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Version=1.0
+Name=Velox
+GenericName=Download Manager
+Comment=IDM-class download manager
+Exec=velox-gui
+Icon=velox
+Terminal=false
+Categories=Network;FileTransfer;
+Keywords=download;downloader;idm;resume;segmented;
+StartupNotify=true
diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..028ad75
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edc7ef7
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/22x22/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/22x22/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b24ba3
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..108bb75
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec41ffd
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3385296
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77f079c
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diff --git a/packaging/icons/hicolor/64x64/apps/velox.png b/packaging/icons/hicolor/64x64/apps/velox.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05bb52c
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diff --git a/packaging/man/velox-gui.1 b/packaging/man/velox-gui.1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e451db1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/man/velox-gui.1
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+.TH VELOX\-GUI 1 "2026-09-12" "velox 0.1.0" "Velox Download Manager"
+.SH NAME
+velox-gui \- Velox download manager, graphical client
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.B velox-gui
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.B velox-gui
+is the Qt graphical client for
+.BR veloxd (8),
+the Velox download manager daemon. It takes no command-line arguments and connects
+to the daemon over its local Unix socket.
+.B veloxd
+must already be running \(em see
+.BR veloxd (8)
+for starting it as a
+.B systemd --user
+service.
+.SH SEE ALSO
+.BR velox (1),
+.BR veloxd (8)
diff --git a/packaging/man/veloxd.8 b/packaging/man/veloxd.8
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..368b7b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/man/veloxd.8
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+.TH VELOXD 8 "2026-09-12" "velox 0.1.0" "Velox Download Manager"
+.SH NAME
+veloxd \- Velox download manager daemon
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.B veloxd
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.B veloxd
+is the background daemon behind the Velox download manager. It manages downloads,
+segmented transfers and resume state in a local SQLite database, and exposes a
+JSON-RPC API over a local Unix socket (for
+.BR velox (1)
+and
+.BR velox-gui (1))
+and a loopback WebSocket (for the Firefox extension).
+.PP
+It takes no command-line arguments. It is normally started as a
+.B systemd --user
+service:
+.RS
+.nf
+systemctl --user enable --now velox.service
+.fi
+.RE
+.SH FILES
+.TP
+.I $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/velox/velox.sock
+The Unix socket clients connect to.
+.TP
+.I $XDG_DATA_HOME/velox/velox.db
+The task and settings database (default
+.IR ~/.local/share/velox/velox.db ).
+.SH SEE ALSO
+.BR velox (1),
+.BR velox-gui (1),
+.BR systemctl (1)