diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 4c6c7f3..6a8b53c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ jobs:
             './tests/CdevCliLinuxContract.Tests.ps1',
             './tests/CdevCliCiContract.Tests.ps1',
             './tests/CdevCliSyncGuardContract.Tests.ps1',
-            './tests/CdevCliForceAlignOpsContract.Tests.ps1'
+            './tests/CdevCliForceAlignOpsContract.Tests.ps1',
+            './tests/CdevCliRuntimeImagePublishContract.Tests.ps1'
           ) -CI -Output Detailed
 
   cli-contract:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-cli-runtime-image.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-cli-runtime-image.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..153663f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-cli-runtime-image.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+name: publish-cli-runtime-image
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      promote_v1:
+        description: Also refresh the v1 tag.
+        required: false
+        default: true
+        type: boolean
+      additional_tag:
+        description: Optional extra tag (for example canary or rc1).
+        required: false
+        default: ''
+        type: string
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    paths:
+      - tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile
+      - scripts/Invoke-CdevCli.ps1
+      - scripts/lib/**
+      - cli-contract.json
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  packages: write
+
+concurrency:
+  group: publish-cli-runtime-image-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    name: Publish CLI Runtime Image
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      IMAGE_REPO: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/labview-cdev-cli-runtime
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Resolve deterministic tags
+        id: resolve
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          date_utc="$(date -u +%Y%m%d)"
+          short_sha="${GITHUB_SHA:0:12}"
+          promote_v1="${{ github.event.inputs.promote_v1 }}"
+          additional_tag="${{ github.event.inputs.additional_tag }}"
+
+          if [[ -z "$promote_v1" ]]; then
+            promote_v1="true"
+          fi
+
+          if [[ -n "$additional_tag" ]] && [[ ! "$additional_tag" =~ ^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "additional_tag must match ^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+$" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          tags=()
+          tags+=("${IMAGE_REPO}:sha-${short_sha}")
+          tags+=("${IMAGE_REPO}:v1-${date_utc}")
+          if [[ "$promote_v1" == "true" ]]; then
+            tags+=("${IMAGE_REPO}:v1")
+          fi
+          if [[ -n "$additional_tag" ]]; then
+            tags+=("${IMAGE_REPO}:${additional_tag}")
+          fi
+
+          {
+            echo "date_utc=$date_utc"
+            echo "short_sha=$short_sha"
+            echo "tags<<EOF"
+            printf '%s\n' "${tags[@]}"
+            echo "EOF"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Log in to GHCR
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Build and push image
+        id: build
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          context: .
+          file: ./tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.resolve.outputs.tags }}
+
+      - name: Publish summary
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          {
+            echo "## cdev CLI Runtime Image Published"
+            echo ""
+            echo "- Image: \`${IMAGE_REPO}\`"
+            echo "- Digest: \`${{ steps.build.outputs.digest }}\`"
+            echo "- Commit: \`${GITHUB_SHA}\`"
+            echo "- Tags:"
+            while IFS= read -r tag; do
+              echo "  - \`$tag\`"
+            done <<< "${{ steps.resolve.outputs.tags }}"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 9577b07..1200fd0 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -81,3 +81,5 @@ This repository is the control-plane CLI for deterministic `C:\dev` workspace or
   - `.sha256`
   - `cdev-cli.spdx.json`
   - `cdev-cli.slsa.json`
+- `publish-cli-runtime-image.yml` publishes base runtime image `ghcr.io/<repository-owner>/labview-cdev-cli-runtime` with immutable tags (`sha-*`, `v1-YYYYMMDD`) and optional mutable `v1`.
+- Canonical consumer image path is `ghcr.io/labview-community-ci-cd/labview-cdev-cli-runtime`.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1418f75..3745e37 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,6 +54,27 @@ Release artifacts:
 - `cdev-cli.spdx.json`
 - `cdev-cli.slsa.json`
 
+## Runtime Image (Base Layer)
+
+`publish-cli-runtime-image.yml` publishes the base CLI runtime image to:
+- `ghcr.io/<repository-owner>/labview-cdev-cli-runtime`
+
+Canonical consumer reference remains:
+- `ghcr.io/labview-community-ci-cd/labview-cdev-cli-runtime`
+
+Deterministic tags:
+- `sha-<12-char-commit>`
+- `v1-YYYYMMDD`
+- `v1` (when promoted)
+
+Dispatch manually:
+
+```powershell
+gh workflow run publish-cli-runtime-image.yml `
+  -R <owner>/labview-cdev-cli `
+  -f promote_v1=true
+```
+
 ## Operations Runbooks
 
 - Controlled fork/upstream SHA parity recovery:
diff --git a/tests/CdevCliRuntimeImagePublishContract.Tests.ps1 b/tests/CdevCliRuntimeImagePublishContract.Tests.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f33cbc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CdevCliRuntimeImagePublishContract.Tests.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#Requires -Version 7.0
+#Requires -Modules Pester
+
+$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
+
+Describe 'cdev CLI runtime image publish contract' {
+    BeforeAll {
+        $script:repoRoot = (Resolve-Path -Path (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..')).Path
+        $script:dockerfilePath = Join-Path $script:repoRoot 'tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile'
+        $script:workflowPath = Join-Path $script:repoRoot '.github/workflows/publish-cli-runtime-image.yml'
+        $script:agentsPath = Join-Path $script:repoRoot 'AGENTS.md'
+
+        foreach ($path in @($script:dockerfilePath, $script:workflowPath, $script:agentsPath)) {
+            if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $path -PathType Leaf)) {
+                throw "Missing runtime-image contract file: $path"
+            }
+        }
+
+        $script:dockerfile = Get-Content -LiteralPath $script:dockerfilePath -Raw
+        $script:workflow = Get-Content -LiteralPath $script:workflowPath -Raw
+        $script:agents = Get-Content -LiteralPath $script:agentsPath -Raw
+    }
+
+    It 'builds a PowerShell-based CLI runtime image with required tooling and entrypoint' {
+        $script:dockerfile | Should -Match 'mcr\.microsoft\.com/powershell'
+        $script:dockerfile | Should -Match 'git jq gh'
+        $script:dockerfile | Should -Match 'ENTRYPOINT \["pwsh", "-NoProfile", "-File", "/opt/cdev-cli/scripts/Invoke-CdevCli\.ps1"\]'
+        $script:dockerfile | Should -Match 'COPY scripts'
+    }
+
+    It 'defines deterministic GHCR publish flow with package write permission' {
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'workflow_dispatch:'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'push:'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'packages:\s*write'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'ghcr\.io/\$\{\{\s*github\.repository_owner\s*\}\}/labview-cdev-cli-runtime'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'docker/login-action@v3'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'docker/build-push-action@v6'
+    }
+
+    It 'publishes immutable tags and summary digest evidence' {
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'sha-\$\{short_sha\}'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'v1-\$\{date_utc\}'
+        $script:workflow | Should -Match 'steps\.build\.outputs\.digest'
+    }
+
+    It 'documents fork-safe mutation target for runtime publish operations' {
+        $script:agents | Should -Match 'Allowed mutation target'
+        $script:agents | Should -Match 'svelderrainruiz/labview-cdev-cli'
+        $script:agents | Should -Match 'ghcr\.io/labview-community-ci-cd/labview-cdev-cli-runtime'
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile b/tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5877d1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cli-runtime/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:7.4-ubuntu-22.04
+
+RUN apt-get update \
+    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends git jq gh ca-certificates \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+WORKDIR /opt/cdev-cli
+
+COPY scripts ./scripts
+COPY cli-contract.json ./cli-contract.json
+COPY README.md ./README.md
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["pwsh", "-NoProfile", "-File", "/opt/cdev-cli/scripts/Invoke-CdevCli.ps1"]
+CMD ["help"]
diff --git a/tools/cli-runtime/README.md b/tools/cli-runtime/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac1058b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cli-runtime/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# cdev CLI Runtime Image
+
+Base runtime image for `labview-cdev-cli` command execution.
+
+Publish repository:
+- `ghcr.io/<repository-owner>/labview-cdev-cli-runtime`
+
+Canonical consumer repository:
+- `ghcr.io/labview-community-ci-cd/labview-cdev-cli-runtime`
+
+Deterministic tags:
+- `sha-<12-char-commit>`
+- `v1-YYYYMMDD`
+- `v1` (when promoted)
+
+Local build:
+
+```powershell
+docker build -f .\tools\cli-runtime\Dockerfile -t cdev-cli-runtime:local .
+```
+
+Local run:
+
+```powershell
+docker run --rm cdev-cli-runtime:local help
+```