diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/LocalOzoneRuntime.java b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/LocalOzoneRuntime.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..54a08e476ff6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/LocalOzoneRuntime.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hadoop.ozone.local;
+
+/**
+ * Runtime contract for local single-node Ozone commands.
+ */
+public interface LocalOzoneRuntime extends AutoCloseable {
+
+  void start() throws Exception;
+
+  String getDisplayHost();
+
+  int getScmPort();
+
+  int getOmPort();
+
+  int getS3gPort();
+
+  String getS3Endpoint();
+
+  @Override
+  void close() throws Exception;
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/OzoneLocal.java b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/OzoneLocal.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bd19b9f5dbcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/OzoneLocal.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hadoop.ozone.local;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdds.cli.GenericCli;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdds.cli.HddsVersionProvider;
+import picocli.CommandLine.Command;
+
+/**
+ * Internal CLI entry point for local single-node Ozone commands.
+ */
+@Command(name = "ozone local",
+    hidden = true,
+    description = "Internal commands for local single-node Ozone",
+    versionProvider = HddsVersionProvider.class,
+    mixinStandardHelpOptions = true,
+    subcommands = {
+        OzoneLocal.RunCommand.class
+    })
+public class OzoneLocal extends GenericCli {
+
+  public static void main(String[] args) {
+    new OzoneLocal().run(args);
+  }
+
+  @Command(name = "run",
+      hidden = true,
+      description = "Internal placeholder for a local Ozone runtime")
+  static class RunCommand implements Callable<Void> {
+
+    @Override
+    public Void call() {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/package-info.java b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/package-info.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ca9e55fd6cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/package-info.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Internal local single-node Ozone runtime support.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.ozone.local;
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/TestOzoneLocal.java b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/TestOzoneLocal.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ff44f0ee5f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/local/TestOzoneLocal.java
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hadoop.ozone.local;
+
+import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import picocli.CommandLine;
+import picocli.CommandLine.Command;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link OzoneLocal}.
+ */
+class TestOzoneLocal {
+
+  @Test
+  void localCommandMetadataIsPresentAndHidden() {
+    Command command = OzoneLocal.class.getAnnotation(Command.class);
+
+    assertNotNull(command);
+    assertEquals("ozone local", command.name());
+    assertTrue(command.hidden());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void runCommandMetadataIsPresentAndHidden() {
+    Command command = OzoneLocal.RunCommand.class.getAnnotation(Command.class);
+
+    assertNotNull(command);
+    assertEquals("run", command.name());
+    assertTrue(command.hidden());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void genericCliRegistersRunPlaceholder() {
+    OzoneLocal local = new OzoneLocal();
+
+    assertTrue(local.getCmd().getSubcommands().containsKey("run"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void rootHelpHidesRunPlaceholder() throws Exception {
+    OzoneLocal local = new OzoneLocal();
+    CommandLine commandLine = local.getCmd();
+    ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    ByteArrayOutputStream err = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    commandLine.setOut(new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(out, UTF_8),
+        true));
+    commandLine.setErr(new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(err, UTF_8),
+        true));
+
+    int exitCode = local.execute(new String[] {"--help"});
+
+    String help = out.toString(UTF_8.name());
+    assertEquals(0, exitCode);
+    assertTrue(help.contains("Usage: ozone local"));
+    assertFalse(help.contains("run"));
+    assertEquals("", err.toString(UTF_8.name()));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void runCommandIsQuietNoOpPlaceholder() throws Exception {
+    OzoneLocal local = new OzoneLocal();
+    CommandLine commandLine = local.getCmd();
+    ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    ByteArrayOutputStream err = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    commandLine.setOut(new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(out, UTF_8),
+        true));
+    commandLine.setErr(new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(err, UTF_8),
+        true));
+
+    int exitCode = local.execute(new String[] {"run"});
+
+    assertEquals(0, exitCode);
+    assertEquals("", out.toString(UTF_8.name()));
+    assertEquals("", err.toString(UTF_8.name()));
+  }
+}