diff --git a/apphost.cs b/apphost.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d1b4a642e63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apphost.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+// Aspire DevTools AppHost - Run developer scripts and tools via Aspire Dashboard
+// To run this app in this repo use the following command line to ensure latest changes are always picked up:
+// $ dotnet apphost.cs --no-cache
+
+// These directives are not required in regular apps, only here in the aspire repo itself
+/*
+#:sdk Aspire.AppHost.Sdk
+*/
+#:property IsAspireHost=true
+#:property PublishAot=false
+
+var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
+
+// Determine the shell to use based on platform
+var isWindows = OperatingSystem.IsWindows();
+var shell = isWindows ? "pwsh" : "bash";
+var scriptExt = isWindows ? ".ps1" : ".sh";
+
+// =============================================================================
+// BUILD TOOLS
+// =============================================================================
+
+builder.AddExecutable("restore", shell, ".", isWindows ? "./restore.cmd" : "./restore.sh")
+    .WithIconName("ArrowDownload")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.AddExecutable("build-debug", shell, ".", $"./eng/build{scriptExt}", "-restore", "-build", "-configuration", "Debug")
+    .WithIconName("Wrench")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.AddExecutable("build-release", shell, ".", $"./eng/build{scriptExt}", "-restore", "-build", "-configuration", "Release")
+    .WithIconName("Wrench")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.AddExecutable("build-pack", shell, ".", $"./eng/build{scriptExt}", "-restore", "-build", "-pack", "-configuration", "Release")
+    .WithIconName("BoxMultiple")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.AddExecutable("run-tests", shell, ".", $"./eng/build{scriptExt}", "-restore", "-build", "-test", "-configuration", "Debug")
+    .WithIconName("BeakerEdit")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.AddExecutable("build-extension", shell, "./extension", "./build.sh")
+    .WithIconName("ExtensionPuzzle")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// LOCAL CLI DEVELOPMENT
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Create local hive with Debug packages
+builder.AddExecutable("localhive-debug", shell, ".", $"./localhive{scriptExt}", "-c", "Debug", "-n", "dev")
+    .WithIconName("FolderAdd")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Create local hive with Release packages
+builder.AddExecutable("localhive-release", shell, ".", $"./localhive{scriptExt}", "-c", "Release", "-n", "local")
+    .WithIconName("FolderAdd")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// CLI INSTALLATION
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Get Aspire CLI (latest release)
+builder.AddExecutable("get-cli-release", shell, "./eng/scripts", $"./get-aspire-cli{scriptExt}", "--quality", "release")
+    .WithIconName("ArrowDownload")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Get Aspire CLI (staging/preview)
+builder.AddExecutable("get-cli-staging", shell, "./eng/scripts", $"./get-aspire-cli{scriptExt}", "--quality", "staging")
+    .WithIconName("ArrowDownload")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Get Aspire CLI (dev builds)
+builder.AddExecutable("get-cli-dev", shell, "./eng/scripts", $"./get-aspire-cli{scriptExt}", "--quality", "dev")
+    .WithIconName("ArrowDownload")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// ANALYSIS & RELEASE NOTES TOOLS
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Find missing NuGet packages for internal feeds
+builder.AddExecutable("find-missing-packages", shell, "./eng", $"./find-missing-packages{scriptExt}")
+    .WithIconName("Search")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Extract API changes (builds and generates API diff)
+builder.AddExecutable("extract-api-changes", shell, "./tools/ReleaseNotes", $"./extract-api-changes{scriptExt}")
+    .WithIconName("DocumentData")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Analyze all components for release notes
+builder.AddExecutable("analyze-components", shell, "./tools/ReleaseNotes", $"./analyze-all-components{scriptExt}")
+    .WithIconName("DocumentBulletList")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// MANIFEST REFRESH
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Refresh playground manifests (PowerShell script, works on both platforms)
+builder.AddExecutable("refresh-manifests", "pwsh", ".", "./eng/refreshManifests.ps1")
+    .WithIconName("ArrowSync")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// GIT UTILITIES
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Show git status
+builder.AddExecutable("git-status", "git", ".", "status")
+    .WithIconName("BranchFork")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Show recent commits
+builder.AddExecutable("git-log", "git", ".", "log", "--oneline", "-20")
+    .WithIconName("History")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Show current diff
+builder.AddExecutable("git-diff", "git", ".", "diff")
+    .WithIconName("DocumentDiff")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// =============================================================================
+// QUICK UTILITIES
+// =============================================================================
+
+// Clean build artifacts
+builder.AddExecutable("clean", shell, ".", $"./eng/build{scriptExt}", "-clean")
+    .WithIconName("Delete")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Format code
+builder.AddExecutable("format", "dotnet", ".", "format", "--verbosity", "normal")
+    .WithIconName("TextAlignLeft")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+// Run dotnet with local SDK
+builder.AddExecutable("dotnet-info", shell, ".", isWindows ? "./dotnet.cmd" : "./dotnet.sh", "--info")
+    .WithIconName("Info")
+    .WithExplicitStart();
+
+builder.Build().Run();