diff --git a/local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh b/local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f8536e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# integrate-redbear.sh — Prepare Red Bear OS custom work for standard builds.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh
+#   REDBEAR_TAG=build/x86_64-unknown-redox/redbear.tag ./local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh
+#
+# This script is idempotent and safe to run repeatedly. It ensures the Red Bear OS overlay
+# is wired into the main build tree, stages branding assets and firmware into local
+# recipe sources, and updates a tag file consumed by the build system.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../.." && pwd)"
+REDBEAR_TAG="${REDBEAR_TAG:-build/redbear.tag}"
+
+if [ -t 1 ]; then
+    GREEN='\033[1;32m'
+    YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+    CYAN='\033[1;36m'
+    RESET='\033[0m'
+else
+    GREEN=''
+    YELLOW=''
+    CYAN=''
+    RESET=''
+fi
+
+cd "$PROJECT_ROOT"
+
+status() {
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✅${RESET} $1"
+}
+
+warn() {
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠️${RESET} $1"
+}
+
+section() {
+    echo -e "${CYAN}==>${RESET} $1"
+}
+
+require_repo_relative_path() {
+    local path="$1"
+
+    case "$path" in
+        /*|../*|*/../*|..)
+            warn "Refusing unsafe path outside repo: $path"
+            return 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+require_real_parent_dirs() {
+    local path="$1"
+    local parent="$(dirname "$path")"
+
+    require_repo_relative_path "$path"
+
+    while [ "$parent" != "." ] && [ "$parent" != "/" ]; do
+        if [ -L "$parent" ]; then
+            warn "Refusing path with symlink parent: $path"
+            return 1
+        fi
+        parent="$(dirname "$parent")"
+    done
+}
+
+symlink() {
+    local target="$1"
+    local link="$2"
+    local current=""
+
+    require_real_parent_dirs "$link"
+
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$link")"
+
+    if [ -L "$link" ]; then
+        current="$(readlink "$link")"
+        if [ "$current" = "$target" ]; then
+            return 0
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    if [ -d "$link" ] && [ ! -L "$link" ]; then
+        warn "Refusing to replace directory $link"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    if [ -e "$link" ] || [ -L "$link" ]; then
+        rm -f "$link"
+        ln -s "$target" "$link"
+        status "Refreshed $link -> $target"
+    else
+        ln -s "$target" "$link"
+        status "Linked $link -> $target"
+    fi
+}
+
+stage_file() {
+    local source_path="$1"
+    local dest_path="$2"
+    local label="$3"
+
+    if [ ! -f "$source_path" ]; then
+        warn "$label missing at ${source_path#$PROJECT_ROOT/}; skipping"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    require_real_parent_dirs "$dest_path"
+
+    if [ -L "$dest_path" ]; then
+        warn "$label destination is a symlink at ${dest_path#$PROJECT_ROOT/}; refusing to overwrite"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$dest_path")"
+
+    if [ -f "$dest_path" ] && cmp -s "$source_path" "$dest_path"; then
+        status "$label already staged"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    cp "$source_path" "$dest_path"
+    status "Staged $label"
+}
+
+echo "========================================"
+echo " Red Bear OS Pre-Build Integration"
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Root: ${PROJECT_ROOT##*/}"
+echo "Tag:  $REDBEAR_TAG"
+echo ""
+
+section "Ensuring local recipe aliases..."
+if [ ! -e "local/recipes/system/rbos-info" ] && [ -d "local/recipes/system/redbear-info" ]; then
+    symlink "redbear-info" "local/recipes/system/rbos-info"
+fi
+status "Local recipe aliases ready"
+echo ""
+
+section "Ensuring custom recipe symlinks..."
+symlink "../../local/recipes/branding/redbear-release" "recipes/branding/redbear-release"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/drivers/linux-kpi" "recipes/drivers/linux-kpi"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/drivers/redox-driver-sys" "recipes/drivers/redox-driver-sys"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/gpu/amdgpu" "recipes/gpu/amdgpu"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/gpu/redox-drm" "recipes/gpu/redox-drm"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/evdevd" "recipes/system/evdevd"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/firmware-loader" "recipes/system/firmware-loader"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/rbos-info" "recipes/system/rbos-info"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/redbear-info" "recipes/system/redbear-info"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/redbear-meta" "recipes/system/redbear-meta"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/system/udev-shim" "recipes/system/udev-shim"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/core/ext4d" "recipes/core/ext4d"
+symlink "../../local/recipes/tui/mc" "recipes/tui/mc"
+status "Custom recipe symlinks ready"
+echo ""
+
+section "Ensuring recipe patch symlinks..."
+symlink "../../../local/patches/kernel/redox.patch" "recipes/core/kernel/redox.patch"
+symlink "../../../local/patches/base/redox.patch" "recipes/core/base/redox.patch"
+if [ -d "recipes/core/installer" ]; then
+    symlink "../../../local/patches/installer/redox.patch" "recipes/core/installer/redox.patch"
+else
+    warn "Installer recipe directory not present yet; skipping installer patch symlink"
+fi
+status "Recipe patch symlinks ready"
+echo ""
+
+section "Validating Red Bear configs..."
+declare -a redbear_configs=(
+    "config/redbear-desktop.toml"
+    "config/redbear-minimal.toml"
+    "config/redbear-full.toml"
+    "config/redbear-live.toml"
+)
+declare -a found_configs=()
+
+for config_path in "${redbear_configs[@]}"; do
+    if [ -f "$config_path" ] || [ -L "$config_path" ]; then
+        found_configs+=("${config_path#config/}")
+    fi
+done
+
+if [ "${#found_configs[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    status "Found Red Bear config(s): ${found_configs[*]}"
+else
+    warn "No redbear config found in config/. Build may rely on a different config intentionally"
+fi
+echo ""
+
+section "Validating branding assets..."
+icon_path="local/Assets/images/Red Bear OS icon.png"
+background_path="local/Assets/images/Red Bear OS loading background.png"
+missing_assets=0
+
+if [ ! -f "$icon_path" ]; then
+    warn "Missing branding asset: $icon_path"
+    missing_assets=1
+fi
+if [ ! -f "$background_path" ]; then
+    warn "Missing branding asset: $background_path"
+    missing_assets=1
+fi
+if [ "$missing_assets" -eq 0 ]; then
+    status "Branding assets present"
+fi
+echo ""
+
+section "Checking AMD firmware blobs..."
+shopt -s nullglob
+firmware_blobs=(local/firmware/amdgpu/*.bin)
+shopt -u nullglob
+
+if [ "${#firmware_blobs[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    status "Found ${#firmware_blobs[@]} AMD firmware blob(s)"
+else
+    warn "No AMD firmware blobs found in local/firmware/amdgpu/"
+fi
+echo ""
+
+section "Staging branding assets into recipe source..."
+stage_file "$icon_path" "local/recipes/branding/redbear-release/source/images/icon.png" "branding icon"
+stage_file "$background_path" "local/recipes/branding/redbear-release/source/images/loading-background.png" "branding loading background"
+echo ""
+
+section "Staging firmware blobs into firmware-loader recipe source..."
+require_real_parent_dirs "local/recipes/system/firmware-loader/source/firmware/amdgpu/.guard"
+mkdir -p "local/recipes/system/firmware-loader/source/firmware/amdgpu"
+shopt -s nullglob
+staged_firmware=(local/recipes/system/firmware-loader/source/firmware/amdgpu/*.bin)
+shopt -u nullglob
+
+if [ "${#staged_firmware[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    rm -f "${staged_firmware[@]}"
+fi
+
+if [ "${#firmware_blobs[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    cp "${firmware_blobs[@]}" "local/recipes/system/firmware-loader/source/firmware/amdgpu/"
+    status "Staged ${#firmware_blobs[@]} AMD firmware blob(s)"
+else
+    warn "Skipping firmware staging because no AMD firmware blobs were found"
+fi
+echo ""
+
+section "Updating build tag..."
+require_repo_relative_path "$REDBEAR_TAG"
+case "$REDBEAR_TAG" in
+    build/*)
+        ;;
+    *)
+        warn "Refusing tag path outside build/: $REDBEAR_TAG"
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac
+require_real_parent_dirs "$REDBEAR_TAG"
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$REDBEAR_TAG")"
+touch "$REDBEAR_TAG"
+status "Updated tag file: $REDBEAR_TAG"
+echo ""
+status "Red Bear integration complete"
+exit 0
diff --git a/mk/redbear.mk b/mk/redbear.mk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96edaceb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mk/redbear.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Red Bear OS integration — runs before repo cook and disk image creation
+# Ensures all custom recipe symlinks, patches, assets, and firmware are staged.
+
+REDBEAR_TAG=$(BUILD)/redbear.tag
+
+$(REDBEAR_TAG): FORCE
+ifeq ($(PODMAN_BUILD),1)
+	$(PODMAN_RUN) make $@
+else
+	bash -c 'export REDBEAR_TAG="$$1"; exec bash local/scripts/integrate-redbear.sh' _ '$(REDBEAR_TAG)'
+endif
+
+redbear: $(REDBEAR_TAG)
+
+redbear_clean:
+	rm -f "$(REDBEAR_TAG)"