diff --git a/artd/Android.bp b/artd/Android.bp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..558b1ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artd/Android.bp
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+//
+// Copyright (C) 2021 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed 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.
+//
+
+art_cc_binary {
+    name: "artd",
+    defaults: ["art_defaults"],
+    min_sdk_version: "S",
+    host_supported: true,
+
+    srcs: [
+        "artd.cc",
+    ],
+
+    shared_libs: [
+        "libartbase",
+        "libarttools",
+        "libbase",
+    ],
+
+    target: {
+        host: {
+            stl: "c++_static",
+        },
+    },
+
+    apex_available: [
+        "com.android.art",
+        "com.android.art.debug",
+    ],
+}
+
+prebuilt_etc {
+    name: "com.android.art.artd.init.rc",
+    src: "artd.rc",
+    filename: "init.rc",
+    installable: false,
+}
diff --git a/artd/artd.cc b/artd/artd.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..614a2f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artd/artd.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+** Copyright 2021, The Android Open Source Project
+**
+** Licensed 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.
+*/
+
+#define LOG_TAG "artd"
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "base/logging.h"
+#include "base/macros.h"
+#include "tools/tools.h"
+
+namespace {
+
+class Artd {
+ public:
+  Artd(ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED const int argc, ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED char* argv[]) {}
+
+  NO_RETURN
+  void Run() {
+    LOG(DEBUG) << "Starting artd";
+
+    while (true) {
+      // This is a scaffolding CL.  This sleep is intended to keep the process
+      // alive for testing without it using too many system resources.  This
+      // will be removed and replaced with a server loop in a followup CL.
+      sleep(5);
+    }
+  }
+};
+
+}  // namespace
+
+int main(const int argc, char* argv[]) {
+  setenv("ANDROID_LOG_TAGS", "*:v", 1);
+  android::base::InitLogging(argv);
+
+  Artd artd(argc, argv);
+
+  artd.Run();
+}
diff --git a/artd/artd.rc b/artd/artd.rc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..554cc1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artd/artd.rc
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2021 The Android Open Source Project
+#
+# Licensed 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.
+
+service artd /apex/com.android.art/bin/artd
+    class core
+    user artd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/apex/Android.bp b/build/apex/Android.bp
index 0f9a87f..a50bacd 100644
--- a/build/apex/Android.bp
+++ b/build/apex/Android.bp
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@
     native_shared_libs: art_runtime_base_native_shared_libs +
         art_runtime_base_native_device_only_shared_libs +
         libcore_native_shared_libs,
+    binaries: [
+        "artd",
+    ],
     multilib: {
         both: {
             binaries: art_runtime_base_binaries_both +
@@ -270,6 +273,7 @@
     ],
     prebuilts: [
         "art-linker-config",
+        "com.android.art.artd.init.rc",
     ],
     // ART APEXes depend on bouncycastle which is disabled for PDK builds.
     // Since the dependency is disabled, ART APEXes can't be built either.
diff --git a/build/apex/art_apex_test.py b/build/apex/art_apex_test.py
index 3eeb7fc..9044fc7 100755
--- a/build/apex/art_apex_test.py
+++ b/build/apex/art_apex_test.py
@@ -519,6 +519,7 @@
     self._checker.check_file('apex_manifest.pb')
 
     # Check binaries for ART.
+    self._checker.check_executable('artd')
     self._checker.check_first_executable('dex2oat')
     self._checker.check_executable('dexdump')
     self._checker.check_executable('dexlist')