diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/host.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/host.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c804de8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/host.py
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+"""Base Host interface for both local and remote command execution."""
+
+import logging
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+from collections.abc import Iterator
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+from clan_lib.cmd import CmdOut, RunOpts
+
+cmdlog = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class Host(ABC):
+    """
+    Abstract base class for host command execution.
+    This provides a common interface for both local and remote hosts.
+    """
+
+    command_prefix: str
+
+    @property
+    @abstractmethod
+    def target(self) -> str:
+        """Return a descriptive target string for this host."""
+
+    @property
+    @abstractmethod
+    def user(self) -> str:
+        """Return the user for this host."""
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def run(
+        self,
+        cmd: list[str],
+        opts: RunOpts | None = None,
+        extra_env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+        tty: bool = False,
+        verbose_ssh: bool = False,
+        quiet: bool = False,
+        control_master: bool = True,
+    ) -> CmdOut:
+        """
+        Run a command on the host.
+
+        Args:
+            cmd: Command to execute
+            opts: Run options
+            extra_env: Additional environment variables
+            tty: Whether to allocate a TTY (for remote hosts)
+            verbose_ssh: Enable verbose SSH output (for remote hosts)
+            quiet: Suppress command logging
+            control_master: Use SSH ControlMaster (for remote hosts)
+
+        Returns:
+            Command output
+        """
+
+    @contextmanager
+    @abstractmethod
+    def become_root(self) -> Iterator["Host"]:
+        """
+        Context manager to execute commands as root.
+        """
+
+    @contextmanager
+    @abstractmethod
+    def host_connection(self) -> Iterator["Host"]:
+        """
+        Context manager to manage host connections.
+        For remote hosts, this manages SSH ControlMaster connections.
+        For local hosts, this is a no-op that returns self.
+        """
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def nix_ssh_env(
+        self,
+        env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+        control_master: bool = True,
+    ) -> dict[str, str]:
+        """
+        Get environment variables for Nix operations.
+        Remote hosts will add NIX_SSHOPTS, local hosts won't.
+        """
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/localhost.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/localhost.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca68b2d73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_lib/ssh/localhost.py
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+import logging
+import os
+from collections.abc import Iterator
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+
+from clan_lib.cmd import CmdOut, RunOpts, run
+from clan_lib.colors import AnsiColor
+from clan_lib.ssh.host import Host
+
+cmdlog = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class LocalHost(Host):
+    """
+    A Host implementation that executes commands locally without SSH.
+    """
+
+    command_prefix: str = "localhost"
+    _user: str = field(default_factory=lambda: os.environ.get("USER", "root"))
+    _askpass_path: str | None = None
+
+    @property
+    def target(self) -> str:
+        """Return a descriptive target string for localhost."""
+        return "localhost"
+
+    @property
+    def user(self) -> str:
+        """Return the user for localhost."""
+        return self._user
+
+    def run(
+        self,
+        cmd: list[str],
+        opts: RunOpts | None = None,
+        extra_env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+        tty: bool = False,
+        verbose_ssh: bool = False,
+        quiet: bool = False,
+        control_master: bool = True,
+    ) -> CmdOut:
+        """
+        Run a command locally instead of via SSH.
+        """
+        if opts is None:
+            opts = RunOpts()
+
+        # Set up environment
+        env = opts.env or os.environ.copy()
+        if extra_env:
+            env.update(extra_env)
+
+        # Handle sudo if needed
+        if self._askpass_path is not None:
+            # Prepend sudo command
+            sudo_cmd = ["sudo", "-A", "--"]
+            cmd = sudo_cmd + cmd
+            env["SUDO_ASKPASS"] = self._askpass_path
+
+        # Set options
+        opts.env = env
+        opts.prefix = opts.prefix or self.command_prefix
+
+        # Log the command
+        displayed_cmd = " ".join(cmd)
+        if not quiet:
+            cmdlog.info(
+                f"$ {displayed_cmd}",
+                extra={
+                    "command_prefix": self.command_prefix,
+                    "color": AnsiColor.GREEN.value,
+                },
+            )
+
+        # Run locally
+        return run(cmd, opts)
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def become_root(self) -> Iterator["LocalHost"]:
+        """
+        Context manager to execute commands as root.
+        """
+        if self._user == "root":
+            yield self
+            return
+
+        # For local execution, we can use sudo with askpass if GUI is available
+        # This is a simplified version - could be enhanced with sudo askpass proxy
+        yield self
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def host_connection(self) -> Iterator["LocalHost"]:
+        """
+        For LocalHost, this is a no-op that just returns self.
+        """
+        yield self
+
+    def nix_ssh_env(
+        self,
+        env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+        control_master: bool = True,
+    ) -> dict[str, str]:
+        """
+        LocalHost doesn't need SSH environment variables.
+        """
+        if env is None:
+            env = {}
+        # Don't set NIX_SSHOPTS for localhost
+        return env
diff --git a/test_host_interface.py b/test_host_interface.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa62e943a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_host_interface.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Test script for Host interface with LocalHost implementation."""
+
+from clan_lib.cmd import RunOpts
+from clan_lib.ssh.host import Host
+from clan_lib.ssh.localhost import LocalHost
+
+
+def test_localhost() -> None:
+    # Create LocalHost instance
+    localhost = LocalHost(command_prefix="local-test")
+
+    # Verify it's a Host instance
+    assert isinstance(localhost, Host), "LocalHost should be an instance of Host"
+
+    # Test basic command execution
+    result = localhost.run(["echo", "Hello from LocalHost"])
+    assert result.returncode == 0, f"Command failed with code {result.returncode}"
+    assert result.stdout.strip() == "Hello from LocalHost", (
+        f"Unexpected output: {result.stdout}"
+    )
+
+    # Test with environment variable
+    result = localhost.run(
+        ["printenv", "TEST_VAR"],
+        opts=RunOpts(check=False),  # Don't check return code
+        extra_env={"TEST_VAR": "LocalHost works!"},
+    )
+    assert result.returncode == 0, f"Command failed with code {result.returncode}"
+    assert result.stdout.strip() == "LocalHost works!", (
+        f"Expected 'LocalHost works!', got '{result.stdout.strip()}'"
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    test_localhost()