diff --git a/pentestagent/mcp/hexstrike_adapter.py b/pentestagent/mcp/hexstrike_adapter.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc74ef5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pentestagent/mcp/hexstrike_adapter.py
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+"""Adapter to manage a vendored HexStrike MCP server.
+
+This adapter provides a simple programmatic API to start/stop the vendored
+HexStrike server (expected under ``third_party/hexstrike``) and to perform a
+health check before returning control to the caller.
+
+The adapter is intentionally lightweight (no Docker) and uses an async
+subprocess so the server can run in the background while the TUI/runtime
+operates.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import os
+import shutil
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional
+
+try:
+    import aiohttp
+except Exception:
+    aiohttp = None
+
+
+LOOT_DIR = Path("loot/artifacts")
+LOOT_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+LOG_FILE = LOOT_DIR / "hexstrike.log"
+
+
+class HexstrikeAdapter:
+    """Manage a vendored HexStrike server under `third_party/hexstrike`.
+
+    Usage:
+        adapter = HexstrikeAdapter()
+        await adapter.start()
+        # ... use MCPManager to connect to the server
+        await adapter.stop()
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        host: str = "127.0.0.1",
+        port: int = 8888,
+        python_cmd: str = "python3",
+        server_script: Optional[Path] = None,
+        cwd: Optional[Path] = None,
+        env: Optional[dict] = None,
+    ) -> None:
+        self.host = host
+        self.port = int(port)
+        self.python_cmd = python_cmd
+        self.server_script = (
+            server_script
+            or Path("third_party/hexstrike/hexstrike_server.py")
+        )
+        self.cwd = cwd or Path.cwd()
+        self.env = {**os.environ, **(env or {})}
+
+        self._process: Optional[asyncio.subprocess.Process] = None
+        self._reader_task: Optional[asyncio.Task] = None
+
+    def _build_command(self):
+        return [self.python_cmd, str(self.server_script), "--port", str(self.port)]
+
+    async def start(self, background: bool = True, timeout: int = 30) -> bool:
+        """Start the vendored HexStrike server.
+
+        Returns True if the server started and passed health check within
+        `timeout` seconds.
+        """
+        if not self.server_script.exists():
+            raise FileNotFoundError(
+                f"HexStrike server script not found at {self.server_script}."
+            )
+
+        if self._process and self._process.returncode is None:
+            return await self.health_check(timeout=1)
+
+        cmd = self._build_command()
+
+        # Resolve python command if possible
+        resolved = shutil.which(self.python_cmd) or self.python_cmd
+
+        self._process = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
+            resolved,
+            *cmd[1:],
+            cwd=str(self.cwd),
+            env=self.env,
+            stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=asyncio.subprocess.STDOUT,
+        )
+
+        # Start a background reader task to capture logs
+        loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+        self._reader_task = loop.create_task(self._capture_output())
+
+        # Wait for health check
+        try:
+            return await self.health_check(timeout=timeout)
+        except Exception:
+            return False
+
+    async def _capture_output(self) -> None:
+        """Capture stdout/stderr from the server and append to the log file."""
+        if not self._process or not self._process.stdout:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            with LOG_FILE.open("ab") as fh:
+                while True:
+                    line = await self._process.stdout.readline()
+                    if not line:
+                        break
+                    # Prefix timestamps for easier debugging
+                    fh.write(line)
+                    fh.flush()
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            pass
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+    async def stop(self, timeout: int = 5) -> None:
+        """Stop the server process gracefully."""
+        proc = self._process
+        if not proc:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            proc.terminate()
+            await asyncio.wait_for(proc.wait(), timeout=timeout)
+        except asyncio.TimeoutError:
+            try:
+                proc.kill()
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+        self._process = None
+
+        if self._reader_task and not self._reader_task.done():
+            self._reader_task.cancel()
+            try:
+                await self._reader_task
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+    async def health_check(self, timeout: int = 5) -> bool:
+        """Check the server health endpoint. Returns True if healthy."""
+        url = f"http://{self.host}:{self.port}/health"
+
+        if aiohttp:
+            try:
+                async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+                    async with session.get(url, timeout=timeout) as resp:
+                        return resp.status == 200
+            except Exception:
+                return False
+
+        # Fallback: synchronous urllib in thread
+        import urllib.request
+
+        def _check():
+            try:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=timeout) as r:
+                    return r.status == 200
+            except Exception:
+                return False
+
+        loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+        return await loop.run_in_executor(None, _check)
+
+    def is_running(self) -> bool:
+        return self._process is not None and self._process.returncode is None
+
+
+__all__ = ["HexstrikeAdapter"]
diff --git a/pentestagent/mcp/manager.py b/pentestagent/mcp/manager.py
index c7b96c1..01e5bb7 100644
--- a/pentestagent/mcp/manager.py
+++ b/pentestagent/mcp/manager.py
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ class MCPServerConfig:
     env: Dict[str, str] = field(default_factory=dict)
     enabled: bool = True
     description: str = ""
+    # Whether to auto-start this server when `connect_all()` is called.
+    start_on_launch: bool = False
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -96,6 +98,7 @@ class MCPManager:
                     args=config.get("args", []),
                     env=config.get("env", {}),
                     enabled=config.get("enabled", True),
+                    start_on_launch=config.get("start_on_launch", False),
                     description=config.get("description", ""),
                 )
             return servers
@@ -165,6 +168,24 @@ class MCPManager:
         for name, config in servers_config.items():
             if not config.enabled:
                 continue
+            # Optionally auto-start vendored servers (e.g., HexStrike subtree)
+            if getattr(config, "start_on_launch", False):
+                try:
+                    # Attempt to auto-start vendored HexStrike if present
+                    if "third_party/hexstrike" in " ".join(config.args) or (
+                        config.command and "third_party/hexstrike" in config.command
+                    ):
+                        try:
+                            from .hexstrike_adapter import HexstrikeAdapter
+
+                            adapter = HexstrikeAdapter()
+                            started = await adapter.start()
+                            if started:
+                                print(f"[MCP] Auto-started vendored server for {name}")
+                        except Exception as e:
+                            print(f"[MCP] Failed to auto-start vendored server {name}: {e}")
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
             server = await self._connect_server(config)
             if server:
                 self.servers[name] = server
diff --git a/pentestagent/mcp/mcp_servers.json b/pentestagent/mcp/mcp_servers.json
index da39e4f..8354adf 100644
--- a/pentestagent/mcp/mcp_servers.json
+++ b/pentestagent/mcp/mcp_servers.json
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
 {
-  "mcpServers": {}
+  "mcpServers": {
+    "hexstrike-local": {
+      "command": "python3",
+      "args": [
+        "third_party/hexstrike/hexstrike_server.py",
+        "--port",
+        "8888"
+      ],
+      "description": "HexStrike AI (vendored) - local server",
+      "timeout": 300,
+      "disabled": false,
+      "start_on_launch": true
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/add_hexstrike_subtree.sh b/scripts/add_hexstrike_subtree.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1982f9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/add_hexstrike_subtree.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Helper script to vendor HexStrike into this repo using git subtree.
+# Run from repository root.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO_URL="https://github.com/0x4m4/hexstrike-ai.git"
+PREFIX="third_party/hexstrike"
+BRANCH="main"
+
+echo "This will add HexStrike as a git subtree under ${PREFIX}."
+echo "If you already have a subtree, use 'git subtree pull' instead.\n"
+
+git subtree add --prefix="${PREFIX}" "${REPO_URL}" "${BRANCH}" --squash
+
+echo "HexStrike subtree added under ${PREFIX}."