diff --git a/.changeset/patch-fix-macos-arm64-smoke-test.md b/.changeset/patch-fix-macos-arm64-smoke-test.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..586155d60cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/patch-fix-macos-arm64-smoke-test.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+"gh-aw": patch
+---
+Fix the macOS ARM64 smoke test setup by ensuring `/opt/gh-aw` permissions, installing Docker via Colima, and pulling AWF from the npm tarball.
diff --git a/.github/smoke-test-22204001807.md b/.github/smoke-test-22204001807.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5ec052603ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/smoke-test-22204001807.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Test file for PR push - smoke test run 22204001807
diff --git a/.github/workflows/smoke-macos-arm64.lock.yml b/.github/workflows/smoke-macos-arm64.lock.yml
index 8b605c64f19..0c7cc2494b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/smoke-macos-arm64.lock.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/smoke-macos-arm64.lock.yml
@@ -431,6 +431,8 @@ jobs:
           COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Install GitHub Copilot CLI
         run: /opt/gh-aw/actions/install_copilot_cli.sh 0.0.411
+      - name: Install Docker on macOS
+        run: bash /opt/gh-aw/actions/install_docker_macos.sh
       - name: Install awf binary
         run: bash /opt/gh-aw/actions/install_awf_binary.sh v0.20.2
       - name: Determine automatic lockdown mode for GitHub MCP Server
diff --git a/actions/setup/setup.sh b/actions/setup/setup.sh
index b5fe1a4920e..9f50df09286 100755
--- a/actions/setup/setup.sh
+++ b/actions/setup/setup.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,16 @@
 
 set -e
 
+# Helper: create directories with sudo on macOS where /opt is root-owned
+create_dir() {
+  if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
+    sudo mkdir -p "$1"
+    sudo chown -R "$(whoami)" "$1"
+  else
+    mkdir -p "$1"
+  fi
+}
+
 # Get destination from input or use default
 DESTINATION="${INPUT_DESTINATION:-/opt/gh-aw/actions}"
 
@@ -24,7 +34,7 @@ echo "Copying activation files to ${DESTINATION}"
 echo "Safe-output-projects support: ${SAFE_OUTPUT_PROJECTS_ENABLED}"
 
 # Create destination directory if it doesn't exist
-mkdir -p "${DESTINATION}"
+create_dir "${DESTINATION}"
 echo "Created directory: ${DESTINATION}"
 
 # Get the directory where this script is located
@@ -105,7 +115,7 @@ echo "Successfully copied ${FILE_COUNT} files to ${DESTINATION}"
 # Copy prompt markdown files to their expected directory
 PROMPTS_DEST="/opt/gh-aw/prompts"
 echo "Copying prompt markdown files to ${PROMPTS_DEST}"
-mkdir -p "${PROMPTS_DEST}"
+create_dir "${PROMPTS_DEST}"
 
 MD_SOURCE_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/md"
 PROMPT_COUNT=0
@@ -127,7 +137,7 @@ fi
 # Copy safe-inputs files to their expected directory
 SAFE_INPUTS_DEST="/opt/gh-aw/safe-inputs"
 echo "Copying safe-inputs files to ${SAFE_INPUTS_DEST}"
-mkdir -p "${SAFE_INPUTS_DEST}"
+create_dir "${SAFE_INPUTS_DEST}"
 
 SAFE_INPUTS_FILES=(
   "safe_inputs_bootstrap.cjs"
@@ -178,7 +188,7 @@ echo "Successfully copied ${SAFE_INPUTS_COUNT} safe-inputs files to ${SAFE_INPUT
 # Copy safe-outputs files to their expected directory
 SAFE_OUTPUTS_DEST="/opt/gh-aw/safeoutputs"
 echo "Copying safe-outputs files to ${SAFE_OUTPUTS_DEST}"
-mkdir -p "${SAFE_OUTPUTS_DEST}"
+create_dir "${SAFE_OUTPUTS_DEST}"
 
 SAFE_OUTPUTS_FILES=(
   "safe_outputs_mcp_server.cjs"
diff --git a/actions/setup/sh/install_awf_binary.sh b/actions/setup/sh/install_awf_binary.sh
index e81eb4bba86..ff92b45e243 100755
--- a/actions/setup/sh/install_awf_binary.sh
+++ b/actions/setup/sh/install_awf_binary.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 # Arguments:
 #   VERSION - AWF version to install (e.g., v0.10.0)
 #
+# Platform support:
+#   - Linux (x64, arm64): Downloads pre-built binary
+#   - macOS (x64, arm64): Downloads pre-built binary
+#
 # Security features:
 #   - Downloads binary directly from GitHub releases
 #   - Verifies SHA256 checksum against official checksums.txt
@@ -19,7 +23,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # Configuration
 AWF_VERSION="${1:-}"
 AWF_REPO="github/gh-aw-firewall"
-AWF_BINARY="awf-linux-x64"
 AWF_INSTALL_DIR="/usr/local/bin"
 AWF_INSTALL_NAME="awf"
 
@@ -29,49 +32,120 @@ if [ -z "$AWF_VERSION" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "Installing awf binary with checksum verification (version: ${AWF_VERSION})"
+# Detect OS and architecture
+OS="$(uname -s)"
+ARCH="$(uname -m)"
+
+echo "Installing awf with checksum verification (version: ${AWF_VERSION}, os: ${OS}, arch: ${ARCH})"
 
 # Download URLs
 BASE_URL="https://github.com/${AWF_REPO}/releases/download/${AWF_VERSION}"
-BINARY_URL="${BASE_URL}/${AWF_BINARY}"
 CHECKSUMS_URL="${BASE_URL}/checksums.txt"
 
+# Platform-portable SHA256 function
+sha256_hash() {
+  local file="$1"
+  if command -v sha256sum &>/dev/null; then
+    sha256sum "$file" | awk '{print $1}'
+  elif command -v shasum &>/dev/null; then
+    shasum -a 256 "$file" | awk '{print $1}'
+  else
+    echo "ERROR: No sha256sum or shasum found" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
 # Create temp directory
 TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
 trap 'rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"' EXIT
 
-# Download binary and checksums
-echo "Downloading binary from ${BINARY_URL@Q}..."
-curl -fsSL -o "${TEMP_DIR}/${AWF_BINARY}" "${BINARY_URL}"
-
+# Download checksums
 echo "Downloading checksums from ${CHECKSUMS_URL@Q}..."
 curl -fsSL -o "${TEMP_DIR}/checksums.txt" "${CHECKSUMS_URL}"
 
-# Verify checksum
-echo "Verifying SHA256 checksum..."
-cd "${TEMP_DIR}"
-EXPECTED_CHECKSUM=$(awk -v fname="${AWF_BINARY}" '$2 == fname {print $1; exit}' checksums.txt | tr 'A-F' 'a-f')
-
-if [ -z "$EXPECTED_CHECKSUM" ]; then
-  echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for ${AWF_BINARY} in checksums.txt"
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-ACTUAL_CHECKSUM=$(sha256sum "${AWF_BINARY}" | awk '{print $1}' | tr 'A-F' 'a-f')
-
-if [ "$EXPECTED_CHECKSUM" != "$ACTUAL_CHECKSUM" ]; then
-  echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed!"
-  echo "  Expected: $EXPECTED_CHECKSUM"
-  echo "  Got:      $ACTUAL_CHECKSUM"
-  echo "  The downloaded file may be corrupted or tampered with"
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-echo "✓ Checksum verification passed"
-
-# Make binary executable and install
-chmod +x "${AWF_BINARY}"
-sudo mv "${AWF_BINARY}" "${AWF_INSTALL_DIR}/${AWF_INSTALL_NAME}"
+verify_checksum() {
+  local file="$1"
+  local fname="$2"
+
+  echo "Verifying SHA256 checksum for ${fname}..."
+  EXPECTED_CHECKSUM=$(awk -v fname="${fname}" '$2 == fname {print $1; exit}' "${TEMP_DIR}/checksums.txt" | tr 'A-F' 'a-f')
+
+  if [ -z "$EXPECTED_CHECKSUM" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for ${fname} in checksums.txt"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  ACTUAL_CHECKSUM=$(sha256_hash "$file" | tr 'A-F' 'a-f')
+
+  if [ "$EXPECTED_CHECKSUM" != "$ACTUAL_CHECKSUM" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed!"
+    echo "  Expected: $EXPECTED_CHECKSUM"
+    echo "  Got:      $ACTUAL_CHECKSUM"
+    echo "  The downloaded file may be corrupted or tampered with"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  echo "✓ Checksum verification passed for ${fname}"
+}
+
+install_linux_binary() {
+  # Determine binary name based on architecture
+  local awf_binary
+  case "$ARCH" in
+    x86_64|amd64) awf_binary="awf-linux-x64" ;;
+    aarch64|arm64) awf_binary="awf-linux-arm64" ;;
+    *) echo "ERROR: Unsupported Linux architecture: ${ARCH}"; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  local binary_url="${BASE_URL}/${awf_binary}"
+  echo "Downloading binary from ${binary_url@Q}..."
+  curl -fsSL -o "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${binary_url}"
+
+  # Verify checksum
+  verify_checksum "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${awf_binary}"
+
+  # Make binary executable and install
+  chmod +x "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}"
+  sudo mv "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${AWF_INSTALL_DIR}/${AWF_INSTALL_NAME}"
+}
+
+install_darwin_binary() {
+  # Determine binary name based on architecture
+  local awf_binary
+  case "$ARCH" in
+    x86_64) awf_binary="awf-darwin-x64" ;;
+    arm64) awf_binary="awf-darwin-arm64" ;;
+    *) echo "ERROR: Unsupported macOS architecture: ${ARCH}"; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+
+  echo "Note: AWF uses iptables for network firewalling, which is not available on macOS."
+  echo "      The AWF CLI will be installed but container-based firewalling will not work natively."
+  echo ""
+
+  local binary_url="${BASE_URL}/${awf_binary}"
+  echo "Downloading binary from ${binary_url@Q}..."
+  curl -fsSL -o "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${binary_url}"
+
+  # Verify checksum
+  verify_checksum "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${awf_binary}"
+
+  # Make binary executable and install
+  chmod +x "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}"
+  sudo mv "${TEMP_DIR}/${awf_binary}" "${AWF_INSTALL_DIR}/${AWF_INSTALL_NAME}"
+}
+
+case "$OS" in
+  Linux)
+    install_linux_binary
+    ;;
+  Darwin)
+    install_darwin_binary
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "ERROR: Unsupported operating system: ${OS}"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+esac
 
 # Verify installation
 which awf
diff --git a/actions/setup/sh/install_docker_macos.sh b/actions/setup/sh/install_docker_macos.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e093997a94d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/sh/install_docker_macos.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Install Docker on macOS GitHub Actions runners via colima
+# Usage: install_docker_macos.sh
+#
+# macOS GHA runners (macos-latest / macos-15-arm64) do not include Docker.
+# This script installs colima (a lightweight Docker runtime for macOS) and the
+# Docker CLI via Homebrew, then starts colima with Apple's Virtualization
+# framework (vz) for native ARM64 performance.
+#
+# On Linux runners, Docker is pre-installed so this script exits early.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Skip on non-macOS systems (Linux runners already have Docker)
+if [ "$(uname -s)" != "Darwin" ]; then
+  echo "Not macOS — skipping Docker installation (Docker is pre-installed on Linux runners)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Check if Docker is already available and running
+if command -v docker &>/dev/null && docker info &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Docker is already installed and running — skipping installation"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Installing Docker on macOS via colima..."
+
+# Install colima and docker CLI via Homebrew
+echo "Installing colima and docker CLI..."
+brew install colima docker
+
+# Start colima with ARM64 architecture and Apple Virtualization framework
+# - --arch aarch64: native ARM64 for Apple Silicon runners
+# - --vm-type vz: Apple's Virtualization.framework (faster than QEMU)
+# - --memory 4: 4GB RAM for the VM (sufficient for agent containers)
+echo "Starting colima..."
+colima start --arch aarch64 --vm-type=vz --memory 4
+
+# Verify Docker is working
+echo "Verifying Docker installation..."
+if ! docker info &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "ERROR: Docker is not responding after colima start"
+  colima status || true
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+docker version
+echo "Docker installation complete"