diff --git a/src/main/java/rife/bld/Project.java b/src/main/java/rife/bld/Project.java
index 4d49a37..1a25289 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rife/bld/Project.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rife/bld/Project.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ public class Project extends BaseProject {
 
     private final JavadocOperation javadocOperation_ = new JavadocOperation();
     private final PrecompileOperation precompileOperation_ = new PrecompileOperation();
+    private final InstrumentOperation instrumentOperation_ = new InstrumentOperation();
     private final JarOperation jarOperation_ = new JarOperation();
     private final JarOperation jarSourcesOperation_ = new JarOperation();
     private final JarOperation jarJavadocOperation_ = new JarOperation();
@@ -56,6 +57,16 @@ public class Project extends BaseProject {
         return precompileOperation_;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Retrieves the project's default instrument operation.
+     *
+     * @return the default instrument operation instance
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public InstrumentOperation instrumentOperation() {
+        return instrumentOperation_;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Retrieves the project's default jar operation.
      *
@@ -125,6 +136,19 @@ public class Project extends BaseProject {
         precompileOperation().executeOnce(() -> precompileOperation().fromProject(this));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Standard build command, instruments the compiled classes ahead of
+     * time, as an alternative to the java agent.
+     *
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    @BuildCommand(help = InstrumentHelp.class)
+    public void instrument()
+    throws Exception {
+        compile();
+        instrumentOperation().executeOnce(() -> instrumentOperation().fromProject(this));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Standard build command, creates a jar archive for the project.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/rife/bld/help/InstrumentHelp.java b/src/main/java/rife/bld/help/InstrumentHelp.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d33400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/rife/bld/help/InstrumentHelp.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2001-2026 Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License")
+ */
+package rife.bld.help;
+
+import rife.bld.CommandHelp;
+import rife.tools.StringUtils;
+
+/**
+ * Provides help for the instrument command.
+ *
+ * @author Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)
+ * @since 2.4
+ */
+public class InstrumentHelp implements CommandHelp {
+    public String getSummary() {
+        return "Instruments compiled classes ahead of time, as an alternative to the java agent";
+    }
+
+    public String getDescription(String topic) {
+        return StringUtils.replace("""
+            Instruments the compiled classes ahead of time with RIFE2's bytecode
+            transformations, as an alternative to the java agent: web engine
+            continuations, workflow continuations, meta-data merging and
+            lazy-loading. This makes the agent unnecessary at run time and
+            enables these capabilities inside a GraalVM native image.
+
+            Usage : ${topic}""", "${topic}", topic);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/rife/bld/operations/InstrumentOperation.java b/src/main/java/rife/bld/operations/InstrumentOperation.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe4f249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/rife/bld/operations/InstrumentOperation.java
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2001-2026 Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License")
+ */
+package rife.bld.operations;
+
+import rife.bld.BaseProject;
+import rife.tools.FileUtils;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Instruments compiled classes ahead of time with RIFE2's bytecode
+ * transformations, as an alternative to the java agent.
+ * <p>The instrumentation is performed by
+ * {@code rife.instrument.InstrumentationDeployer} from the RIFE2
+ * dependency of the project that is being built, so the same
+ * transformations are applied as the ones the agent of that RIFE2 version
+ * performs at class loading time: web engine continuations, workflow
+ * continuations, meta-data merging and lazy-loading. Classes that don't
+ * use any of these capabilities are left untouched, and instrumenting
+ * already instrumented classes makes no changes.
+ * <p>Ahead-of-time instrumented classes make the agent unnecessary at run
+ * time and are the way to use these capabilities inside a GraalVM native
+ * image.
+ *
+ * @author Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)
+ * @since 2.4
+ */
+public class InstrumentOperation extends AbstractProcessOperation<InstrumentOperation> {
+    public static final String DEPLOYER_CLASS = "rife.instrument.InstrumentationDeployer";
+
+    private final List<File> sourceDirectories_ = new ArrayList<>();
+    private File destinationDirectory_;
+
+    /**
+     * Part of the {@link #execute} operation, constructs the command list
+     * to use for building the process.
+     *
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    protected List<String> executeConstructProcessCommandList() {
+        var args = new ArrayList<String>();
+        args.add(javaTool());
+        args.addAll(javaOptions());
+
+        if (!classpath().isEmpty()) {
+            args.add("-cp");
+            args.add(FileUtils.joinPaths(classpath()));
+        }
+
+        args.add(DEPLOYER_CLASS);
+        args.add("-verbose");
+        args.add("-d");
+        args.add(destinationDirectory().getAbsolutePath());
+        for (var directory : sourceDirectories()) {
+            args.add(directory.getAbsolutePath());
+        }
+
+        return args;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Configures an instrument operation from a {@link BaseProject}.
+     * <p>The project's main build directory is instrumented in place, with
+     * the runtime classpath providing the RIFE2 dependency that performs
+     * the instrumentation.
+     *
+     * @param project the project to configure the instrument operation from
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public InstrumentOperation fromProject(BaseProject project) {
+        return classpath(project.runClasspath())
+            .sourceDirectories(project.buildMainDirectory())
+            .destinationDirectory(project.buildMainDirectory());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Provides source directories that will be instrumented.
+     *
+     * @param directories source directories
+     * @return this operation instance
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public InstrumentOperation sourceDirectories(File... directories) {
+        sourceDirectories_.addAll(List.of(directories));
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Provides a list of source directories that will be instrumented.
+     * <p>A copy will be created to allow this list to be independently modifiable.
+     *
+     * @param directories a list of source directories
+     * @return this operation instance
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public InstrumentOperation sourceDirectories(Collection<File> directories) {
+        sourceDirectories_.addAll(directories);
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Provides the destination directory in which the instrumented classes
+     * will be stored.
+     *
+     * @param directory the instrumentation destination directory
+     * @return this operation instance
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public InstrumentOperation destinationDirectory(File directory) {
+        destinationDirectory_ = directory;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieves the source directories that will be instrumented.
+     * <p>This is a modifiable list that can be retrieved and changed.
+     *
+     * @return the instrumentation source directories
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public List<File> sourceDirectories() {
+        return sourceDirectories_;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieves the destination directory in which the instrumented classes
+     * will be stored.
+     *
+     * @return the instrumentation destination directory
+     * @since 2.4
+     */
+    public File destinationDirectory() {
+        return destinationDirectory_;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/rife/bld/operations/TestInstrumentOperation.java b/src/test/java/rife/bld/operations/TestInstrumentOperation.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d7e53e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/rife/bld/operations/TestInstrumentOperation.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2001-2026 Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License")
+ */
+package rife.bld.operations;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.io.File;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+public class TestInstrumentOperation {
+    @Test
+    void testInstantiation() {
+        var operation = new InstrumentOperation();
+        assertEquals("java", operation.javaTool());
+        assertTrue(operation.javaOptions().isEmpty());
+        assertTrue(operation.classpath().isEmpty());
+        assertTrue(operation.sourceDirectories().isEmpty());
+        assertNull(operation.destinationDirectory());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testPopulation() {
+        var source1 = new File("source1");
+        var source2 = new File("source2");
+        var destination = new File("destination");
+
+        var operation = new InstrumentOperation()
+            .classpath("classpath1", "classpath2")
+            .sourceDirectories(source1, source2)
+            .destinationDirectory(destination);
+        assertEquals(2, operation.classpath().size());
+        assertEquals(2, operation.sourceDirectories().size());
+        assertEquals(destination, operation.destinationDirectory());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testProcessCommandList() {
+        var operation = new InstrumentOperation()
+            .classpath("cp1", "cp2")
+            .sourceDirectories(new File("classes"), new File("more-classes"))
+            .destinationDirectory(new File("instrumented"));
+
+        var command = operation.executeConstructProcessCommandList();
+        assertEquals("java", command.get(0));
+        assertTrue(command.contains("-cp"));
+        assertTrue(command.contains("cp1" + File.pathSeparator + "cp2"));
+        assertTrue(command.contains(InstrumentOperation.DEPLOYER_CLASS));
+        assertTrue(command.contains("-verbose"));
+        var d_index = command.indexOf("-d");
+        assertTrue(d_index > 0);
+        assertEquals(new File("instrumented").getAbsolutePath(), command.get(d_index + 1));
+        assertEquals(new File("classes").getAbsolutePath(), command.get(command.size() - 2));
+        assertEquals(new File("more-classes").getAbsolutePath(), command.get(command.size() - 1));
+    }
+}