diff --git a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCommand.swift b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCommand.swift
index fe09bceed..bd9e2e2f7 100644
--- a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCommand.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCommand.swift
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ extension Application {
                     $ container machine delete my-machine
                 """,
             subcommands: [
+                MachineCopy.self,
                 MachineCreate.self,
                 MachineDelete.self,
                 MachineInspect.self,
diff --git a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCopy.swift b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCopy.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee62d9c72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Machine/MachineCopy.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+// Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. and the container project authors.
+//
+// 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
+//
+//   https://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.
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+import ArgumentParser
+import ContainerAPIClient
+import ContainerResource
+import Containerization
+import ContainerizationError
+import Foundation
+import MachineAPIClient
+import SystemPackage
+
+extension Application {
+    public struct MachineCopy: AsyncLoggableCommand {
+        enum PathRef {
+            case local(String)
+            case machine(id: String, path: String)
+        }
+
+        static func parsePathRef(_ ref: String) throws -> PathRef {
+            let parts = ref.components(separatedBy: ":")
+            switch parts.count {
+            case 1:
+                return .local(ref)
+            case 2 where !parts[0].isEmpty && parts[1].starts(with: "/"):
+                return .machine(id: parts[0], path: parts[1])
+            default:
+                throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "invalid path given: \(ref)")
+            }
+        }
+
+        public init() {}
+
+        public static let configuration = CommandConfiguration(
+            commandName: "copy",
+            abstract: "Copy files/folders between a container machine and the local filesystem",
+            aliases: ["cp"])
+
+        @OptionGroup()
+        public var logOptions: Flags.Logging
+
+        @Argument(help: "Source path (machine:path or local path)")
+        var source: String
+
+        @Argument(help: "Destination path (machine:path or local path)")
+        var destination: String
+
+        private func resolveContainerId(for machineId: String, machineClient: MachineClient) async throws -> String {
+            let snapshot = try await machineClient.inspect(id: machineId)
+            guard snapshot.status == .running else {
+                throw ContainerizationError(
+                    .invalidState,
+                    message: "container machine '\(machineId)' is not running (status: \(snapshot.status.rawValue))"
+                )
+            }
+            guard let containerId = snapshot.containerId else {
+                throw ContainerizationError(
+                    .invalidState,
+                    message: "container machine '\(machineId)' is running but has no container ID"
+                )
+            }
+            return containerId
+        }
+
+        public func run() async throws {
+            let machineClient = MachineClient()
+            let client = ContainerClient()
+            let srcRef = try Self.parsePathRef(source)
+            let dstRef = try Self.parsePathRef(destination)
+
+            switch (srcRef, dstRef) {
+            case (.machine(let machineId, let path), .local(let localPath)):
+                let containerId = try await resolveContainerId(for: machineId, machineClient: machineClient)
+                let srcPath = FilePath(path)
+                let destPath = FilePath(URL(fileURLWithPath: localPath, relativeTo: .currentDirectory()).absoluteURL.path(percentEncoded: false))
+                var isDirectory: ObjCBool = false
+                let exists = FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: destPath.string, isDirectory: &isDirectory)
+
+                var finalDestPath = destPath
+                if exists && isDirectory.boolValue {
+                    guard let lastComponent = srcPath.lastComponent else {
+                        throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "source path has no last component: \(path)")
+                    }
+                    finalDestPath = destPath.appending(lastComponent)
+                    try await client.copyOut(id: containerId, source: path, destination: finalDestPath.string)
+                } else if localPath.hasSuffix("/") {
+                    try await client.copyOut(id: containerId, source: path, destination: destPath.string)
+                    var resultIsDir: ObjCBool = false
+                    if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: destPath.string, isDirectory: &resultIsDir),
+                        !resultIsDir.boolValue
+                    {
+                        try? FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: destPath.string)
+                        throw ContainerizationError(
+                            .invalidArgument,
+                            message: "destination is not a directory: \(localPath)")
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    try await client.copyOut(id: containerId, source: path, destination: destPath.string)
+                }
+                print(finalDestPath.string)
+            case (.local(let localPath), .machine(let machineId, let path)):
+                let containerId = try await resolveContainerId(for: machineId, machineClient: machineClient)
+                let srcPath = FilePath(URL(fileURLWithPath: localPath, relativeTo: .currentDirectory()).absoluteURL.path(percentEncoded: false))
+                var isDirectory: ObjCBool = false
+
+                guard let lastComponent = srcPath.lastComponent else {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "source path has no last component: \(localPath)")
+                }
+
+                guard FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: srcPath.string, isDirectory: &isDirectory) else {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.notFound, message: "source path does not exist: \(localPath)")
+                }
+                if localPath.hasSuffix("/") && !isDirectory.boolValue {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "source path is not a directory: \(localPath)")
+                }
+
+                try await client.copyIn(id: containerId, source: srcPath.string, destination: path, createParents: true)
+                let printedDest = path.hasSuffix("/") ? "\(machineId):\(path)\(lastComponent.string)" : "\(machineId):\(path)"
+                print(printedDest)
+            case (.machine, .machine):
+                throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "copying between container machines is not supported")
+            case (.local, .local):
+                throw ContainerizationError(
+                    .invalidArgument,
+                    message: "one of source or destination must be a container machine reference (machine_name:path)")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/IntegrationTests/Machine/TestCLIMachineCommand.swift b/Tests/IntegrationTests/Machine/TestCLIMachineCommand.swift
index e670c642b..8d2e316a1 100644
--- a/Tests/IntegrationTests/Machine/TestCLIMachineCommand.swift
+++ b/Tests/IntegrationTests/Machine/TestCLIMachineCommand.swift
@@ -63,4 +63,18 @@ struct TestCLIMachineCommand {
             #expect(result.status != 0, "create should reject names longer than max")
         }
     }
+
+    @Test func testCopyValidation() async throws {
+        try await ContainerFixture.with { f in
+            // Rejects copying when neither argument is a container machine reference
+            let resultLocalOnly = try f.runMachine(["cp", "foo.txt", "bar.txt"])
+            #expect(resultLocalOnly.status != 0)
+            #expect(resultLocalOnly.error.contains("must be a container machine reference"))
+
+            // Rejects copying between two machines
+            let resultMachineToMachine = try f.runMachine(["cp", "mach1:/foo", "mach2:/bar"])
+            #expect(resultMachineToMachine.status != 0)
+            #expect(resultMachineToMachine.error.contains("not supported"))
+        }
+    }
 }