diff --git a/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/__init__.py b/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..914739165cf6
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+++ b/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+#
+# 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
+#
+#     http://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.
+#
+"""Accelerator daemon subprocess and routing support."""
diff --git a/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/_daemon.py b/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/_daemon.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8f9a6b0ce813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/google-cloud-bigtable/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_accelerator/_daemon.py
@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+#
+# 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
+#
+#     http://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.
+#
+"""Subprocess lifecycle wrapper for the Go accelerator daemon binary.
+
+The daemon binary embeds an in-process Go Bigtable client and exposes the
+``google.bigtable.v2.Bigtable`` service over a Unix domain socket. This module
+owns spawning the binary, waiting for the UDS to become connectable, and
+tearing the process down. It does NOT speak gRPC; that's the
+``_AcceleratorClient`` companion's job.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import socket
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import time
+from typing import Sequence
+
+# Wheels ship the binary at this path relative to the `_accelerator/` package.
+_DEFAULT_BIN_RELATIVE_PATH = "bin/accelerator"
+
+# How long to wait for the daemon to start listening on its UDS before giving
+# up at startup.
+_DEFAULT_STARTUP_TIMEOUT = 10.0
+
+# Sequence: close stdin, wait this long; SIGTERM, wait again; SIGKILL.
+_STDIN_GRACE_SECONDS = 2.0
+_SIGTERM_GRACE_SECONDS = 2.0
+_SIGKILL_GRACE_SECONDS = 2.0
+
+
+def _resolve_binary_path() -> str:
+    """Return the path of the bundled daemon binary, raising if it is absent."""
+    bundled = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), _DEFAULT_BIN_RELATIVE_PATH)
+    if not os.path.isfile(bundled):
+        raise FileNotFoundError(
+            "Accelerator binary not found. Install a wheel that bundles the binary."
+        )
+    return bundled
+
+
+class AcceleratorDaemon:
+    """Manages the Go accelerator daemon subprocess.
+
+    The Python class is named for the thing it runs (the daemon hosts the
+    actual gRPC server). Lifecycle:
+
+    1. ``__init__`` validates and resolves the binary, picks the UDS path.
+    2. ``start()`` spawns the subprocess and blocks until the UDS is
+       connectable, or raises if the process dies first.
+    3. ``close()`` closes stdin (the daemon shuts down on EOF), then escalates
+       to SIGTERM and SIGKILL if it doesn't exit promptly. Cleans up the temp
+       directory holding the socket.
+
+    This class is intentionally sync-only: ``subprocess.Popen`` works
+    identically for async and sync callers, and spawn/close happen once per
+    client lifetime — there's nothing to await.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        cli_flags: Sequence[str] = (),
+        *,
+        startup_timeout: float = _DEFAULT_STARTUP_TIMEOUT,
+    ):
+        """Resolve the binary and pick the UDS path (does not spawn anything).
+
+        Args:
+            cli_flags: extra arguments appended after ``--uds-path`` when
+                spawning the daemon (e.g. ``--project``/``--instance``).
+            startup_timeout: seconds ``start()`` waits for the daemon's UDS to
+                become connectable before raising.
+
+        Raises:
+            FileNotFoundError: the bundled binary is not present in this wheel.
+        """
+        self._binary_path = _resolve_binary_path()
+        self._cli_flags = list(cli_flags)
+        self._startup_timeout = startup_timeout
+        self._tempdir: str | None = None
+        self._uds_path: str | None = None
+        self._log_path: str | None = None
+        self._proc: subprocess.Popen[bytes] | None = None
+
+    def __enter__(self) -> "AcceleratorDaemon":
+        """Start the daemon on ``with`` entry and return it."""
+        self.start()
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb) -> None:
+        """Tear the daemon down on ``with`` exit."""
+        self.close()
+
+    @property
+    def uds_path(self) -> str:
+        if self._uds_path is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("AcceleratorDaemon has not been started")
+        return self._uds_path
+
+    @property
+    def log_path(self) -> str:
+        if self._log_path is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("AcceleratorDaemon has not been started")
+        return self._log_path
+
+    @property
+    def pid(self) -> int:
+        if self._proc is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("AcceleratorDaemon has not been started")
+        return self._proc.pid
+
+    @property
+    def is_running(self) -> bool:
+        return self._proc is not None and self._proc.poll() is None
+
+    def start(self) -> None:
+        """Spawn the daemon and wait for the UDS to become connectable.
+
+        Raises:
+            RuntimeError: called twice, the daemon failed to spawn, exited
+                during startup, or did not become ready within
+                ``startup_timeout``. On any of these the child is killed and the
+                tempdir removed before the error propagates.
+        """
+        if self._proc is not None:
+            raise RuntimeError("AcceleratorDaemon.start() called twice")
+        if not hasattr(socket, "AF_UNIX"):
+            raise OSError(
+                "Unix domain sockets (AF_UNIX) are not supported on this platform."
+            )
+        self._tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="bt-accel-")
+        self._uds_path = os.path.join(self._tempdir, "sock")
+        # Redirect the daemon's stdout/stderr to a log file rather than
+        # subprocess.PIPE. Nothing drains those pipes for the daemon's
+        # lifetime, so a PIPE's fixed OS buffer would eventually fill and
+        # block (deadlock) the daemon on its next write. A regular file has no
+        # such limit. The log lives alongside the socket in the daemon's
+        # tempdir so it's cleaned up with everything else in close(). stdin
+        # stays a PIPE — closing it is how close() signals the daemon to shut
+        # down.
+        self._log_path = os.path.join(self._tempdir, "daemon.log")
+        # The log file handle only needs to live long enough for Popen to dup
+        # it into the child, so it stays local to start() rather than being an
+        # attribute. Startup failures read the tail back from the path.
+        argv = [self._binary_path, "--uds-path", self._uds_path, *self._cli_flags]
+        log_file = None
+        try:
+            log_file = open(self._log_path, "wb")
+            self._proc = subprocess.Popen(
+                argv,
+                stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+                stdout=log_file,
+                stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+                close_fds=True,
+            )
+        except OSError as exc:
+            self._cleanup_tempdir()
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Failed to spawn accelerator daemon at {self._binary_path}: {exc}"
+            ) from exc
+        finally:
+            # Whether or not the spawn succeeded, the parent no longer needs its
+            # copy of the log fd: on success the child holds its own dup, and on
+            # failure there is nothing to keep open.
+            if log_file is not None:
+                try:
+                    log_file.close()
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+        try:
+            self._wait_until_ready(self._startup_timeout)
+        except BaseException:
+            self._force_kill()
+            self._cleanup_tempdir()
+            raise
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        """Tear down the daemon and clean up the UDS tempdir."""
+        proc = self._proc
+        if proc is None:
+            return
+        try:
+            if proc.poll() is None:
+                # Step 1: close stdin → daemon's stdin-EOF watchdog triggers
+                # graceful shutdown.
+                if proc.stdin is not None:
+                    try:
+                        proc.stdin.close()
+                    except OSError:
+                        pass
+                if not self._wait_for_exit(_STDIN_GRACE_SECONDS):
+                    # Step 2: SIGTERM.
+                    try:
+                        proc.terminate()
+                    except OSError:
+                        pass
+                    if not self._wait_for_exit(_SIGTERM_GRACE_SECONDS):
+                        # Step 3: SIGKILL. Bounded wait so teardown can't hang
+                        # forever if the process is stuck unreapable.
+                        try:
+                            proc.kill()
+                        except OSError:
+                            pass
+                        self._wait_for_exit(_SIGKILL_GRACE_SECONDS)
+        finally:
+            self._proc = None
+            self._cleanup_tempdir()
+
+    def _wait_until_ready(self, timeout: float) -> None:
+        """Poll until the UDS accepts a connection, the child dies, or timeout.
+
+        Raises RuntimeError if the daemon exits during startup or does not
+        become connectable within ``timeout`` seconds.
+        """
+        if self._proc is None or self._uds_path is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("AcceleratorDaemon._wait_until_ready() before spawn")
+        deadline = time.monotonic() + timeout
+        while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+            exit_code = self._proc.poll()
+            if exit_code is not None:
+                log_tail = self._read_log_tail()
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "Accelerator daemon exited during startup "
+                    f"(exit code {exit_code}). log: {log_tail!r}"
+                )
+            if os.path.exists(self._uds_path):
+                with socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as probe:
+                    probe.settimeout(0.25)
+                    try:
+                        probe.connect(self._uds_path)
+                        return
+                    except (ConnectionRefusedError, FileNotFoundError, OSError):
+                        pass
+            time.sleep(0.05)
+        log_tail = self._read_log_tail()
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "Accelerator daemon did not become ready within "
+            f"{timeout}s. log: {log_tail!r}"
+        )
+
+    def _read_log_tail(self, max_bytes: int = 4096) -> str:
+        """Best-effort read of the tail of the daemon's log file.
+
+        Used only to enrich startup-failure error messages with whatever the
+        daemon wrote to stdout/stderr (both are redirected to the log file).
+        The log is a regular file, so this is a plain bounded read with no risk
+        of blocking on an alive-but-silent daemon. Returns "" if the log is
+        unavailable.
+        """
+        if self._log_path is None:
+            return ""
+        try:
+            with open(self._log_path, "rb") as fh:
+                try:
+                    fh.seek(-max_bytes, os.SEEK_END)
+                except OSError:
+                    fh.seek(0)
+                # Bound the read too, so a log smaller than max_bytes (seek
+                # failed, fell back to seek(0)) is still capped.
+                data = fh.read(max_bytes)
+        except OSError:
+            return ""
+        return data.decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+
+    def _wait_for_exit(self, timeout: float) -> bool:
+        """Wait up to ``timeout`` seconds for the child to exit.
+
+        Returns True if it has exited (or there is no child), False on timeout.
+        """
+        if self._proc is None:
+            return True
+        try:
+            self._proc.wait(timeout=timeout)
+            return True
+        except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+            return False
+
+    def _force_kill(self) -> None:
+        """SIGKILL the child and reap it; a no-op if it is already gone."""
+        if self._proc is None or self._proc.poll() is not None:
+            return
+        try:
+            self._proc.kill()
+        except (OSError, ProcessLookupError):
+            pass
+        try:
+            self._proc.wait(timeout=1.0)
+        except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+            pass
+
+    def _cleanup_tempdir(self) -> None:
+        """Remove the tempdir holding the socket and log; clear derived paths."""
+        if self._tempdir is not None and os.path.isdir(self._tempdir):
+            shutil.rmtree(self._tempdir, ignore_errors=True)
+        self._tempdir = None
+        self._uds_path = None
+        self._log_path = None