diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/__init__.py
index e7334cca8..47023f903 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/__init__.py
@@ -2,4 +2,40 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__all__: list[str] = []
+from .actions import (
+    ActionDefinition,
+    ActionHandler,
+    all_actions,
+    get_action,
+    register_action,
+)
+from .capabilities import (
+    Capability,
+    CapabilityHandler,
+    all_capabilities,
+    get_capability,
+    register_capability,
+)
+from .triggers import (
+    TriggerDefinition,
+    all_triggers,
+    get_trigger,
+    register_trigger,
+)
+
+__all__ = [
+    "ActionDefinition",
+    "ActionHandler",
+    "Capability",
+    "CapabilityHandler",
+    "TriggerDefinition",
+    "all_actions",
+    "all_capabilities",
+    "all_triggers",
+    "get_action",
+    "get_capability",
+    "get_trigger",
+    "register_action",
+    "register_capability",
+    "register_trigger",
+]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/__init__.py
index 6b19b7091..c6b550096 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/__init__.py
@@ -2,4 +2,13 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__all__: list[str] = []
+from .store import all_actions, get_action, register_action
+from .types import ActionDefinition, ActionHandler
+
+__all__ = [
+    "ActionDefinition",
+    "ActionHandler",
+    "all_actions",
+    "get_action",
+    "register_action",
+]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/store.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/store.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..720243b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""Action registry: in-memory dict + ``register_action`` API."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from .types import ActionDefinition
+
+_REGISTRY: dict[str, ActionDefinition] = {}
+
+
+def register_action(action: ActionDefinition) -> None:
+    """Add an action to the in-memory registry.
+
+    Raises ``ValueError`` on duplicate ``type`` — registration runs
+    once per process, so a duplicate is always a bug.
+    """
+
+    if action.type in _REGISTRY:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Action already registered: {action.type!r}"
+        )
+    _REGISTRY[action.type] = action
+
+
+def get_action(action_type: str) -> ActionDefinition | None:
+    """Look up one action by type. Returns ``None`` on miss."""
+
+    return _REGISTRY.get(action_type)
+
+
+def all_actions() -> dict[str, ActionDefinition]:
+    """Snapshot of the registry as a defensive copy."""
+
+    return dict(_REGISTRY)
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/types.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/types.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ab2906b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/actions/types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""``ActionDefinition`` dataclass — the v1-minimum action shape."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Any
+
+ActionHandler = Callable[[dict[str, Any]], Awaitable[Any]]
+"""The signature every action handler must satisfy.
+
+Identical in shape to ``CapabilityHandler`` — both receive a
+caller-validated input dict and return an arbitrary output. The
+distinction is purely architectural: capabilities are the low-level
+"what SurfSense can do" surface, actions are the user-facing
+building blocks composed into a plan.
+"""
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
+class ActionDefinition:
+    """A user-facing step type the plan editor can compose.
+
+    v1 trims the dataclass to the five fields necessary for
+    registry dispatch and form rendering. The full design (§4)
+    includes ``output_contract``, ``uses_capabilities``, and
+    ``produces_artifacts``; all three are deferred until a consumer
+    feature requires them:
+
+    - ``output_contract`` — the loose ``agent_task`` action declares
+      its output shape per-step via ``config.output_schema``, so the
+      action-level contract is not needed in v1.
+    - ``uses_capabilities`` — would let the NL generator do static
+      analysis of which capabilities each action invokes; deferred
+      because v1 ships a single (``agent_task``) action.
+    - ``produces_artifacts`` — deferred alongside the artifact
+      pipeline (see §13 decision 26).
+    """
+
+    type: str
+    name: str
+    description: str
+    config_schema: dict[str, Any]
+    handler: ActionHandler
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/__init__.py
index 77f9f88b7..6fa2c8246 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/__init__.py
@@ -2,4 +2,13 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__all__: list[str] = []
+from .store import all_capabilities, get_capability, register_capability
+from .types import Capability, CapabilityHandler
+
+__all__ = [
+    "Capability",
+    "CapabilityHandler",
+    "all_capabilities",
+    "get_capability",
+    "register_capability",
+]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/store.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/store.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c8822d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"""Capability registry: in-memory dict + ``register_capability`` API."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from .types import Capability
+
+_REGISTRY: dict[str, Capability] = {}
+
+
+def register_capability(capability: Capability) -> None:
+    """Add a capability to the in-memory registry.
+
+    Raises ``ValueError`` on duplicate ``id`` — registration is
+    idempotent only at the module level (a module's
+    ``register_capability`` call runs once per process), so a
+    duplicate is always a bug.
+    """
+
+    if capability.id in _REGISTRY:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Capability already registered: {capability.id!r}"
+        )
+    _REGISTRY[capability.id] = capability
+
+
+def get_capability(capability_id: str) -> Capability | None:
+    """Look up one capability by id. Returns ``None`` on miss."""
+
+    return _REGISTRY.get(capability_id)
+
+
+def all_capabilities() -> dict[str, Capability]:
+    """Snapshot of the registry as a defensive copy.
+
+    Returned dict is safe to iterate while other code calls
+    ``register_capability`` (which v1 never does post-startup, but
+    the contract holds anyway).
+    """
+
+    return dict(_REGISTRY)
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/types.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/types.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..001f26ac1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/capabilities/types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"""``Capability`` dataclass — the v1-minimum five-field shape."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Any
+
+CapabilityHandler = Callable[[dict[str, Any]], Awaitable[Any]]
+"""The signature every capability handler must satisfy.
+
+The handler is a closure that already holds whatever runtime context
+it needs (DB session, search-space scope, logger, etc.). The
+registry only passes through the caller's input dict — the same dict
+that was validated against ``input_schema``.
+"""
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
+class Capability:
+    """The unit of "what SurfSense can do," consumed by every layer.
+
+    v1 keeps the dataclass to exactly five fields. Earlier drafts
+    considered ``name``, ``required_credentials``, ``side_effects``,
+    ``expected_duration_seconds``, and ``cost_estimate``; every one
+    of those has been removed until a concrete consumer feature
+    requires it (see ``automation-design-plan.md`` §3, decision v1).
+
+    The handler is a ready-to-call function. It does not receive a
+    context argument — context is bound at registration time by the
+    factory that builds the closure (so a capability returned to an
+    agent's tool list looks identical to one returned to an
+    automation's action runtime).
+    """
+
+    id: str
+    description: str
+    input_schema: dict[str, Any]
+    output_schema: dict[str, Any]
+    handler: CapabilityHandler
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/__init__.py
index bc795b61a..f69c6fe8d 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/__init__.py
@@ -2,4 +2,12 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__all__: list[str] = []
+from .store import all_triggers, get_trigger, register_trigger
+from .types import TriggerDefinition
+
+__all__ = [
+    "TriggerDefinition",
+    "all_triggers",
+    "get_trigger",
+    "register_trigger",
+]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/store.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/store.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a5fbdadb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""Trigger registry: in-memory dict + ``register_trigger`` API."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from .types import TriggerDefinition
+
+_REGISTRY: dict[str, TriggerDefinition] = {}
+
+
+def register_trigger(trigger: TriggerDefinition) -> None:
+    """Add a trigger to the in-memory registry.
+
+    Raises ``ValueError`` on duplicate ``type`` — registration runs
+    once per process, so a duplicate is always a bug.
+    """
+
+    if trigger.type in _REGISTRY:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Trigger already registered: {trigger.type!r}"
+        )
+    _REGISTRY[trigger.type] = trigger
+
+
+def get_trigger(trigger_type: str) -> TriggerDefinition | None:
+    """Look up one trigger by type. Returns ``None`` on miss."""
+
+    return _REGISTRY.get(trigger_type)
+
+
+def all_triggers() -> dict[str, TriggerDefinition]:
+    """Snapshot of the registry as a defensive copy."""
+
+    return dict(_REGISTRY)
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/types.py b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/types.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..256944823
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/automations/registries/triggers/types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+"""``TriggerDefinition`` dataclass — declarative trigger metadata, no handler."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Any
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
+class TriggerDefinition:
+    """A trigger type the dispatcher knows how to fire.
+
+    Triggers are purely declarative: the dispatcher (a single
+    process-wide component, not a per-type handler) reads the
+    ``automation_triggers`` table and decides when each row should
+    fire. The trigger's job here is to declare its input/output
+    contract:
+
+    - ``config_schema``: JSON Schema for the persisted
+      ``AutomationTrigger.config`` — used by the form editor and
+      validated on save.
+    - ``payload_schema``: JSON Schema for the payload the dispatcher
+      will deliver to the executor at fire time (e.g., a schedule
+      trigger emits ``fired_at`` / ``scheduled_for`` /
+      ``last_fired_at``).
+
+    No ``handler`` field — firing is a dispatcher responsibility,
+    not a per-trigger one. This keeps the dispatcher single and
+    leaves trigger types as pure metadata.
+    """
+
+    type: str
+    description: str
+    config_schema: dict[str, Any]
+    payload_schema: dict[str, Any]