diff --git a/src/io/mod.rs b/src/io/mod.rs
index f4b7f9b..7c3878e 100644
--- a/src/io/mod.rs
+++ b/src/io/mod.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 pub(crate) mod bounded;
 pub mod byte_channel;
 pub mod file_sector_source;
+pub mod sink;
 mod writeback;
 mod writeback_file;
 
diff --git a/src/io/sink/local_file.rs b/src/io/sink/local_file.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5eef032
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/local_file.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+//! `LocalFileSink` — `BufWriter<File>` for the common local-disk case.
+//!
+//! Buffering: 4 MiB internal `BufWriter`. Sized to coalesce the small
+//! per-PES writes that come out of the muxer into kernel-page-aligned
+//! flushes without making the buffer big enough to matter for memory
+//! pressure on a single concurrent rip.
+//!
+//! `Seek` flushes the underlying `BufWriter` first; otherwise a seek
+//! could leapfrog buffered data and silently corrupt the file. This is
+//! the same shape `BufWriter` itself uses when it impls `Seek` in
+//! stdlib, and is necessary for MKV's seek-back operations (cluster
+//! size patch, Cues index, segment header backpatch) to land on the
+//! right offset.
+//!
+//! `RandomAccessSink` is satisfied via the blanket impl in
+//! [`super::mod`]; no explicit impl needed here.
+
+use std::fs::{File, OpenOptions};
+use std::io::{self, BufWriter, Seek, SeekFrom, Write};
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::preallocate;
+
+const BUFFER_BYTES: usize = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+/// Random-access write sink for local disks.
+///
+/// Wraps a `BufWriter<File>` with a 4 MiB internal buffer and forwards
+/// `Write`/`Seek` so any call site that previously held a `File` or
+/// `WritebackFile` can drop this in. `finish()` flushes the buffer and
+/// runs `sync_all` on the underlying file so the caller can drop it
+/// without losing data.
+///
+/// Construction always opens the file `create + truncate + read +
+/// write`. `read` is enabled so the same handle can be reused for a
+/// verification re-read after the mux (the existing
+/// `FileSectorSink::create` pattern). On Linux, [`with_size_hint`]
+/// additionally calls `fallocate(FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE)` to pre-reserve
+/// extents.
+///
+/// [`with_size_hint`]: Self::with_size_hint
+pub struct LocalFileSink {
+    inner: BufWriter<File>,
+}
+
+impl LocalFileSink {
+    /// Open `path` for writing, truncating any existing contents.
+    pub fn create(path: &Path) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        let file = OpenOptions::new()
+            .read(true)
+            .write(true)
+            .create(true)
+            .truncate(true)
+            .open(path)?;
+        Ok(Self {
+            inner: BufWriter::with_capacity(BUFFER_BYTES, file),
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Like [`Self::create`] but additionally calls the per-OS
+    /// preallocate path with `size_bytes`. On Linux this is
+    /// `fallocate(FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE)` so the on-disk extents are
+    /// reserved up front (reducing fragmentation for big sequential
+    /// muxer output); on other OSes it is a no-op today. Failures
+    /// from the preallocate call are non-fatal — the file is still
+    /// returned, just without the size reservation.
+    pub fn with_size_hint(path: &Path, size_bytes: u64) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        let file = OpenOptions::new()
+            .read(true)
+            .write(true)
+            .create(true)
+            .truncate(true)
+            .open(path)?;
+        preallocate::preallocate(&file, size_bytes);
+        Ok(Self {
+            inner: BufWriter::with_capacity(BUFFER_BYTES, file),
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Drain the internal buffer and `fsync` the underlying file.
+    /// Idempotent with `Drop` (the `BufWriter` also flushes on drop;
+    /// this call additionally surfaces fsync errors to the caller).
+    #[allow(dead_code)] // exposed for parity with WritebackFile::sync_all
+    pub fn sync_all(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.inner.flush()?;
+        self.inner.get_ref().sync_all()
+    }
+}
+
+impl Write for LocalFileSink {
+    fn write(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+        self.inner.write(buf)
+    }
+
+    fn write_all(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.inner.write_all(buf)
+    }
+
+    fn flush(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.inner.flush()
+    }
+}
+
+impl Seek for LocalFileSink {
+    fn seek(&mut self, from: SeekFrom) -> io::Result<u64> {
+        // Flush before seeking so buffered bytes land at the offset
+        // they were written for, not the new one.
+        self.inner.flush()?;
+        self.inner.get_mut().seek(from)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::io::Read;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn write_seek_roundtrip() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let p = dir.path().join("rt.bin");
+        let mut s = LocalFileSink::create(&p).unwrap();
+        s.write_all(b"AAAA").unwrap();
+        s.write_all(b"BBBB").unwrap();
+        // Seek back over the second word and overwrite.
+        s.seek(SeekFrom::Start(4)).unwrap();
+        s.write_all(b"CCCC").unwrap();
+        s.sync_all().unwrap();
+        drop(s);
+
+        let mut f = File::open(&p).unwrap();
+        let mut got = Vec::new();
+        f.read_to_end(&mut got).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(&got[..], b"AAAACCCC");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn drop_flushes() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let p = dir.path().join("drop.bin");
+        {
+            let mut s = LocalFileSink::create(&p).unwrap();
+            s.write_all(b"buffered").unwrap();
+            // No explicit flush / sync_all — BufWriter drop runs the
+            // flush and the file should land on disk.
+        }
+        let bytes = std::fs::read(&p).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(&bytes[..], b"buffered");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn with_size_hint_creates_writable_file() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let p = dir.path().join("sz.bin");
+        let mut s = LocalFileSink::with_size_hint(&p, 64 * 1024).unwrap();
+        s.write_all(b"hint-ok").unwrap();
+        s.sync_all().unwrap();
+        drop(s);
+        let bytes = std::fs::read(&p).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(&bytes[..], b"hint-ok");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/io/sink/mod.rs b/src/io/sink/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f010bdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+//! Output-sink trait split for the buffering architecture.
+//!
+//! Two traits, one for each capability axis of an output destination:
+//!
+//! - [`SequentialSink`] — anything you can `Write` to in order. Sockets,
+//!   pipes, append-only stores, plain files. Containers that don't need
+//!   seek (M2TS, fMP4, HEVC elementary) target this.
+//! - [`RandomAccessSink`] — everything `SequentialSink` plus a working
+//!   `Seek`. Local files, NFS files, anything with random-write
+//!   semantics. Containers that need backpatch (MKV cluster sizes, Cues
+//!   index, MP4 moov-at-end) target this.
+//!
+//! `RandomAccessSink: SequentialSink` — every random-access sink is
+//! also a valid sequential sink. The muxer is generic over which it
+//! requires (`MkvMux<S: RandomAccessSink>`, `M2tsMux<S: SequentialSink>`)
+//! so an attempt to mux MKV to a network socket is a compile error.
+//!
+//! Buffering policy belongs to the concrete sink, not to a wrapper at
+//! the call site. `LocalFileSink` wraps a `BufWriter<File>` with a
+//! 4 MiB buffer for the common local-disk case; `WritebackFile`
+//! (separate module) wraps a `File` with the adaptive-chunk
+//! `sync_file_range` machinery for the Linux+NFS case.
+//!
+//! See `freemkv-private/memory/project_buffering_architecture.md` for
+//! the full design and the source/sink matrix.
+
+use std::io::{Seek, Write};
+
+mod local_file;
+mod preallocate;
+
+pub use local_file::LocalFileSink;
+
+/// Sequential-only write destination. Sockets, pipes, append-only
+/// stores. No seek. Implementations own their write buffering — the
+/// trait does not impose or hide any buffering of its own.
+///
+/// `finish` drains any internal buffering and signals end-of-stream to
+/// the underlying transport (close-write on a socket, flush on a
+/// buffered writer, etc.). The default impl is a no-op; concrete
+/// implementations that need explicit shutdown can override it but the
+/// blanket impl below keeps it optional for adapter types like
+/// `&mut File`.
+pub trait SequentialSink: Write + Send {
+    fn finish(&mut self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+/// Random-access write destination. Local files, NFS files, anything
+/// with a working `Seek`. Inherits the `SequentialSink` contract — a
+/// random-access sink is always usable as a sequential sink.
+pub trait RandomAccessSink: SequentialSink + Seek {}
+
+// Blanket impls so any `Write + Send` type acts as a `SequentialSink`
+// (with default `finish`), and any sink that also impls `Seek` is
+// automatically a `RandomAccessSink`. Keeps call-site ergonomics simple
+// — `&mut File`, `LocalFileSink`, `WritebackFile`, `BufWriter<File>`,
+// and `Cursor<Vec<u8>>` all satisfy the right trait without per-type
+// boilerplate.
+impl<T: Write + Send + ?Sized> SequentialSink for T {}
+impl<T: SequentialSink + Seek + ?Sized> RandomAccessSink for T {}
+
+/// Pick the right `RandomAccessSink` impl for `dest` based on its
+/// filesystem type.
+///
+/// - Linux + NFS path → `WritebackFile` with its adaptive-chunk
+///   sync_file_range machinery and (when supported) `fallocate` size
+///   hint.
+/// - everything else → [`LocalFileSink`] over `BufWriter<File>`. On
+///   non-Linux there is no `WritebackFile` machinery to opt into, and
+///   on local Linux the kernel's default writeback policy is already
+///   fine.
+///
+/// `size_hint`, when present, is forwarded to the per-OS preallocate
+/// path (`fallocate(KEEP_SIZE)` on Linux, `F_PREALLOCATE` on macOS when
+/// implemented, no-op elsewhere).
+///
+/// Returns a boxed trait object so the call site (mux construction)
+/// stays agnostic of which concrete sink got picked.
+#[allow(dead_code)] // wiring to mux::resolve is a follow-up commit
+pub fn open_for_mkv(
+    dest: &std::path::Path,
+    size_hint: Option<u64>,
+) -> std::io::Result<Box<dyn RandomAccessSink>> {
+    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+    use crate::platform::fs_type::{FsType, detect};
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+    use crate::platform::fs_type::detect;
+
+    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+    {
+        if detect(dest) == FsType::Nfs {
+            let wf = match size_hint {
+                Some(n) => crate::io::WritebackFile::create_with_size_hint(dest, n)?,
+                None => crate::io::WritebackFile::create(dest)?,
+            };
+            return Ok(Box::new(wf));
+        }
+    }
+    // Silence the unused-binding warning on non-Linux where the only
+    // branch above is cfg-gated out.
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+    {
+        let _ = detect(dest);
+    }
+
+    let sink = match size_hint {
+        Some(n) => LocalFileSink::with_size_hint(dest, n)?,
+        None => LocalFileSink::create(dest)?,
+    };
+    Ok(Box::new(sink))
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::fs::File;
+
+    // Type-level assertion: the blanket impls cover the shapes we care
+    // about. These functions never run; they just have to type-check.
+    fn _assert_file_is_sequential(_: &mut dyn SequentialSink) {}
+    fn _assert_file_is_random_access(_: &mut dyn RandomAccessSink) {}
+
+    #[test]
+    fn blanket_impls_cover_file_and_localfilesink() {
+        // `File` directly via blanket impls.
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let mut f = File::create(dir.path().join("a.bin")).unwrap();
+        _assert_file_is_sequential(&mut f);
+        _assert_file_is_random_access(&mut f);
+
+        // `LocalFileSink` ditto.
+        let mut s = LocalFileSink::create(&dir.path().join("b.bin")).unwrap();
+        _assert_file_is_sequential(&mut s);
+        _assert_file_is_random_access(&mut s);
+
+        // `WritebackFile` — confirms the Phase 1 type still satisfies
+        // the trait via the blanket impl without needing an explicit
+        // `impl RandomAccessSink for WritebackFile {}`.
+        let mut wf = crate::io::WritebackFile::create(&dir.path().join("c.bin")).unwrap();
+        _assert_file_is_sequential(&mut wf);
+        _assert_file_is_random_access(&mut wf);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn open_for_mkv_returns_a_random_access_sink() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let p = dir.path().join("c.bin");
+        let mut sink = open_for_mkv(&p, Some(64 * 1024)).unwrap();
+        use std::io::{Seek, SeekFrom, Write};
+        sink.write_all(b"hello").unwrap();
+        sink.seek(SeekFrom::Start(0)).unwrap();
+        sink.finish().unwrap();
+        drop(sink);
+        let bytes = std::fs::read(&p).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(&bytes[..5], b"hello");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/io/sink/preallocate/linux.rs b/src/io/sink/preallocate/linux.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5995020
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/preallocate/linux.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+//! Linux `fallocate(FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE)` preallocation.
+//!
+//! `KEEP_SIZE` reserves extents without changing the apparent file
+//! length, which matches the muxer's expectation that writes still grow
+//! the file naturally.
+
+use std::fs::File;
+#[cfg(unix)]
+use std::os::unix::io::AsRawFd;
+
+pub(super) fn preallocate_impl(file: &File, size_bytes: u64) {
+    let fd = file.as_raw_fd();
+    // FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE = 0x01.
+    let rc = unsafe { libc::fallocate(fd, libc::FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE, 0, size_bytes as i64) };
+    tracing::debug!(
+        target: "mux",
+        "LocalFileSink fallocate size_hint={size_bytes} rc={rc} ok={}",
+        rc == 0
+    );
+}
diff --git a/src/io/sink/preallocate/macos.rs b/src/io/sink/preallocate/macos.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd7bc13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/preallocate/macos.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+//! macOS `F_PREALLOCATE` extent reservation.
+//!
+//! `fcntl(F_PREALLOCATE)` with `F_ALLOCATECONTIG` first (try for a
+//! contiguous run) and fall back to `F_ALLOCATEALL` (non-contig OK).
+//! Reported file size is unchanged — the muxer's writes still grow it.
+
+use std::fs::File;
+use std::os::unix::io::AsRawFd;
+
+// Mirror the Darwin `fstore_t` struct from `<sys/fcntl.h>`. libc on
+// some Rust toolchains/versions doesn't ship this binding, so define
+// it locally with the layout the kernel ABI requires.
+#[repr(C)]
+struct Fstore {
+    fst_flags: libc::c_uint,
+    fst_posmode: libc::c_int,
+    fst_offset: libc::off_t,
+    fst_length: libc::off_t,
+    fst_bytesalloc: libc::off_t,
+}
+
+// Constants from <sys/fcntl.h>.
+const F_PREALLOCATE: libc::c_int = 42;
+const F_ALLOCATECONTIG: libc::c_uint = 0x0000_0002;
+const F_ALLOCATEALL: libc::c_uint = 0x0000_0004;
+const F_PEOFPOSMODE: libc::c_int = 3;
+
+pub(super) fn preallocate_impl(file: &File, size_bytes: u64) {
+    let fd = file.as_raw_fd();
+    let mut store = Fstore {
+        fst_flags: F_ALLOCATECONTIG,
+        fst_posmode: F_PEOFPOSMODE,
+        fst_offset: 0,
+        fst_length: size_bytes as libc::off_t,
+        fst_bytesalloc: 0,
+    };
+    let mut rc = unsafe { libc::fcntl(fd, F_PREALLOCATE, &mut store as *mut Fstore) };
+    if rc == -1 {
+        // Fall back to non-contiguous.
+        store.fst_flags = F_ALLOCATEALL;
+        rc = unsafe { libc::fcntl(fd, F_PREALLOCATE, &mut store as *mut Fstore) };
+    }
+    tracing::debug!(
+        target: "mux",
+        "LocalFileSink F_PREALLOCATE size_hint={size_bytes} rc={rc} bytesalloc={}",
+        store.fst_bytesalloc
+    );
+}
diff --git a/src/io/sink/preallocate/mod.rs b/src/io/sink/preallocate/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b2f677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/preallocate/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+//! Per-OS extent preallocation. Best-effort; failures are logged at
+//! debug and otherwise swallowed because the file is still usable
+//! without the size reservation — only large-file fragmentation gets
+//! marginally worse.
+
+use std::fs::File;
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+mod linux;
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+mod macos;
+#[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos")))]
+mod other;
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+use linux::preallocate_impl;
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+use macos::preallocate_impl;
+#[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos")))]
+use other::preallocate_impl;
+
+/// Reserve `size_bytes` of disk space for `file`'s on-disk extents.
+/// Reported file size is unchanged — writes still grow the file
+/// naturally; only the allocator's extent map is primed.
+pub(super) fn preallocate(file: &File, size_bytes: u64) {
+    preallocate_impl(file, size_bytes);
+}
diff --git a/src/io/sink/preallocate/other.rs b/src/io/sink/preallocate/other.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22d94b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/io/sink/preallocate/other.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+//! Fallback preallocate impl. No-op.
+
+use std::fs::File;
+
+pub(super) fn preallocate_impl(_file: &File, size_bytes: u64) {
+    tracing::debug!(
+        target: "mux",
+        "LocalFileSink preallocate size_hint={size_bytes} skipped (no platform impl)"
+    );
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/fs_type/linux.rs b/src/platform/fs_type/linux.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26d2969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/fs_type/linux.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+//! Linux `statfs64`-based filesystem type detection.
+//!
+//! Recognised local-FS magics: ext2/3/4, xfs, btrfs, tmpfs. NFS is the
+//! one network FS this layer cares about (the buffering decision keys
+//! off it). Anything else maps to [`FsType::Unknown`].
+
+use std::ffi::CString;
+use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::FsType;
+
+// Magic numbers from `<linux/magic.h>`. Kept literal here so we don't
+// depend on libc exposing each one — only `NFS_SUPER_MAGIC` is
+// guaranteed to be present across libc / musl revisions.
+const EXT2_SUPER_MAGIC: i64 = 0xEF53;
+const XFS_SUPER_MAGIC: i64 = 0x5846_5342;
+const BTRFS_SUPER_MAGIC: i64 = 0x9123_683E;
+const TMPFS_MAGIC: i64 = 0x0102_1994;
+
+pub(super) fn detect_impl(path: &Path) -> FsType {
+    let cpath = match CString::new(path.as_os_str().as_bytes()) {
+        Ok(c) => c,
+        Err(_) => return FsType::Unknown,
+    };
+    // `statfs64` is repr(C); zeroing is the documented init pattern for
+    // the kernel uapi struct.
+    let mut buf: libc::statfs64 = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
+    let rc = unsafe { libc::statfs64(cpath.as_ptr(), &mut buf) };
+    if rc != 0 {
+        return FsType::Unknown;
+    }
+    // `f_type` is signed (`__fsword_t`) on glibc and unsigned
+    // (`c_ulong`) on musl. Cast both sides to i64 for a portable
+    // comparison.
+    let f_type = buf.f_type as i64;
+    let nfs_magic = libc::NFS_SUPER_MAGIC as i64;
+    if f_type == nfs_magic {
+        return FsType::Nfs;
+    }
+    match f_type {
+        EXT2_SUPER_MAGIC | XFS_SUPER_MAGIC | BTRFS_SUPER_MAGIC | TMPFS_MAGIC => FsType::Local,
+        _ => FsType::Unknown,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/fs_type/macos.rs b/src/platform/fs_type/macos.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..583be79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/fs_type/macos.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+//! macOS `statfs`-based filesystem type detection.
+//!
+//! macOS exposes a textual `f_fstypename` field (e.g. `"apfs"`, `"hfs"`,
+//! `"nfs"`, `"smbfs"`) on its `statfs` struct, which is far more
+//! reliable than chasing magic numbers. Anything starting with `"nfs"`
+//! counts as NFS; anything else recognised maps to `Local`; otherwise
+//! `Unknown`.
+
+use std::ffi::CString;
+use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::FsType;
+
+pub(super) fn detect_impl(path: &Path) -> FsType {
+    let cpath = match CString::new(path.as_os_str().as_bytes()) {
+        Ok(c) => c,
+        Err(_) => return FsType::Unknown,
+    };
+    let mut buf: libc::statfs = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
+    let rc = unsafe { libc::statfs(cpath.as_ptr(), &mut buf) };
+    if rc != 0 {
+        return FsType::Unknown;
+    }
+    // `f_fstypename` is a NUL-terminated C string of length MFSTYPENAMELEN.
+    // SAFETY: libc guarantees the field is initialised to a NUL-terminated
+    // string by a successful statfs.
+    let name_ptr = buf.f_fstypename.as_ptr();
+    let cstr = unsafe { std::ffi::CStr::from_ptr(name_ptr) };
+    let name = cstr.to_bytes();
+    if name.starts_with(b"nfs") {
+        return FsType::Nfs;
+    }
+    // Recognised local types. SMB is not NFS but the buffering-policy
+    // outcome on macOS is the same as for any other local FS — there's
+    // no `WritebackFile` machinery to opt out of on this OS.
+    match name {
+        b"apfs" | b"hfs" | b"exfat" | b"msdos" | b"tmpfs" | b"smbfs" | b"webdav" => FsType::Local,
+        _ => FsType::Unknown,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/fs_type/mod.rs b/src/platform/fs_type/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a58af7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/fs_type/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+//! Filesystem-type detection.
+//!
+//! The buffering architecture (Phase 2) selects different output sinks
+//! for local vs network filesystems: NFS gets the adaptive
+//! `WritebackFile` machinery on Linux; local disks get `LocalFileSink`
+//! and rely on the kernel's default writeback policy. This module
+//! provides the construction-site primitive that picks which one.
+//!
+//! Per the per-OS file-split convention, the actual `statfs` call lives
+//! in the matching platform file (`linux.rs`, `macos.rs`, `windows.rs`,
+//! `other.rs`); this `mod.rs` exposes only the cross-platform enum and
+//! the `detect` entry point.
+
+use std::path::Path;
+
+/// What kind of filesystem a path lives on, to the extent we can tell
+/// cheaply at construction time.
+///
+/// `Unknown` is the fail-open default: a misdetection here should not
+/// be load-bearing for correctness, only for the choice of sink (and
+/// hence buffering policy). Callers that need a binary local/non-local
+/// answer should treat `Unknown` as "probably local".
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum FsType {
+    /// A local on-disk filesystem (ext4, xfs, btrfs, apfs, ntfs, …).
+    Local,
+    /// A network filesystem with NFS-like semantics. The current
+    /// detector lumps SMB / UNC into this on Windows because the
+    /// buffering policy outcome is the same.
+    Nfs,
+    /// `statfs` failed, the filesystem type is not on our recognised
+    /// list, or we are on an OS without a real implementation.
+    Unknown,
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+mod linux;
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+mod macos;
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+mod windows;
+#[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos", target_os = "windows")))]
+mod other;
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+use linux::detect_impl;
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+use macos::detect_impl;
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+use windows::detect_impl;
+#[cfg(not(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "macos", target_os = "windows")))]
+use other::detect_impl;
+
+/// Best-effort classification of the filesystem under `path`.
+///
+/// Falls back to [`FsType::Unknown`] on any syscall error or unrecognised
+/// filesystem signature. Never panics. Never blocks beyond the cost of
+/// a single `statfs(2)` (Unix) or a string check (Windows).
+pub fn detect(path: &Path) -> FsType {
+    detect_impl(path)
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn detect_does_not_panic_on_missing_path() {
+        // Non-existent path should fall through to Unknown, not panic.
+        let p = std::path::Path::new("/this/path/should/not/exist/freemkv-test");
+        let r = detect(p);
+        // We don't assert == Unknown because Windows' heuristic looks at
+        // the leading bytes and might still classify; just confirm the
+        // call returns rather than panicking.
+        let _ = r;
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+    #[test]
+    fn macos_tmp_is_local() {
+        // `/tmp` on macOS dev rigs is APFS via the symlink to
+        // `/private/tmp`. Either way, never NFS.
+        let r = detect(std::path::Path::new("/tmp"));
+        assert!(
+            matches!(r, FsType::Local | FsType::Unknown),
+            "expected Local or Unknown for /tmp on macOS, got {r:?}",
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+    #[test]
+    fn linux_tmp_is_local_or_unknown() {
+        // `/tmp` is tmpfs on most distros (which we recognise) but
+        // could be ext4 on others. NFS would be unusual.
+        let r = detect(std::path::Path::new("/tmp"));
+        assert!(
+            matches!(r, FsType::Local | FsType::Unknown),
+            "expected Local or Unknown for /tmp on Linux, got {r:?}",
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Real NFS exercise needs an actual NFS mount and isn't available
+    /// in CI. Kept here as a manual probe.
+    #[test]
+    #[ignore = "needs an NFS mount path (e.g. /mnt/nfs/...) to validate live"]
+    fn nfs_path_classified_as_nfs() {
+        // Operator passes the mount as FREEMKV_NFS_PROBE; gated behind
+        // `--ignored` because there's no portable NFS path.
+        let p = std::env::var("FREEMKV_NFS_PROBE").expect("set FREEMKV_NFS_PROBE");
+        assert_eq!(detect(std::path::Path::new(&p)), FsType::Nfs);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/fs_type/other.rs b/src/platform/fs_type/other.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3825aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/fs_type/other.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//! Fallback fs-type detection for platforms without a specific impl.
+//!
+//! Always returns [`FsType::Unknown`]. Callers treat that as
+//! "probably local" and pick `LocalFileSink`.
+
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::FsType;
+
+pub(super) fn detect_impl(_path: &Path) -> FsType {
+    FsType::Unknown
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/fs_type/windows.rs b/src/platform/fs_type/windows.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b510d17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/fs_type/windows.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+//! Windows filesystem-type detection.
+//!
+//! Heuristic-only: any UNC path (`\\server\share\...`) is treated as a
+//! network mount and bucketed into `Nfs`. Strictly, SMB is not NFS, but
+//! the buffering-policy outcome for our purposes is the same — there is
+//! no platform `WritebackFile` machinery on Windows yet, so the worst
+//! case of a false positive is using `LocalFileSink` regardless. A
+//! proper `GetVolumeInformation` query is a Phase 4 concern.
+
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::FsType;
+
+pub(super) fn detect_impl(path: &Path) -> FsType {
+    // `Path::starts_with("\\\\")` won't match because component-wise
+    // matching strips the prefix. Look at the raw OsStr instead.
+    let s = path.as_os_str();
+    // OsStr -> [u16] is the platform-correct way on Windows, but
+    // checking the leading bytes via `to_string_lossy` is good enough
+    // for a UNC prefix probe and works on any encoding.
+    let lossy = s.to_string_lossy();
+    if lossy.starts_with("\\\\") || lossy.starts_with("//") {
+        return FsType::Nfs;
+    }
+    FsType::Local
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/mod.rs b/src/platform/mod.rs
index b8582f6..a9fa8b3 100644
--- a/src/platform/mod.rs
+++ b/src/platform/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //! Platform-specific drive initialization and disc probing.
 
+pub mod fs_type;
 pub mod mt1959;
 
 use crate::error::Result;