diff --git a/crates/xy-supervisor/src/child.rs b/crates/xy-supervisor/src/child.rs
index fd9cc15..eb9c361 100644
--- a/crates/xy-supervisor/src/child.rs
+++ b/crates/xy-supervisor/src/child.rs
@@ -71,6 +71,125 @@ impl ChildHandle for MockChild {
     }
 }
 
+use crate::logs::LogSink;
+use nix::sys::signal::{Signal, kill};
+use nix::unistd::Pid;
+use std::process::Stdio;
+use tokio::io::{AsyncBufReadExt, BufReader};
+use tokio::process::{Child as TokioChild, Command};
+use xy_protocol::{ServerConfig, rpc::LogStream};
+
+pub struct RealChild {
+    pid: u32,
+    pgid: Pid,
+    child: Option<TokioChild>,
+}
+
+impl RealChild {
+    pub fn pgid(&self) -> Pid {
+        self.pgid
+    }
+}
+
+#[async_trait::async_trait]
+impl ChildHandle for RealChild {
+    fn pid(&self) -> u32 {
+        self.pid
+    }
+
+    async fn wait(&mut self) -> std::io::Result<Option<i32>> {
+        let child = self
+            .child
+            .as_mut()
+            .ok_or_else(|| std::io::Error::other("already waited"))?;
+
+        let status = child.wait().await?;
+
+        Ok(status.code())
+    }
+
+    fn terminate(&mut self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+        kill(Pid::from_raw(-self.pgid.as_raw()), Signal::SIGTERM)
+            .map_err(|err| std::io::Error::other(err.to_string()))
+    }
+
+    fn kill(&mut self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+        kill(Pid::from_raw(-self.pgid.as_raw()), Signal::SIGKILL)
+            .map_err(|err| std::io::Error::other(err.to_string()))
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn spawn_with_logs(cfg: &ServerConfig, sink: LogSink) -> std::io::Result<RealChild> {
+    let mut cmd = Command::new(&cfg.command);
+
+    cmd.args(&cfg.args);
+
+    for (k, v) in &cfg.env {
+        cmd.env(k, v);
+    }
+
+    if let Some(dir) = &cfg.working_dir {
+        cmd.current_dir(dir);
+    }
+
+    cmd.stdout(Stdio::piped());
+    cmd.stderr(Stdio::piped());
+    cmd.kill_on_drop(true);
+
+    // Own process group so signals reach the whole tree.
+    unsafe {
+        cmd.pre_exec(|| {
+            nix::unistd::setpgid(Pid::from_raw(0), Pid::from_raw(0))
+                .map_err(|err| std::io::Error::other(err.to_string()))
+        });
+    }
+
+    let mut child = cmd.spawn()?;
+
+    let pid = child.id().ok_or_else(|| std::io::Error::other("no pid"))?;
+    let pgid = Pid::from_raw(pid as i32);
+
+    if let Some(out) = child.stdout.take() {
+        spawn_pump(out, sink.clone(), LogStream::Stdout);
+    }
+
+    if let Some(err) = child.stderr.take() {
+        spawn_pump(err, sink.clone(), LogStream::Stderr);
+    }
+
+    Ok(RealChild {
+        pid,
+        pgid,
+        child: Some(child),
+    })
+}
+
+fn spawn_pump<R: tokio::io::AsyncRead + Unpin + Send + 'static>(
+    reader: R,
+    sink: LogSink,
+    stream: LogStream,
+) {
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let mut lines = BufReader::new(reader).lines();
+
+        loop {
+            match lines.next_line().await {
+                Ok(Some(line)) => sink.record(stream, line),
+                Ok(None) => break,
+                Err(err) => {
+                    tracing::warn!(
+                        server = %sink.server_name,
+                        error = %err,
+                        ?stream,
+                        "log pump read error"
+                    );
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    });
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/crates/xy-supervisor/src/lib.rs b/crates/xy-supervisor/src/lib.rs
index 9a6df14..2241d41 100644
--- a/crates/xy-supervisor/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/xy-supervisor/src/lib.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ pub mod policy;
 pub mod retry_window;
 
 pub use backoff::Backoff;
-pub use child::{ChildHandle, MockChild, MockChildController};
+pub use child::{ChildHandle, MockChild, MockChildController, RealChild, spawn_with_logs};
 pub use logs::{LogSink, RecordedLine, RingBuffer, RotatingLogWriter};
 pub use policy::{RestartDecision, decide};
 pub use retry_window::RetryWindow;