diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 5565f803..4a2c705f 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ go.sum text eol=lf
 # R binding: `R CMD check` requires LF in sources, Makevars and shell scripts.
 *.R text eol=lf
 *.Rd text eol=lf
+bindings/r/configure text eol=lf
 bindings/r/configure.win text eol=lf
-bindings/r/src/Makevars text eol=lf
+bindings/r/src/Makevars.in text eol=lf
 bindings/r/src/Makevars.win text eol=lf
 bindings/r/src/wickra.c text eol=lf
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 7959a4b4..c32dd04c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -868,23 +868,24 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install and test the R binding
         shell: bash
-        # github.workspace is a backslash path on Windows; configure.win (sh) and
-        # mingw need forward slashes. On Linux/macOS the rpath points at
-        # WICKRA_LIB_DIR; export the loader path too as a belt-and-suspenders.
+        # github.workspace is a backslash path on Windows; configure(.win) (sh) and
+        # mingw need forward slashes. WICKRA_*_DIR makes configure use the locally
+        # built C ABI (dev override) instead of downloading the release asset, so
+        # CI is version-independent. Deliberately do NOT set LD_LIBRARY_PATH /
+        # DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: the lib is bundled into the package and must resolve
+        # via the rpath ($ORIGIN / @loader_path) baked by configure — that is the
+        # self-contained install path real users (and r-universe) get.
         run: |
           export WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR="${WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR//\\//}"
           export WICKRA_LIB_DIR="${WICKRA_LIB_DIR//\\//}"
-          export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WICKRA_LIB_DIR:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-          export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WICKRA_LIB_DIR:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"
           R CMD INSTALL bindings/r
           Rscript -e 'library(testthat); library(wickra); test_dir("bindings/r/tests/testthat", stop_on_failure = TRUE)'
 
       - name: Run the offline R examples
         shell: bash
+        # No loader-path exports: the installed package is self-contained (bundled
+        # lib + rpath), so the examples exercise exactly what end users run.
         run: |
-          export WICKRA_LIB_DIR="${WICKRA_LIB_DIR//\\//}"
-          export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WICKRA_LIB_DIR:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
-          export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WICKRA_LIB_DIR:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"
           cd examples/r
           for f in streaming backtest multi_timeframe parallel_assets \
                    strategy_rsi_mean_reversion strategy_macd_adx strategy_bollinger_squeeze; do
diff --git a/bindings/r/.Rbuildignore b/bindings/r/.Rbuildignore
index d6f0c1b2..02c0d698 100644
--- a/bindings/r/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/bindings/r/.Rbuildignore
@@ -5,4 +5,9 @@
 ^src/wickra\.dll$
 ^src/wickra\.so$
 ^src/symbols\.rds$
+^src/wickra\.h$
+^src/libwickra\.(so|dylib)$
+^src/wickra-c\.tar\.gz$
+^src/wickra-c$
+^src/Makevars$
 ^\.gitignore$
diff --git a/bindings/r/DESCRIPTION b/bindings/r/DESCRIPTION
index 043d4f28..2da9459d 100644
--- a/bindings/r/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/bindings/r/DESCRIPTION
@@ -12,8 +12,10 @@ URL: https://github.com/wickra-lib/wickra, https://docs.wickra.org
 BugReports: https://github.com/wickra-lib/wickra/issues
 Encoding: UTF-8
 NeedsCompilation: yes
-SystemRequirements: the Wickra C ABI library (libwickra); set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR
-    and WICKRA_LIB_DIR when installing from source.
+SystemRequirements: the Wickra C ABI shared library, downloaded automatically at
+    install time from the matching GitHub release and bundled into the package.
+    Set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR and WICKRA_LIB_DIR to build against a locally built C
+    ABI instead (e.g. after `cargo build -p wickra-c --release`).
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
 Suggests: testthat (>= 3.0.0)
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
diff --git a/bindings/r/configure b/bindings/r/configure
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..76a8209d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindings/r/configure
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Resolve the Wickra C ABI (header + shared library) for the Unix build.
+#
+# Self-contained by default: download the prebuilt wickra-c-<triple>.tar.gz
+# release asset that matches this package's version and stage the shared library
+# into src/ so the compiled wickra.so links against it and bundles it (via
+# install.libs.R), found post-install through an rpath ($ORIGIN on Linux,
+# @loader_path on macOS). Set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR + WICKRA_LIB_DIR to build
+# against a locally built C ABI instead (dev override; e.g.
+# `cargo build -p wickra-c --release`). Download/extract uses base R (always
+# present at build time), so there is no curl/wget system dependency.
+set -e
+
+inc=""
+lib=""
+if [ -n "${WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR}" ] && [ -n "${WICKRA_LIB_DIR}" ]; then
+  echo "wickra: using C ABI from WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR / WICKRA_LIB_DIR (dev override)"
+  inc="${WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR}"
+  lib="${WICKRA_LIB_DIR}"
+else
+  version=$(sed -n 's/^Version:[[:space:]]*//p' DESCRIPTION)
+  os=$(uname -s)
+  arch=$(uname -m)
+  case "${os}" in
+    Linux)
+      case "${arch}" in
+        x86_64) triple="x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu" ;;
+        aarch64 | arm64) triple="aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu" ;;
+        *) echo "wickra: unsupported Linux arch '${arch}' — set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR/WICKRA_LIB_DIR"; exit 1 ;;
+      esac
+      ;;
+    Darwin)
+      case "${arch}" in
+        x86_64) triple="x86_64-apple-darwin" ;;
+        arm64 | aarch64) triple="aarch64-apple-darwin" ;;
+        *) echo "wickra: unsupported macOS arch '${arch}' — set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR/WICKRA_LIB_DIR"; exit 1 ;;
+      esac
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "wickra: unsupported OS '${os}' — set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR/WICKRA_LIB_DIR"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+  url="https://github.com/wickra-lib/wickra/releases/download/v${version}/wickra-c-${triple}.tar.gz"
+  echo "wickra: downloading C ABI ${triple} for v${version}"
+  "${R_HOME}/bin/Rscript" -e "download.file('${url}', 'src/wickra-c.tar.gz', mode = 'wb', quiet = TRUE)" \
+    || { echo "wickra: failed to download ${url}"; exit 1; }
+  "${R_HOME}/bin/Rscript" -e "untar('src/wickra-c.tar.gz', exdir = 'src/wickra-c')"
+  inc="src/wickra-c/wickra-c-${triple}/include"
+  lib="src/wickra-c/wickra-c-${triple}/lib"
+fi
+
+# Stage the header and the platform shared library into src/ so the package
+# object links with -L. -lwickra and install.libs.R bundles the lib.
+cp "${inc}/wickra.h" src/wickra.h
+staged=""
+for f in libwickra.so libwickra.dylib; do
+  if [ -f "${lib}/${f}" ]; then
+    cp "${lib}/${f}" "src/${f}"
+    staged="${f}"
+  fi
+done
+if [ -z "${staged}" ]; then
+  echo "wickra: no libwickra.so/.dylib found under ${lib}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# rpath so the bundled lib is found next to wickra.so after install.
+case "$(uname -s)" in
+  Darwin)
+    rpath="-Wl,-rpath,@loader_path"
+    # Normalise the dylib id to @rpath so @loader_path resolution applies.
+    install_name_tool -id "@rpath/${staged}" "src/${staged}" 2>/dev/null || true
+    ;;
+  *)
+    rpath="-Wl,-rpath,'\$\$ORIGIN'"
+    ;;
+esac
+
+sed "s|@WICKRA_RPATH@|${rpath}|" src/Makevars.in > src/Makevars
+echo "wickra: configured (bundled ${staged})"
+exit 0
diff --git a/bindings/r/configure.win b/bindings/r/configure.win
index 56ed1dae..034d940b 100644
--- a/bindings/r/configure.win
+++ b/bindings/r/configure.win
@@ -4,9 +4,35 @@
 # itself). Stage a renamed copy, wickra_abi.dll, into src/ and build a mingw
 # import library that references it by that name (objdump + dlltool, both shipped
 # with Rtools — no gendef/pexports needed). install.libs.R then bundles the DLL.
+#
+# Self-contained by default: download the prebuilt wickra-c-<triple>.tar.gz
+# release asset matching this package's version. Set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR +
+# WICKRA_LIB_DIR to build against a locally built C ABI instead (dev override).
 set -e
-: "${WICKRA_LIB_DIR:?set WICKRA_LIB_DIR to the directory containing wickra.dll}"
-cp "${WICKRA_LIB_DIR}/wickra.dll" src/wickra_abi.dll
+
+if [ -n "${WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR}" ] && [ -n "${WICKRA_LIB_DIR}" ]; then
+  echo "wickra: using C ABI from WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR / WICKRA_LIB_DIR (dev override)"
+  inc="${WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR}"
+  lib="${WICKRA_LIB_DIR}"
+else
+  version=$(sed -n 's/^Version:[[:space:]]*//p' DESCRIPTION)
+  arch=$(uname -m)
+  case "${arch}" in
+    x86_64) triple="x86_64-pc-windows-msvc" ;;
+    aarch64 | arm64) triple="aarch64-pc-windows-msvc" ;;
+    *) echo "wickra: unsupported Windows arch '${arch}' — set WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR/WICKRA_LIB_DIR"; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+  url="https://github.com/wickra-lib/wickra/releases/download/v${version}/wickra-c-${triple}.tar.gz"
+  echo "wickra: downloading C ABI ${triple} for v${version}"
+  "${R_HOME}/bin/Rscript" -e "download.file('${url}', 'src/wickra-c.tar.gz', mode = 'wb', quiet = TRUE)" \
+    || { echo "wickra: failed to download ${url}"; exit 1; }
+  "${R_HOME}/bin/Rscript" -e "untar('src/wickra-c.tar.gz', exdir = 'src/wickra-c')"
+  inc="src/wickra-c/wickra-c-${triple}/include"
+  lib="src/wickra-c/wickra-c-${triple}/lib"
+fi
+
+cp "${inc}/wickra.h" src/wickra.h
+cp "${lib}/wickra.dll" src/wickra_abi.dll
 {
   echo 'LIBRARY wickra_abi.dll'
   echo 'EXPORTS'
diff --git a/bindings/r/src/.gitignore b/bindings/r/src/.gitignore
index 665573f6..c4c79468 100644
--- a/bindings/r/src/.gitignore
+++ b/bindings/r/src/.gitignore
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
-# Build artifacts and the configure.win-generated C ABI import shims.
+# Build artifacts and the configure-staged C ABI header / library / downloads.
 *.o
 *.so
 *.dll
 *.dll.a
+*.dylib
+wickra.h
 wickra_abi.def
 symbols.rds
+wickra-c.tar.gz
+wickra-c/
+# configure generates Makevars from Makevars.in (Makevars.in + Makevars.win stay tracked).
+/Makevars
diff --git a/bindings/r/src/Makevars b/bindings/r/src/Makevars
deleted file mode 100644
index 73dd8ec9..00000000
--- a/bindings/r/src/Makevars
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# The Wickra C ABI header and library are not vendored; point the build at them
-# via WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR (containing wickra.h) and WICKRA_LIB_DIR (containing
-# libwickra). Build the library first with: cargo build -p wickra-c --release.
-PKG_CPPFLAGS = -I$(WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR)
-PKG_LIBS = -L$(WICKRA_LIB_DIR) -lwickra -Wl,-rpath,$(WICKRA_LIB_DIR)
diff --git a/bindings/r/src/Makevars.in b/bindings/r/src/Makevars.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..617fb6d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindings/r/src/Makevars.in
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Generated into src/Makevars by ../configure (the @WICKRA_RPATH@ token is
+# substituted per-OS: $ORIGIN on Linux, @loader_path on macOS). The C ABI header
+# (wickra.h) and shared library (libwickra.so/.dylib) are staged into src/ by
+# configure, so the package object links against the bundled lib.
+PKG_CPPFLAGS = -I.
+PKG_LIBS = -L. -lwickra @WICKRA_RPATH@
diff --git a/bindings/r/src/Makevars.win b/bindings/r/src/Makevars.win
index 2cf4d569..d7dc1df6 100644
--- a/bindings/r/src/Makevars.win
+++ b/bindings/r/src/Makevars.win
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Link the import library built by configure.win (references wickra_abi.dll, not
-# the package's own wickra.dll). The C ABI header dir is passed via
-# WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR at build time.
-PKG_CPPFLAGS = -I$(WICKRA_INCLUDE_DIR)
+# the package's own wickra.dll). The C ABI header (wickra.h) is staged into src/
+# by configure.win, so the include path is the source dir itself.
+PKG_CPPFLAGS = -I.
 PKG_LIBS = libwickra_abi.dll.a
diff --git a/bindings/r/src/install.libs.R b/bindings/r/src/install.libs.R
index 2d16568a..a54cd8dc 100644
--- a/bindings/r/src/install.libs.R
+++ b/bindings/r/src/install.libs.R
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
-# Install the compiled package shared object plus, on Windows, the bundled
-# wickra_abi.dll (matched by the *.dll glob) so the loader can resolve the import
-# from the package's own libs directory (see .onLoad, which puts it on PATH).
-files <- Sys.glob(paste0("*", SHLIB_EXT))
+# Install the compiled package shared object plus the bundled C ABI library so
+# the package is self-contained: on Windows the wickra_abi.dll (matched by the
+# *.dll glob, loaded via PATH in .onLoad); on Linux the libwickra.so (matched by
+# the *.so SHLIB_EXT glob); on macOS the libwickra.dylib (added explicitly, since
+# R package objects use the .so extension there too). The Unix rpath baked by
+# configure ($ORIGIN / @loader_path) resolves it from this libs directory.
+files <- unique(c(Sys.glob(paste0("*", SHLIB_EXT)), Sys.glob("libwickra.dylib")))
 dest <- file.path(R_PACKAGE_DIR, paste0("libs", R_ARCH))
 dir.create(dest, recursive = TRUE, showWarnings = FALSE)
 file.copy(files, dest, overwrite = TRUE)