diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
index 1b567de2c..509598a4b 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Defaults.scala
@@ -694,6 +694,7 @@ object Defaults extends BuildCommon with DefExtra {
         case vf: VirtualFile => vf
     },
     semanticdbTargetRoot := target.value / (prefix(configuration.value.name) + "meta"),
+    bestEffortTargetRoot := target.value / (prefix(configuration.value.name) + "betasty"),
     compileAnalysisTargetRoot := target.value / (prefix(configuration.value.name) + "zinc"),
     earlyCompileAnalysisTargetRoot := target.value / (prefix(
       configuration.value.name
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
index 28a1db68e..9fe3d98f2 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
@@ -257,6 +257,9 @@ object Keys {
   val semanticdbIncludeInJar = settingKey[Boolean]("Include *.semanticdb files in published artifacts").withRank(CSetting)
   val semanticdbTargetRoot = settingKey[File]("The output directory to produce META-INF/semanticdb/**/*.semanticdb files").withRank(CSetting)
   val semanticdbOptions = settingKey[Seq[String]]("The Scalac options introduced for SemanticDB").withRank(CSetting)
+  val bestEffortEnabled = settingKey[Boolean]("Enables Scala 3 Best Effort compilation to produce .betasty files").withRank(CSetting)
+  val bestEffortTargetRoot = settingKey[File]("The output directory for Best Effort TASTy (.betasty) files").withRank(CSetting)
+  val bestEffortOptions = settingKey[Seq[String]]("The Scalac options introduced for Best Effort compilation").withRank(CSetting)
 
   val clean = taskKey[Unit]("Deletes files produced by the build, such as generated sources, compiled classes, and task caches.").withRank(APlusTask)
   val console = taskKey[Unit]("Starts the Scala interpreter with the project classes on the classpath.").withRank(APlusTask)
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
index f8246fde9..8033457f6 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ object SysProp:
   def allowRootDir: Boolean = getOrFalse("sbt.rootdir")
   def legacyTestReport: Boolean = getOrFalse("sbt.testing.legacyreport")
   def semanticdb: Boolean = getOrFalse("sbt.semanticdb")
+  def bestEffort: Boolean = getOrFalse("sbt.bestEffort")
   def forceServerStart: Boolean = getOrFalse("sbt.server.forcestart")
   def serverAutoStart: Boolean = getOrTrue("sbt.server.autostart")
   def remoteCache: Option[URI] = sys.props
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/plugins/BestEffortPlugin.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/plugins/BestEffortPlugin.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebd93e948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/plugins/BestEffortPlugin.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * sbt
+ * Copyright 2023, Scala center
+ * Copyright 2011 - 2022, Lightbend, Inc.
+ * Copyright 2008 - 2010, Mark Harrah
+ * Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE)
+ */
+
+package sbt
+package plugins
+
+import java.io.File
+
+import Keys.*
+import sbt.internal.SysProp
+import sbt.librarymanagement.syntax.*
+import sbt.librarymanagement.Configuration
+import ProjectExtra.inConfig
+import sbt.internal.inc.ScalaInstance
+import sbt.ScopeFilter.Make.*
+import sbt.util.CacheImplicits.given
+
+/**
+ * An AutoPlugin that wires Scala 3's Best Effort compilation into sbt.
+ *
+ * When `bestEffortEnabled` is true and the project uses Scala 3.5+,
+ * the plugin appends `-Ybest-effort` and `-Ybest-effort-dir` to scalacOptions
+ * so that the compiler produces .betasty files even when compilation fails.
+ * These files are consumed by IDEs such as Metals for improved code intelligence.
+ */
+object BestEffortPlugin extends AutoPlugin:
+  override def requires = JvmPlugin
+  override def trigger = allRequirements
+
+  override lazy val globalSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[?]] = Seq(
+    bestEffortEnabled := SysProp.bestEffort,
+    bestEffortOptions := List(),
+  )
+
+  override lazy val projectSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[?]] = Seq(
+    bestEffortOptions ++= {
+      val enabled = bestEffortEnabled.value
+      val sv = scalaVersion.value
+      if enabled && isScala35Plus(sv) then Seq("-Ybest-effort")
+      else Nil
+    },
+  ) ++
+    inConfig(Compile)(configurationSettings) ++
+      inConfig(Test)(configurationSettings)
+
+  lazy val configurationSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[?]] = List(
+    compileIncremental := Def.taskIf {
+      if !bestEffortEnabled.value then compileIncremental.value
+      else compileIncAndCacheBestEffortTargetRootTask.value
+    }.value,
+    bestEffortOptions --= Def.settingDyn {
+      val scalaV = scalaVersion.value
+      val config = configuration.value
+      Def.setting {
+        bestEffortTargetRoot.?.all(ancestorConfigs(config)).value.flatten
+          .flatMap(targetRootOptions(scalaV, _))
+      }
+    }.value,
+    bestEffortOptions ++=
+      targetRootOptions(scalaVersion.value, bestEffortTargetRoot.value),
+    scalacOptions := (Def.taskDyn {
+      val orig = scalacOptions.value
+      val config = configuration.value
+      if bestEffortEnabled.value then
+        Def.task {
+          (orig diff bestEffortOptions.?.all(ancestorConfigs(config)).value.flatten.flatten) ++
+            bestEffortOptions.value
+        }
+      else
+        Def.task {
+          orig
+        }
+    }).value,
+  )
+
+  private[sbt] def isScala35Plus(scalaVersion: String): Boolean =
+    ScalaInstance.isDotty(scalaVersion) && {
+      val versionPart = scalaVersion.stripPrefix("3.")
+      val minor = versionPart.takeWhile(_.isDigit)
+      minor.nonEmpty && minor.toInt >= 5
+    }
+
+  def targetRootOptions(scalaVersion: String, targetRoot: File): Seq[String] =
+    if isScala35Plus(scalaVersion) then
+      Seq("-Ybest-effort-dir", targetRoot.toString)
+    else Nil
+
+  private val compileIncAndCacheBestEffortTargetRootTask = Def.cachedTask {
+    val prev = compileIncremental.value
+    val converter = fileConverter.value
+    val targetRoot = bestEffortTargetRoot.value
+
+    val vfTargetRoot = converter.toVirtualFile(targetRoot.toPath)
+    Def.declareOutputDirectory(vfTargetRoot)
+    prev
+  }
+
+  private def ancestorConfigs(config: Configuration) =
+    def ancestors(configs: Vector[Configuration]): Vector[Configuration] =
+      configs ++ configs.flatMap(conf => ancestors(conf.extendsConfigs))
+    ScopeFilter(configurations = inConfigurations(ancestors(config.extendsConfigs)*))
+end BestEffortPlugin
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/build.sbt b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/build.sbt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24ca0d166
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/build.sbt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+scalaVersion := "3.6.4"
+bestEffortEnabled := true
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/ErrorFile.scala b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/ErrorFile.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3de93ee6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/ErrorFile.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+object A {
+  val x: Int = 1
+}
+//object B
+val error: Int = "not an int"
+object C {
+  val z: Boolean = true
+}
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/FixedFile.scala b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/FixedFile.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b522c0b97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/changes/FixedFile.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+//object A
+object B {
+  val y: String = "hello"
+}
+//error
+object C {
+  val z: Boolean = true
+}
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/src/main/scala/A.scala b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/src/main/scala/A.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f25e0ceca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/src/main/scala/A.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+object A {
+  val x: Int = 1
+}
+object B {
+  val y: String = "hello"
+}
diff --git a/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/test b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/test
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b5cb1bf1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt-app/src/sbt-test/project/best-effort-enabled/test
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Step 1: Verify best effort flags appear in scalacOptions for Scala 3.5+
+> show Compile / scalacOptions
+> compile
+
+# Step 2: Introduce a type error — compile should fail but produce .betasty
+$ copy-file changes/ErrorFile.scala src/main/scala/A.scala
+-> compile
+
+# Step 3: Fix the error — compile should succeed again
+$ copy-file changes/FixedFile.scala src/main/scala/A.scala
+> compile
+
+# Step 4: Verify best effort flags are absent for Scala 2
+> set scalaVersion := "2.13.16"
+> show Compile / scalacOptions
+
+# Step 5: Switch back to Scala 3 and verify flags are restored
+> set scalaVersion := "3.6.4"
+> show Compile / scalacOptions