diff --git a/explorer/scan/local_scanner.go b/explorer/scan/local_scanner.go
index 5ff5d04df5..80b342e053 100644
--- a/explorer/scan/local_scanner.go
+++ b/explorer/scan/local_scanner.go
@@ -13,14 +13,12 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/inventory/manager"
-	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/plugin"
 
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/segmentio/ksuid"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery"
-	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/cli/config"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/cli/progress"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/explorer"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/explorer/executor"
@@ -31,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/mrn"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/inventory"
+	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/plugin"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/providers-sdk/v1/upstream"
 	"go.mondoo.com/cnquery/utils/multierr"
 	"go.mondoo.com/ranger-rpc/codes"
@@ -38,11 +37,6 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 )
 
-type assetWithRuntime struct {
-	asset   *inventory.Asset
-	runtime *providers.Runtime
-}
-
 type LocalScanner struct {
 	ctx       context.Context
 	fetcher   *fetcher
@@ -180,11 +174,8 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 	}
 	assetList := im.GetAssets()
 
-	var assets []*assetWithRuntime
-	// note: asset candidate runtimes are the runtime that discovered them
-	var assetCandidates []*assetWithRuntime
-
-	// we connect and perform discovery for each asset in the job inventory
+	var assets []*inventory.Asset
+	var runtimes []*providers.Runtime
 	for i := range assetList {
 		asset := assetList[i]
 		resolvedAsset, err := im.ResolveAsset(asset)
@@ -192,11 +183,8 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 			return nil, false, err
 		}
 
-		runtime, err := providers.Coordinator.RuntimeFor(asset, providers.DefaultRuntime())
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Error().Err(err).Str("asset", asset.Name).Msg("unable to create runtime for asset")
-			continue
-		}
+		runtime := providers.Coordinator.NewRuntime()
+		runtime.DetectProvider(resolvedAsset)
 		runtime.SetRecording(s.recording)
 
 		if err := runtime.Connect(&plugin.ConnectReq{
@@ -211,12 +199,16 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, false, err
 		}
+		log.Debug().Msgf("adding %d asset(s)", len(processedAssets))
+		assets = append(assets, processedAssets...)
 		for i := range processedAssets {
-			assetCandidates = append(assetCandidates, &assetWithRuntime{
-				asset:   processedAssets[i],
-				runtime: runtime,
-			})
+			runtime := providers.Coordinator.NewRuntime()
+			runtime.DetectProvider(processedAssets[i])
+			runtime.SetRecording(s.recording)
+			runtime.Connect(&plugin.ConnectReq{Asset: processedAssets[i]})
+			runtimes = append(runtimes, runtime)
 		}
+
 		// TODO: we want to keep better track of errors, since there may be
 		// multiple assets coming in. It's annoying to abort the scan if we get one
 		// error at this stage.
@@ -224,41 +216,7 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 		// we grab the asset from the connection, because it contains all the
 		// detected metadata (and IDs)
 		// assets = append(assets, runtime.Provider.Connection.Asset)
-	}
-
-	// for each asset candidate, we initialize a new runtime and connect to it.
-	for i := range assetCandidates {
-		candidate := assetCandidates[i]
-
-		runtime, err := providers.Coordinator.RuntimeFor(candidate.asset, candidate.runtime)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, false, err
-		}
-
-		err = runtime.Connect(&plugin.ConnectReq{
-			Features: config.Features,
-			Asset:    candidate.asset,
-			Upstream: upstream,
-		})
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Error().Err(err).Str("asset", candidate.asset.Name).Msg("unable to connect to asset")
-			continue
-		}
-
-		assets = append(assets, &assetWithRuntime{
-			asset:   candidate.asset,
-			runtime: runtime,
-		})
-	}
-
-	if len(assets) == 0 {
-		return nil, false, nil
-	}
-
-	justAssets := []*inventory.Asset{}
-	for _, asset := range assets {
-		asset.asset.KindString = asset.asset.GetPlatform().Kind
-		justAssets = append(justAssets, asset.asset)
+		// runtimes = append(runtimes, runtime)
 	}
 
 	// sync assets
@@ -273,10 +231,9 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, false, err
 		}
-
 		resp, err := services.SynchronizeAssets(ctx, &explorer.SynchronizeAssetsReq{
 			SpaceMrn: client.SpaceMrn,
-			List:     justAssets,
+			List:     assets,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, false, err
@@ -290,28 +247,28 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 
 		// attach the asset details to the assets list
 		for i := range assets {
-			log.Debug().Str("asset", assets[i].asset.Name).Strs("platform-ids", assets[i].asset.PlatformIds).Msg("update asset")
-			platformMrn := assets[i].asset.PlatformIds[0]
-			assets[i].asset.Mrn = platformAssetMapping[platformMrn].AssetMrn
-			assets[i].asset.Url = platformAssetMapping[platformMrn].Url
+			log.Debug().Str("asset", assets[i].Name).Strs("platform-ids", assets[i].PlatformIds).Msg("update asset")
+			platformMrn := assets[i].PlatformIds[0]
+			assets[i].Mrn = platformAssetMapping[platformMrn].AssetMrn
+			assets[i].Url = platformAssetMapping[platformMrn].Url
 		}
 	} else {
 		// ensure we have non-empty asset MRNs
 		for i := range assets {
 			cur := assets[i]
-			if cur.asset.Mrn == "" {
+			if cur.Mrn == "" {
 				randID := "//" + explorer.SERVICE_NAME + "/" + explorer.MRN_RESOURCE_ASSET + "/" + ksuid.New().String()
 				x, err := mrn.NewMRN(randID)
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil, false, multierr.Wrap(err, "failed to generate a random asset MRN")
 				}
-				cur.asset.Mrn = x.String()
+				cur.Mrn = x.String()
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
 	// plan scan jobs
-	reporter := NewAggregateReporter(justAssets)
+	reporter := NewAggregateReporter(assets)
 	// if a bundle was provided check that it matches the filter, bundles can also be downloaded
 	// later therefore we do not want to stop execution here
 	if job.Bundle != nil && job.Bundle.FilterQueryPacks(job.QueryPackFilters) {
@@ -323,11 +280,11 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 	for i := range assets {
 		// this shouldn't happen, but might
 		// it normally indicates a bug in the provider
-		if presentAsset, present := progressBarElements[assets[i].asset.PlatformIds[0]]; present {
-			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("asset %s and %s have the same platform id %s", presentAsset, assets[i].asset.Name, assets[i].asset.PlatformIds[0])
+		if presentAsset, present := progressBarElements[assets[i].PlatformIds[0]]; present {
+			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("asset %s and %s have the same platform id %s", presentAsset, assets[i].Name, assets[i].PlatformIds[0])
 		}
-		progressBarElements[assets[i].asset.PlatformIds[0]] = assets[i].asset.Name
-		orderedKeys = append(orderedKeys, assets[i].asset.PlatformIds[0])
+		progressBarElements[assets[i].PlatformIds[0]] = assets[i].Name
+		orderedKeys = append(orderedKeys, assets[i].PlatformIds[0])
 	}
 	var multiprogress progress.MultiProgress
 	if isatty.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd()) && !strings.EqualFold(logger.GetLevel(), "debug") && !strings.EqualFold(logger.GetLevel(), "trace") {
@@ -347,8 +304,8 @@ func (s *LocalScanner) distributeJob(job *Job, ctx context.Context, upstream *up
 	go func() {
 		defer scanGroup.Done()
 		for i := range assets {
-			asset := assets[i].asset
-			runtime := assets[i].runtime
+			asset := assets[i]
+			runtime := runtimes[i]
 
 			// Make sure the context has not been canceled in the meantime. Note that this approach works only for single threaded execution. If we have more than 1 thread calling this function,
 			// we need to solve this at a different level.