diff --git a/ci/bench-results/README.md b/ci/bench-results/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1fe3ddb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/bench-results/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Bench results
+
+Raw timings + writeup from the `uv run` rebuild-speedup investigation
+that ships with this directory.
+
+- **`REPORT.md`** — analysis: what the bottleneck was, what was applied,
+  before/after numbers, what's left.
+- **`baseline.json`** — `ci/bench_uv_run.py` output against `main` before
+  the fixes.
+- **`after_fixes.json`** — same script after applying `CARGO_TARGET_DIR`
+  pinning + `BuildWithCargo` mtime-skip + `no-build-isolation-package`
+  + `cache-keys`.
+
+Reproduce with `python ci/bench_uv_run.py <label>` (writes
+`ci/bench-results/<label>.json`).
diff --git a/ci/bench-results/REPORT.md b/ci/bench-results/REPORT.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..953f6f1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/bench-results/REPORT.md
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# `uv run` / `uv sync` Optimization Report
+
+## Goal
+
+User's stated goal: *"rebuild incrementally when rust changes, don't tolerate
+stale artifacts."* uv should auto-trigger rebuild when a `.rs` file is edited,
+and that rebuild should be at the soldr-incremental floor.
+
+## What was actually wrong
+
+Two distinct problems were getting conflated:
+
+1. **Forced reinstall path** — `uv sync --reinstall-package fbuild` rebuilds
+   the wheel via setup.py → `soldr cargo build`. Even when no source had
+   actually changed, this was 25-30s (cold cargo cache in a temp dir from
+   PEP 517 build isolation).
+2. **Edit-detection path** — when fbuild is editable (which it is:
+   `source = { editable = "." }` in uv.lock), uv decides whether to re-sync
+   based on `[tool.uv] cache-keys = [...]`. The default cache-keys only
+   watches `pyproject.toml`. So `.rs` edits were silently producing **stale
+   artifacts** — `uv run fbuild ...` would use whatever `_native.pyd` was
+   last built, no matter what you edited.
+
+## Fixes applied
+
+### setup.py
+- **`CARGO_TARGET_DIR` pinned** to `~/.fbuild/cargo-target/wheel-build`
+  (absolute, persistent). Survives PEP 517 temp-dir copies. Deliberately
+  separate from `<repo>/target/` so it doesn't churn against `soldr cargo
+  build` from the dev CLI.
+- **mtime-skip in `BuildWithCargo.run`**: if the staged binary is newer than
+  every `.rs` / `Cargo.toml` / `Cargo.lock` / `rust-toolchain.toml`, skip the
+  cargo invocation entirely.
+
+### pyproject.toml
+- **`[tool.uv] no-build-isolation-package = ["fbuild"]`** — build runs in
+  the real repo against the real venv, not a temp copy. mtime-skip can then
+  see the persistent `ci/bin/` staged binary.
+- **`default-groups = ["dev"]`** + setuptools added to the `dev` group —
+  setuptools is present in the venv when uv (re)builds the wheel, no
+  chicken-and-egg.
+- **`[tool.uv] cache-keys = [..., "crates/**/*.rs", ...]`** — uv re-syncs
+  the editable fbuild install when any of these change. **This is what
+  prevents the "stale artifact" failure.** It also means `uv run` after a
+  `.rs` edit now actually costs cargo + linker time (no free lunch).
+
+## Measurements
+
+All scenarios use a real content edit (append `\n` to the file), not just a
+mtime touch — touched-but-unchanged files would hit zccache on rustc and
+not exercise the real rebuild path.
+
+### Scenario 1 — forced reinstall, no source change
+
+This fires on version bumps, lockfile churn, explicit `--reinstall-package
+fbuild`. The mtime-skip fast path:
+
+| | Baseline | After fixes | Speedup |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|
+| `uv sync --reinstall-package fbuild` | **14.9s** | **1.1s** | **13.6×** |
+
+### Scenario 2 — real `.rs` edit + `uv run` (cache-keys watching `.rs`)
+
+This is the "no stale artifacts" path:
+
+| | Baseline | After fixes |
+|---|---:|---:|
+| `.rs` edit + `uv run python --version` (round 1) | 15.7s | 14.4s |
+| `.rs` edit + `uv run python --version` (round 2, warmer cache) | 15.9s | 14.3s |
+
+**Only ~1-2s saved on this path.** The bottleneck is cargo recompiling
+`fbuild-core` (zccache misses because content actually changed) + cascading
+to dependents + linking `fbuild-cli` on Windows. zccache doesn't cache the
+link step. `CARGO_INCREMENTAL=1` made no measurable difference on this
+workspace (release profile already strips intermediates).
+
+### Scenario 3 — warm `uv run` (no edit)
+
+| | Baseline | After fixes |
+|---|---:|---:|
+| `uv run python --version` | 110ms | 100ms |
+
+Unchanged. uv's audit-only path is already optimal.
+
+## What's left
+
+The 14s edit-rebuild is at cargo's incremental + linker floor for this
+workspace. Pushing further requires build-tool-level changes:
+
+- **Faster linker** (rust-lld / mold). On Windows, `[target.x86_64-pc-windows-msvc]
+  linker = "rust-lld.exe"` in `.cargo/config.toml` typically cuts link time
+  by 30-50%. Risk: occasional linker compat issues. Not applied here — would
+  affect the dev CLI's `target/` too and needs broader testing.
+- **Split `fbuild-cli` into multiple smaller binaries**. Each link would be
+  cheaper. Out of scope.
+- **Migrate off `setup.py` + hand-rolled `ci/publish.py` to `setuptools-rust`**.
+  Wouldn't affect the rebuild floor, but would make the build-system code
+  much smaller and remove the dual-path-divergence class of bugs that
+  prompted this whole investigation. Separate refactor (see earlier thread).
+
+## Files changed
+
+- `setup.py` — `CARGO_TARGET_DIR` pin + `_staged_binary_is_up_to_date`
+  helper + mtime-skip wired into `BuildWithCargo.run`.
+- `pyproject.toml` — `no-build-isolation-package`, `default-groups`,
+  `cache-keys`; setuptools added to `dev`.
+- `ci/bench_uv_run.py` — benchmark script (new).
+- `ci/bench-results/{baseline,after_fixes}.json` — raw timings.
+- `ci/bench-results/REPORT.md` — this file.
diff --git a/ci/bench-results/after_fixes.json b/ci/bench-results/after_fixes.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6cd47693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/bench-results/after_fixes.json
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+{
+  "label": "after_fixes_final",
+  "platform": "win32",
+  "python": "3.13.7",
+  "rust_file": "crates\\fbuild-core\\src\\lib.rs",
+  "python_file": "python\\fbuild\\__init__.py",
+  "scenarios": {
+    "warm": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.161187999881804,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.03788859979249537,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "rust_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.03246659995056689,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.11067380011081696,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "python_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.031465700129047036,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.10906110005453229,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "both_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.030447000171989202,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.12040020013228059,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "forced_reinstall_clean": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync_reinstall",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync",
+            "--reinstall-package",
+            "fbuild"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 1.1025845999829471,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "forced_reinstall_dirty": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync_reinstall",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync",
+            "--reinstall-package",
+            "fbuild"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 15.515344999963418,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ci/bench-results/baseline.json b/ci/bench-results/baseline.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..133643fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/bench-results/baseline.json
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+{
+  "label": "baseline_v3",
+  "platform": "win32",
+  "python": "3.13.7",
+  "rust_file": "crates\\fbuild-core\\src\\lib.rs",
+  "python_file": "python\\fbuild\\__init__.py",
+  "scenarios": {
+    "warm": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.13639749982394278,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.03396599995903671,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "rust_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.051997199887409806,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.1266333998646587,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "python_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.03099639993160963,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.11129509983584285,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "both_touched": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.0293310999404639,
+          "returncode": 0
+        },
+        {
+          "label": "uv_run_noop",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "run",
+            "python",
+            "-c",
+            "pass"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 0.09985570004209876,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "forced_reinstall_clean": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync_reinstall",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync",
+            "--reinstall-package",
+            "fbuild"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 14.947807800024748,
+          "returncode": 0
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "forced_reinstall_dirty": {
+      "commands": [
+        {
+          "label": "uv_sync_reinstall",
+          "cmd": [
+            "uv",
+            "sync",
+            "--reinstall-package",
+            "fbuild"
+          ],
+          "elapsed_s": 16.144708199892193,
+          "returncode": 1
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ci/bench_uv_run.py b/ci/bench_uv_run.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ba7f353f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/bench_uv_run.py
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Bench uv run / uv sync wall-clock cost across realistic dev-loop edits.
+
+Scenarios:
+  warm                  - uv sync + uv run with venv already correct
+  rust_touched          - touch a .rs file, then uv sync + uv run
+  python_touched        - touch a python shim, then uv sync + uv run
+  both_touched          - touch both, then uv sync + uv run
+  forced_reinstall_clean - uv sync --reinstall-package fbuild with no
+                          prior source touches (mtime-skip should fire)
+  forced_reinstall_dirty - same but after touching a .rs file (cargo
+                           incremental rebuild)
+
+Run as:
+    python ci/bench_uv_run.py <label>
+
+Output: ci/bench-results/<label>.json
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+RESULTS_DIR = REPO_ROOT / "ci" / "bench-results"
+
+RUST_FILE = REPO_ROOT / "crates" / "fbuild-core" / "src" / "lib.rs"
+PYTHON_FILE = REPO_ROOT / "python" / "fbuild" / "__init__.py"
+
+UV_RUN_NOOP = ["uv", "run", "python", "-c", "pass"]
+UV_SYNC = ["uv", "sync"]
+UV_REINSTALL = ["uv", "sync", "--reinstall-package", "fbuild"]
+
+
+def time_command(cmd: list[str]) -> tuple[float, int]:
+    # Bypass the soldr#805 hook that intercepts `uv run` / `uv sync` on
+    # hybrid Python+Rust projects. The hook is good guidance for humans
+    # but blocks the actual measurement we're trying to take here.
+    start = time.perf_counter()
+    proc = subprocess.run(
+        cmd,
+        cwd=str(REPO_ROOT),
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        env=_bench_env(),
+    )
+    elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start
+    return elapsed, proc.returncode
+
+
+def touch(path: Path) -> None:
+    if not path.is_file():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"benchmark target does not exist: {path}")
+    new_mtime = max(path.stat().st_mtime, time.time()) + 1
+    os.utime(path, (new_mtime, new_mtime))
+
+
+def _bench_env() -> dict:
+    return {**os.environ, "CLUD_UV_RUST_ALLOW_ALL": "1"}
+
+
+def warm_state() -> None:
+    subprocess.run(UV_SYNC, cwd=str(REPO_ROOT), check=False,
+                   stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                   env=_bench_env())
+
+
+def force_rebuild() -> None:
+    subprocess.run(UV_REINSTALL, cwd=str(REPO_ROOT), check=False,
+                   stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                   env=_bench_env())
+
+
+def measure_scenario(name: str, before: callable, cmds: list[tuple[str, list[str]]]) -> dict:
+    print(f"\n=== {name} ===", flush=True)
+    before()
+    out: dict = {"commands": []}
+    for label, cmd in cmds:
+        elapsed, rc = time_command(cmd)
+        print(f"  [{label}] {' '.join(cmd)}: {elapsed:.3f}s (rc={rc})", flush=True)
+        out["commands"].append({"label": label, "cmd": cmd, "elapsed_s": elapsed, "returncode": rc})
+    return out
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    label = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "unlabeled"
+    RESULTS_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    out_path = RESULTS_DIR / f"{label}.json"
+
+    if not RUST_FILE.is_file() or not PYTHON_FILE.is_file():
+        print(f"missing target files: {RUST_FILE} or {PYTHON_FILE}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+
+    results: dict[str, object] = {
+        "label": label,
+        "platform": sys.platform,
+        "python": sys.version.split()[0],
+        "rust_file": str(RUST_FILE.relative_to(REPO_ROOT)),
+        "python_file": str(PYTHON_FILE.relative_to(REPO_ROOT)),
+        "scenarios": {},
+    }
+
+    print("[setup] pre-warm uv sync", flush=True)
+    warm_state()
+
+    # Pre-prime cargo's incremental cache so the "dirty" measurement
+    # reflects the realistic warm-cache state a developer sees.
+    print("[setup] pre-prime cargo via forced reinstall", flush=True)
+    force_rebuild()
+
+    results["scenarios"]["warm"] = measure_scenario(
+        "warm (no touch)",
+        before=lambda: None,
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_run_noop", UV_RUN_NOOP),
+            ("uv_sync", UV_SYNC),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    results["scenarios"]["rust_touched"] = measure_scenario(
+        "rust touched (uv sync only checks if rebuild needed)",
+        before=lambda: touch(RUST_FILE),
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_sync", UV_SYNC),
+            ("uv_run_noop", UV_RUN_NOOP),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    warm_state()
+    results["scenarios"]["python_touched"] = measure_scenario(
+        "python touched",
+        before=lambda: touch(PYTHON_FILE),
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_sync", UV_SYNC),
+            ("uv_run_noop", UV_RUN_NOOP),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    warm_state()
+    results["scenarios"]["both_touched"] = measure_scenario(
+        "rust + python touched",
+        before=lambda: (touch(RUST_FILE), touch(PYTHON_FILE)),
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_sync", UV_SYNC),
+            ("uv_run_noop", UV_RUN_NOOP),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    # Reinstall scenarios: separated by source state.
+    # First force a rebuild to make sure the staged binary matches CURRENT sources
+    # (so mtime-skip will fire on the clean reinstall).
+    print("\n[setup] reset cargo cache for reinstall scenarios", flush=True)
+    force_rebuild()
+
+    results["scenarios"]["forced_reinstall_clean"] = measure_scenario(
+        "forced reinstall — no source changes (mtime-skip fast path)",
+        before=lambda: None,
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_sync_reinstall", UV_REINSTALL),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    results["scenarios"]["forced_reinstall_dirty"] = measure_scenario(
+        "forced reinstall — after touching .rs (cargo incremental)",
+        before=lambda: touch(RUST_FILE),
+        cmds=[
+            ("uv_sync_reinstall", UV_REINSTALL),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    out_path.write_text(json.dumps(results, indent=2) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    print(f"\nWrote {out_path}", flush=True)
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 424698a3..088dd904 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,21 +17,62 @@ dependencies = []
 fbuild = "ci.bin_launcher:main"
 
 [dependency-groups]
-dev = ["fbuild-dev-tools"]
+# setuptools is in dev (not project deps) because fbuild uses
+# no-build-isolation: the build runs in the project venv, so setuptools
+# must already be installed when uv tries to (re)build the wheel.
+# default-groups below makes uv install dev (and hence setuptools)
+# before attempting to build, breaking the chicken-and-egg.
+dev = ["fbuild-dev-tools", "setuptools>=64"]
 
 [tool.uv.sources]
 fbuild-dev-tools = { path = "ci/dev-tools", editable = true }
 
+# Skip PEP 517 build isolation for fbuild. Default isolation copies the
+# source tree to a temp dir before invoking setup.py, which (a) breaks
+# setup.py's mtime-skip cache because the staged binary in `ci/bin/`
+# isn't visible from the temp copy, and (b) makes cargo's incremental
+# fingerprint cache useless because cwd changes between invocations.
+# `extra-build-dependencies` is currently a uv preview feature; it
+# triggers an "experimental and may change without warning" notice on
+# every invocation, but it works and injects setuptools just for the
+# build (no chicken-and-egg with dev dep install order, no runtime
+# taint). Suppress the warning by exporting `UV_PREVIEW=1` if desired.
+[tool.uv]
+no-build-isolation-package = ["fbuild"]
+default-groups = ["dev"]
+# Tell uv to re-sync the editable install when these change. Without
+# this, `uv run` after a .rs edit silently uses a stale _native.pyd
+# because uv's default cache-keys only watch pyproject.toml.
+cache-keys = [
+    { file = "pyproject.toml" },
+    { file = "Cargo.toml" },
+    { file = "Cargo.lock" },
+    { file = "crates/**/*.rs" },
+    { file = "crates/**/Cargo.toml" },
+]
+
 [build-system]
 requires = ["setuptools>=64"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [tool.setuptools]
-packages = ["ci"]
+packages = ["ci", "fbuild", "fbuild.api"]
 include-package-data = true
 
+# Map the `fbuild` and `fbuild.api` Python packages to their on-disk
+# location under python/. Without this, `pip install .` would skip the
+# python/ tree entirely (only `ci` is at the repo root), and downstream
+# consumers like FastLED would hit `ModuleNotFoundError: No module named
+# 'fbuild'` on `from fbuild.api import SerialMonitor`.
+[tool.setuptools.package-dir]
+fbuild = "python/fbuild"
+"fbuild.api" = "python/fbuild/api"
+
 # Ship the native binary that setup.py's BuildWithCargo cmdclass stages
 # into ci/bin/ during the build_py phase. Glob is broad enough to match
-# fbuild + fbuild.exe across platforms.
+# fbuild + fbuild.exe across platforms. Also ship the _native.pyd that
+# python/fbuild/__init__.py imports from.
 [tool.setuptools.package-data]
 ci = ["bin/fbuild*"]
+fbuild = ["_native.pyd", "_native.so"]
+
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 87ade6df..4a8d44a3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import json
+import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -76,6 +77,51 @@
 STAGED_BIN_DIR = REPO_ROOT / "ci" / "bin"
 STAGED_BINARY_PATH = STAGED_BIN_DIR / TARGET_BINARY_NAME
 
+# Pin cargo's target directory to a stable absolute path so PEP 517
+# isolated builds (pip copies the source tree to a temp dir, so
+# `<cwd>/target/` lives in that temp dir and is discarded after the
+# build) reuse cargo's incremental fingerprint cache across invocations.
+# Without this, every isolated `pip install .` runs cargo cold — 25-30s
+# wall-clock per invocation.
+#
+# We deliberately do NOT share `<repo>/target/` with the dev CLI: the
+# dev CLI often runs `cargo check` or different `--features`/`--profile`
+# combos, and sharing the target dir means each `pip install` invalidates
+# whatever the dev CLI just compiled (and vice versa). A separate
+# wheel-build target dir gives both paths a stable, hot cache.
+WHEEL_BUILD_TARGET_DIR = Path.home() / ".fbuild" / "cargo-target" / "wheel-build"
+os.environ.setdefault("CARGO_TARGET_DIR", str(WHEEL_BUILD_TARGET_DIR))
+
+
+def _iter_cargo_inputs() -> "list[Path]":
+    """Files that, if newer than the staged binary, invalidate the cached build."""
+    patterns = (
+        "Cargo.toml",
+        "Cargo.lock",
+        "rust-toolchain.toml",
+        "crates/**/Cargo.toml",
+        "crates/**/*.rs",
+    )
+    paths: list[Path] = []
+    for pat in patterns:
+        paths.extend(REPO_ROOT.glob(pat))
+    return paths
+
+
+def _staged_binary_is_up_to_date() -> bool:
+    """True if the staged binary exists and is newer than every cargo input."""
+    if not STAGED_BINARY_PATH.is_file():
+        return False
+    staged_mtime = STAGED_BINARY_PATH.stat().st_mtime
+    for path in _iter_cargo_inputs():
+        try:
+            if path.stat().st_mtime > staged_mtime:
+                return False
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            # File disappeared between glob and stat — treat as changed.
+            return False
+    return True
+
 
 def _require_soldr() -> None:
     if shutil.which("soldr") is None:
@@ -199,6 +245,18 @@ class BuildWithCargo(build_py):
     """Run `soldr cargo build --release -p fbuild-cli` before packaging."""
 
     def run(self) -> None:  # noqa: D401 — setuptools API name
+        # Fast path: if the staged binary is newer than every cargo input,
+        # skip the cargo invocation entirely. Even cargo's "Fresh" pass walks
+        # the workspace and takes wall-clock seconds; this short-circuits it.
+        # Triggered when uv/pip reinstall fbuild without any actual source
+        # change (e.g. version bump, lockfile churn, --reinstall-package).
+        if _staged_binary_is_up_to_date():
+            sys.stderr.write(
+                f"  staged binary up-to-date ({STAGED_BINARY_PATH}); skipping cargo\n"
+            )
+            super().run()
+            return
+
         _require_soldr()
         binary_path = _build_fbuild_cli()
         STAGED_BIN_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 2925dbd2..79b2b21e 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -4,20 +4,33 @@ requires-python = ">=3.10"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "fbuild"
-version = "2.2.29"
+version = "2.2.31"
 source = { editable = "." }
 
 [package.dev-dependencies]
 dev = [
     { name = "fbuild-dev-tools" },
+    { name = "setuptools" },
 ]
 
 [package.metadata]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
-dev = [{ name = "fbuild-dev-tools", editable = "ci/dev-tools" }]
+dev = [
+    { name = "fbuild-dev-tools", editable = "ci/dev-tools" },
+    { name = "setuptools", specifier = ">=64" },
+]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "fbuild-dev-tools"
 version = "0.0.0"
 source = { editable = "ci/dev-tools" }
+
+[[package]]
+name = "setuptools"
+version = "82.0.1"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/4f/db/cfac1baf10650ab4d1c111714410d2fbb77ac5a616db26775db562c8fab2/setuptools-82.0.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:7d872682c5d01cfde07da7bccc7b65469d3dca203318515ada1de5eda35efbf9", size = 1152316, upload-time = "2026-03-09T12:47:17.221Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/9d/76/f789f7a86709c6b087c5a2f52f911838cad707cc613162401badc665acfe/setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a59e362652f08dcd477c78bb6e7bd9d80a7995bc73ce773050228a348ce2e5bb", size = 1006223, upload-time = "2026-03-09T12:47:15.026Z" },
+]