diff --git a/.github/workflows/desktop.yml b/.github/workflows/desktop.yml
index e9b0766..54b1ba9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/desktop.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/desktop.yml
@@ -52,10 +52,13 @@ jobs:
             . -> target
             src-tauri -> target
       - name: Build oab-mcp sidecar (arm64)
+        # release-ci profile (root Cargo.toml): opt-level 1 + codegen-units 256,
+        # so the aws-sdk/aws-lc-sys tree compiles in minutes, not ~23. The sidecar
+        # is I/O-bound (AWS API calls), so it doesn't need full release opt.
         run: |
-          cargo build --release -p oab-mcp --target aarch64-apple-darwin
+          cargo build --profile release-ci -p oab-mcp --target aarch64-apple-darwin
           mkdir -p src-tauri/binaries
-          cp target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release/oab-mcp \
+          cp target/aarch64-apple-darwin/release-ci/oab-mcp \
             src-tauri/binaries/oab-mcp-aarch64-apple-darwin
       - name: Install Tauri CLI
         run: npm install -g @tauri-apps/cli@^2
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b7cf83d..89e2578 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
 [workspace]
 members = ["crates/agent-lifecycle", "crates/oabctl", "crates/studio-cp", "crates/oab-mcp", "crates/acp-tunnel"]
 resolver = "2"
+
+# Fast profile for the CI-built `oab-mcp` sidecar (desktop.yml). The sidecar is an
+# MCP server that shells out to AWS — it is I/O-bound with no hot loops, so it does
+# not need full `release` optimization. Dropping to opt-level 1 + max codegen-units
+# turns a ~23-min release compile of the aws-sdk/aws-lc-sys tree into a few minutes;
+# the shipped binary is a touch larger/slower but functionally identical.
+[profile.release-ci]
+inherits = "release"
+opt-level = 1
+codegen-units = 256
+lto = false
+debug = false
+strip = true