diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 456b816e..2d051a2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version-file: go.mod
+          cache: true
+          cache-dependency-path: go.sum
 
       - name: Run GoReleaser
         uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v6
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 18da511f..43969f04 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: help fmt test install tag release check-clean check-version install-hooks
+.PHONY: help fmt test test-race install install-dev build build-dev build-release tag release check-clean check-version install-hooks clean
 
 SHELL := /bin/sh
 
@@ -9,27 +9,72 @@ VERSION ?=
 # A helpful dev version string (used by install-dev)
 GIT_DESCRIBE := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null)
 
+# Parallelism for test runs. Defaults to the number of CPUs available.
+JOBS ?= $(shell sysctl -n hw.ncpu 2>/dev/null || nproc 2>/dev/null || echo 4)
+
+# Release link flags strip debug info and symbol tables for smaller, faster-linking binaries.
+RELEASE_LDFLAGS := -s -w -X main.Version=$(GIT_DESCRIBE)
+DEV_LDFLAGS     := -X main.Version=$(GIT_DESCRIBE)
+
+# -trimpath removes filesystem path prefixes from the binary, making builds reproducible
+# and avoiding embedding personal paths.
+RELEASE_BUILD_FLAGS := -trimpath -ldflags "$(RELEASE_LDFLAGS)"
+DEV_BUILD_FLAGS     := -ldflags "$(DEV_LDFLAGS)"
+
 help:
 	@printf "%s\n" \
 		"Targets:" \
 		"  make fmt                       # gofmt -w ." \
 		"  make install-hooks             # install git pre-commit hook" \
-		"  make test                      # go test ./..." \
-		"  make install                   # build and install with version from git" \
+		"  make test                      # go test ./... (parallel)" \
+		"  make test-race                 # go test -race ./..." \
+		"  make build                     # release build (-trimpath, stripped)" \
+		"  make build-dev                 # dev build (uses Go build cache)" \
+		"  make install                   # install release-flavored binary" \
+		"  make install-dev               # install dev-flavored binary" \
+		"  make clean                     # remove build artefacts" \
 		"  make tag VERSION=vX.Y.Z        # create annotated git tag (requires clean tree)" \
 		"  make release VERSION=vX.Y.Z    # tag + push (triggers GoReleaser via GitHub Actions)"
 
 fmt:
 	gofmt -w .
 
+# Test target relies on Go's built-in build/test cache for speed.
+# -p sets the package compile parallelism, -parallel controls in-package t.Parallel().
 test:
-	go test ./...
+	go test -p $(JOBS) -parallel $(JOBS) ./...
+
+test-race:
+	go test -race -p $(JOBS) -parallel $(JOBS) ./...
+
+# Release build: stripped, trimpath'd, smaller binary that links faster.
+build: build-release
+
+build-release:
+	@V="$(GIT_DESCRIBE)"; V=$${V:-dev}; \
+	echo "Building td $$V (release)"; \
+	go build -trimpath -ldflags "-s -w -X main.Version=$$V" -o td .
+
+# Dev build: keep symbol table for debuggers, otherwise rely on Go's incremental cache.
+build-dev:
+	@V="$(GIT_DESCRIBE)"; V=$${V:-dev}; \
+	echo "Building td $$V (dev)"; \
+	go build -ldflags "-X main.Version=$$V" -o td .
 
 install:
 	@V="$(GIT_DESCRIBE)"; V=$${V:-dev}; \
-	echo "Installing td $$V"; \
+	echo "Installing td $$V (release)"; \
+	go install -trimpath -ldflags "-s -w -X main.Version=$$V" .
+
+install-dev:
+	@V="$(GIT_DESCRIBE)"; V=$${V:-dev}; \
+	echo "Installing td $$V (dev)"; \
 	go install -ldflags "-X main.Version=$$V" .
 
+clean:
+	rm -f td
+	go clean
+
 check-clean:
 	@git diff --quiet && git diff --cached --quiet || (echo "Error: working tree is not clean" && exit 1)