diff --git a/.github/workflows/acceptance-205.yml b/.github/workflows/acceptance-205.yml
index 76a1db49..5c38a883 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/acceptance-205.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/acceptance-205.yml
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Run ${{ matrix.gate }} acceptance gate
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/bench-205.yml b/.github/workflows/bench-205.yml
index e4b863e3..c8bfbdb3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bench-205.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bench-205.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: "Run ${{ matrix.bench }} (target: ${{ matrix.target }})"
         run: |
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Checkout FastLED
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-macos.yml b/.github/workflows/check-macos.yml
index 9a7387f1..2af02e8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-macos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-macos.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Check
         shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-ubuntu.yml b/.github/workflows/check-ubuntu.yml
index 240c261f..d41d54cc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-ubuntu.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-ubuntu.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Check
         run: soldr cargo check --workspace --all-targets
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/check-windows.yml
index 70b25229..1f2bf29d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-windows.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Check
         shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
index 5101541c..380d9c33 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
 
       - name: Build docs
         run: soldr cargo doc --workspace --no-deps
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fmt.yml b/.github/workflows/fmt.yml
index 2943e0ca..e8efcc97 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fmt.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fmt.yml
@@ -22,5 +22,6 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: false
+          prebuild-deps: none
       - name: Check formatting
         run: soldr cargo fmt --all -- --check
diff --git a/.github/workflows/msrv.yml b/.github/workflows/msrv.yml
index 9935a368..4b296398 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/msrv.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/msrv.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
           toolchain: 1.94.1
 
       - name: Check MSRV
diff --git a/.github/workflows/template_build.yml b/.github/workflows/template_build.yml
index 035f1652..45e5f7fc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/template_build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/template_build.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
           cache-key-suffix: board-${{ inputs.env-name }}
 
       - name: Reset zccache daemon after cache warm
diff --git a/.github/workflows/template_native_build.yml b/.github/workflows/template_native_build.yml
index 30997c9a..bab8a55d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/template_native_build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/template_native_build.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ jobs:
           cache: true
           build-cache: true
           target-cache: true
+          prebuild-deps: none
           cache-key-suffix: native-${{ inputs.target }}
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 29192ff2..e907032d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -488,6 +488,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crash-context"
+version = "0.6.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "031ed29858d90cfdf27fe49fae28028a1f20466db97962fa2f4ea34809aeebf3"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+ "mach2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "crash-handler"
+version = "0.6.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2066907075af649bcb8bcb1b9b986329b243677e6918b2d920aa64b0aac5ace3"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "crash-context",
+ "libc",
+ "mach2",
+ "parking_lot",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crc32fast"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -2095,6 +2119,16 @@ version = "11.1.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d6790f58c7ff633d8771f42965289203411a5e5c68388703c06e14f24770b41e"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot"
+version = "0.12.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "93857453250e3077bd71ff98b6a65ea6621a19bb0f559a85248955ac12c45a1a"
+dependencies = [
+ "lock_api",
+ "parking_lot_core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot_core"
 version = "0.9.12"
@@ -4080,12 +4114,14 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zccache-artifact"
-version = "1.4.0"
+version = "1.8.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4144e1348f83ab3ec55c039e199b0f16dc7afa3d6c0af475debc00023adce425"
+checksum = "a85b1a2851359f7f87bdaa44cb35d1d59c7b0dec346da8de466130fb9fbe03dd"
 dependencies = [
  "bincode",
  "blake3",
+ "dashmap",
+ "rayon",
  "redb",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
@@ -4098,11 +4134,14 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zccache-core"
-version = "1.4.0"
+version = "1.8.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "694f8a8a46b8552415458eca9a39a0bb36ed28fb0d152374a1f83761abef8222"
+checksum = "8a7bc2339b9244683e2e3cf72f338f5a963731370e9f4cd4705023bb1804b5f7"
 dependencies = [
+ "crash-handler",
+ "libc",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "thiserror 2.0.18",
  "tracing",
  "windows-sys 0.59.0",
@@ -4110,9 +4149,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zccache-hash"
-version = "1.4.0"
+version = "1.8.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3eb7ff97b2722055babfb6037757f4d6de41f8e4b838491e31d1eb3f367c318b"
+checksum = "1023a805e42f729dac4f19865e6fe365cc6430f30230aaaacb0aa662e2b4b254"
 dependencies = [
  "blake3",
  "memmap2",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 90cd6a43..cd8fd34b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -65,14 +65,17 @@ object = { version = "0.36", default-features = false, features = ["read", "std"
 rusqlite = { version = "0.31", features = ["bundled"] }
 shell-words = "1"
 bincode = "1"
-zccache-artifact = "1.4.0"
+zccache-artifact = "1.8"
 rayon = "1"
 tracing-test = "0.2"
 
 # Process containment: all subprocess spawns the daemon performs (compilers,
 # esptool, qemu, simavr, node, npm, …) and any grandchildren they fork must
-# die with the daemon. Published to crates.io is pending; pin a git rev.
-# See FastLED/fbuild#32.
+# die with the daemon. Pinned to a pre-release rev that exposes the
+# `Containment` enum / `spawn_with_containment` API. The published
+# `running-process-core` 3.4.x dropped those in favor of
+# `ContainedProcessGroup` — fbuild will need a containment-layer
+# refactor before it can move to crates.io. See FastLED/fbuild#32.
 running-process-core = { git = "https://github.com/zackees/running-process", rev = "ff9d7972504f7a0dcee0f410274daf3b02e4fcc2", package = "running-process-core" }
 
 [profile.dev]
diff --git a/crates/fbuild-build/tests/flag_escaping_lint.rs b/crates/fbuild-build/tests/flag_escaping_lint.rs
index bc29e646..6616f6f0 100644
--- a/crates/fbuild-build/tests/flag_escaping_lint.rs
+++ b/crates/fbuild-build/tests/flag_escaping_lint.rs
@@ -130,11 +130,19 @@ fn escaped_quote_usage_is_restricted() {
 
     // These files are allowed to contain \\\" because they are the canonical
     // sources/handlers of escaped-quote define values.
+    //
+    // Note: LOC-gate splits (refactor commits 5c90d0e/91f54e4/0cca5f3) moved
+    // canonical define code from board.rs / orchestrator.rs into submodule
+    // files (methods.rs, build.rs, mod.rs). Those are listed here too — they
+    // are still canonical define sources, just renamed.
     let allowed_files: &[&str] = &[
         "board.rs",            // canonical define source with \\\"
+        "methods.rs",          // canonical: split out of fbuild-config/src/board.rs (LOC gate)
         "compiler.rs",         // escaping module (prepare_flags_for_exec, write_response_file)
         "esp32_framework.rs",  // SDK defines parser (reads \\\" from disk)
         "orchestrator.rs",     // fallback define construction (same pattern as board.rs)
+        "build.rs",            // canonical: split out of esp32/orchestrator.rs (LOC gate)
+        "mod.rs",              // canonical: split out of stm32/orchestrator.rs (LOC gate)
         "library_compiler.rs", // response file writer (checks for \\\" to skip double-quoting)
     ];
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3d83d806..95980ce3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ version = "2.2.3"
 description = "PlatformIO-compatible embedded build tool (Rust implementation)"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
-dependencies = ["zccache>=1.2.13"]
+dependencies = ["zccache>=1.8.2"]
 
 [dependency-groups]
 dev = ["fbuild-dev-tools"]
diff --git a/rust-toolchain.toml b/rust-toolchain.toml
index 32c68eec..857955b9 100644
--- a/rust-toolchain.toml
+++ b/rust-toolchain.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [toolchain]
 channel = "1.94.1"
+profile = "minimal"
 components = ["rustfmt", "clippy"]
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 6dfcb756..3988025e 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ dev = [
 ]
 
 [package.metadata]
-requires-dist = [{ name = "zccache", specifier = ">=1.2.13" }]
+requires-dist = [{ name = "zccache", specifier = ">=1.8.2" }]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
 dev = [{ name = "fbuild-dev-tools", editable = "ci/dev-tools" }]
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zccache"
-version = "1.2.13"
+version = "1.8.2"
 source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
 wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/87/73/4080b898921a865faff716717e1a198846c0ff256f38cbea54b28ea81fbb/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:25c01b6259118c226d7d9adb8fe854eca74e47d622023685553eb5d16afe69a9", size = 11488674, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:12:46.718Z" },
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/0c/3c/4d5f45dabb676bcfdc1f38945675ea8ce06ca47b057cdd755112cf393f5a/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:ca4b87d9110e23848a074a02887a3427868936915c387e9b9ffc7b39aaa38b30", size = 10981829, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:13:03.894Z" },
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ea/1e/f4a222a3addc2227abc067459ad0128a5aaf0179c8d460c8872476bfe1f0/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:1cfc01e890ced64349a10ca7fa1973750fdadc6aad027c2a9eab1d5803b08f45", size = 10942113, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:13:21.216Z" },
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/f1/74/485a8c67a7a86fa4e7b1032266d761427d4d97de6a70da2e9cb6d4025e3e/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:9bdf895a0c24933adb28c57ef99948083d05adbf7220a5f643e4be7c504171c8", size = 11887723, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:13:39.91Z" },
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ac/dc/7f8c8ced3eba832990bef18489bc5b419a4b3e5f1fe14727a5c123d6b9cb/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:7ed67d6bdf92b1e6f142aaf987c72f751824c8fcf9c18fd0401479f46d7ebca1", size = 10713286, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:14:01.432Z" },
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/6c/a3/95ebc437fbf581cee66484ccf455f2c0bf5729e264b800646ed1a06ec87c/zccache-1.2.13-py3-none-win_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:117cd479adaa1c1aeca197fee7d86d9e59845807a82c03e3141bfd23815257cb", size = 9956694, upload-time = "2026-04-19T09:14:17.552Z" },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/0b/fb/40cfe8df8c2ac6c250b08845873f98eeca6352325d7af8f10bb28a6faa16/zccache-1.8.2-py3-none-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:b960c703d05e6bedace35be51db1cf477cd94aeba35afb93c919f1860233d4dd", size = 12400172, upload-time = "2026-05-22T14:27:25.927Z" },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ac/38/78525b2f66d921e1042592300b24107b7f512082a62d00fa769c416cf0d7/zccache-1.8.2-py3-none-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:b9b7ce451e7a7c6696c7b8008dcde92dd8cb35fd20a978cc4afe0c05c2c85aa9", size = 11877951, upload-time = "2026-05-22T14:27:29.317Z" },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/f8/84/e3f73a89d89d7cd6d443e0de0f0b8d7fdaf50aa2f9ca8196b111b32ded37/zccache-1.8.2-py3-none-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:c0d2e62faa7e994ca6889b2864092da6c6ce71de8aa2c2d0637c084434791883", size = 13982209, upload-time = "2026-05-22T14:27:32.007Z" },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/03/9a/4a13ae46798ee1b7530ba3a0e9359a36829be7c0ea7b6cd52241bb55e5a4/zccache-1.8.2-py3-none-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:cb75a827ea79d275d130775ea7c41a7d035faca4040fb0d8dbdba69f3222d588", size = 14414946, upload-time = "2026-05-22T14:27:35.551Z" },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/80/c9/1ab6c223d905320d8130a35bca39128c3950375607ba75beb571a1a8f333/zccache-1.8.2-py3-none-win_amd64.whl", hash = "sha256:6f21c6fb2ecad6b958723be4216127d1c5700bc9d9651d3ce2db57401ba8e88e", size = 11682901, upload-time = "2026-05-22T14:27:38.72Z" },
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