diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index f15b866..2f007bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Install uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v4
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
@@ -36,6 +38,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Install uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v4
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
@@ -58,6 +62,8 @@ jobs:
           workspaces: rust
       - name: Install uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v4
+        with:
+          enable-cache: true
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
@@ -67,7 +73,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build Rust extension
         run: uv run maturin develop --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
       - name: Run tests
-        run: uv run pytest
+        # `-n auto` is also set in pyproject [tool.pytest.ini_options] addopts; kept
+        # explicit here so the intent is visible. Ubuntu runners have 2-4 cores.
+        run: uv run pytest -n auto
 
   rust:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
index dde3f4e..068a78f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build documentation
         run: uv run --group dev mkdocs build --strict
       - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
-        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
+        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v4
         with:
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           publish_dir: ./site
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 5f11efb..2d0b989 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Fast, auto-fixing checks only. Slow, whole-repo gates (pyright, the full pytest
+# suite, cargo-clippy, cargo-test) run in CI on every PR instead — running them in a
+# pre-commit hook rebuilds the Rust extension and runs the whole suite on every commit.
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
     rev: v0.15.12
@@ -9,20 +12,6 @@ repos:
         files: ^(src|tests)/.*\.py$
   - repo: local
     hooks:
-      - id: pyright
-        name: pyright
-        entry: uv run pyright
-        language: system
-        types: [python]
-        files: ^(src|tests)/.*\.py$
-        pass_filenames: false
-      - id: pytest
-        name: pytest
-        entry: bash -c 'uv run maturin develop --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml && uv run pytest'
-        language: system
-        types: [python]
-        files: ^(src|tests|rust)/
-        pass_filenames: false
       - id: cargo-fmt
         name: cargo-fmt
         entry: cargo fmt --check --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,17 +19,3 @@ repos:
         types: [rust]
         files: ^rust/
         pass_filenames: false
-      - id: cargo-clippy
-        name: cargo-clippy
-        entry: cargo clippy --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml --all-targets -- -D warnings
-        language: system
-        types: [rust]
-        files: ^rust/
-        pass_filenames: false
-      - id: cargo-test
-        name: cargo-test
-        entry: cargo test --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
-        language: system
-        types: [rust]
-        files: ^rust/
-        pass_filenames: false
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index a6a82ab..1c60d91 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -100,13 +100,13 @@ What the gates cover:
 
 - **Ruff linting and formatting.** The current tree enforces core pycodestyle/pyflakes safety checks plus stale-suppression detection. It also enforces an expanded rule set covering common bug patterns (bugbear), simplifications, Python-version upgrades, pytest style, import order, and comprehensions. Treat `uv run ruff check .` and `uv run ruff format --check .` as the stable interface rather than relying on individual rule codes.
 - **Pyright.** Type checking runs through `uv run pyright`; the project is tightening this as a strict-inference ratchet over time.
-- **Python tests.** The suite is offline and currently runs 324 tests in roughly 40-45 seconds, reporting coverage around 94%.
+- **Python tests.** The suite is offline and runs in parallel by default via [pytest-xdist](https://pypi.org/project/pytest-xdist/) (`-n auto` in `pyproject.toml`): over 600 tests in ~20-30 seconds, reporting around 90% coverage in the default CI environment (`--extra qc`). Disable parallelism for a single serial run with `pytest -n 0`.
 - **Rust tests.** `cargo test --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml` currently runs 46 Rust unit tests for the extension.
 - **Rust style and lints.** `cargo fmt --check` enforces formatting; clippy runs all targets with warnings denied.
 
 ## Pre-commit hooks
 
-Install hooks after setup if you want the same checks to run automatically:
+Install hooks after setup to run the fast, auto-fixing checks automatically on every commit. The slower whole-repo gates (pyright, the full pytest suite, cargo-clippy, cargo-test) are intentionally **not** pre-commit hooks — they run in CI on every pull request instead, so committing stays fast.
 
 ```bash
 uv run pre-commit install
@@ -116,11 +116,7 @@ Configured hooks:
 
 - `ruff`: fixes lint issues in `src/` and `tests/` when possible.
 - `ruff-format`: formats Python files in `src/` and `tests/`.
-- `pyright`: runs `uv run pyright` once per commit attempt.
-- `pytest`: rebuilds the extension with `uv run maturin develop --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml`, then runs `uv run pytest`.
 - `cargo-fmt`: runs `cargo fmt --check --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml`.
-- `cargo-clippy`: runs `cargo clippy --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml --all-targets -- -D warnings`.
-- `cargo-test`: runs `cargo test --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml`.
 
 ## Running subsets
 
diff --git a/docs/installation.md b/docs/installation.md
index b7a6193..b1ca98c 100644
--- a/docs/installation.md
+++ b/docs/installation.md
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ make check
 
 The underlying stable gates are `ruff check` / `ruff format --check`, `pyright`, `pytest`, and `cargo fmt --check` / `cargo test` / `cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings` (see [Development](development.md)).
 
-Install pre-commit hooks if you want the gates to run automatically before commits:
+Install pre-commit hooks to run the fast lint/format checks automatically before commits (the full gates run in CI):
 
 ```bash
 uv run pre-commit install
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 38f9fab..b6edd55 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -98,11 +98,14 @@ dev = [
     "pytest>=9.0.2",
     "pytest-cov>=7.1.0",
     "ruff>=0.15.6",
+    "pytest-xdist>=3.8.0",
 ]
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 testpaths = ["tests"]
-addopts = "--cov=tablassert --cov-report=term-missing"
+# Parallel by default via pytest-xdist (~7x faster full suite, identical coverage).
+# Disable for a single serial run with `-n 0` (e.g. debugging one test).
+addopts = "--cov=tablassert --cov-report=term-missing -n auto"
 markers = ["network: requires internet"]
 
 [tool.coverage.run]
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 953b40d..9566af1 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -823,6 +823,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c1/8b/5fe2cc11fee489817272089c4203e679c63b570a5aaeb18d852ae3cbba6a/et_xmlfile-2.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:7a91720bc756843502c3b7504c77b8fe44217c85c537d85037f0f536151b2caa", size = 18059, upload-time = "2024-10-25T17:25:39.051Z" },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "execnet"
+version = "2.1.2"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/bf/89/780e11f9588d9e7128a3f87788354c7946a9cbb1401ad38a48c4db9a4f07/execnet-2.1.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:63d83bfdd9a23e35b9c6a3261412324f964c2ec8dcd8d3c6916ee9373e0befcd", size = 166622, upload-time = "2025-11-12T09:56:37.75Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ab/84/02fc1827e8cdded4aa65baef11296a9bbe595c474f0d6d758af082d849fd/execnet-2.1.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:67fba928dd5a544b783f6056f449e5e3931a5c378b128bc18501f7ea79e296ec", size = 40708, upload-time = "2025-11-12T09:56:36.333Z" },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fastexcel"
 version = "0.20.2"
@@ -2881,6 +2890,19 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/dc/1e/fb11174c9eaebcec27d36e9e994b90ffa168bc3226925900b9dbbf16c9da/pytest-logging-2015.11.4.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:cec5c85ecf18aab7b2ead5498a31b9f758680ef5a902b9054ab3f2bdbb77c896", size = 3916, upload-time = "2015-11-04T12:15:54.122Z" }
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pytest-xdist"
+version = "3.8.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "execnet" },
+    { name = "pytest" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/78/b4/439b179d1ff526791eb921115fca8e44e596a13efeda518b9d845a619450/pytest_xdist-3.8.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:7e578125ec9bc6050861aa93f2d59f1d8d085595d6551c2c90b6f4fad8d3a9f1", size = 88069, upload-time = "2025-07-01T13:30:59.346Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ca/31/d4e37e9e550c2b92a9cbc2e4d0b7420a27224968580b5a447f420847c975/pytest_xdist-3.8.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:202ca578cfeb7370784a8c33d6d05bc6e13b4f25b5053c30a152269fd10f0b88", size = 46396, upload-time = "2025-07-01T13:30:56.632Z" },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "python-dateutil"
 version = "2.9.0.post0"
@@ -3900,7 +3922,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tablassert"
-version = "8.0.0"
+version = "8.0.1"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "biolink-model" },
@@ -3937,6 +3959,7 @@ dev = [
     { name = "pyright" },
     { name = "pytest" },
     { name = "pytest-cov" },
+    { name = "pytest-xdist" },
     { name = "ruff" },
 ]
 
@@ -3969,6 +3992,7 @@ dev = [
     { name = "pyright", specifier = ">=1.1.411" },
     { name = "pytest", specifier = ">=9.0.2" },
     { name = "pytest-cov", specifier = ">=7.1.0" },
+    { name = "pytest-xdist", specifier = ">=3.8.0" },
     { name = "ruff", specifier = ">=0.15.6" },
 ]