diff --git a/backend/app/api/routes/compile.py b/backend/app/api/routes/compile.py
index 803969b1..8d46bf50 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/routes/compile.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/routes/compile.py
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ def _build_identity(board_fqbn: str) -> str:
     is the previous behaviour and never less strict than it needs to be for a
     board whose variant we could not read.
     """
+    # Only the ESP-IDF lane HAS a shared build dir (the predicate is the same
+    # one _run_compile routes on). An AVR / RP2040 / STM32 FQBN has no IDF
+    # target at all, and _idf_target defaults unknown boards to 'esp32' — so
+    # every non-ESP32 board used to collapse onto the `esp32::esp32` key and
+    # queue behind unrelated ESP32 builds for no reason.
+    if not board_fqbn.startswith("esp32:"):
+        return board_fqbn
     try:
         target = espidf_compiler._idf_target(board_fqbn)
         variant = espidf_compiler._arduino_variant(board_fqbn, target)
diff --git a/backend/app/services/arduino_cli.py b/backend/app/services/arduino_cli.py
index 1701f167..0496a383 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/arduino_cli.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/arduino_cli.py
@@ -140,6 +140,9 @@ class ArduinoCLIService:
 
     def __init__(self, cli_path: str = "arduino-cli"):
         self.cli_path = cli_path
+        # Cached `core list` output; see _is_core_installed. Invalidated
+        # wherever a core is installed so a fresh install is seen immediately.
+        self._installed_cores: str | None = None
         self._ensure_board_urls()
         self._ensure_core_installed()
 
@@ -235,12 +238,24 @@ class ArduinoCLIService:
         return None
 
     def _is_core_installed(self, core_id: str) -> bool:
-        """Check whether a core is currently installed."""
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            [self.cli_path, "core", "list"],
-            capture_output=True, text=True
-        )
-        return core_id in result.stdout
+        """Check whether a core is currently installed.
+
+        Memoized: this shells out to `arduino-cli core list` (~1.5 s measured)
+        and it used to run on EVERY compile of a non-AVR board, from inside an
+        async handler - so it blocked the event loop for the whole process, not
+        just the caller. Cores only appear via install_core() below, which
+        refreshes the set, and they are never removed at runtime.
+        """
+        if self._installed_cores is None:
+            try:
+                result = subprocess.run(
+                    [self.cli_path, "core", "list"],
+                    capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=60,
+                )
+                self._installed_cores = result.stdout
+            except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError):
+                return False  # unknown: let the caller try to install
+        return core_id in self._installed_cores
 
     async def ensure_core_for_board(self, fqbn: str) -> dict:
         """
@@ -260,6 +275,8 @@ class ArduinoCLIService:
         install_spec = f"{core_id}@{version}" if version else core_id
         print(f"[arduino-cli] Auto-installing core {install_spec} for board {fqbn}...")
 
+        self._installed_cores = None  # a core is about to appear
+
         def _install():
             return subprocess.run(
                 [self.cli_path, "core", "install", install_spec],
diff --git a/backend/app/services/espidf_compiler.py b/backend/app/services/espidf_compiler.py
index ab6f9343..ea390169 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/espidf_compiler.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/espidf_compiler.py
@@ -3967,6 +3967,11 @@ class ESPIDFCompiler:
             f'-DIDF_TARGET={idf_target}',
             '-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release',
             f'-DSDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS={project_dir / "sdkconfig.defaults"}',
+            # IDF re-validates its python env on every configure (~1s of a
+            # ~9s configure). The image pins that env at build time and the
+            # entrypoint has already exercised it, so tell IDF it was checked
+            # externally - the same escape hatch idf.py uses for itself.
+            '-DPYTHON_DEPS_CHECKED=1',
             str(project_dir),
         ]