diff --git a/bench/README.md b/bench/README.md
index 32586a8ad..225fe3b71 100644
--- a/bench/README.md
+++ b/bench/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ pnpm bench:cli --suite startup --startup-reps 31
 ## Suites
 
 - **`startup`** - cold `nuxi --version`, `--help`, and unknown-command time. Catches anything pulled onto the module graph of the fast paths.
-- **`modules`** - how many modules each target loads for those same commands, via `bench/lib/module-hook.mjs`. A count rather than a time, so it is stable across machines and is the better regression guard of the two.
+- **`modules`** - how many modules (and Node.js built-ins) each target loads for those same commands, via `bench/lib/module-hook.mjs`. A count rather than a time, so it is stable across machines and is the better regression guard of the two.
 - **`panel`** - time from spawn to the first painted `nuxt dev` frame, and until a keypress at that frame is answered.
 - **`dev`** - time from spawn to the dev server answering a request.
 - **`restart`** - time to serve again after a `nuxt.config.ts` edit, plus a no-op edit case to check that ignored changes stay ignored.
diff --git a/bench/lib/module-hook.mjs b/bench/lib/module-hook.mjs
index 625872bd6..ba5a671b8 100644
--- a/bench/lib/module-hook.mjs
+++ b/bench/lib/module-hook.mjs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import module from 'node:module'
 import process from 'node:process'
 
 const loaded = new Map()
+const bootBuiltins = new Set(process.moduleLoadList)
 
 module.registerHooks({
   load(url, context, nextLoad) {
@@ -25,5 +26,6 @@ process.on('exit', () => {
     }
   }
   // `_rawDebug` writes straight to fd 2 and cannot be intercepted by the CLI's own logging
-  process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes })}`)
+  const builtins = process.moduleLoadList.filter(entry => entry.startsWith('NativeModule ') && !bootBuiltins.has(entry)).length
+  process._rawDebug(`__BENCH_MODULES__${JSON.stringify({ modules: loaded.size, nodeModules, bytes, builtins })}`)
 })
diff --git a/bench/run.ts b/bench/run.ts
index d59060cdc..6798a2d6a 100644
--- a/bench/run.ts
+++ b/bench/run.ts
@@ -149,7 +149,10 @@ for (const [caseId, label] of STARTUP_CASES) {
   const baseline = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'baseline')
   const head = moduleResults?.find(r => r.case === caseId && r.target === 'head')
   if (baseline && head) {
-    headlineRows.push([`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)])
+    headlineRows.push(
+      [`${label} modules loaded`, String(baseline.modules), String(head.modules), formatDelta(baseline.modules, head.modules)],
+      [`${label} built-ins loaded`, String(baseline.builtins), String(head.builtins), formatDelta(baseline.builtins, head.builtins)],
+    )
   }
 }
 if (footprintResults) {
diff --git a/bench/suites/modules.ts b/bench/suites/modules.ts
index cfe8fefb8..d1be8af54 100644
--- a/bench/suites/modules.ts
+++ b/bench/suites/modules.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ export interface ModuleCount {
   modules: number
   nodeModules: number
   bytes: number
+  /** Node.js built-ins loaded after bootstrap, internals included. */
+  builtins: number
 }
 
 export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ results: ModuleCount[], markdown: string }> {
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ re
       if (!match) {
         throw new Error(`no module stats for ${target.id} ${testCase.id}:\n${result.stderr.slice(-2000)}`)
       }
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(match[1]!) as { modules: number, nodeModules: number, bytes: number }
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(match[1]!) as { modules: number, nodeModules: number, bytes: number, builtins: number }
       const entry = { case: testCase.id, target: target.id, ...parsed }
       results.push(entry)
       perTarget.push(entry)
@@ -50,14 +52,17 @@ export async function modulesSuite(targets: Target[], cwd: string): Promise<{ re
       formatBytes(baseline!.bytes),
       formatBytes(head!.bytes),
       formatDelta(baseline!.bytes, head!.bytes),
+      String(baseline!.builtins),
+      String(head!.builtins),
+      formatDelta(baseline!.builtins, head!.builtins),
     ])
   }
 
   const markdown = [
-    'Counted with a `module.registerHooks` load hook, compile cache disabled. Counts every JS module actually evaluated on that code path (built-ins excluded, native addons excluded).',
+    'Counted with a `module.registerHooks` load hook, compile cache disabled. Counts every JS module actually evaluated on that code path (native addons excluded). Built-ins loaded after bootstrap are counted separately, including the internal modules they load.',
     '',
     markdownTable(
-      ['Command', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} modules`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} modules`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} source bytes`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} source bytes`, 'Delta'],
+      ['Command', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} modules`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} modules`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} source bytes`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} source bytes`, 'Delta', `${shortLabel(targets[0]!)} built-ins`, `${shortLabel(targets[1]!)} built-ins`, 'Delta'],
       rows,
     ),
   ].join('\n')
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/docs.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/docs.ts
index 35f84647e..60726221a 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/docs.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/docs.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import { defineCommand } from 'citty'
 
 import { openBrowser } from '../dev/listen'
 import { releaseStdin, withDirectStdout } from '../utils/console'
-import { DOCS_BASE_URL, DOCS_PATH, resolveDocsIndex } from '../utils/docs-index'
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger'
 import { resolveRootDir } from '../utils/paths'
 import { withSpinner } from '../utils/spinner'
@@ -37,9 +36,10 @@ export default defineCommand({
     },
   },
   async run(ctx) {
+    const { DOCS_BASE_URL, DOCS_PATH, resolveDocsIndex } = await import('../utils/docs-index')
     const query = ctx.args._.join(' ').trim()
     if (!query) {
-      return visit(DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
+      return visit(DOCS_BASE_URL + DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
     }
 
     const found = await withSpinner(`Searching the Nuxt documentation for ${styleText('cyan', query)}`, async (spinner) => {
@@ -58,13 +58,13 @@ export default defineCommand({
 
     if (!found) {
       logger.warn(`Could not read the Nuxt documentation for this project. Run again with ${styleText('cyan', 'DEBUG=nuxi*')} to see why.`)
-      return visit(DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
+      return visit(DOCS_BASE_URL + DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
     }
 
     const { index, results } = found
     if (results.length === 0) {
       logger.warn(`Nothing in the Nuxt ${index.version} documentation matches ${styleText('cyan', query)}.`)
-      return visit(DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
+      return visit(DOCS_BASE_URL + DOCS_PATH, ctx.args.open)
     }
 
     if (results.length > 1 && ctx.args.open && isInteractive()) {
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         cancel(`Nuxt documentation: ${DOCS_BASE_URL}${index.base}${results[0]!.path}`)
         return
       }
-      return visit(index.base + choice, true)
+      return visit(DOCS_BASE_URL + index.base + choice, true)
     }
 
     const width = Math.max(...results.map(entry => entry.title.length))
@@ -92,12 +92,11 @@ export default defineCommand({
     })
     process.stdout.write(`${lines.join('\n')}\n`)
 
-    return visit(index.base + results[0]!.path, ctx.args.open)
+    return visit(DOCS_BASE_URL + index.base + results[0]!.path, ctx.args.open)
   },
 })
 
-function visit(path: string, open: boolean): void {
-  const url = DOCS_BASE_URL + path
+function visit(url: string, open: boolean): void {
   logger.info(`${open ? 'Opening' : 'Nuxt documentation:'} ${styleText('cyan', url)}`)
   if (open) {
     openBrowser(url)
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/info.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/info.ts
index 2831860b7..640af78a3 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/info.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/info.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import { writeText } from 'tinyclip'
 import { version as nuxiVersion } from '../../package.json'
 
 import { getBuilder } from '../utils/banner'
-import { resolveCatalogEntry } from '../utils/catalog'
 import { printJson } from '../utils/console'
 import { formatInfoBox } from '../utils/formatting'
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger'
@@ -186,6 +185,7 @@ async function resolveDependencyVersion(
       return pkg.version
     }
   }
+  const { resolveCatalogEntry } = await import('../utils/catalog')
   return resolveCatalogEntry(cwd, projectPkg, name)?.specifier
     ?? dependencies[name]
     ?? devDependencies[name]
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/module/add.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/module/add.ts
index ef1d36f10..2cde25317 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/module/add.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/module/add.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import { createInstallLog, isVerboseInstall, runInstall, takeUnreportedIgnoredBu
 import { logger } from '../../utils/logger'
 import { logNetworkError } from '../../utils/network'
 import { defaultPackageManager, detectPackageManager, isPackageManagerName, packageManagerNames } from '../../utils/package-managers'
-import { detectNpmRegistry } from '../../utils/registry'
 import { createSpinner } from '../../utils/spinner'
 import { getNuxtVersion } from '../../utils/versions'
 import { cwdArgs, logLevelArgs } from '../_shared'
@@ -403,6 +402,7 @@ async function resolveModule(moduleName: string, cwd: string, modulesDB: NuxtMod
 
   let version = pkgVersion || 'latest'
   const pkgScope = pkgName.startsWith('@') ? pkgName.split('/')[0]! : null
+  const { detectNpmRegistry } = await import('../../utils/registry')
   const meta = await detectNpmRegistry(pkgScope, cwd)
   const headers: HeadersInit = meta.authorization ? { Authorization: meta.authorization } : {}
 
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/upgrade.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/upgrade.ts
index b64af14ed..3ae567c73 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/upgrade.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/commands/upgrade.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import { cancel, isCancel, note, select } from '@clack/prompts'
 import { defineCommand } from 'citty'
 import { dirname, relative, resolve } from 'pathe'
 import { findWorkspaceDir, readPackageJSON } from 'pkg-types'
-import { resolveCatalogEntry, updateCatalogEntries } from '../utils/catalog'
 
 import { createInstallLog, runDedupe, runInstall, takeUnreportedIgnoredBuilds } from '../utils/install'
 import { loadKit } from '../utils/kit'
@@ -173,7 +172,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
 
     intro(styleText('cyan', 'Upgrading Nuxt ...'))
 
-    const [packageManager, workspaceDir = cwd] = await Promise.all([detectPackageManager(cwd), findWorkspaceDir(cwd, { try: true })])
+    const [packageManager, workspaceDir = cwd, { resolveCatalogEntry, updateCatalogEntries }] = await Promise.all([detectPackageManager(cwd), findWorkspaceDir(cwd, { try: true }), import('../utils/catalog')])
     if (!packageManager) {
       logger.error(
         `Unable to determine the package manager used by this project.\n\nNo lock files found in ${styleText('cyan', relativeToProcess(cwd))}, and no ${styleText('cyan', 'packageManager')} field specified in ${styleText('cyan', 'package.json')}.`,
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/dev/tui/index.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/dev/tui/index.ts
index bea9c8ad1..bf296ff6a 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/dev/tui/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/dev/tui/index.ts
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ import { styleText } from 'node:util'
 import { resolveStackVersions } from '../../utils/banner'
 import { withDirectStdout } from '../../utils/console'
 import { formatDuration, terminalLink } from '../../utils/formatting'
+import { releaseNotesUrl } from '../../utils/release-notes'
 import { startupElapsedMs } from '../../utils/startup-clock'
 
 import { registerTerminalHost } from '../../utils/terminal-host'
 import { MUTED, paint } from '../../utils/terminal-theme'
-import { checkForUpdate, isUpdateCheckEnabled, releaseNotesUrl } from '../../utils/update-check'
 import { openBrowser, writeClipboard } from '../listen'
 import { setupShortcuts } from '../shortcuts'
 import { isShutdownAdopted } from '../shutdown'
@@ -843,10 +843,14 @@ async function resolveQRCode(context: ShortcutContext): Promise<string | undefin
 
 /** The newer Nuxt release, if the registry knows of one and checks are enabled. */
 async function resolveUpdate(current?: string): Promise<string | undefined> {
-  if (!current || !isUpdateCheckEnabled()) {
+  if (!current) {
     return undefined
   }
   try {
+    const { checkForUpdate, isUpdateCheckEnabled } = await import('../../utils/update-check')
+    if (!isUpdateCheckEnabled()) {
+      return undefined
+    }
     const update = await checkForUpdate('nuxt', current)
     return update?.latest
   }
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/network.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/network.ts
index 5b8ef55ce..e97cfe6f2 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/network.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/network.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import http from 'node:http'
 import process from 'node:process'
 
 import { styleText } from 'node:util'
@@ -40,7 +39,10 @@ export type ProxySetupResult = 'unused' | 'active' | 'children-only'
 
 type EnableGlobalProxy = (env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv) => unknown
 
-const setGlobalProxyFromEnv = (http as { setGlobalProxyFromEnv?: EnableGlobalProxy }).setGlobalProxyFromEnv
+// `node:http` loads tls, crypto, http2 and undici, so it stays off the startup path.
+function getGlobalProxySetter(): EnableGlobalProxy | null {
+  return (process.getBuiltinModule('node:http') as { setGlobalProxyFromEnv?: EnableGlobalProxy }).setGlobalProxyFromEnv ?? null
+}
 
 let envProxyActive: boolean | undefined
 let proxyHintShown = false
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ let proxyHintShown = false
  * Route requests from this process and its children through the proxy
  * environment variables, and record whether this process is proxy-aware.
  */
-export function setupProxySupport(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env, enableGlobalProxy: EnableGlobalProxy | null = setGlobalProxyFromEnv ?? null): ProxySetupResult {
+export function setupProxySupport(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env, enableGlobalProxy?: EnableGlobalProxy | null): ProxySetupResult {
   proxyHintShown = false
 
   if (!hasProxyEnv(env)) {
@@ -57,9 +59,12 @@ export function setupProxySupport(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env, enableGl
     return 'unused'
   }
   envProxyActive = isEnvProxyActive(env)
-  if (!envProxyActive && enableGlobalProxy && env.NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY !== '0') {
-    enableGlobalProxy(env)
-    envProxyActive = true
+  if (!envProxyActive && env.NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY !== '0') {
+    const enable = enableGlobalProxy === undefined ? getGlobalProxySetter() : enableGlobalProxy
+    if (enable) {
+      enable(env)
+      envProxyActive = true
+    }
   }
   env.NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY ||= '1'
 
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/registry.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/registry.ts
index 0c70b7cda..1fb3366d0 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/registry.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/registry.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { join } from 'node:path'
 import process from 'node:process'
 
-import { parseINI } from 'confbox'
+import { parseINI } from 'confbox/ini'
 
 const TRAILING_SLASH_RE = /\/$/
 const ENV_REFERENCE_RE = /\$\{([^}]+)\}/g
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/release-notes.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/release-notes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..617e4f23d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/release-notes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/** Repositories whose releases are published under a `v`-prefixed tag. */
+const RELEASE_REPOS: Record<string, string> = {
+  'nuxt': 'nuxt/nuxt',
+  '@nuxt/cli': 'nuxt/cli',
+  'nuxi': 'nuxt/cli',
+  'create-nuxt': 'nuxt/cli',
+}
+
+/**
+ * The release notes for a published version, when the package has a known
+ * repository. Nightlies are skipped: their versions have no matching tag.
+ */
+export function releaseNotesUrl(pkg: string, version: string): string | undefined {
+  const repo = RELEASE_REPOS[pkg]
+  if (!repo || version.includes('nightly')) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  return `https://github.com/${repo}/releases/tag/v${version}`
+}
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/update-check.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/update-check.ts
index ef875562a..5989ec53f 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/update-check.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/update-check.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { fetchJson } from './fetch'
 import { terminalLink } from './formatting'
 import { debug, writeNotice } from './logger'
 import { detectNpmRegistry } from './registry'
+import { releaseNotesUrl } from './release-notes'
 import { trackOutputSpacing } from './stdout'
 
 const RC_FILE = '.nuxtrc'
@@ -148,26 +149,6 @@ export interface UpdateNudgeOptions {
   pkg?: string
 }
 
-/** Repositories whose releases are published under a `v`-prefixed tag. */
-const RELEASE_REPOS: Record<string, string> = {
-  'nuxt': 'nuxt/nuxt',
-  '@nuxt/cli': 'nuxt/cli',
-  'nuxi': 'nuxt/cli',
-  'create-nuxt': 'nuxt/cli',
-}
-
-/**
- * The release notes for a published version, when the package has a known
- * repository. Nightlies are skipped: their versions have no matching tag.
- */
-export function releaseNotesUrl(pkg: string, version: string): string | undefined {
-  const repo = RELEASE_REPOS[pkg]
-  if (!repo || version.includes('nightly')) {
-    return undefined
-  }
-  return `https://github.com/${repo}/releases/tag/v${version}`
-}
-
 function describeUpdate({ current, latest }: NuxtUpdate, name: string, pkg: string): string {
   const notes = releaseNotesUrl(pkg, latest)
   const version = styleText('green', latest)
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/versions.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/versions.ts
index 1562731f4..39ddfe44d 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/versions.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/src/utils/versions.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 import { readPackageJSON } from 'pkg-types'
 import { coerce, findMaxSatisfying, normalize } from 'verkit'
 
-import { resolveCatalogEntry } from './catalog'
 import { fetchJson } from './fetch'
 import { debug } from './logger'
 import { NUXT_PACKAGES } from './nuxt-packages'
 import { readDependencyPackageJson } from './package-json'
-import { detectNpmRegistry, PUBLIC_REGISTRY } from './registry'
 
 /** How long to wait on the registry before giving up on a version lookup. */
 const FETCH_TIMEOUT = 10_000
@@ -27,7 +25,7 @@ export async function getNuxtVersion(cwd: string) {
   if (nuxtPkg?.version && NUXT_PACKAGE_NAMES.has(nuxtPkg.name!)) {
     return nuxtPkg.version
   }
-  const pkg = await readPackageJSON(cwd)
+  const [pkg, { resolveCatalogEntry }] = await Promise.all([readPackageJSON(cwd), import('./catalog')])
   const pkgDep = resolveCatalogEntry(cwd, pkg, 'nuxt')?.specifier
     ?? (pkg?.dependencies?.nuxt || pkg?.devDependencies?.nuxt)
   const coerced = pkgDep && coerce(pkgDep)
@@ -41,6 +39,7 @@ export async function getNuxtVersion(cwd: string) {
  */
 export async function resolveRegistryVersion(pkg: string, range: string): Promise<string | undefined> {
   const scope = pkg.startsWith('@') ? pkg.split('/')[0]! : null
+  const { detectNpmRegistry, PUBLIC_REGISTRY } = await import('./registry')
   const { registry, authorization } = await detectNpmRegistry(scope)
 
   const packument = await fetchPackument(pkg, registry, authorization)
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/test/unit/utils/release-notes.spec.ts b/packages/nuxt-cli/test/unit/utils/release-notes.spec.ts
index 0f751c1d5..6d992cfce 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/test/unit/utils/release-notes.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/test/unit/utils/release-notes.spec.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 import { terminalLink } from '../../../src/utils/formatting'
-import { releaseNotesUrl } from '../../../src/utils/update-check'
+import { releaseNotesUrl } from '../../../src/utils/release-notes'
 
 describe('release notes links', () => {
   it('points at the tag for packages with a known repository', () => {