diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish-satellites.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish-satellites.yml
index 8b27c1e6ee..0513a6ba0b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish-satellites.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish-satellites.yml
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ jobs:
     if: github.repository == 'software-mansion/react-native-executorch'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: deployment
+    env:
+      # The core package's postinstall downloads the native artifacts. Packing a
+      # satellite runs tsc against the core's type declarations and needs none
+      # of them.
+      RNET_SKIP_DOWNLOAD: 1
     permissions:
       # `contents: write` is required when perform-git-operations pushes a tag.
       contents: write
@@ -97,9 +102,12 @@ jobs:
         with:
           package-name: 'react-native-executorch-bare-resource-fetcher'
           package-json-path: 'packages/bare-resource-fetcher/package.json'
-          # Satellites type-check against the core package's published type
-          # declarations, so build it before packing the satellite.
-          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn install --immutable && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
+          # `workspaces focus` installs this satellite and the workspaces it
+          # depends on, instead of the whole monorepo: the root globs pull in
+          # eight React Native example apps, 1660 packages and 597 MiB, to build
+          # one small package. Satellites type-check against the core package's
+          # type declarations, so it still gets built before the satellite packs.
+          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn workspaces focus react-native-executorch-bare-resource-fetcher && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
           release-type: ${{ inputs.release-type }}
           version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
           perform-git-operations: ${{ inputs.perform-git-operations }}
@@ -111,7 +119,8 @@ jobs:
         with:
           package-name: 'react-native-executorch-expo-resource-fetcher'
           package-json-path: 'packages/expo-resource-fetcher/package.json'
-          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn install --immutable && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
+          # See the first satellite above for why this is a focused install.
+          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn workspaces focus react-native-executorch-expo-resource-fetcher && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
           release-type: ${{ inputs.release-type }}
           version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
           perform-git-operations: ${{ inputs.perform-git-operations }}
@@ -123,7 +132,8 @@ jobs:
         with:
           package-name: 'react-native-executorch-webrtc'
           package-json-path: 'packages/react-native-executorch-webrtc/package.json'
-          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn install --immutable && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
+          # See the first satellite above for why this is a focused install.
+          install-dependencies-command: 'yarn workspaces focus react-native-executorch-webrtc && yarn workspace react-native-executorch prepare'
           release-type: ${{ inputs.release-type }}
           version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
           perform-git-operations: ${{ inputs.perform-git-operations }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
index 01c273a957..03cf204010 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npm-publish.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ on:
           - legacy # maintenance release of an older line
         default: nightly
       dist-tag:
-        description: 'Publish under this exact dist-tag instead, e.g. v0.8 for a maintenance line (leave empty to use release-type)'
+        description: 'npm dist-tag to publish under instead of the one release-type implies, e.g. v0-8 for a maintenance line. NOT the git tag. Leave empty for a normal release.'
         required: false
         type: string
         default: ''
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ jobs:
       RELEASE_TYPE: ${{ inputs.release-type || 'nightly' }}
       DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry-run || false }}
       DIST_TAG_OVERRIDE: ${{ inputs.dist-tag || '' }}
+      # Nothing this job does needs the native artifacts: it runs bob and tsc,
+      # and the "files" list excludes third-party/include from the tarball. The
+      # postinstall download only cost time and printed iOS-backend warnings on
+      # a Linux runner.
+      RNET_SKIP_DOWNLOAD: 1
+      # create-package.sh installs too; the focused install below covers it.
+      RNE_SKIP_INSTALL: 1
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -71,8 +78,17 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{ env.EXECUTORCH_VERSION == 'PLACEHOLDER' }}
         run: exit 1 # this should never happen
 
-      - name: Install monorepo dependencies
-        run: yarn install --immutable
+      # The root workspaces glob is packages/* + apps/* + apps/legacy/*, so a
+      # plain `yarn install` pulled 1659 packages (597 MiB) to build one of
+      # them: 164s of a 197s job, against 19s for the actual build. `workspaces
+      # focus` installs only this package's tree; it is built into Yarn 4, the
+      # same command family as the `workspaces foreach` already used in CI.
+      #
+      # This drops --immutable, which `focus` does not accept. The lockfile is
+      # already asserted immutable by the CI workflow on every pull request, and
+      # a release publishes from a branch that passed it.
+      - name: Install the core package's dependencies
+        run: yarn workspaces focus react-native-executorch
 
       - name: Set tag
         run: |
@@ -85,10 +101,12 @@ jobs:
               echo "dist-tag override needs a stable build: set release-type to latest or legacy." >&2
               exit 1
             fi
-            # npm rejects a dist-tag that parses as a semver range, so require a
-            # leading letter. That also rules out bare versions like `0.8`.
-            if [[ ! "$DIST_TAG_OVERRIDE" =~ ^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9._-]*$ ]]; then
-              echo "Invalid dist-tag: '$DIST_TAG_OVERRIDE' (expected e.g. v0.8)" >&2
+            # npm's rule is that a dist-tag must not parse as a semver range,
+            # so ask semver rather than approximate it. The previous check only
+            # required a leading letter, which let through every tag this input
+            # documented: `v0.8` parses as `>=0.8.0 <0.9.0-0`, `v0.10.0` as
+            # `0.10.0`. Both reached npm and failed there instead of here.
+            if ! node -e 'const r=require("semver").validRange(process.argv[1]); if (r) { console.error(`Invalid dist-tag: ${process.argv[1]} parses as the semver range ${r}, and npm rejects those. Use a form that is not a version, e.g. v0-8 for the 0.8 line.`); process.exit(1); }' "$DIST_TAG_OVERRIDE"; then
               exit 1
             fi
             echo "TAG=$DIST_TAG_OVERRIDE" >> $GITHUB_ENV
diff --git a/packages/bare-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json b/packages/bare-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
index fa51f58d53..428fb9c744 100644
--- a/packages/bare-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/bare-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     "outDir": "lib",
     "declaration": true,
     "declarationMap": true,
-    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./lib/typescript/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
+    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./.cache/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
     "composite": true,
     "allowJs": false,
     "allowUnreachableCode": false,
diff --git a/packages/expo-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json b/packages/expo-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
index fa51f58d53..428fb9c744 100644
--- a/packages/expo-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/expo-resource-fetcher/tsconfig.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     "outDir": "lib",
     "declaration": true,
     "declarationMap": true,
-    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./lib/typescript/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
+    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./.cache/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
     "composite": true,
     "allowJs": false,
     "allowUnreachableCode": false,
diff --git a/packages/react-native-executorch-webrtc/tsconfig.json b/packages/react-native-executorch-webrtc/tsconfig.json
index cadd2509aa..eefcf5b357 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-executorch-webrtc/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/react-native-executorch-webrtc/tsconfig.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     "outDir": "lib",
     "declaration": true,
     "declarationMap": true,
-    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./lib/typescript/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
+    "tsBuildInfoFile": "./.cache/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
     "composite": true,
     "allowJs": false,
     "allowUnreachableCode": false,
diff --git a/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh b/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
index b7994b5d2d..d2ad24a642 100755
--- a/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
+++ b/packages/react-native-executorch/scripts/create-package.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ trap cleanup EXIT
 rm -rf "$PHONEMIS_DIR/data" "$PHONEMIS_DIR/test" "$PHONEMIS_DIR/scripts"
 rm -f "$PHONEMIS_DIR/requirements.txt"
 
-yarn install --immutable
+# The publish workflow installs before calling this script, so it sets
+# RNE_SKIP_INSTALL to avoid a second pass. A local run still installs.
+if [ -z "${RNE_SKIP_INSTALL:-}" ]; then
+  yarn install --immutable
+fi
 
 # Match the version line by pattern, not by line number: `nativeLibsVersion`
 # sits next to it, so a positional edit rewrites the wrong field if either