diff --git a/scripts/dev-benchmark.ts b/scripts/dev-benchmark.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41b33f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev-benchmark.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+const viteArgs = process.argv.slice(2);
+const host = "127.0.0.1";
+const port = 3020;
+const start = performance.now();
+
+const child = Bun.spawn({
+  cmd: ["bun", "run", "dev", "--", "--host", host, "--port", String(port), ...viteArgs],
+  cwd: process.cwd(),
+  stdin: "ignore",
+  stdout: "pipe",
+  stderr: "pipe",
+  env: process.env,
+});
+
+let ready = false;
+let stdout = "";
+let stderr = "";
+
+async function collect(readable: ReadableStream<Uint8Array>, target: "stdout" | "stderr") {
+  const decoder = new TextDecoder();
+
+  for await (const chunk of readable) {
+    const text = decoder.decode(chunk, { stream: true });
+
+    if (target === "stdout") {
+      stdout += text;
+      if (stdout.includes("Local:")) {
+        ready = true;
+      }
+    } else {
+      stderr += text;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const tail = decoder.decode();
+  if (!tail) return;
+
+  if (target === "stdout") {
+    stdout += tail;
+    if (stdout.includes("Local:")) {
+      ready = true;
+    }
+  } else {
+    stderr += tail;
+  }
+}
+
+const stdoutTask = collect(child.stdout, "stdout");
+const stderrTask = collect(child.stderr, "stderr");
+
+async function waitForReady(timeoutMs: number) {
+  const start = performance.now();
+
+  while (!ready) {
+    if (child.exitCode !== null) {
+      throw new Error(`vite dev exited early with code ${child.exitCode}`);
+    }
+    if (performance.now() - start > timeoutMs) {
+      throw new Error("timed out waiting for vite dev");
+    }
+    await Bun.sleep(100);
+  }
+}
+
+async function request(pathname: string) {
+  const requestStart = performance.now();
+  const response = await fetch(`http://${host}:${port}${pathname}`);
+  await response.arrayBuffer();
+
+  return {
+    pathname,
+    status: response.status,
+    ms: Number((performance.now() - requestStart).toFixed(2)),
+  };
+}
+
+function formatDuration(ms: number) {
+  return `${(ms / 1000).toFixed(2)}s`;
+}
+
+function printTable(
+  rows: Array<{
+    step: string;
+    durationMs: number;
+    status: string;
+  }>,
+) {
+  const headers = ["Step", "Duration", "Status"];
+  const body = rows.map((row) => [row.step, formatDuration(row.durationMs), row.status]);
+  const widths = headers.map((header, index) =>
+    Math.max(header.length, ...body.map((row) => row[index].length)),
+  );
+
+  const formatRow = (row: string[]) =>
+    row.map((cell, index) => cell.padEnd(widths[index])).join("  ");
+
+  console.log(formatRow(headers));
+  console.log(widths.map((width) => "-".repeat(width)).join("  "));
+  for (const row of body) {
+    console.log(formatRow(row));
+  }
+}
+
+try {
+  await waitForReady(30_000);
+  const readyMs = Number((performance.now() - start).toFixed(2));
+
+  const docs = await request("/docs/");
+  const totalToDocsMs = Number((performance.now() - start).toFixed(2));
+  const anotherPage = await request("/docs/support/dashboard");
+  const totalMs = Number((performance.now() - start).toFixed(2));
+
+  if (docs.status >= 400 || anotherPage.status >= 400) {
+    console.error("vite dev benchmark hit an error response");
+    if (stdout) console.error(stdout.trim());
+    if (stderr) console.error(stderr.trim());
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+  }
+
+  printTable([
+    { step: "Dev ready", durationMs: readyMs, status: "-" },
+    { step: "First /docs/ request", durationMs: docs.ms, status: String(docs.status) },
+    { step: "Start -> first /docs/", durationMs: totalToDocsMs, status: String(docs.status) },
+    { step: "Second docs page", durationMs: anotherPage.ms, status: String(anotherPage.status) },
+    { step: "Full benchmark", durationMs: totalMs, status: "-" },
+  ]);
+} finally {
+  child.kill("SIGTERM");
+  await child.exited;
+  await stdoutTask;
+  await stderrTask;
+}
diff --git a/source.config.ts b/source.config.ts
index 09371bf..bd2e582 100644
--- a/source.config.ts
+++ b/source.config.ts
@@ -16,13 +16,17 @@ export const docs = defineDocs({
   docs: {
     async: isDevelopment,
     postprocess: {
-      includeProcessedMarkdown: true,
+      includeProcessedMarkdown: !isDevelopment,
     },
   },
 });
 
 export default defineConfig({
   mdxOptions: {
+    // Shiki highlighting is one of the most expensive parts of the MDX pipeline.
+    // Keep it in builds, but skip it in local dev so first-page SSR doesn't have
+    // to highlight hundreds of code-heavy docs up front.
+    rehypeCodeOptions: isDevelopment ? false : undefined,
     remarkPlugins: (existing) => [
       remarkImagePaths,
       remarkLinkPaths,
diff --git a/src/lib/source.ts b/src/lib/source.ts
index 7a0326c..1edc49c 100644
--- a/src/lib/source.ts
+++ b/src/lib/source.ts
@@ -135,7 +135,10 @@ export const source = loader({
 });
 
 export async function getLLMText(page: InferPageType<typeof source>) {
-  const processed = await page.data.getText("processed");
+  // Dev disables processed markdown generation to avoid paying that extra MDX
+  // postprocess cost on the first docs request, so fall back to raw text there.
+  const textType = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? "raw" : "processed";
+  const processed = await page.data.getText(textType);
 
   return `# ${page.data.title}
 
diff --git a/src/routes/api/search.ts b/src/routes/api/search.ts
index f05e315..e6167c4 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/search.ts
+++ b/src/routes/api/search.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,19 @@ import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";
 import { source } from "@/lib/source";
 import { createFromSource } from "fumadocs-core/search/server";
 
-const server = createFromSource(source, { language: "english" });
+let server:
+  | ReturnType<typeof createFromSource>
+  | null = null;
+
+function getServer() {
+  if (server) return server;
+
+  // Building the local Orama index is expensive; keep it off the main dev
+  // startup path and only initialize it when /api/search is actually hit.
+  server = createFromSource(source, { language: "english" });
+
+  return server;
+}
 
 export const Route = createFileRoute("/api/search")({
   server: {
@@ -13,5 +25,5 @@ export const Route = createFileRoute("/api/search")({
 });
 
 export function handleSearchGet(request: Request) {
-  return server.GET(request);
+  return getServer().GET(request);
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/llms[.]mdx.docs.$.ts b/src/routes/llms[.]mdx.docs.$.ts
index 5585807..b947d14 100644
--- a/src/routes/llms[.]mdx.docs.$.ts
+++ b/src/routes/llms[.]mdx.docs.$.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,11 @@ export const Route = createFileRoute("/llms.mdx/docs/$")({
         const slugs = params._splat?.split("/") ?? [];
         const page = source.getPage(slugs);
         if (!page) throw notFound();
+        // Dev disables processed markdown generation to keep the first docs
+        // request fast, so the LLM endpoint serves raw markdown in development.
+        const textType = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? "raw" : "processed";
 
-        return new Response(await page.data.getText("processed"), {
+        return new Response(await page.data.getText(textType), {
           headers: {
             "Content-Type": "text/markdown",
             "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",