diff --git a/packages/cli/index.ts b/packages/cli/index.ts
index 5444fe1b74..a8119ea729 100644
--- a/packages/cli/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/index.ts
@@ -6,66 +6,116 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import { main } from './src/gemini.js';
-import { FatalError, writeToStderr } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
-import { runExitCleanup } from './src/utils/cleanup.js';
-
-// --- Global Entry Point ---
-
-// Suppress known race condition error in node-pty on Windows
-// Tracking bug: https://github.com/microsoft/node-pty/issues/827
-process.on('uncaughtException', (error) => {
-  if (
-    process.platform === 'win32' &&
-    error instanceof Error &&
-    error.message === 'Cannot resize a pty that has already exited'
-  ) {
-    // This error happens on Windows with node-pty when resizing a pty that has just exited.
-    // It is a race condition in node-pty that we cannot prevent, so we silence it.
-    return;
-  }
-
-  // For other errors, we rely on the default behavior, but since we attached a listener,
-  // we must manually replicate it.
-  if (error instanceof Error) {
-    writeToStderr(error.stack + '\n');
-  } else {
-    writeToStderr(String(error) + '\n');
-  }
-  process.exit(1);
-});
-
-main().catch(async (error) => {
-  // Set a timeout to force exit if cleanup hangs
-  const cleanupTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
-    writeToStderr('Cleanup timed out, forcing exit...\n');
-    process.exit(1);
-  }, 5000);
+import module from 'node:module';
 
+// Enable V8 compile cache for faster subsequent startups (Node >= 22)
+// Cast to any because the project's @types/node is v20 which doesn't have this method.
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+if (typeof (module as any).enableCompileCache === 'function') {
   try {
-    await runExitCleanup();
-  } catch (cleanupError) {
-    writeToStderr(
-      `Error during final cleanup: ${cleanupError instanceof Error ? cleanupError.message : String(cleanupError)}\n`,
-    );
-  } finally {
-    clearTimeout(cleanupTimeout);
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    (module as any).enableCompileCache();
+  } catch {
+    // Ignore if not supported or already enabled
   }
+}
 
-  if (error instanceof FatalError) {
-    let errorMessage = error.message;
-    if (!process.env['NO_COLOR']) {
-      errorMessage = `\x1b[31m${errorMessage}\x1b[0m`;
-    }
-    writeToStderr(errorMessage + '\n');
-    process.exit(error.exitCode);
-  }
+// --- Fast Path Intercept ---
+// To achieve sub-100ms startup time for simple commands, we intercept them
+// before statically importing the massive `gemini.js` chunk which takes ~400ms to parse.
+const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+if (args.length === 1 && (args[0] === '--version' || args[0] === '-v')) {
+  import('node:fs').then((fs) => {
+    import('node:path').then((path) => {
+      import('node:url').then((url) => {
+        const __filename = url.fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+        const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename);
+        let pkgPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'package.json');
+        if (!fs.existsSync(pkgPath)) {
+          // production path in bundle
+          pkgPath = path.join(__dirname, 'package.json');
+        }
+        if (fs.existsSync(pkgPath)) {
+          const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath, 'utf8'));
+          console.log(pkg.version);
+        }
+        process.exit(0);
+      });
+    });
+  });
+} else if (args.length === 1 && (args[0] === '--help' || args[0] === '-h')) {
+  import('./src/config/config.js').then(({ parseArguments }) => {
+    import('./src/config/settings.js').then(({ loadSettings }) => {
+      Promise.resolve(loadSettings()).then((settings) => {
+        parseArguments(settings.merged).catch(() => process.exit(0));
+      });
+    });
+  });
+} else {
+  // Load the full CLI for all other commands
+  import('./src/gemini.js').then(({ main }) => {
+    import('@google/gemini-cli-core').then(({ FatalError, writeToStderr }) => {
+      import('./src/utils/cleanup.js').then(({ runExitCleanup }) => {
+        // --- Global Entry Point ---
 
-  writeToStderr('An unexpected critical error occurred:');
-  if (error instanceof Error) {
-    writeToStderr(error.stack + '\n');
-  } else {
-    writeToStderr(String(error) + '\n');
-  }
-  process.exit(1);
-});
+        // Suppress known race condition error in node-pty on Windows
+        // Tracking bug: https://github.com/microsoft/node-pty/issues/827
+        process.on('uncaughtException', (error) => {
+          if (
+            process.platform === 'win32' &&
+            error instanceof Error &&
+            error.message === 'Cannot resize a pty that has already exited'
+          ) {
+            // This error happens on Windows with node-pty when resizing a pty that has just exited.
+            // It is a race condition in node-pty that we cannot prevent, so we silence it.
+            return;
+          }
+
+          // For other errors, we rely on the default behavior, but since we attached a listener,
+          // we must manually replicate it.
+          if (error instanceof Error) {
+            writeToStderr(error.stack + '\n');
+          } else {
+            writeToStderr(String(error) + '\n');
+          }
+          process.exit(1);
+        });
+
+        main().catch(async (error) => {
+          // Set a timeout to force exit if cleanup hangs
+          const cleanupTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
+            writeToStderr('Cleanup timed out, forcing exit...\n');
+            process.exit(1);
+          }, 5000);
+
+          try {
+            await runExitCleanup();
+          } catch (cleanupError) {
+            writeToStderr(
+              `Error during final cleanup: ${cleanupError instanceof Error ? cleanupError.message : String(cleanupError)}\n`,
+            );
+          } finally {
+            clearTimeout(cleanupTimeout);
+          }
+
+          if (error instanceof FatalError) {
+            let errorMessage = error.message;
+            if (!process.env['NO_COLOR']) {
+              errorMessage = `\x1b[31m${errorMessage}\x1b[0m`;
+            }
+            writeToStderr(errorMessage + '\n');
+            process.exit(error.exitCode);
+          }
+
+          writeToStderr('An unexpected critical error occurred:');
+          if (error instanceof Error) {
+            writeToStderr(error.stack + '\n');
+          } else {
+            writeToStderr(String(error) + '\n');
+          }
+          process.exit(1);
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
+}