diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
index 56330d6..f9e39ac 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
@@ -31,7 +31,24 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout neuron-web
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          fetch-depth: 1
+          fetch-depth: 2
+
+      - name: Detect change type
+        id: changetype
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD 2>/dev/null || git diff --name-only HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+          echo "Changed files:"
+          echo "$CHANGED"
+          # Asset-only: only src/assets/, src/shares/, src/index.html, src/about.html, src/terms.html, src/enterprise-terms.html, src/llms.txt
+          NON_ASSET=$(echo "$CHANGED" | grep -v '^src/assets/' | grep -v '^src/shares/' | grep -v '^src/index\.html' | grep -v '^src/about\.html' | grep -v '^src/terms\.html' | grep -v '^src/enterprise-terms\.html' | grep -v '^src/llms\.txt' | grep -v '^$' || true)
+          if [ -z "$NON_ASSET" ] && [ "$CHANGED" != "unknown" ]; then
+            echo "asset_only=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "=> Asset-only change detected, will use fast path"
+          else
+            echo "asset_only=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "=> Full build required"
+          fi
 
       # foundation/el contains the elc compiler that build-stage.sh shells out
       # to. We clone el directly with git rather than a second
@@ -41,6 +58,7 @@ jobs:
       # workspace so the path build-stage.sh expects (../../foundation/el)
       # resolves correctly.
       - name: Clone el (foundation/el — provides the elc compiler)
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         env:
           CHECKOUT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CHECKOUT_TOKEN }}
         run: |
@@ -75,11 +93,13 @@ jobs:
         run: gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev --quiet
 
       - name: Install C build deps for elc
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update -qq
           sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev
 
       - name: Restore elc binary from GCS cache
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         id: elc-cache
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
@@ -99,7 +119,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Build elc (cache miss only)
-        if: steps.elc-cache.outputs.cache_hit != 'true'
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true' && steps.elc-cache.outputs.cache_hit != 'true'
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           # The committed dist/platform/elc is arm64 from Will's mac. We
@@ -127,6 +147,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "Will build and push: ${IMAGE}"
 
       - name: Build image (build-stage.sh)
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         env:
           EXTRACT_JS: '1'
         run: |
@@ -135,10 +156,38 @@ jobs:
           docker tag "marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}" "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest"
 
       - name: Push image
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only != 'true'
         run: |
           docker push "${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}"
           docker push "us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest"
 
+      - name: Asset-only fast build
+        if: steps.changetype.outputs.asset_only == 'true'
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Pull existing image as base - no El compilation needed
+          LATEST="us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest"
+          docker pull "$LATEST"
+          # Build tiny patch image: just replace the assets layer
+          cat > /tmp/Dockerfile.assets <<'EOF'
+          ARG BASE
+          FROM ${BASE}
+          COPY src/assets /srv/landing/assets
+          COPY src/shares /srv/landing/shares
+          EOF
+          docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 --load \
+            --build-arg BASE="$LATEST" \
+            -f /tmp/Dockerfile.assets \
+            -t "marketing:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}" \
+            -t "$IMAGE" \
+            -t "${LATEST%:*}:latest" \
+            .
+          docker push "$IMAGE"
+          docker push "${LATEST%:*}:latest"
+          echo "Fast asset build complete"
+
       - name: Deploy to all marketing prod regions in parallel
         env:
           IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
diff --git a/build-stage.sh b/build-stage.sh
index f78ecc0..fb2a6fd 100755
--- a/build-stage.sh
+++ b/build-stage.sh
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ sed "${SED_INPLACE[@]}" \
 
 echo "==> Building Docker image marketing:${TAG} for linux/amd64"
 docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 --load \
-    --cache-from type=registry,ref=us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:cache \
-    --cache-to type=registry,ref=us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:cache,mode=max \
+    --build-arg BUILDKIT_INLINE_CACHE=1 \
+    --cache-from us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-marketing/marketing:latest \
     -f Dockerfile.stage \
     -t "marketing:${TAG}" \
     .