From 4710e6e53a9dd6e69483d58971339d383a54d525 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "google-labs-jules[bot]"
 <161369871+google-labs-jules[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2026 06:52:53 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?=E2=9A=A1=20Bolt:=20Use=20C-based=20PyYAML=20lo?=
 =?UTF-8?q?aders/dumpers=20for=20performance=20improvement?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Replaced standard `yaml.safe_load`, `yaml.safe_dump`, and `yaml.dump` calls with custom functions from a new `yaml_utils` module. These utilities attempt to load `CSafeLoader`, `CSafeDumper`, and `CDumper` which leverage the `libyaml` C extension for much faster parsing and serialization, falling back gracefully to pure Python implementations if unavailable.

Co-authored-by: M7FX-1 <258925851+M7FX-1@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .jules/bolt.md                                |  3 +++
 src/specify_cli/__init__.py                   | 24 ++++++++++--------
 src/specify_cli/agents.py                     |  5 ++--
 src/specify_cli/extensions.py                 | 22 ++++++++--------
 src/specify_cli/integrations/base.py          | 13 ++++++----
 src/specify_cli/integrations/catalog.py       |  6 +++--
 .../integrations/claude/__init__.py           |  5 ++--
 src/specify_cli/presets.py                    | 20 ++++++++-------
 src/specify_cli/workflows/catalog.py          | 11 ++++----
 src/specify_cli/workflows/engine.py           |  9 +++----
 src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py                 | 25 +++++++++++++++++++
 11 files changed, 90 insertions(+), 53 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .jules/bolt.md
 create mode 100644 src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py

diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f91a80f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+## 2024-05-19 - Fast YAML Loading using C Extensions in PyYAML
+**Learning:** PyYAML's default `safe_load` and `safe_dump` are written in pure Python. When the `libyaml` C library is available, PyYAML provides `CSafeLoader` and `CSafeDumper` which offer significantly faster YAML parsing and serialization. This is a critical performance detail in IO-bound CLI tools that heavily rely on parsing configuration files and manifests (like Spec Kit).
+**Action:** Created `src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py` to transparently select the fastest available YAML loaders and dumpers, gracefully falling back to pure Python if C extensions are unavailable. Always use these custom utility functions over `yaml.safe_load`/`yaml.safe_dump` directly.
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/__init__.py b/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
index 77611128b5..e1a777c57d 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
 import yaml
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load, yaml_dump
+
 from packaging.version import InvalidVersion, Version
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
@@ -3123,7 +3125,7 @@ def preset_catalog_add(
     # Load existing config
     if config_path.exists():
         try:
-            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            config = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except Exception as e:
             console.print(f"[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read {config_path}: {e}")
             raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3151,7 +3153,7 @@ def preset_catalog_add(
     })
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
+    config_path.write_text(yaml_dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     install_label = "install allowed" if install_allowed else "discovery only"
     console.print(f"\n[green]✓[/green] Added catalog '[bold]{name}[/bold]' ({install_label})")
@@ -3179,7 +3181,7 @@ def preset_catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     try:
-        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        config = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
     except Exception:
         console.print("[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read preset catalog config.")
         raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3196,7 +3198,7 @@ def preset_catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
+    config_path.write_text(yaml_dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     console.print(f"[green]✓[/green] Removed catalog '{name}'")
     if not catalogs:
@@ -3465,7 +3467,7 @@ def catalog_add(
     # Load existing config
     if config_path.exists():
         try:
-            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            config = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except Exception as e:
             console.print(f"[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read {config_path}: {e}")
             raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3493,7 +3495,7 @@ def catalog_add(
     })
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
+    config_path.write_text(yaml_dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     install_label = "install allowed" if install_allowed else "discovery only"
     console.print(f"\n[green]✓[/green] Added catalog '[bold]{name}[/bold]' ({install_label})")
@@ -3521,7 +3523,7 @@ def catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     try:
-        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        config = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
     except Exception:
         console.print("[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read catalog config.")
         raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3538,7 +3540,7 @@ def catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
+    config_path.write_text(yaml_dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     console.print(f"[green]✓[/green] Removed catalog '{name}'")
     if not catalogs:
@@ -4282,21 +4284,21 @@ def extension_update(
                     # 6. Validate extension ID from ZIP BEFORE modifying installation
                     # Handle both root-level and nested extension.yml (GitHub auto-generated ZIPs)
                     with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_path, "r") as zf:
-                        import yaml
+                        from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load
                         manifest_data = None
                         namelist = zf.namelist()
 
                         # First try root-level extension.yml
                         if "extension.yml" in namelist:
                             with zf.open("extension.yml") as f:
-                                manifest_data = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+                                manifest_data = yaml_safe_load(f) or {}
                         else:
                             # Look for extension.yml in a single top-level subdirectory
                             # (e.g., "repo-name-branch/extension.yml")
                             manifest_paths = [n for n in namelist if n.endswith("/extension.yml") and n.count("/") == 1]
                             if len(manifest_paths) == 1:
                                 with zf.open(manifest_paths[0]) as f:
-                                    manifest_data = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+                                    manifest_data = yaml_safe_load(f) or {}
 
                         if manifest_data is None:
                             raise ValueError("Downloaded extension archive is missing 'extension.yml'")
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/agents.py b/src/specify_cli/agents.py
index 726b0fd2a6..8d12c88b06 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/agents.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/agents.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import re
 from copy import deepcopy
 import yaml
+from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load, yaml_dump
 
 
 def _build_agent_configs() -> dict[str, Any]:
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ def parse_frontmatter(content: str) -> tuple[dict, str]:
         body = content[end_marker + 3 :].strip()
 
         try:
-            frontmatter = yaml.safe_load(frontmatter_str) or {}
+            frontmatter = yaml_safe_load(frontmatter_str) or {}
         except yaml.YAMLError:
             frontmatter = {}
 
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ def render_frontmatter(fm: dict) -> str:
         if not fm:
             return ""
 
-        yaml_str = yaml.dump(
+        yaml_str = yaml_dump(
             fm, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True
         )
         return f"---\n{yaml_str}---\n"
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/extensions.py b/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
index 26ceab4034..a5bf39e65c 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import yaml
 from packaging import version as pkg_version
+from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load, yaml_safe_dump, yaml_dump
 from packaging.specifiers import SpecifierSet, InvalidSpecifier
 
 _FALLBACK_CORE_COMMAND_NAMES = frozenset({
@@ -140,7 +141,7 @@ def _load_yaml(self, path: Path) -> dict:
         """Load YAML file safely."""
         try:
             with open(path, 'r') as f:
-                data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+                data = yaml_safe_load(f)
         except yaml.YAMLError as e:
             raise ValidationError(f"Invalid YAML in {path}: {e}")
         except FileNotFoundError:
@@ -856,7 +857,6 @@ def _register_extension_skills(
         from . import load_init_options
         from .agents import CommandRegistrar
         from .integrations import get_integration
-        import yaml
 
         written: List[str] = []
         opts = load_init_options(self.project_root)
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ def _register_extension_skills(
                 description,
                 f"extension:{manifest.id}",
             )
-            frontmatter_text = yaml.safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
+            frontmatter_text = yaml_safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
 
             # Derive a human-friendly title from the command name
             short_name = cmd_name
@@ -1004,13 +1004,13 @@ def _unregister_extension_skills(self, skill_names: List[str], extension_id: str
                 if not skill_md.is_file():
                     continue
                 try:
-                    import yaml as _yaml
+                    from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load as _yaml_safe_load
                     raw = skill_md.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
                     source = ""
                     if raw.startswith("---"):
                         parts = raw.split("---", 2)
                         if len(parts) >= 3:
-                            fm = _yaml.safe_load(parts[1]) or {}
+                            fm = _yaml_safe_load(parts[1]) or {}
                             source = (
                                 fm.get("metadata", {}).get("source", "")
                                 if isinstance(fm, dict)
@@ -1055,13 +1055,13 @@ def _unregister_extension_skills(self, skill_names: List[str], extension_id: str
                     if not skill_md.is_file():
                         continue
                     try:
-                        import yaml as _yaml
+                        from .yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load as _yaml_safe_load
                         raw = skill_md.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
                         source = ""
                         if raw.startswith("---"):
                             parts = raw.split("---", 2)
                             if len(parts) >= 3:
-                                fm = _yaml.safe_load(parts[1]) or {}
+                                fm = _yaml_safe_load(parts[1]) or {}
                                 source = (
                                     fm.get("metadata", {}).get("source", "")
                                     if isinstance(fm, dict)
@@ -1557,7 +1557,7 @@ def _load_catalog_config(self, config_path: Path) -> Optional[List[CatalogEntry]
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            data = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as e:
             raise ValidationError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {e}"
@@ -2057,7 +2057,7 @@ def _load_yaml_config(self, file_path: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             return {}
 
         try:
-            return yaml.safe_load(file_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            return yaml_safe_load(file_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError):
             return {}
 
@@ -2301,7 +2301,7 @@ def get_project_config(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             }
 
         try:
-            return yaml.safe_load(self.config_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            return yaml_safe_load(self.config_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError):
             return {
                 "installed": [],
@@ -2317,7 +2317,7 @@ def save_project_config(self, config: Dict[str, Any]):
         """
         self.config_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         self.config_file.write_text(
-            yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True),
+            yaml_dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True),
             encoding="utf-8",
         )
 
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/integrations/base.py b/src/specify_cli/integrations/base.py
index a3d8a42aa2..89347d3ed2 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/integrations/base.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/integrations/base.py
@@ -907,12 +907,13 @@ def _extract_description(content: str) -> str:
         raw text.
         """
         import yaml
+        from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load
 
         frontmatter_text, _ = TomlIntegration._split_frontmatter(content)
         if not frontmatter_text:
             return ""
         try:
-            frontmatter = yaml.safe_load(frontmatter_text) or {}
+            frontmatter = yaml_safe_load(frontmatter_text) or {}
         except yaml.YAMLError:
             return ""
 
@@ -1094,6 +1095,7 @@ def command_filename(self, template_name: str) -> str:
     def _extract_frontmatter(content: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
         """Extract frontmatter as a dict from YAML frontmatter block."""
         import yaml
+        from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load
 
         if not content.startswith("---"):
             return {}
@@ -1113,7 +1115,7 @@ def _extract_frontmatter(content: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
 
         frontmatter_text = "".join(lines[1:frontmatter_end])
         try:
-            fm = yaml.safe_load(frontmatter_text) or {}
+            fm = yaml_safe_load(frontmatter_text) or {}
         except yaml.YAMLError:
             return {}
 
@@ -1162,7 +1164,7 @@ def _render_yaml(title: str, description: str, body: str, source_id: str) -> str
         for the prompt content.  Uses ``yaml.safe_dump()`` for the
         header fields to ensure proper escaping.
         """
-        import yaml
+        from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_dump
 
         header = {
             "version": "1.0.0",
@@ -1173,7 +1175,7 @@ def _render_yaml(title: str, description: str, body: str, source_id: str) -> str
             "activities": ["Spec-Driven Development"],
         }
 
-        header_yaml = yaml.safe_dump(
+        header_yaml = yaml_safe_dump(
             header,
             sort_keys=False,
             allow_unicode=True,
@@ -1343,6 +1345,7 @@ def setup(
         ``name``, ``description``, ``compatibility``, and ``metadata``.
         """
         import yaml
+        from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load
 
         templates = self.list_command_templates()
         if not templates:
@@ -1385,7 +1388,7 @@ def setup(
                 parts = raw.split("---", 2)
                 if len(parts) >= 3:
                     try:
-                        fm = yaml.safe_load(parts[1])
+                        fm = yaml_safe_load(parts[1])
                         if isinstance(fm, dict):
                             frontmatter = fm
                     except yaml.YAMLError:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/integrations/catalog.py b/src/specify_cli/integrations/catalog.py
index 2faa69ae96..15bb7384c2 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/integrations/catalog.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/integrations/catalog.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 import yaml
 from packaging import version as pkg_version
 
+from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load
+
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Errors
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ def _load_catalog_config(
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            data = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as exc:
             raise IntegrationCatalogError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {exc}"
@@ -447,7 +449,7 @@ def __init__(self, descriptor_path: Path) -> None:
     def _load(path: Path) -> dict:
         try:
             with open(path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
-                return yaml.safe_load(fh) or {}
+                return yaml_safe_load(fh) or {}
         except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
             raise IntegrationDescriptorError(f"Invalid YAML in {path}: {exc}")
         except FileNotFoundError:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/integrations/claude/__init__.py b/src/specify_cli/integrations/claude/__init__.py
index 3e39db717e..a5f16909cc 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/integrations/claude/__init__.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/integrations/claude/__init__.py
@@ -7,9 +7,8 @@
 
 import re
 
-import yaml
-
 from ..base import SkillsIntegration
+from ...yaml_utils import yaml_safe_dump
 from ..manifest import IntegrationManifest
 
 # Note injected into hook sections so Claude maps dot-notation command
@@ -112,7 +111,7 @@ def _render_skill(self, template_name: str, frontmatter: dict[str, Any], body: s
         skill_frontmatter = self._build_skill_fm(
             skill_name, description, f"templates/commands/{template_name}.md"
         )
-        frontmatter_text = yaml.safe_dump(skill_frontmatter, sort_keys=False).strip()
+        frontmatter_text = yaml_safe_dump(skill_frontmatter, sort_keys=False).strip()
         return f"---\n{frontmatter_text}\n---\n\n{body.strip()}\n"
 
     def _build_skill_fm(self, name: str, description: str, source: str) -> dict:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/presets.py b/src/specify_cli/presets.py
index ed33f992c3..06a5e1e7d5 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/presets.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/presets.py
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 
 import yaml
 from packaging import version as pkg_version
+
+from specify_cli.yaml_utils import yaml_safe_dump, yaml_safe_load
 from packaging.specifiers import SpecifierSet, InvalidSpecifier
 
 from .extensions import ExtensionRegistry, normalize_priority
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ def _load_yaml(self, path: Path) -> dict:
         """Load YAML file safely."""
         try:
             with open(path, 'r') as f:
-                return yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+                return yaml_safe_load(f) or {}
         except yaml.YAMLError as e:
             raise PresetValidationError(f"Invalid YAML in {path}: {e}")
         except FileNotFoundError:
@@ -1050,7 +1052,7 @@ def _reconcile_skills(self, command_names: List[str]) -> None:
                         skill_name, desc,
                         f"override:{cmd_name}",
                     )
-                    fm_text = yaml.safe_dump(fm_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
+                    fm_text = yaml_safe_dump(fm_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
                     skill_title = self._skill_title_from_command(cmd_name)
                     skill_content = (
                         f"---\n{fm_text}\n---\n\n"
@@ -1322,7 +1324,7 @@ def _register_skills(
                     enhanced_desc,
                     f"preset:{manifest.id}",
                 )
-                frontmatter_text = yaml.safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
+                frontmatter_text = yaml_safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
                 skill_content = (
                     f"---\n"
                     f"{frontmatter_text}\n"
@@ -1415,7 +1417,7 @@ def _unregister_skills(self, skill_names: List[str], preset_dir: Path) -> None:
                     enhanced_desc,
                     f"templates/commands/{short_name}.md",
                 )
-                frontmatter_text = yaml.safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
+                frontmatter_text = yaml_safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
                 skill_title = self._skill_title_from_command(short_name)
                 skill_content = (
                     f"---\n"
@@ -1449,7 +1451,7 @@ def _unregister_skills(self, skill_names: List[str], preset_dir: Path) -> None:
                     frontmatter.get("description", f"Extension command: {command_name}"),
                     extension_restore["source"],
                 )
-                frontmatter_text = yaml.safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
+                frontmatter_text = yaml_safe_dump(frontmatter_data, sort_keys=False).strip()
                 skill_content = (
                     f"---\n"
                     f"{frontmatter_text}\n"
@@ -1848,7 +1850,7 @@ def _load_catalog_config(self, config_path: Path) -> Optional[List[PresetCatalog
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            data = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as e:
             raise PresetValidationError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {e}"
@@ -2753,7 +2755,7 @@ def _find_in_subdirs(base_dir: Path) -> Optional[Path]:
                                         break
                                 if fence_end > 0:
                                     fm_text = "".join(lines[1:fence_end])
-                                    fm_data = yaml.safe_load(fm_text)
+                                    fm_data = yaml_safe_load(fm_text)
                                     if isinstance(fm_data, dict):
                                         fm_strategy = fm_data.get("strategy")
                                         if isinstance(fm_strategy, str) and fm_strategy.lower() in VALID_PRESET_STRATEGIES:
@@ -3042,7 +3044,7 @@ def _parse_fm_yaml(fm_block: str) -> dict:
                 else:
                     yaml_lines = []
                 try:
-                    return yaml.safe_load("\n".join(yaml_lines)) or {}
+                    return yaml_safe_load("\n".join(yaml_lines)) or {}
                 except yaml.YAMLError:
                     return {}
 
@@ -3062,7 +3064,7 @@ def _parse_fm_yaml(fm_block: str) -> dict:
             if top_fm:
                 top_frontmatter_text = (
                     "---\n"
-                    + yaml.safe_dump(top_fm, sort_keys=False).strip()
+                    + yaml_safe_dump(top_fm, sort_keys=False).strip()
                     + "\n---"
                 )
             else:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/workflows/catalog.py b/src/specify_cli/workflows/catalog.py
index da5c60b5c8..82e13a87ca 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/workflows/catalog.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/workflows/catalog.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 import yaml
+from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load, yaml_dump
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ def _load_catalog_config(
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            data = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as exc:
             raise WorkflowValidationError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {exc}"
@@ -468,7 +469,7 @@ def add_catalog(self, url: str, name: str | None = None) -> None:
 
         data: dict[str, Any] = {"catalogs": []}
         if config_path.exists():
-            raw = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            raw = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
             if not isinstance(raw, dict):
                 raise WorkflowValidationError(
                     "Catalog config file is corrupted (expected a mapping)."
@@ -505,7 +506,7 @@ def add_catalog(self, url: str, name: str | None = None) -> None:
 
         config_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         with open(config_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            yaml.dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
+            yaml_dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
 
     def remove_catalog(self, index: int) -> str:
         """Remove a catalog source by index (0-based). Returns the removed name."""
@@ -513,7 +514,7 @@ def remove_catalog(self, index: int) -> str:
         if not config_path.exists():
             raise WorkflowValidationError("No catalog config file found.")
 
-        data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        data = yaml_safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         if not isinstance(data, dict):
             raise WorkflowValidationError(
                 "Catalog config file is corrupted (expected a mapping)."
@@ -533,7 +534,7 @@ def remove_catalog(self, index: int) -> str:
         data["catalogs"] = catalogs
 
         with open(config_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            yaml.dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
+            yaml_dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
 
         if isinstance(removed, dict):
             return removed.get("name", f"catalog-{index + 1}")
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/workflows/engine.py b/src/specify_cli/workflows/engine.py
index d6a73bbeb0..faba10334b 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/workflows/engine.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/workflows/engine.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
-import yaml
+from ..yaml_utils import yaml_safe_load, yaml_safe_dump
 
 from .base import RunStatus, StepContext, StepResult, StepStatus
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def __init__(self, data: dict[str, Any], source_path: Path | None = None) -> Non
     def from_yaml(cls, path: Path) -> WorkflowDefinition:
         """Load a workflow definition from a YAML file."""
         with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+            data = yaml_safe_load(f)
         if not isinstance(data, dict):
             msg = f"Workflow YAML must be a mapping, got {type(data).__name__}."
             raise ValueError(msg)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def from_yaml(cls, path: Path) -> WorkflowDefinition:
     @classmethod
     def from_string(cls, content: str) -> WorkflowDefinition:
         """Load a workflow definition from a YAML string."""
-        data = yaml.safe_load(content)
+        data = yaml_safe_load(content)
         if not isinstance(data, dict):
             msg = f"Workflow YAML must be a mapping, got {type(data).__name__}."
             raise ValueError(msg)
@@ -412,9 +412,8 @@ def execute(
         run_dir = self.project_root / ".specify" / "workflows" / "runs" / state.run_id
         run_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         workflow_copy = run_dir / "workflow.yml"
-        import yaml
         with open(workflow_copy, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            yaml.safe_dump(definition.data, f, sort_keys=False)
+            yaml_safe_dump(definition.data, f, sort_keys=False)
 
         # Resolve inputs
         resolved_inputs = self._resolve_inputs(definition, inputs or {})
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py b/src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a4397c5239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/specify_cli/yaml_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+"""YAML utilities leveraging C-based extensions for better performance."""
+
+import yaml
+from typing import Any, IO
+
+try:
+    from yaml import CSafeLoader as SafeLoader
+    from yaml import CSafeDumper as SafeDumper
+    from yaml import CDumper as Dumper
+except ImportError:
+    from yaml import SafeLoader
+    from yaml import SafeDumper
+    from yaml import Dumper
+
+def yaml_safe_load(stream: str | bytes | IO[str] | IO[bytes]) -> Any:
+    """Safely load YAML data using the fastest available loader."""
+    return yaml.load(stream, Loader=SafeLoader)
+
+def yaml_safe_dump(data: Any, stream: IO[Any] | None = None, **kwargs: Any) -> str | Any:
+    """Safely dump YAML data using the fastest available dumper."""
+    return yaml.dump(data, stream, Dumper=SafeDumper, **kwargs)
+
+def yaml_dump(data: Any, stream: IO[Any] | None = None, **kwargs: Any) -> str | Any:
+    """Dump YAML data using the fastest available dumper."""
+    return yaml.dump(data, stream, Dumper=Dumper, **kwargs)