diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yaml
index 824a652..1bac1c7 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -25,8 +25,13 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Build & push image
+        # The runner builds on the Pi5 next to live services. BUILD_CPUS caps the
+        # CPU-heavy build tools (Go compiler + esbuild) to 2 of 4 cores so the box
+        # stays responsive; nice/ionice further deprioritise the client-side work.
+        # Slower build, but nginx/NPM and the other containers keep serving.
         run: |
-          docker build --progress=plain \
+          nice -n 19 ionice -c 3 docker build --progress=plain \
+            --build-arg BUILD_CPUS=2 \
             -f docker/Dockerfile \
             -t localhost:5000/archivum:latest \
             -t "localhost:5000/archivum:${GITHUB_SHA::12}" \
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 3b832f6..52d49c1 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
+# CPU budget for the build. The self-hosted runner builds on the Raspberry Pi 5
+# (4 cores) alongside live services, so we cap the CPU-heavy tools (the Go
+# compiler and esbuild — both honour GOMAXPROCS) to leave cores for nginx/NPM
+# and the other containers. Lower = gentler but slower; raise for a faster box.
+ARG BUILD_CPUS=2
+
 # ── Stage 1: Build frontend ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 FROM node:20-alpine AS frontend-builder
+ARG BUILD_CPUS
+# esbuild (used by Vite) is a Go program and respects GOMAXPROCS.
+ENV GOMAXPROCS=${BUILD_CPUS}
 
 WORKDIR /app/frontend
 COPY frontend/package*.json ./
@@ -10,6 +19,9 @@ RUN npm run build
 # ── Stage 2: Build backend ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # Go 1.25 required by the OIDC dependency chain (go-oidc/v3, go-jose/v4).
 FROM golang:1.25-alpine AS backend-builder
+ARG BUILD_CPUS
+# Cap the Go compiler's parallelism to keep the Pi responsive during CI.
+ENV GOMAXPROCS=${BUILD_CPUS}
 
 WORKDIR /app/backend
 # Copy go.mod first for layer caching. go.sum is written by go mod download
@@ -18,8 +30,8 @@ COPY backend/go.mod ./
 COPY backend/go.su[m] ./
 RUN go mod download -x
 COPY backend/ ./
-# CGO disabled — pure Go SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite).
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o /archivum ./cmd/server
+# CGO disabled — pure Go SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite). -p limits parallel builds.
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -p ${BUILD_CPUS} -ldflags="-s -w" -o /archivum ./cmd/server
 
 # ── Stage 3: Runtime image ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 FROM alpine:3.20