diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index f16d2e4c..3b499172 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -453,6 +453,21 @@ debug-assertions = true
 [profile.rltoda]
 inherits = "release-lto-debug_assertions"
 
+# A profile tuned for the `oz` CLI tarball. The CLI is shipped over the network
+# and run headlessly, so we trade some compile time and a small amount of
+# runtime perf for a smaller binary by mirroring the size-leaning settings used
+# by `release-wasm`.
+[profile.release-cli]
+inherits = "release-lto"
+opt-level = "s"
+codegen-units = 1
+
+# A custom CLI release-like profile that forces debug assertions on, used for
+# dev/local channel CLI bundles.
+[profile.release-cli-debug_assertions]
+inherits = "release-cli"
+debug-assertions = true
+
 [profile.release-wasm]
 inherits = "release"
 opt-level = "s"
diff --git a/app/src/lib.rs b/app/src/lib.rs
index b65346d9..e110566e 100644
--- a/app/src/lib.rs
+++ b/app/src/lib.rs
@@ -311,7 +311,13 @@ use warpui::{AppContext, SingletonEntity, WindowId};
 #[folder = "assets"]
 #[include = "bundled/**"] // Should be kept in sync with BUNDLED_ASSETS_DIR.
 #[include = "async/**"] // Should be kept in sync with ASYNC_ASSETS_DIR.
-#[cfg_attr(target_family = "wasm", exclude = "async/**")] // Excludes take precedence.
+#[cfg_attr(target_family = "wasm", exclude = "async/**")]
+// Excludes take precedence.
+// Standalone CLI builds (the `oz` tarball) are headless and never render the
+// onboarding/theme imagery in `async/`, so we exclude those bytes from the
+// embedded asset set to keep the CLI binary small — mirroring the carve-out
+// already applied for the WASM target above.
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "standalone", exclude = "async/**")]
 pub struct Assets;
 
 pub static ASSETS: Assets = Assets;
diff --git a/script/linux/bundle b/script/linux/bundle
index b0bb75a7..55261264 100755
--- a/script/linux/bundle
+++ b/script/linux/bundle
@@ -118,9 +118,17 @@ elif [[ $RELEASE_CHANNEL = "local" || $RELEASE_CHANNEL = "dev" ]]; then
   # For dev bundles, we want to enable debug assertions to
   # catch violations that would otherwise silently pass in
   # a normal release build (e.g. in stable).
-  CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto-debug_assertions"
+  if [[ "$ARTIFACT" == "cli" ]]; then
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-cli-debug_assertions"
+  else
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto-debug_assertions"
+  fi
 else
-  CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto"
+  if [[ "$ARTIFACT" == "cli" ]]; then
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-cli"
+  else
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto"
+  fi
 fi
 
 if [[ "$CARGO_PROFILE" == "dev" ]]; then
diff --git a/script/macos/bundle b/script/macos/bundle
index 567f39e7..096bdd7b 100755
--- a/script/macos/bundle
+++ b/script/macos/bundle
@@ -250,9 +250,17 @@ elif [[ $RELEASE_CHANNEL = "local" || $RELEASE_CHANNEL = "dev" ]]; then
   # For dev bundles, we want to enable debug assertions to
   # catch violations that would otherwise silently pass in
   # a normal release build (e.g. in stable).
-  CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto-debug_assertions"
+  if [[ "$ARTIFACT" == "cli" ]]; then
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-cli-debug_assertions"
+  else
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto-debug_assertions"
+  fi
 else
-  CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto"
+  if [[ "$ARTIFACT" == "cli" ]]; then
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-cli"
+  else
+    CARGO_PROFILE="release-lto"
+  fi
 fi
 
 TARGET_PROFILE_DIR="$CARGO_PROFILE"