diff --git a/.clang-format b/.clang-format
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e0c9e095
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.clang-format
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+Language:        Cpp
+BasedOnStyle:    LLVM
+
+# 4 spaces everywhere
+IndentWidth:     4
+TabWidth:        4
+UseTab:          Never
+ContinuationIndentWidth: 4
+
+# Modern C++ style
+Standard:        c++20
+ColumnLimit:     120
+PointerAlignment: Left
+
+# Organize includes
+SortIncludes:    true
+IncludeBlocks:   Regroup
diff --git a/.clangd b/.clangd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e1f5bf28a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.clangd
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+If:
+  PathMatch: (^|.*/)crates/bender-slang/cpp/.*\.(h|hpp|hh|c|cc|cpp|cxx)$
+CompileFlags:
+  Add:
+    - -std=c++20
+    - -fno-cxx-modules
+    - -I.
+    - -I../../../crates
+    - -I../vendor/slang/include
+    - -I../vendor/slang/external
+    - -I../../../target/slang-generated-include
+    - -I../../../target/cxxbridge
+    - -DSLANG_USE_MIMALLOC=1
+    - -DSLANG_USE_THREADS=1
+    - -DSLANG_BOOST_SINGLE_HEADER=1
diff --git a/.github/scripts/gen_dockerfile.sh b/.github/scripts/gen_dockerfile.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 512e9700e..000000000
--- a/.github/scripts/gen_dockerfile.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-export filename="Dockerfile"
-rm -f $filename
-touch $filename
-
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "rhel" ]; then
-  export maj_version=$(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2)
-  export full_tgtname=redhat/ubi$(echo $maj_version | cut -d '.' -f 1):$(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2)
-  if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2 | cut -d '.' -f 1) = '9' ]; then
-    if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2 | cut -d '.' -f 2) = '0' ]; then
-      export full_tgtname=$full_tgtname.0
-    fi
-    if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2 | cut -d '.' -f 2) = '1' ]; then
-      export full_tgtname=$full_tgtname.0
-    fi
-  fi
-fi
-
-echo "FROM $full_tgtname" >> $filename
-echo >> $filename
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "centos" ]; then
-  echo "RUN sed -i s/mirror.centos.org/vault.centos.org/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> $filename
-  echo "RUN sed -i s/^#.*baseurl=http/baseurl=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> $filename
-  echo "RUN sed -i s/^mirrorlist=http/#mirrorlist=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> $filename
-
-  echo "RUN sed -i 's/mirrorlist/#mirrorlist/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> $filename
-  echo "RUN sed -i 's|#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org|baseurl=http://vault.centos.org|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> $filename
-  echo 'RUN yum group install "Development Tools" -y && yum clean all' >> $filename
-fi
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "ubuntu" ]; then
-  echo 'RUN apt update && apt -y install build-essential curl' >> $filename
-fi
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "fedora" ]; then
-  echo 'RUN dnf -y update && dnf -y install @development-tools' >> $filename
-fi
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "debian" ]; then
-  echo 'RUN apt update && apt -y install build-essential curl gcc make' >> $filename
-fi
-if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) = "almalinux" ]; then
-  if [ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 2 | cut -d '.' -f 1) = '8' ]; then
-    echo 'RUN rpm --import https://repo.almalinux.org/almalinux/RPM-GPG-KEY-AlmaLinux' >> $filename
-  fi
-  echo 'RUN dnf -y update && dnf -y group install "Development Tools"' >> $filename
-fi
-if [[ $(echo $full_tgtname | cut -d ':' -f 1) == "redhat"* ]]; then
-  echo 'RUN dnf -y install gcc' >> $filename
-fi
-echo >> $filename
-echo 'ENV RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo' >> $filename
-echo 'ENV PATH=$CARGO_HOME/bin:$PATH' >> $filename
-echo >> $filename
-echo 'RUN mkdir -p "$CARGO_HOME" && mkdir -p "$RUSTUP_HOME" && \' >> $filename
-echo '    curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable && \' >> $filename
-echo '    chmod -R a=rwX $CARGO_HOME' >> $filename
-echo >> $filename
-echo 'WORKDIR /source' >> $filename
-
diff --git a/.github/scripts/package.sh b/.github/scripts/package.sh
index ed3ab3b9d..6d966396b 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/package.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/package.sh
@@ -1,39 +1,58 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-# This script expects two optional arguments:
-# 1. The target architecture (e.g., x86_64, aarch64)
-# 2. The target OS (e.g., linux, windows, macos)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+usage() {
+    cat >&2 <<'EOF'
+usage: .github/scripts/package.sh <artifact-target> <binary-path> [flavor]
+
+Examples:
+  .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-linux-gnu target/release/bender
+  .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu target/release/bender slang
+  .github/scripts/package.sh universal-apple-darwin target/universal2-apple-darwin/release/bender slang
+  .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-pc-windows-msvc target/release/bender.exe slang
+EOF
+}
+
+if [ "$#" -lt 2 ] || [ "$#" -gt 3 ]; then
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+artifact_target="$1"
+binary_path="$2"
+flavor="${3:-}"
 
 if [[ "$GITHUB_REF" =~ ^refs/tags/v.*$ ]]; then
-    pkgver="$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\/v//p')"
+    pkgver="$(echo "$GITHUB_REF" | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\/v//p')"
 else
-    pkgver="$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\///p')"
+    pkgver="$(echo "$GITHUB_REF" | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\///p')"
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$pkgver" ]; then
     pkgver="latest"
 fi
 
-if [ -z "$2" ] && [ -z "$1" ]; then # no arguments
-    release_dir="target/release"
-    tar_suffix=""
-    tar_prefix="-x86_64"
-elif [ -n "$1" ] && [ -z "$2" ]; then # only first argument
-    release_dir="target/$1/release"
-    tar_suffix=""
-    tar_prefix="-$1"
-elif [ -n "$2" ] && [ -n "$1" ]; then # both arguments
-    release_dir="target/$1/$2/release"
-    tar_suffix="-$2"
-    tar_prefix="-$1"
+if [ ! -f "$binary_path" ]; then
+    echo "error: binary '$binary_path' not found" >&2
+    exit 1
 fi
 
-# WIESEP: Change amd64 to x86_64 to keep release names compatible with previous releases
-if [ "$tar_prefix" == "-amd64" ]; then
-    tar_prefix="-x86_64"
+if [ -n "$flavor" ]; then
+    flavor_suffix="+$flavor"
+else
+    flavor_suffix=""
+fi
+
+artifact_name="bender-$pkgver-$artifact_target$flavor_suffix.tar.gz"
+bin_dir="$(dirname "$binary_path")"
+bin_name="$(basename "$binary_path")"
+
+if command -v gtar >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    tar_cmd="gtar"
+else
+    tar_cmd="tar"
 fi
 
-tar -czf "bender-$pkgver$tar_prefix-linux-gnu$tar_suffix.tar.gz" \
-        -C "./$release_dir" \
-        --owner=0 --group=0 \
-        bender
+"$tar_cmd" -czf "$artifact_name" -C "$bin_dir" --owner=0 --group=0 "$bin_name"
+echo "Created $artifact_name"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 4420a4f4e..ae2ea81d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ on:
   push:
     branches: [master]
   pull_request:
-    branches: [master]
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
 jobs:
   test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -26,13 +29,14 @@ jobs:
       - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
         with:
           toolchain: ${{ matrix.rust}}
-          components: rustfmt
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-test-${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.rust }}
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
       - name: Build
         run: cargo build --all-features
       - name: Cargo Test
         run: cargo test --workspace --all-features
-      - name: Format (fix with `cargo fmt`)
-        run: cargo fmt -- --check
       - name: Run unit-tests
         run: tests/run_all.sh
         shell: bash
@@ -46,6 +50,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
         with:
           toolchain: stable
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-test-windows-${{ runner.os }}-stable
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
       - name: Build
         run: cargo build --all-features
       - name: Cargo Test
@@ -63,6 +71,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
         with:
           toolchain: stable
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-test-macos-${{ runner.os }}-stable
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
       - name: Build
         run: cargo build --all-features
       - name: Cargo Test
@@ -71,6 +83,30 @@ jobs:
         run: tests/run_all.sh
         shell: bash
 
+  release-build:
+    name: Release Build (${{ matrix.os }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        os:
+          - ubuntu-latest
+          - windows-latest
+          - macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-release-build-${{ runner.os }}-stable
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
+      - name: Build (release)
+        run: cargo build --release --all-features
+
   clippy_check:
     name: Clippy
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -82,6 +118,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           toolchain: stable
           components: clippy
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-clippy-${{ runner.os }}-stable
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
       - run: cargo clippy --all-features
 
   unused-deps:
@@ -92,6 +132,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
         with:
           toolchain: stable
+      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
+        with:
+          shared-key: ci-unused-deps-${{ runner.os }}-stable
+          cache-workspace-crates: "true"
       - name: Install machete
         run: cargo install cargo-machete
       - name: Check for unused dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cli_regression.yml b/.github/workflows/cli_regression.yml
index bfdcf9bd7..71b5780a8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cli_regression.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cli_regression.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ on:
   pull_request:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
 jobs:
   test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dist.yml b/.github/workflows/dist.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..933abbc29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/dist.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+name: dist
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - "Cargo.toml"
+      - "Cargo.lock"
+      - "src/**"
+      - "crates/**"
+      - ".github/workflows/dist.yml"
+
+jobs:
+  plan:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
+      - name: Install cargo-dist
+        run: |
+          curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 --tls-max 1.2 -LsSf \
+            https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.31.0/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh
+      - name: Show cargo-dist version
+        run: cargo dist --version
+      - name: Plan release
+        run: cargo dist plan
diff --git a/.github/workflows/formatting.yml b/.github/workflows/formatting.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f81cf6392
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/formatting.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+name: formatting
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [master]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [master]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  rustfmt:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
+          components: rustfmt
+      - name: Check Rust formatting
+        run: cargo fmt -- --check
+
+  clang-format:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Check C/C++ formatting
+        uses: DoozyX/clang-format-lint-action@v0.18
+        with:
+          source: "."
+          extensions: "h,hpp,c,cc,cpp,cxx"
+          exclude: "./crates/bender-slang/vendor"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 2df026bd0..8acd61590 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -4,294 +4,181 @@ on:
   release:
     types: [created]
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      publish_assets:
+        description: "Upload release assets"
+        required: false
+        default: false
+        type: boolean
 
 jobs:
-  release_amd64:
+  release-linux-compat-amd64:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        rust:
-          - stable
-        os:
-          - centos:7.4.1708
-          - centos:7.6.1810
-          - centos:7.7.1908
-          - centos:7.8.2003
-          - centos:7.9.2009
-          - ubuntu:18.04
-          - ubuntu:20.04
-          - ubuntu:22.04
-          - ubuntu:24.04
-          - fedora:42
-          - fedora:43
-          - debian:11
-          - debian:12
-          - debian:13
-          - rhel:8.6
-          - rhel:8.7
-          - rhel:8.8
-          - rhel:8.9
-          - rhel:8.10
-          - rhel:9.0
-          - rhel:9.1
-          - rhel:9.2
-          - rhel:9.3
-          - rhel:9.4
-          - rhel:9.5
-          - rhel:9.6
-          - rhel:9.7
-          - rhel:10.0
-          - rhel:10.1
-          - almalinux:8.6
-          - almalinux:8.7
-          - almalinux:8.8
-          - almalinux:8.9
-          - almalinux:8.10
-          - almalinux:9.0
-          - almalinux:9.1
-          - almalinux:9.2
-          - almalinux:9.3
-          - almalinux:9.4
-          - almalinux:9.5
-          - almalinux:9.6
-          - almalinux:9.7
-          - almalinux:10.0
-          - almalinux:10.1
-        platform:
-          - linux/amd64
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: OS Build
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Build (old-glibc baseline)
         run: |
-          export full_tgtname=${{ matrix.os }}
-          export tgtname=$(echo ${{ matrix.os }} | tr -d ':')
-          export full_platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
-          export platform=$(echo ${{ matrix.platform }} | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}')
-          .github/scripts/gen_dockerfile.sh
-          docker build ./ -t $tgtname-$platform --platform $full_platform
           docker run \
             -t --rm \
             -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE:/source" \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/$platform/$tgtname:/source/target" \
-            --platform $full_platform \
-            $tgtname-$platform \
-            cargo build --release --all-features;
-        shell: bash
-      - name: OS Create Package
-        run: |
-          export tgtname=$(echo ${{ matrix.os }} | tr -d ':')
-          export platform=$(echo ${{ matrix.platform }} | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}')
-          .github/scripts/package.sh $platform $tgtname;
+            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/amd64:/source/target" \
+            --platform linux/amd64 \
+            quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_x86_64 \
+            /bin/bash -lc '
+              set -euo pipefail
+              export RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo
+              export PATH=$CARGO_HOME/bin:$PATH
+              mkdir -p "$CARGO_HOME" "$RUSTUP_HOME"
+              curl -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable
+              cd /source
+              cargo build --release
+            '
+      - name: Create Package
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-linux-gnu target/amd64/release/bender
         shell: bash
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-  release_arm64:
+
+  release-linux-compat-arm64:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        rust:
-          - stable
-        os:
-          - ubuntu:18.04
-          - ubuntu:20.04
-          - ubuntu:22.04
-          - ubuntu:24.04
-        platform:
-          - linux/arm64
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: OS Build
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Build (old-glibc baseline)
         run: |
-          export full_tgtname=${{ matrix.os }}
-          export tgtname=$(echo ${{ matrix.os }} | tr -d ':')
-          export full_platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
-          export platform=$(echo ${{ matrix.platform }} | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}')
-          .github/scripts/gen_dockerfile.sh
-          docker build ./ -t $tgtname-$platform --platform $full_platform
           docker run \
             -t --rm \
             -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE:/source" \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/$platform/$tgtname:/source/target" \
-            --platform $full_platform \
-            $tgtname-$platform \
-            cargo build --release --all-features;
-        shell: bash
-      - name: OS Create Package
-        run: |
-          export tgtname=$(echo ${{ matrix.os }} | tr -d ':')
-          export platform=$(echo ${{ matrix.platform }} | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}')
-          .github/scripts/package.sh $platform $tgtname;
+            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/arm64:/source/target" \
+            --platform linux/arm64 \
+            quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_aarch64 \
+            /bin/bash -lc '
+              set -euo pipefail
+              export RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo
+              export PATH=$CARGO_HOME/bin:$PATH
+              mkdir -p "$CARGO_HOME" "$RUSTUP_HOME"
+              curl -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable
+              cd /source
+              cargo build --release
+            '
+      - name: Create Package
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh arm64-linux-gnu target/arm64/release/bender
         shell: bash
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-arm64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-  release-gnu_amd64:
+
+  release-linux-modern-amd64:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Use container that supports old GLIBC versions and (hopefully) many linux OSs
-    # container: quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_x86_64
+    container:
+      image: quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_28_x86_64
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Setup Dockerfile
-        run: |
-          touch Dockerfile
-          echo "FROM quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_x86_64" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/mirror.centos.org/vault.centos.org/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/^#.*baseurl=http/baseurl=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/^mirrorlist=http/#mirrorlist=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-
-          echo "RUN sed -i 's/mirrorlist/#mirrorlist/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i 's|#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org|baseurl=http://vault.centos.org|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN yum group install "Development Tools" -y && yum clean all" >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'ENV RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo' >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'ENV PATH=$CARGO_HOME/bin:$PATH' >> Dockerfile
-          echo >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'RUN mkdir -p "$CARGO_HOME" && mkdir -p "$RUSTUP_HOME" && \' >> Dockerfile
-          echo '    curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable && \' >> Dockerfile
-          echo '    chmod -R a=rwX $CARGO_HOME' >> Dockerfile
-          echo >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'WORKDIR /source' >> Dockerfile
-      - name: OS build
-        run: |
-          docker build ./ -t manylinux-amd64 --platform linux/amd64
-          docker run \
-            -t --rm \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE:/source" \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/amd64:/source/target" \
-            --platform linux/amd64 \
-            manylinux-amd64 \
-            cargo build --release --all-features;
-      - name: GNU Create Package
-        run: .github/scripts/package.sh amd64
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
+      - name: Build (all features, manylinux_2_28)
+        run: cargo build --release --all-features
+      - name: Create Package
         shell: bash
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu target/release/bender slang
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu+slang.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-  release-gnu_arm64:
+
+  release-linux-modern-arm64:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
-    # Use container that supports old GLIBC versions and (hopefully) many linux OSs
-    # container: quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_aarch64
+    container:
+      image: quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_28_aarch64
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Setup Dockerfile
-        run: |
-          touch Dockerfile
-          echo "FROM quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_aarch64" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/mirror.centos.org/vault.centos.org/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/^#.*baseurl=http/baseurl=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i s/^mirrorlist=http/#mirrorlist=http/g /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo" >> Dockerfile
-
-          echo "RUN sed -i 's/mirrorlist/#mirrorlist/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN sed -i 's|#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org|baseurl=http://vault.centos.org|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*" >> Dockerfile
-          echo "RUN yum group install "Development Tools" -y && yum clean all" >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'ENV RUSTUP_HOME=/usr/local/rustup CARGO_HOME=/usr/local/cargo' >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'ENV PATH=$CARGO_HOME/bin:$PATH' >> Dockerfile
-          echo >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'RUN mkdir -p "$CARGO_HOME" && mkdir -p "$RUSTUP_HOME" && \' >> Dockerfile
-          echo '    curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable && \' >> Dockerfile
-          echo '    chmod -R a=rwX $CARGO_HOME' >> Dockerfile
-          echo >> Dockerfile
-          echo 'WORKDIR /source' >> Dockerfile
-      - name: OS build
-        run: |
-          docker build ./ -t manylinux-arm64 --platform linux/arm64
-          docker run \
-            -t --rm \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE:/source" \
-            -v "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/target/arm64:/source/target" \
-            --platform linux/arm64 \
-            manylinux-arm64 \
-            cargo build --release --all-features;
-      - name: GNU Create Package
-        run: .github/scripts/package.sh arm64
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
+      - name: Build (all features, manylinux_2_28)
+        run: cargo build --release --all-features
+      - name: Create Package
         shell: bash
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu target/release/bender slang
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu+slang.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
   release-macos:
     runs-on: macos-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Install Rust
-        run: |
-          curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable
-          echo "${CARGO_HOME:-$HOME/.cargo}/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+        with:
+          toolchain: stable
       - name: universal2 install
         run: |
           rustup target add x86_64-apple-darwin
           rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
           cargo install universal2
-      - name: MacOS Build
+      - name: Build (all features)
         run: cargo-universal2 --release --all-features
-      - name: Get Artifact Name
-        run: |
-          if [[ "$GITHUB_REF" =~ ^refs/tags/v.*$ ]]; then \
-            PKG_VERSION=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\/v//p'); \
-          else \
-            PKG_VERSION=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\///p'); \
-          fi
-          ARTIFACT_PATHNAME="bender-$PKG_VERSION-universal-apple-darwin.tar.gz"
-          ARTIFACT_NAME=$(basename $ARTIFACT_PATHNAME)
-          echo "ARTIFACT_NAME=${ARTIFACT_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "ARTIFACT_PATHNAME=${ARTIFACT_PATHNAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
       - name: Create Package
-        run: |
-          gtar -czf $ARTIFACT_PATHNAME -C "./target/universal2-apple-darwin/release" --owner=0 --group=0 bender
+        shell: bash
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh universal-apple-darwin target/universal2-apple-darwin/release/bender slang
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-universal-apple-darwin+slang.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
   release-windows:
     runs-on: windows-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Install Rust
-        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
         with:
           toolchain: stable
-      - name: Build
-        run: cargo build --release
-      - name: Get Artifact Name
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          if [[ "$GITHUB_REF" =~ ^refs/tags/v.*$ ]]; then \
-            PKG_VERSION=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\/v//p'); \
-          else \
-            PKG_VERSION=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | sed -n 's/^refs\/tags\///p'); \
-          fi
-          ARTIFACT_PATHNAME="bender-$PKG_VERSION-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.tar.gz"
-          ARTIFACT_NAME=$(basename $ARTIFACT_PATHNAME)
-          echo "ARTIFACT_NAME=${ARTIFACT_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "ARTIFACT_PATHNAME=${ARTIFACT_PATHNAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+      - name: Build (all features)
+        run: cargo build --release --all-features
       - name: Create Package
-        run: |
-          cp target/release/bender.exe .
-          & 'C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\tar.exe' czf $Env:ARTIFACT_PATHNAME --owner=0 --group=0 bender.exe
+        shell: bash
+        run: .github/scripts/package.sh x86_64-pc-windows-msvc target/release/bender.exe slang
       - name: Upload Release Asset
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.publish_assets }}
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
-          files: bender-*.tar.gz
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.ref_name }}
+          files: bender-*-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc+slang.tar.gz
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b6dafa14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,297 @@
+# This file was autogenerated by dist: https://axodotdev.github.io/cargo-dist
+#
+# Copyright 2022-2024, axodotdev
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT or Apache-2.0
+#
+# CI that:
+#
+# * checks for a Git Tag that looks like a release
+# * builds artifacts with dist (archives, installers, hashes)
+# * uploads those artifacts to temporary workflow zip
+# * on success, uploads the artifacts to a GitHub Release
+#
+# Note that the GitHub Release will be created with a generated
+# title/body based on your changelogs.
+
+name: Release
+permissions:
+  "contents": "write"
+
+# This task will run whenever you push a git tag that looks like a version
+# like "1.0.0", "v0.1.0-prerelease.1", "my-app/0.1.0", "releases/v1.0.0", etc.
+# Various formats will be parsed into a VERSION and an optional PACKAGE_NAME, where
+# PACKAGE_NAME must be the name of a Cargo package in your workspace, and VERSION
+# must be a Cargo-style SemVer Version (must have at least major.minor.patch).
+#
+# If PACKAGE_NAME is specified, then the announcement will be for that
+# package (erroring out if it doesn't have the given version or isn't dist-able).
+#
+# If PACKAGE_NAME isn't specified, then the announcement will be for all
+# (dist-able) packages in the workspace with that version (this mode is
+# intended for workspaces with only one dist-able package, or with all dist-able
+# packages versioned/released in lockstep).
+#
+# If you push multiple tags at once, separate instances of this workflow will
+# spin up, creating an independent announcement for each one. However, GitHub
+# will hard limit this to 3 tags per commit, as it will assume more tags is a
+# mistake.
+#
+# If there's a prerelease-style suffix to the version, then the release(s)
+# will be marked as a prerelease.
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - '**[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+*'
+
+jobs:
+  # Run 'dist plan' (or host) to determine what tasks we need to do
+  plan:
+    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    outputs:
+      val: ${{ steps.plan.outputs.manifest }}
+      tag: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name || '' }}
+      tag-flag: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && format('--tag={0}', github.ref_name) || '' }}
+      publishing: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Install dist
+        # we specify bash to get pipefail; it guards against the `curl` command
+        # failing. otherwise `sh` won't catch that `curl` returned non-0
+        shell: bash
+        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.31.0/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
+      - name: Cache dist
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/dist
+      # sure would be cool if github gave us proper conditionals...
+      # so here's a doubly-nested ternary-via-truthiness to try to provide the best possible
+      # functionality based on whether this is a pull_request, and whether it's from a fork.
+      # (PRs run on the *source* but secrets are usually on the *target* -- that's *good*
+      # but also really annoying to build CI around when it needs secrets to work right.)
+      - id: plan
+        run: |
+          dist ${{ (github.event_name == 'push' && format('host --steps=create --tag={0}', github.ref_name)) || 'plan' }} --output-format=json > plan-dist-manifest.json
+          echo "dist ran successfully"
+          cat plan-dist-manifest.json
+          echo "manifest=$(jq -c "." plan-dist-manifest.json)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      - name: "Upload dist-manifest.json"
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: artifacts-plan-dist-manifest
+          path: plan-dist-manifest.json
+
+  # Build and packages all the platform-specific things
+  build-local-artifacts:
+    name: build-local-artifacts (${{ join(matrix.targets, ', ') }})
+    # Let the initial task tell us to not run (currently very blunt)
+    needs:
+      - plan
+    if: ${{ fromJson(needs.plan.outputs.val).ci.github.artifacts_matrix.include != null && (needs.plan.outputs.publishing == 'true' || fromJson(needs.plan.outputs.val).ci.github.pr_run_mode == 'upload') }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      # Target platforms/runners are computed by dist in create-release.
+      # Each member of the matrix has the following arguments:
+      #
+      # - runner: the github runner
+      # - dist-args: cli flags to pass to dist
+      # - install-dist: expression to run to install dist on the runner
+      #
+      # Typically there will be:
+      # - 1 "global" task that builds universal installers
+      # - N "local" tasks that build each platform's binaries and platform-specific installers
+      matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.plan.outputs.val).ci.github.artifacts_matrix }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    container: ${{ matrix.container && matrix.container.image || null }}
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME: target/distrib/${{ join(matrix.targets, '-') }}-dist-manifest.json
+    steps:
+      - name: enable windows longpaths
+        run: |
+          git config --global core.longpaths true
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Install Rust non-interactively if not already installed
+        if: ${{ matrix.container }}
+        run: |
+          if ! command -v cargo > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
+            echo "$HOME/.cargo/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+          fi
+      - name: Install dist
+        run: ${{ matrix.install_dist.run }}
+      # Get the dist-manifest
+      - name: Fetch local artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          pattern: artifacts-*
+          path: target/distrib/
+          merge-multiple: true
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          ${{ matrix.packages_install }}
+      - name: Build artifacts
+        run: |
+          # Actually do builds and make zips and whatnot
+          dist build ${{ needs.plan.outputs.tag-flag }} --print=linkage --output-format=json ${{ matrix.dist_args }} > dist-manifest.json
+          echo "dist ran successfully"
+      - id: cargo-dist
+        name: Post-build
+        # We force bash here just because github makes it really hard to get values up
+        # to "real" actions without writing to env-vars, and writing to env-vars has
+        # inconsistent syntax between shell and powershell.
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Parse out what we just built and upload it to scratch storage
+          echo "paths<<EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          dist print-upload-files-from-manifest --manifest dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+          cp dist-manifest.json "$BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME"
+      - name: "Upload artifacts"
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: artifacts-build-local-${{ join(matrix.targets, '_') }}
+          path: |
+            ${{ steps.cargo-dist.outputs.paths }}
+            ${{ env.BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME }}
+
+  # Build and package all the platform-agnostic(ish) things
+  build-global-artifacts:
+    needs:
+      - plan
+      - build-local-artifacts
+    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME: target/distrib/global-dist-manifest.json
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Install cached dist
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/
+      - run: chmod +x ~/.cargo/bin/dist
+      # Get all the local artifacts for the global tasks to use (for e.g. checksums)
+      - name: Fetch local artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          pattern: artifacts-*
+          path: target/distrib/
+          merge-multiple: true
+      - id: cargo-dist
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          dist build ${{ needs.plan.outputs.tag-flag }} --output-format=json "--artifacts=global" > dist-manifest.json
+          echo "dist ran successfully"
+
+          # Parse out what we just built and upload it to scratch storage
+          echo "paths<<EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          jq --raw-output ".upload_files[]" dist-manifest.json >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "EOF" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+          cp dist-manifest.json "$BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME"
+      - name: "Upload artifacts"
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: artifacts-build-global
+          path: |
+            ${{ steps.cargo-dist.outputs.paths }}
+            ${{ env.BUILD_MANIFEST_NAME }}
+  # Determines if we should publish/announce
+  host:
+    needs:
+      - plan
+      - build-local-artifacts
+      - build-global-artifacts
+    # Only run if we're "publishing", and only if plan, local and global didn't fail (skipped is fine)
+    if: ${{ always() && needs.plan.result == 'success' && needs.plan.outputs.publishing == 'true' && (needs.build-global-artifacts.result == 'skipped' || needs.build-global-artifacts.result == 'success') && (needs.build-local-artifacts.result == 'skipped' || needs.build-local-artifacts.result == 'success') }}
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    outputs:
+      val: ${{ steps.host.outputs.manifest }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          submodules: recursive
+      - name: Install cached dist
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: cargo-dist-cache
+          path: ~/.cargo/bin/
+      - run: chmod +x ~/.cargo/bin/dist
+      # Fetch artifacts from scratch-storage
+      - name: Fetch artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          pattern: artifacts-*
+          path: target/distrib/
+          merge-multiple: true
+      - id: host
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          dist host ${{ needs.plan.outputs.tag-flag }} --steps=upload --steps=release --output-format=json > dist-manifest.json
+          echo "artifacts uploaded and released successfully"
+          cat dist-manifest.json
+          echo "manifest=$(jq -c "." dist-manifest.json)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      - name: "Upload dist-manifest.json"
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          # Overwrite the previous copy
+          name: artifacts-dist-manifest
+          path: dist-manifest.json
+      # Create a GitHub Release while uploading all files to it
+      - name: "Download GitHub Artifacts"
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          pattern: artifacts-*
+          path: artifacts
+          merge-multiple: true
+      - name: Cleanup
+        run: |
+          # Remove the granular manifests
+          rm -f artifacts/*-dist-manifest.json
+      - name: Create GitHub Release
+        env:
+          PRERELEASE_FLAG: "${{ fromJson(steps.host.outputs.manifest).announcement_is_prerelease && '--prerelease' || '' }}"
+          ANNOUNCEMENT_TITLE: "${{ fromJson(steps.host.outputs.manifest).announcement_title }}"
+          ANNOUNCEMENT_BODY: "${{ fromJson(steps.host.outputs.manifest).announcement_github_body }}"
+          RELEASE_COMMIT: "${{ github.sha }}"
+        run: |
+          # Write and read notes from a file to avoid quoting breaking things
+          echo "$ANNOUNCEMENT_BODY" > $RUNNER_TEMP/notes.txt
+
+          gh release create "${{ needs.plan.outputs.tag }}" --target "$RELEASE_COMMIT" $PRERELEASE_FLAG --title "$ANNOUNCEMENT_TITLE" --notes-file "$RUNNER_TEMP/notes.txt" artifacts/*
+
+  announce:
+    needs:
+      - plan
+      - host
+    # use "always() && ..." to allow us to wait for all publish jobs while
+    # still allowing individual publish jobs to skip themselves (for prereleases).
+    # "host" however must run to completion, no skipping allowed!
+    if: ${{ always() && needs.host.result == 'success' }}
+    runs-on: "ubuntu-22.04"
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          submodules: recursive
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 796da3f24..eeeddced9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-.*
-!/.ci/
-!.git*
-!.travis.yml
-/target
-/tests/tmp
+# Cargo build files
+target
+
+# Temporary test files
+tests/**/tmp
+tests/**/.bender
+
+# clangd
+.cache/clangd
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index eeca629ff..81c2908cd 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,23 @@ rust-version = "1.87.0"
 [workspace]
 members = ["crates/bender-slang"]
 
+[profile.dist]
+inherits = "release"
+lto = "thin"
+
+[workspace.metadata.dist]
+cargo-dist-version = "0.31.0"
+ci = ["github"]
+installers = ["shell", "powershell"]
+targets = [
+  "x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu",
+  "aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu",
+  "x86_64-apple-darwin",
+  "aarch64-apple-darwin",
+  "x86_64-pc-windows-msvc",
+]
+allow-dirty = ["ci"]
+
 [dependencies]
 bender-slang = { path = "crates/bender-slang", optional = true}
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a859c21b4..c3135feca 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 https://pulp-platform.github.io/bender/init -sSf
 ```
 The command downloads and executes a script that detects your distribution and downloads the appropriate `bender` binary of the latest release to your current directory.  If you need a specific version of Bender (e.g., `0.21.0`), append ` -s -- 0.21.0` to that command.  Alternatively, you can manually download a precompiled binary from [our Releases on GitHub][releases].
 
+As an alternative binary installer path, we are migrating releases to [`cargo-dist`](https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist). If you already use [`cargo-binstall`](https://github.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall), you can install via:
+```sh
+cargo binstall bender
+```
+For now, both approaches are supported.
+
 If you prefer building your own binary, you need to [install Rust][rust-installation].  You can then build and install Bender for the current user with the following command:
 ```sh
 cargo install bender
diff --git a/crates/bender-slang/build.rs b/crates/bender-slang/build.rs
index 7db0396f7..faf39b8f3 100644
--- a/crates/bender-slang/build.rs
+++ b/crates/bender-slang/build.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,37 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2025 ETH Zurich
 // Tim Fischer <fischeti@iis.ee.ethz.ch>
 
+#[cfg(unix)]
+// We create a symlink from the generated include directory to a stable location in the target directory
+// so that tools like clangd can find the headers without needing to know the exact OUT_DIR path.
+// This is purely for improving the development experience and is not necessary for the build itself.
+fn refresh_include_symlink(generated_include_dir: &std::path::Path) {
+    use std::ffi::OsStr;
+    use std::fs;
+    use std::os::unix::fs::symlink;
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+    let Ok(out_dir) = std::env::var("OUT_DIR") else {
+        return;
+    };
+    let out_dir = PathBuf::from(out_dir);
+
+    let Some(target_root) = out_dir
+        .ancestors()
+        .find(|path| path.file_name() == Some(OsStr::new("target")))
+    else {
+        return;
+    };
+
+    let stable_link = target_root.join("slang-generated-include");
+    let _ = fs::remove_file(&stable_link);
+    let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&stable_link);
+    let _ = symlink(generated_include_dir, &stable_link);
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(unix))]
+fn refresh_include_symlink(_generated_include_dir: &std::path::Path) {}
+
 fn main() {
     let target_os = std::env::var("CARGO_CFG_TARGET_OS").unwrap();
     let target_env = std::env::var("CARGO_CFG_TARGET_ENV").unwrap();
@@ -64,6 +95,11 @@ fn main() {
     let dst = slang_lib.build();
     let lib_dir = dst.join("lib");
 
+    // Create a symlink for the generated include directory
+    if target_os == "linux" || target_os == "macos" {
+        refresh_include_symlink(&dst.join("include"));
+    }
+
     // Configure Linker to find Slang static library
     println!("cargo:rustc-link-search=native={}", lib_dir.display());
     println!("cargo:rustc-link-lib=static=svlang");
@@ -97,7 +133,7 @@ fn main() {
         let compiler = std::env::var("CXX").unwrap_or_else(|_| "g++".to_string());
         // We search for the static libstdc++ file using g++
         let output = std::process::Command::new(&compiler)
-            .args(&["-print-file-name=libstdc++.a"])
+            .args(["-print-file-name=libstdc++.a"])
             .output()
             .expect("Failed to run g++");
 
diff --git a/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.cpp b/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.cpp
index 755690992..7e7c02eb7 100644
--- a/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.cpp
+++ b/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.cpp
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 #include "slang_bridge.h"
 
 #include "bender-slang/src/lib.rs.h"
-#include "slang/diagnostics/DiagnosticEngine.h"
-#include "slang/diagnostics/TextDiagnosticClient.h"
 #include "slang/syntax/CSTSerializer.h"
 #include "slang/syntax/SyntaxPrinter.h"
 #include "slang/syntax/SyntaxVisitor.h"
@@ -17,7 +15,6 @@
 #include <unordered_set>
 
 using namespace slang;
-using namespace slang::driver;
 using namespace slang::syntax;
 using namespace slang::parsing;
 
diff --git a/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.h b/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.h
index a309b5a95..faa4431d1 100644
--- a/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.h
+++ b/crates/bender-slang/cpp/slang_bridge.h
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@
 #include "rust/cxx.h"
 #include "slang/diagnostics/DiagnosticEngine.h"
 #include "slang/diagnostics/TextDiagnosticClient.h"
-#include "slang/driver/Driver.h"
+#include "slang/parsing/Preprocessor.h"
 #include "slang/syntax/SyntaxTree.h"
+#include "slang/text/SourceManager.h"
 
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <memory>
-#include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
 struct SlangPrintOpts;
diff --git a/crates/bender-slang/tests/basic.rs b/crates/bender-slang/tests/basic.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03d45538f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/bender-slang/tests/basic.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+fn fixture_path(rel: &str) -> String {
+    PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))
+        .join("../..")
+        .join("tests/pickle")
+        .join(rel)
+        .canonicalize()
+        .expect("valid fixture path")
+        .to_string_lossy()
+        .into_owned()
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn parse_valid_file_succeeds() {
+    let mut session = bender_slang::SlangSession::new();
+    let files = vec![fixture_path("src/top.sv")];
+    let includes = vec![fixture_path("include")];
+    let defines = vec![];
+    assert!(session.parse_group(&files, &includes, &defines).is_ok());
+    assert_eq!(session.tree_count(), 1);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn parse_invalid_file_returns_parse_error() {
+    let mut session = bender_slang::SlangSession::new();
+    let files = vec![fixture_path("src/broken.sv")];
+    let includes = vec![];
+    let defines = vec![];
+    let result = session.parse_group(&files, &includes, &defines);
+
+    match result {
+        Err(bender_slang::SlangError::ParseGroup { .. }) => {}
+        Err(other) => panic!("expected SlangError::ParseGroup, got {other}"),
+        Ok(_) => panic!("expected parse to fail"),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/cli_regression.rs b/tests/cli_regression.rs
index c75b37bfe..66f652eeb 100644
--- a/tests/cli_regression.rs
+++ b/tests/cli_regression.rs
@@ -161,5 +161,8 @@ regression_tests! {
     packages:                       &["packages"],
     packages_graph:                 &["packages", "--graph"],
     packages_flat:                  &["packages", "--flat"],
+    // Enable once the golden binary is built with `slang` support.
+    // pickle_basic:                   &["pickle", "--target", "top"],
+    // pickle_top_trim:                &["pickle", "--target", "top", "--top", "top"],
 
 }
diff --git a/tests/pickle.rs b/tests/pickle.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..307b8bf2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 ETH Zurich
+// Tim Fischer <fischeti@iis.ee.ethz.ch>
+
+#[cfg(feature = "slang")]
+mod tests {
+    use assert_cmd::cargo;
+
+    fn run_pickle(args: &[&str]) -> String {
+        let mut full_args = vec!["-d", "tests/pickle", "pickle"];
+        full_args.extend(args);
+
+        let out = cargo::cargo_bin_cmd!()
+            .args(&full_args)
+            .output()
+            .expect("Failed to execute bender binary");
+
+        assert!(
+            out.status.success(),
+            "pickle command failed.\nstdout:\n{}\nstderr:\n{}",
+            String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stdout),
+            String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr)
+        );
+
+        String::from_utf8(out.stdout).expect("stdout must be utf-8")
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pickle_top_trim_filters_unreachable_modules() {
+        let full = run_pickle(&["--target", "top"]);
+        assert!(full.contains("module unused_top;"));
+        assert!(full.contains("module unused_leaf;"));
+
+        let trimmed = run_pickle(&["--target", "top", "--top", "top"]);
+        assert!(trimmed.contains("module top ("));
+        assert!(trimmed.contains("module core;"));
+        assert!(trimmed.contains("module leaf;"));
+        assert!(!trimmed.contains("module unused_top;"));
+        assert!(!trimmed.contains("module unused_leaf;"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pickle_rename_applies_prefix_and_suffix() {
+        let renamed = run_pickle(&[
+            "--target", "top", "--top", "top", "--prefix", "p_", "--suffix", "_s",
+        ]);
+
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module p_top_s ("));
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module p_core_s;"));
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module p_leaf_s;"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pickle_exclude_rename_keeps_selected_names() {
+        let renamed = run_pickle(&[
+            "--target",
+            "top",
+            "--top",
+            "top",
+            "--prefix",
+            "p_",
+            "--suffix",
+            "_s",
+            "--exclude-rename",
+            "top",
+            "--exclude-rename",
+            "core",
+        ]);
+
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module top ("));
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module core;"));
+        assert!(renamed.contains("module p_leaf_s;"));
+        assert!(!renamed.contains("module p_top_s ("));
+        assert!(!renamed.contains("module p_core_s;"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/pickle/Bender.lock b/tests/pickle/Bender.lock
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c33c0b6df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/Bender.lock
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+packages: {}
diff --git a/tests/pickle/Bender.yml b/tests/pickle/Bender.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5724f952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/Bender.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package:
+  name: pickle_repo
+
+sources:
+  - defines:
+      ENABLE_LOGGING: 1
+    files:
+      - src/common_pkg.sv
+      - src/bus_intf.sv
+      - src/leaf.sv
+      - src/core.sv
+      - src/unused_leaf.sv
+      - src/unused_top.sv
+
+  - target: top
+    include_dirs:
+      - include
+    files:
+      - src/top.sv
diff --git a/tests/pickle/include/macros.svh b/tests/pickle/include/macros.svh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a041281aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/include/macros.svh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+// Simple macro to test if includes are resolved correctly
+`define LOG(msg) \
+    $display("[LOG]: %s", msg);
+
+// A constant used in the RTL
+localparam int unsigned DataWidth = 32;
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/broken.sv b/tests/pickle/src/broken.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fbcdfa50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/broken.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+module broken(;
+endmodule
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/bus_intf.sv b/tests/pickle/src/bus_intf.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bcd581028
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/bus_intf.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+interface bus_intf #(
+    parameter int Width = 32
+) (
+    input logic clk
+);
+    logic [Width-1:0] addr;
+    logic [Width-1:0] data;
+    logic             valid;
+    logic             ready;
+
+    modport master (
+        output addr, data, valid,
+        input  ready
+    );
+
+    modport slave (
+        input  addr, data, valid,
+        output ready
+    );
+
+endinterface
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/common_pkg.sv b/tests/pickle/src/common_pkg.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7a2d02d59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/common_pkg.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package common_pkg;
+
+    typedef enum logic [1:0] {
+        Idle = 2'b00,
+        Busy = 2'b01,
+        Error = 2'b11
+    } state_t;
+
+    function automatic logic is_error(state_t s);
+        return s == Error;
+    endfunction
+
+endpackage
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/core.sv b/tests/pickle/src/core.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce4f14c49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/core.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module core;
+    leaf u_leaf();
+endmodule
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/leaf.sv b/tests/pickle/src/leaf.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a7a547a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/leaf.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+module leaf;
+endmodule
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/top.sv b/tests/pickle/src/top.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2365ab895
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/top.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+`include "macros.svh"
+
+import common_pkg::*;
+
+module top (
+    input logic clk,
+    input logic rst_n
+);
+
+    core u_core();
+
+    // Interface Instantiation
+    bus_intf #(.WIDTH(DATA_WIDTH)) axi_bus (
+        .clk(clk)
+    );
+
+    // Virtual Interface Type
+    virtual bus_intf v_if_handle;
+
+    initial begin
+        v_if_handle = axi_bus;
+
+`ifdef ENABLE_LOGGING
+        `LOG("TopModule started successfully!")
+`endif
+    end
+
+    // Type Usage from Package (state_t)
+    common_pkg::state_t current_state;
+
+    always_ff @(posedge clk or negedge rst_n) begin
+        if (!rst_n) begin
+            current_state <= Idle;
+        end else begin
+            current_state <= Busy;
+        end
+    end
+
+endmodule
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/unused_leaf.sv b/tests/pickle/src/unused_leaf.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7d261d00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/unused_leaf.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+module unused_leaf;
+endmodule
diff --git a/tests/pickle/src/unused_top.sv b/tests/pickle/src/unused_top.sv
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a62e36504
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pickle/src/unused_top.sv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module unused_top;
+    unused_leaf u_unused_leaf();
+endmodule