diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index f132fc3..0472101 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -99,10 +99,12 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Rust
         uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
 
+      # Workspace is at the repo root; target dir is ./target (not
+      # src-tauri/target). See note in check.yml for details.
       - name: Cache Rust
         uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
         with:
-          workspaces: src-tauri -> target
+          workspaces: .
           shared-key: kon-build-${{ matrix.os }}
 
       - name: Install JS deps
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check.yml b/.github/workflows/check.yml
index 7a1607b..834464f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check.yml
@@ -72,14 +72,18 @@ jobs:
 
       # Cache the Cargo target dir + registry per OS so the heavy
       # whisper-rs-sys C++ build only happens on a clean cache.
+      # The workspace root is the repo root (see //Cargo.toml), so target/
+      # lives at ./target — NOT src-tauri/target. Pointing the cache at
+      # src-tauri/target produced silent cache misses on every run and was
+      # the real reason Windows check times felt like they compiled sqlx
+      # from scratch every time. Use the repo root as the workspace hint.
       - name: Cache Rust artifacts
         uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
         with:
-          workspaces: src-tauri -> target
+          workspaces: .
           shared-key: kon-${{ matrix.os }}
 
       - name: cargo check (workspace)
-        working-directory: src-tauri
         run: cargo check --workspace --all-targets
 
   frontend: