diff --git a/src/cmf_runtime.rs b/src/cmf_runtime.rs
index d17604e..1e34a9e 100644
--- a/src/cmf_runtime.rs
+++ b/src/cmf_runtime.rs
@@ -155,14 +155,19 @@ async fn cargo_install(force: bool) -> Result<(), String> {
 /// Spawn `cortiq serve <model> --host <host> --port <port>`; the child is killed
 /// when its handle is dropped (i.e. when the gateway shuts down).
 fn spawn_serve(cfg: &CmfCfg) -> Result<Child, String> {
-    Command::new(&cfg.cortiq_bin)
-        .arg("serve")
+    let mut cmd = Command::new(&cfg.cortiq_bin);
+    cmd.arg("serve")
         .arg(&cfg.local_model)
         .arg("--host")
         .arg(&cfg.local_host)
         .arg("--port")
-        .arg(cfg.local_port.to_string())
-        .stdout(Stdio::null())
+        .arg(cfg.local_port.to_string());
+    // Parallelise decode matvecs across cores (CMF_THREADS). 0 = leave the
+    // runtime's own default; N>1 gave ~2.8x on a 15B CPU model.
+    if cfg.threads > 1 {
+        cmd.env("CMF_THREADS", cfg.threads.to_string());
+    }
+    cmd.stdout(Stdio::null())
         .stderr(Stdio::null())
         .kill_on_drop(true)
         .spawn()
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 3e48780..bf8ae55 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -111,6 +111,11 @@ pub struct CmfCfg {
     /// the router and any external providers ("use only local models").
     #[serde(default)]
     pub local_only: bool,
+    /// Worker threads for the managed `cortiq serve` (exported as `CMF_THREADS`).
+    /// 0 = let the runtime decide; N>1 parallelises decode matvecs across N cores
+    /// (measured ~2.8x faster than serial on a 15B model). Default 8.
+    #[serde(default = "default_cmf_threads")]
+    pub threads: usize,
 }
 impl Default for CmfCfg {
     fn default() -> Self {
@@ -129,9 +134,13 @@ impl Default for CmfCfg {
             local_port: default_cmf_local_port(),
             model_id: default_cmf_model_id(),
             local_only: false,
+            threads: default_cmf_threads(),
         }
     }
 }
+fn default_cmf_threads() -> usize {
+    8
+}
 fn default_cortiq_bin() -> String {
     "cortiq".into()
 }