diff --git a/deploy/nginx-hicad-zoo-ws.conf.template b/deploy/nginx-hicad-zoo-ws.conf.template
index 3106772db..a68500f8d 100644
--- a/deploy/nginx-hicad-zoo-ws.conf.template
+++ b/deploy/nginx-hicad-zoo-ws.conf.template
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ location ^~ /vendor/zoo-modeling-app/fonts/ {
 location = /vendor/zoo-modeling-app/kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm {
     root /var/www/ai-chatbot/public;
     try_files $uri =404;
+    gzip_static on;
     add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600" always;
 }
 
diff --git a/playwright.helpers.config.ts b/playwright.helpers.config.ts
index 1c10d4ef4..f30d2518d 100644
--- a/playwright.helpers.config.ts
+++ b/playwright.helpers.config.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     /routes\/canvas-runtime-internal-endpoint\.test\.ts/,
     /routes\/model-classification\.test\.ts/,
     /routes\/clawd-request-lifecycle\.test\.ts/,
+    /routes\/hicad-embedded-performance\.test\.ts/,
   ],
   fullyParallel: true,
   forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI,
diff --git a/scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs b/scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs
index 871816cfe..391df5af4 100644
--- a/scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs
+++ b/scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs
@@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ function patchOfficialSource() {
     "  <title>Zoo Design Studio</title>",
     "  <title>HiCAD</title>"
   );
+  replaceSource(
+    "index.html",
+    '  <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" />',
+    `  <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" />
+  <link rel="preload" href="./kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm" as="fetch" type="application/wasm" crossorigin="use-credentials" />`
+  );
   replaceSource(
     "src/Router.tsx",
     "  createBrowserRouter,\n  createHashRouter,",
@@ -225,6 +231,19 @@ function patchOfficialSource() {
     `        className="cursor-pointer"\n        id="freeze-frame"`,
     `        className="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full cursor-pointer"\n        id="freeze-frame"`
   );
+  replaceSource(
+    "src/components/OpenedProject.tsx",
+    "import { getMlEphantProjectReloadBehavior } from '@src/components/openedProjectUtils'\n",
+    "import { getMlEphantProjectReloadBehavior } from '@src/components/openedProjectUtils'\nimport env from '@src/env'\n"
+  );
+  replaceSource(
+    "src/components/OpenedProject.tsx",
+    `    const needsOnboarded =
+      !window.electron &&`,
+    `    const needsOnboarded =
+      env().VITE_ZOO_API_TOKEN !== '${proxyToken}' &&
+      !window.electron &&`
+  );
   replaceSource(
     "src/index.tsx",
     "import { markOnce } from '@src/lib/performance'\n",
@@ -357,7 +376,7 @@ function ensureWasm() {
 
 function precompressVersionedAssets(assetsDir) {
   for (const entry of readdirSync(assetsDir, { withFileTypes: true })) {
-    if (!entry.isFile() || !/\.(?:css|js)$/.test(entry.name)) {
+    if (!entry.isFile() || !/\.(?:css|js|wasm)$/.test(entry.name)) {
       continue;
     }
     const assetPath = path.join(assetsDir, entry.name);
@@ -365,6 +384,15 @@ function precompressVersionedAssets(assetsDir) {
   }
 }
 
+function precompressRootWasm(buildDir) {
+  const wasmPath = path.join(buildDir, "kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm");
+  if (!existsSync(wasmPath)) return;
+  writeFileSync(
+    `${wasmPath}.gz`,
+    gzipSync(readFileSync(wasmPath), { level: 9 })
+  );
+}
+
 async function main() {
   ensureOfficialSource();
   ensureDependencies();
@@ -393,6 +421,7 @@ async function main() {
     throw new Error("Zoo Design Studio build did not produce index.html");
   }
   precompressVersionedAssets(path.join(buildDir, "assets"));
+  precompressRootWasm(buildDir);
   cacheBustZooModelingAppAssets(buildDir);
 
   rmSync(outputDir, { force: true, recursive: true });
diff --git a/tests/routes/hicad-embedded-performance.test.ts b/tests/routes/hicad-embedded-performance.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..40e936a5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/routes/hicad-embedded-performance.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { expect, test } from "@playwright/test";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+const projectRoot = process.cwd();
+
+test.describe("HiCAD embedded startup", () => {
+  test("suppresses the upstream onboarding chooser in embedded mode", () => {
+    const vendorScript = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(projectRoot, "scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs"),
+      "utf8"
+    );
+    const localization = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(projectRoot, "vendor/zoo-modeling-app/localization.ts"),
+      "utf8"
+    );
+
+    expect(vendorScript).toMatch(
+      /env\(\)\.VITE_ZOO_API_TOKEN !== '\$\{proxyToken\}'/
+    );
+    expect(localization).toContain("[data-testid='onboarding-toast']");
+  });
+
+  test("preloads and serves the CAD wasm using a precompressed asset", () => {
+    const vendorScript = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(projectRoot, "scripts/vendor-zoo-modeling-app.mjs"),
+      "utf8"
+    );
+    const nginxTemplate = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.join(projectRoot, "deploy/nginx-hicad-zoo-ws.conf.template"),
+      "utf8"
+    );
+
+    expect(vendorScript).toContain(
+      'rel="preload" href="./kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm"'
+    );
+    expect(vendorScript).toContain("/\\.(?:css|js|wasm)$/");
+    expect(vendorScript).toContain("precompressRootWasm(buildDir)");
+    expect(nginxTemplate).toMatch(
+      /location = \/vendor\/zoo-modeling-app\/kcl_wasm_lib_bg\.wasm \{[\s\S]*?gzip_static on;/
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/vendor/zoo-modeling-app/localization.ts b/vendor/zoo-modeling-app/localization.ts
index 7d8782b22..37f02b274 100644
--- a/vendor/zoo-modeling-app/localization.ts
+++ b/vendor/zoo-modeling-app/localization.ts
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ export function installHiCadLocalization() {
     }
     html[data-hicad-embedded='true'] [data-testid='download-desktop-app'],
     html[data-hicad-embedded='true'] [data-testid='billing-remaining-bar'],
+    html[data-hicad-embedded='true'] [data-testid='onboarding-toast'],
     html[data-hicad-embedded='true'] [data-hicad-official-account-link] {
       display: none !important;
     }