diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index a6bb95a..7aa1428 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -307,8 +307,8 @@ function suggestDoctorActions(findings: { rule: string; message: string }[]) {
   return actions;
 }
 
-function runCommand<T>(
-  fn: () => T,
+async function runCommand<T>(
+  fn: () => T | Promise<T>,
   payload: (data: T) => {
     data: unknown;
     affectedFiles?: { path: string }[];
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ function runCommand<T>(
   },
 ) {
   try {
-    outputSuccess(payload(fn()));
+    outputSuccess(payload(await fn()));
   } catch (error) {
     const info = errorInfo(error);
     outputError({ code: info.code, message: info.message, details: info.details, actions: info.actions });
diff --git a/src/usecase-commands.ts b/src/usecase-commands.ts
index 72e0367..e527181 100644
--- a/src/usecase-commands.ts
+++ b/src/usecase-commands.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { existsSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { existsSync, promises as fsPromises, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import {
   orderActorFrontmatter,
@@ -84,11 +84,21 @@ export function createUseCase(args: {
   return { key, path: relativePath(path, root), format: "BRIEF" as const, affectedFiles };
 }
 
-export function listUseCases(args: { cwd?: string; status?: string; actor?: string; level?: string; q?: string }) {
+export async function listUseCases(args: { cwd?: string; status?: string; actor?: string; level?: string; q?: string }) {
   const config = readConfig(args.cwd ?? process.cwd());
   if (!config) throw new Error("NOT_INITIALIZED");
-  return walkFiles(join(config.root, "specs/usecases"), (path) => path.endsWith(".md"))
-    .map((path) => ({ path, parsed: parseUseCaseMarkdown(readFileSync(path, "utf8")) }))
+
+  const files = walkFiles(join(config.root, "specs/usecases"), (path) => path.endsWith(".md"));
+
+  // ⚡ Bolt: Optimize I/O by reading files concurrently
+  const items = await Promise.all(
+    files.map(async (path) => {
+      const content = await fsPromises.readFile(path, "utf8");
+      return { path, parsed: parseUseCaseMarkdown(content) };
+    })
+  );
+
+  return items
     .filter(({ parsed }) => !args.status || parsed.frontmatter.status === args.status.toUpperCase())
     .filter(({ parsed }) => !args.actor || parsed.frontmatter.primary_actor === slugify(args.actor!))
     .filter(({ parsed }) => !args.level || parsed.frontmatter.level === parseLevel(args.level!))
diff --git a/tests/authoring.test.ts b/tests/authoring.test.ts
index 8e83335..fcedeb6 100644
--- a/tests/authoring.test.ts
+++ b/tests/authoring.test.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { normalizeUseCaseMarkdown } from "../src/format/normalize.js";
 import { runDoctor } from "../src/validate/doctor.js";
 
 describe("use-case authoring loop", () => {
-  it("runs init -> usecase create -> round-trip -> doctor with no errors", () => {
+  it("runs init -> usecase create -> round-trip -> doctor with no errors", async () => {
     const root = join(tmpdir(), `vspec-authoring-${crypto.randomUUID()}`);
     mkdirSync(root, { recursive: true });
     initProject({ root, key: "VSPEC" });
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ describe("use-case authoring loop", () => {
     const file = readFileSync(join(root, created.path), "utf8");
     expect(serializeUseCase(parseUseCaseMarkdown(file))).toBe(normalizeUseCaseMarkdown(file));
     expect(runDoctor({ root, target: created.key }).findings.filter((finding) => finding.level === "error")).toEqual([]);
-    expect(listUseCases({ cwd: root })).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(await listUseCases({ cwd: root })).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(showUseCase({ cwd: root, key: created.key }).useCase.frontmatter.title).toBe("Author a use case");
     rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });