diff --git a/packages/app-compose/knip.json b/packages/app-compose/knip.json
index e7785aa..ad5c0e1 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/knip.json
+++ b/packages/app-compose/knip.json
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
   "ignore": ["**/__tests__/**", "*.config.ts"],
   "entry": ["./src/index.ts!"],
   "ignoreBinaries": ["tsdown", "knip", "oxlint", "vitest"],
-  "vitest": { "config": "vitest.config.ts", "entry": "src/**/*.{test,test-d}.ts" }
+  "vitest": { "config": "vitest.config.ts", "entry": "src/**/*.{test,test-d,bench}.ts" }
 }
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/package.json b/packages/app-compose/package.json
index d8e1781..279dca5 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/package.json
+++ b/packages/app-compose/package.json
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
     "build": "tsdown",
     "dev": "tsdown --watch",
     "prepack": "pnpm build",
+    "bench": "vitest bench",
     "test": "vitest run",
     "lint": "knip && oxlint ./src"
   },
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/__tests__/compose.bench.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/__tests__/compose.bench.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16491a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/__tests__/compose.bench.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { literal, shape, type Spot } from "@computable"
+import { bind, createTag, createTask } from "@runnable"
+import { bench, describe, vi } from "vitest"
+import { compose } from "../compose"
+
+const double = (x: number) => x * 2
+
+describe("multi layer, compute shapes", () => {
+  const rootTag = createTag<number>({ name: "root" })
+
+  const app = compose()
+    .meta({ name: "bench" })
+    .step(bind(rootTag, literal(1)))
+
+  let previous: Spot<number> = rootTag.value
+
+  for (let layer = 0; layer < 20; layer++) {
+    const l = shape({ layer: literal(layer), previous }, ({ layer, previous }) => layer + previous)
+
+    const a = createTag<number>({ name: `${layer}:a` })
+    const b = createTag<number>({ name: `${layer}:b` })
+    const c = createTag<number>({ name: `${layer}:c` })
+    const d = createTag<number>({ name: `${layer}:d` })
+
+    const task = createTask({
+      name: `${layer}:task`,
+      run: {
+        context: [a.value, b.value, c.value, d.value],
+        fn: (list) => list.reduce((acc, x) => acc + x, 0),
+      },
+    })
+
+    app
+      .step([bind(a, shape(l, double)), bind(b, shape(l, double))])
+      .step([bind(c, shape(l, double)), bind(d, shape(l, double))])
+      .step(task)
+
+    previous = task.result
+  }
+
+  describe("compose.guard", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.guard(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+
+  describe("compose.graph", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.graph(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+})
+
+describe("single layer, wide sequence", () => {
+  const layer = compose()
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+    const task = createTask({ name: `task:${i}`, run: { fn: vi.fn() } })
+
+    layer.step(task)
+  }
+
+  const app = compose().meta({ name: "bench" }).step(layer)
+
+  describe("compose.guard", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.guard(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+
+  describe("compose.graph", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.graph(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+})
+
+describe("multi layer, deep nesting", () => {
+  let current = compose().meta({ name: "root" })
+  let previous: Spot<number> = literal(1)
+
+  for (let layer = 0; layer < 100; layer++) {
+    const task = createTask({ name: `task:${layer}`, run: { fn: (v) => v + 1, context: previous } })
+
+    current = compose()
+      .meta({ name: `layer:${layer}` })
+      .step(current)
+      .step(task)
+
+    previous = task.result
+  }
+
+  const app = current
+
+  describe("compose.guard", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.guard(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+
+  describe("compose.graph", () => {
+    bench("app", () => void app.graph(), { time: 1000 })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/analyze.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/analyze.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc5e1c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/analyze.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { Context$, Dispatch$, type Binding, type Runnable, type RunnableInternal, type Task } from "@runnable"
+import type { ComposableKind } from "./definition"
+import { resolve, type Dependency } from "./resolver"
+
+type RunnableMeta = { type: ComposableKind; display: { name: string }; writes: symbol[]; dependencies: Dependency }
+
+type ComposeAnalyzer = {
+  get: (runnable: RunnableInternal) => RunnableMeta
+}
+
+const analyze = (runnable: RunnableInternal): RunnableMeta => {
+  const internal = runnable as RunnableInternal & (Task<unknown> | Binding)
+
+  const writes = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(internal[Dispatch$])
+  const dependencies = resolve(internal[Context$])
+
+  return { type: internal.kind, display: { name: internal.name }, writes, dependencies }
+}
+
+const createAnalyzer = (): ComposeAnalyzer => {
+  const cache = new WeakMap<Runnable, RunnableMeta>()
+
+  const get = (runnable: Runnable): RunnableMeta => {
+    const analysis = cache.get(runnable) ?? analyze(runnable as RunnableInternal)
+    return (cache.set(runnable, analysis), analysis)
+  }
+
+  return { get }
+}
+
+export { createAnalyzer }
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/convert.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/convert.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 67c9686..0000000
--- a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/convert.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { Dispatch$, type Binding, type Runnable, type RunnableInternal, type Task } from "@runnable"
-
-const toID = (step: Runnable) => {
-  const internal = step as RunnableInternal & (Task<unknown> | Binding)
-
-  const writes = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(internal[Dispatch$])
-
-  return { type: internal.kind, display: { name: internal.name }, writes }
-}
-
-export { toID }
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/graph.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/graph.ts
index 9ad52e8..a905855 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/graph.ts
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/graph.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import { Context$, type RunnableInternal } from "@runnable"
-import { toID } from "./convert"
+import type { RunnableInternal } from "@runnable"
+import { createAnalyzer } from "./analyze"
 import type { ComposableKind, ComposeNode } from "./definition"
-import { resolve } from "./resolver"
 
 type EntryID = number
 
@@ -18,9 +17,10 @@ const graph = (root: ComposeNode): GraphNode => {
   let entryID = 0
   const symbolToID = new Map<symbol, EntryID>()
 
+  const analyzer = createAnalyzer()
+
   const toEntry = (runnable: RunnableInternal): GraphNode => {
-    const deps = resolve(runnable[Context$])
-    const { type, display, writes } = toID(runnable)
+    const { type, display, writes, dependencies } = analyzer.get(runnable)
 
     writes.forEach((x) => symbolToID.set(x, entryID))
 
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ const graph = (root: ComposeNode): GraphNode => {
       meta: { name: display.name, kind: type },
       id: entryID++,
       dependencies: {
-        required: Array.from(deps.required, (x) => symbolToID.get(x) ?? -1),
-        optional: Array.from(deps.optional, (x) => symbolToID.get(x)).filter((x) => x !== undefined),
+        required: Array.from(dependencies.required, (x) => symbolToID.get(x) ?? -1),
+        optional: Array.from(dependencies.optional, (x) => symbolToID.get(x)).filter((x) => x !== undefined),
       },
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/guard.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/guard.ts
index fa851a4..a5a45b1 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/guard.ts
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/guard.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
-import { Context$, type RunnableInternal } from "@runnable"
-import { difference, union } from "@shared"
-import { toID } from "./convert"
+import type { RunnableInternal } from "@runnable"
+import { createAnalyzer } from "./analyze"
 import type { ComposableKind, ComposeMeta, ComposeNode } from "./definition"
-import { resolve } from "./resolver"
 
 type NotifyEntry = { index?: number; node: ComposeNode }
 
@@ -49,6 +47,7 @@ type GuardConfig = { handler: GuardHandler }
 
 const createGuard = ({ handler }: GuardConfig) => {
   const notify = createNotify(handler)
+  const analyzer = createAnalyzer()
 
   const duplicate = (root: ComposeNode) => {
     const seen = new Set<symbol>()
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ const createGuard = ({ handler }: GuardConfig) => {
         return current.children.forEach((node, index) => traverse([...stack, { node, index }]))
 
       if (current.type === "run") {
-        const { type, display, writes } = toID(current.value)
+        const { type, display, writes } = analyzer.get(current.value as RunnableInternal)
 
         if (writes.some((write) => seen.has(write))) notify.duplicate({ type, name: display.name, stack })
 
@@ -81,15 +80,12 @@ const createGuard = ({ handler }: GuardConfig) => {
         return current.children.forEach((node, index) => traverse([...stack, { node, index }]))
 
       if (current.type === "run") {
-        const internal = current.value as RunnableInternal
-
-        const { type, display, writes } = toID(current.value),
-          deps = resolve(internal[Context$])
+        const { type, display, writes, dependencies } = analyzer.get(current.value as RunnableInternal)
 
         if (type === "binding") writes.forEach((id) => candidates.set(id, { type, name: display.name, stack }))
 
-        deps.required.forEach((id) => candidates.delete(id))
-        deps.optional.forEach((id) => candidates.delete(id))
+        dependencies.required.forEach((id) => candidates.delete(id))
+        dependencies.optional.forEach((id) => candidates.delete(id))
       }
     }
 
@@ -102,37 +98,38 @@ const createGuard = ({ handler }: GuardConfig) => {
     const traverse = (stack: NotifyEntry[], available: Set<symbol>): Set<symbol> => {
       const { node: current } = stack.at(-1)!
 
-      if (current.type === "run") {
-        const internal = current.value as RunnableInternal
-        const { type, display, writes } = toID(current.value)
-
-        const deps = resolve(internal[Context$])
+      switch (current.type) {
+        case "run":
+          const { type, display, writes, dependencies } = analyzer.get(current.value as RunnableInternal)
 
-        const missing = difference(deps.required, available)
-        if (missing.size > 0) notify.notSatisfied({ type, name: display.name, stack, missing })
+          const missing = new Set<symbol>()
+          for (const id of dependencies.required) if (!available.has(id)) missing.add(id)
 
-        return new Set(writes)
-      }
+          if (missing.size > 0) notify.notSatisfied({ type, name: display.name, stack, missing })
 
-      // all concurrent steps are isolated
-      if (current.type === "con")
-        return current.children.map((node, index) => traverse([...stack, { node, index }], available)).reduce(union)
+          return new Set(writes)
 
-      // sequential steps provide their writes to the next steps
-      if (current.type === "seq") {
-        let wrote = new Set<symbol>()
+        // all concurrent steps are isolated
+        case "con": {
+          const wrote = new Set<symbol>()
 
-        for (const [index, node] of current.children.entries()) {
-          const local = union(wrote, available)
-          const added = traverse([...stack, { node, index }], local)
+          for (const [index, node] of current.children.entries())
+            traverse([...stack, { node, index }], available).forEach((item) => wrote.add(item))
 
-          wrote = union(wrote, added)
+          return wrote
         }
 
-        return wrote
-      }
+        // sequential steps share the context of previous steps
+        case "seq": {
+          const wrote = new Set<symbol>(),
+            local = new Set<symbol>(available)
+
+          for (const [index, node] of current.children.entries())
+            traverse([...stack, { node, index }], local).forEach((item) => (wrote.add(item), local.add(item)))
 
-      throw new Error(/* unreachable */)
+          return wrote
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     traverse([{ node: root }], new Set())
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/resolver.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/resolver.ts
index 2a4e10e..576ad1f 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/src/compose/resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/compose/resolver.ts
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ function resolve(spot: SpotInternal): Dependency {
   return { required, optional }
 }
 
-export { resolve }
+export { resolve, type Dependency }
diff --git a/packages/app-compose/src/shared.ts b/packages/app-compose/src/shared.ts
index ffb43f2..5e413f0 100644
--- a/packages/app-compose/src/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/app-compose/src/shared.ts
@@ -37,17 +37,5 @@ const isObject = (x: unknown): x is object => Object.prototype.toString.call(x)
 const identity = <T>(x: T): T => x
 const T = (): true => true
 
-const difference = <T>(left: Set<T>, right: Set<T>): Set<T> => {
-  const out = new Set<T>(left)
-  for (const item of right) out.delete(item)
-  return out
-}
-
-const union = <T>(left: Set<T>, right: Set<T>): Set<T> => {
-  const out = new Set<T>(left)
-  for (const item of right) out.add(item)
-  return out
-}
-
-export { LIBRARY_NAME, T, difference, identity, isObject, union }
+export { LIBRARY_NAME, T, identity, isObject }
 export type { AnyShape, BuiltInObject, Eventual }