diff --git a/.Jules/bolt.md b/.Jules/bolt.md
index f02512d4..07259ae9 100644
--- a/.Jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.Jules/bolt.md
@@ -41,3 +41,7 @@ Action: Updated `collectItems` in `src/utils/whats-new-glance.ts` to iterate ove
 2026-09-08 - Zero-Allocation Reverse Array Scan for Chat Follow-up Prompts
 Learning: Dynamic shallow array copying and array reversal (`[...messages].reverse().find(...)`) on every UI update creates unnecessary temporary heap allocations and garbage collection overhead in client-side scripts. Replacing array copy/reverse with a reverse indexed `for` loop eliminates dynamic array allocations completely and stops scanning as soon as the first matching element is found.
 Action: Refactored `showFollowUps()` in `src/components/Chat.astro` to use an indexed reverse `for` loop.
+
+2026-09-09 - Zero-Allocation ISO Date Slicing & Hoisted Pathname Normalization
+Learning: Using `.split('T')[0]` on ISO date strings allocates a temporary 2-element array per call, whereas `.slice(0, 10)` extracts `YYYY-MM-DD` directly without intermediate heap allocations. Additionally, normalizing active `Astro.url.pathname` inside loop functions (e.g. `isCurrentPage`) causes redundant regex and string replace operations across iterations during page renders; hoisting normalization outside the loop executes it once per component render.
+Action: Updated `formatReleaseDate` in `src/utils/github-releases.ts` to use `.slice(0, 10)` and hoisted pathname normalization in `src/components/Nav.astro`.
diff --git a/src/components/Nav.astro b/src/components/Nav.astro
index 9fb82fed..3884bf84 100644
--- a/src/components/Nav.astro
+++ b/src/components/Nav.astro
@@ -42,13 +42,17 @@ const iconLinks: {
   },
 ];
 
+/**
+ * Optimization (⚡ Bolt): Normalize active pathname once per component render rather than inside isCurrentPage loop.
+ * Benchmark: Saves 9 redundant string normalization and regex replace calls per page render across textLink iterations.
+ */
+let currentPath = Astro.url.pathname.replace(import.meta.env.BASE_URL, '');
+if (currentPath.at(0) !== '/') currentPath = '/' + currentPath;
+if (currentPath.at(-1) !== '/') currentPath += '/';
+
 /** Test if a link is pointing to the current page. */
-const isCurrentPage = (href: string) => {
-  let pathname = Astro.url.pathname.replace(import.meta.env.BASE_URL, '');
-  if (pathname.at(0) !== '/') pathname = '/' + pathname;
-  if (pathname.at(-1) !== '/') pathname += '/';
-  return pathname === href || (href !== '/' && pathname.startsWith(href));
-};
+const isCurrentPage = (href: string) =>
+  currentPath === href || (href !== '/' && currentPath.startsWith(href));
 ---
 
 <nav aria-label="Main">
diff --git a/src/utils/github-releases.ts b/src/utils/github-releases.ts
index d2b6cb48..fd55986d 100644
--- a/src/utils/github-releases.ts
+++ b/src/utils/github-releases.ts
@@ -164,6 +164,9 @@ export async function fetchGitHubReleases(
 
 /**
  * Formats an ISO date string into a YYYY-MM-DD format.
+ * Optimization (⚡ Bolt): Uses `.slice(0, 10)` instead of `.split('T')[0]` to extract YYYY-MM-DD
+ * directly from the ISO string without intermediate 2-element array allocations.
+ * Benchmark: Eliminates intermediate array creation per date formatting call.
  * @param {string | null} dateString - The raw date string from the API.
  * @returns {string} The formatted date, or 'Unknown date' if invalid.
  */
@@ -176,7 +179,7 @@ export function formatReleaseDate(dateString: string | null): string {
     return 'Unknown date';
   }
 
-  return date.toISOString().split('T')[0];
+  return date.toISOString().slice(0, 10);
 }
 
 /**