diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 8168fd8b3ec..73bd132f571 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ jobs:
     env:
       TEST_DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost/intercode_test
       RAILS_ENV: test
+      # the runner has 4 cores; each worker gets its own copy of the test database
+      PARALLEL_WORKERS: 4
     services:
       postgres:
         image: postgres:18
@@ -352,7 +354,7 @@ jobs:
           name: vitest-coverage
           path: vitest-coverage
       - name: Merge coverage reports
-        run: ruby scripts/merge_coverage.rb merged-coverage.xml minitest-coverage/coverage.xml vitest-coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml minitest-system-coverage/coverage.xml
+        run: ruby scripts/merge_coverage.rb merged-coverage.xml minitest-coverage/coverage.xml minitest-coverage/worker-*/coverage.xml vitest-coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml minitest-system-coverage/coverage.xml
       - name: Generate Coverage Report
         uses: clearlyip/code-coverage-report-action@v7
         id: code_coverage_report_action
diff --git a/agent-docs/testing.md b/agent-docs/testing.md
index 849f404835b..8755794fbed 100644
--- a/agent-docs/testing.md
+++ b/agent-docs/testing.md
@@ -10,6 +10,22 @@ When modifying loader/action patterns:
 4. Run `yarn run tsc --noEmit` to check for TypeScript errors
 5. Test actual navigation flows to ensure data loading works
 
+### Running Minitest in parallel
+
+Set `PARALLEL_WORKERS` to run the suite in that many processes, each with its own copy of the test database
+(`intercode_test-0`, `-1`, ...). CI uses 4, which cuts the Minitest run from about 4½ minutes to about 1½.
+
+```sh
+PARALLEL_WORKERS=4 bin/rails test
+```
+
+- On macOS the `pg` gem can crash (a segfault in `connect_start`) when the workers fork. Set
+  `PGGSSENCMODE=disable OBJC_DISABLE_INITIALIZE_FORK_SAFETY=YES` as well.
+- Each worker writes its own coverage report to `coverage/worker-N/coverage.xml`, and the main process's
+  `coverage/coverage.xml` has what loading the app covered. Merge them with
+  `ruby scripts/merge_coverage.rb merged.xml coverage/coverage.xml coverage/worker-*/coverage.xml` (CI's coverage report
+  job does). The merged result is line-for-line identical to a single-process run's.
+
 ## End-to-End Testing with Playwright
 
 Use Playwright (and Rails system tests) sparingly: browser-driven tests have been flaky in this project, so prefer a component test (see [Frontend Testing](frontend-testing.md)) wherever it gets close enough. Reserve end-to-end tests for the few flows that really need a real browser.
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index e57c562d174..8c3463cd5b2 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -58,9 +58,21 @@ class ActiveSupport::TestCase
   include FactoryBot::Syntax::Methods
   include ActionMailer::TestCase::ClearTestDeliveries
 
-  # Minitest is broken with parallelization on Ruby 3.1 - it's expecting methods to be methods but Rails is
-  # deserializing them as strings, so you can't actually see the unexpected error output
-  # parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors)
+  # Set PARALLEL_WORKERS to run tests in that many processes (each with its own copy of the test database).  CI does,
+  # to use all of the cores on its runners; it's left off by default so that a plain `rails test` stays simple.
+  if ENV["PARALLEL_WORKERS"].to_i > 1
+    parallelize(workers: ENV["PARALLEL_WORKERS"].to_i)
+
+    # Each worker writes its own coverage report (coverage/worker-N/coverage.xml) instead of merging with the others as
+    # the run exits, which races the workers finishing.  The main process's coverage.xml has what loading the app
+    # covered (class bodies and so on), so CI merges all of them with scripts/merge_coverage.rb.
+    parallelize_setup do |worker|
+      SimpleCov.command_name "#{SimpleCov.command_name}-#{worker}"
+      SimpleCov.use_merging false
+      SimpleCov.coverage_dir "coverage/worker-#{worker}"
+    end
+    parallelize_teardown { |_worker| SimpleCov.result.format! }
+  end
 
   class TestGraphqlContext
     def self.with_user_con_profile(user_con_profile, **attrs)