diff --git a/.config/vitest.config.isolated.mts b/.config/vitest.config.isolated.mts
index d4b686653..8cbcb9920 100644
--- a/.config/vitest.config.isolated.mts
+++ b/.config/vitest.config.isolated.mts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ const projectRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '..')
 const toGlobPath = (pathLike: string): string => pathLike.replaceAll('\\', '/')
 
 const vitestConfigIsolated = defineConfig({
-  cacheDir: path.resolve(projectRoot, '.cache/vitest-isolated'),
+  cacheDir: path.resolve(projectRoot, 'node_modules/.cache/vitest-isolated'),
   resolve: {
     preserveSymlinks: false,
     extensions: ['.mts', '.ts', '.mjs', '.js', '.json'],
diff --git a/.config/vitest.config.mts b/.config/vitest.config.mts
index 9152c01b4..7f1bec699 100644
--- a/.config/vitest.config.mts
+++ b/.config/vitest.config.mts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const rootPkgJson = JSON.parse(
 const toGlobPath = (pathLike: string): string => pathLike.replaceAll('\\', '/')
 
 const vitestConfig = defineConfig({
-  cacheDir: path.resolve(projectRoot, '.cache/vitest'),
+  cacheDir: path.resolve(projectRoot, 'node_modules/.cache/vitest'),
   resolve: {
     // Use 'source' export condition so @socketsecurity/lib/* imports resolve
     // to src/*.ts instead of dist/*.js. This enables proper v8 coverage
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 88a0b4808..ad6e090bc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ yarn.lock
 # ============================================================================
 # Build outputs and artifacts
 # ============================================================================
-**/.cache/
 .type-coverage/
 coverage/
 dist/