diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.test.ts
index be0a657f..38589e58 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.test.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,15 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+
 import { vi, describe, expect, it, afterEach, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
 import * as gitUtils from '../../utils/gitUtils.js';
 import { setupGithubCommand } from './setupGithubCommand.js';
 import { CommandContext, ToolActionReturn } from './types.js';
+import * as commandUtils from '../utils/commandUtils.js';
 
 vi.mock('child_process');
 
@@ -21,21 +26,43 @@ vi.mock('../../utils/gitUtils.js', () => ({
   getGitHubRepoInfo: vi.fn(),
 }));
 
+vi.mock('../utils/commandUtils.js', () => ({
+  getUrlOpenCommand: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
 describe('setupGithubCommand', async () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
+  let scratchDir = '';
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
     vi.resetAllMocks();
+    scratchDir = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'setup-github-command-'),
+    );
   });
 
-  afterEach(() => {
+  afterEach(async () => {
     vi.restoreAllMocks();
+    if (scratchDir) await fs.rm(scratchDir, { recursive: true });
   });
 
   it('returns a tool action to download github workflows and handles paths', async () => {
     const fakeRepoOwner = 'fake';
     const fakeRepoName = 'repo';
-    const fakeRepoRoot = `/github.com/${fakeRepoOwner}/${fakeRepoName}/root`;
+    const fakeRepoRoot = scratchDir;
     const fakeReleaseVersion = 'v1.2.3';
 
+    const workflows = [
+      'gemini-cli.yml',
+      'gemini-issue-automated-triage.yml',
+      'gemini-issue-scheduled-triage.yml',
+      'gemini-pr-review.yml',
+    ];
+    for (const workflow of workflows) {
+      vi.mocked(global.fetch).mockReturnValueOnce(
+        Promise.resolve(new Response(workflow)),
+      );
+    }
+
     vi.mocked(gitUtils.isGitHubRepository).mockReturnValueOnce(true);
     vi.mocked(gitUtils.getGitRepoRoot).mockReturnValueOnce(fakeRepoRoot);
     vi.mocked(gitUtils.getLatestGitHubRelease).mockResolvedValueOnce(
@@ -45,6 +72,9 @@ describe('setupGithubCommand', async () => {
       owner: fakeRepoOwner,
       repo: fakeRepoName,
     });
+    vi.mocked(commandUtils.getUrlOpenCommand).mockReturnValueOnce(
+      'fakeOpenCommand',
+    );
 
     const result = (await setupGithubCommand.action?.(
       {} as CommandContext,
@@ -55,16 +85,22 @@ describe('setupGithubCommand', async () => {
 
     const expectedSubstrings = [
       `set -eEuo pipefail`,
-      `mkdir -p "${fakeRepoRoot}/.github/workflows"`,
-      `curl --fail --location --output "/github.com/fake/repo/root/.github/workflows/gemini-cli.yml" --show-error --silent`,
-      `curl --fail --location --output "/github.com/fake/repo/root/.github/workflows/gemini-issue-automated-triage.yml" --show-error --silent`,
-      `curl --fail --location --output "/github.com/fake/repo/root/.github/workflows/gemini-issue-scheduled-triage.yml" --show-error --silent`,
-      `curl --fail --location --output "/github.com/fake/repo/root/.github/workflows/gemini-pr-review.yml" --show-error --silent`,
-      `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/refs/tags/`,
+      `fakeOpenCommand "https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli`,
     ];
 
     for (const substring of expectedSubstrings) {
       expect(command).toContain(substring);
     }
+
+    for (const workflow of workflows) {
+      const workflowFile = path.join(
+        scratchDir,
+        '.github',
+        'workflows',
+        workflow,
+      );
+      const contents = await fs.readFile(workflowFile, 'utf8');
+      expect(contents).toContain(workflow);
+    }
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.ts
index 84d6b5af..2f024e60 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/commands/setupGithubCommand.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import path from 'path';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import * as fs from 'node:fs';
+import { Writable } from 'node:stream';
+import { ProxyAgent } from 'undici';
 
 import { CommandContext } from '../../ui/commands/types.js';
 import {
@@ -48,6 +51,8 @@ export const setupGithubCommand: SlashCommand = {
   action: async (
     context: CommandContext,
   ): Promise<SlashCommandActionReturn> => {
+    const abortController = new AbortController();
+
     if (!isGitHubRepository()) {
       throw new Error(
         'Unable to determine the GitHub repository. /setup-github must be run from a git repository.',
@@ -68,7 +73,24 @@ export const setupGithubCommand: SlashCommand = {
     // Get the latest release tag from GitHub
     const proxy = context?.services?.config?.getProxy();
     const releaseTag = await getLatestGitHubRelease(proxy);
+    const readmeUrl = `https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/blob/${releaseTag}/README.md#quick-start`;
 
+    // Create the .github/workflows directory to download the files into
+    const githubWorkflowsDir = path.join(gitRepoRoot, '.github', 'workflows');
+    try {
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(githubWorkflowsDir, { recursive: true });
+    } catch (_error) {
+      console.debug(
+        `Failed to create ${githubWorkflowsDir} directory:`,
+        _error,
+      );
+      throw new Error(
+        `Unable to create ${githubWorkflowsDir} directory. Do you have file permissions in the current directory?`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    // Download each workflow in parallel - there aren't enough files to warrant
+    // a full workerpool model here.
     const workflows = [
       'gemini-cli/gemini-cli.yml',
       'issue-triage/gemini-issue-automated-triage.yml',
@@ -76,29 +98,60 @@ export const setupGithubCommand: SlashCommand = {
       'pr-review/gemini-pr-review.yml',
     ];
 
-    const commands = [];
-
-    // Ensure fast exit
-    commands.push(`set -eEuo pipefail`);
-
-    // Make the directory if it doesn't exist
-    commands.push(`mkdir -p "${gitRepoRoot}/.github/workflows"`);
-
+    const downloads = [];
     for (const workflow of workflows) {
-      const fileName = path.basename(workflow);
-      const curlCommand = buildCurlCommand(
-        `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/refs/tags/${releaseTag}/examples/workflows/${workflow}`,
-        [`--output "${gitRepoRoot}/.github/workflows/${fileName}"`],
+      downloads.push(
+        (async () => {
+          const endpoint = `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/refs/tags/${releaseTag}/examples/workflows/${workflow}`;
+          const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
+            method: 'GET',
+            dispatcher: proxy ? new ProxyAgent(proxy) : undefined,
+            signal: AbortSignal.any([
+              AbortSignal.timeout(30_000),
+              abortController.signal,
+            ]),
+          } as RequestInit);
+
+          if (!response.ok) {
+            throw new Error(
+              `Invalid response code downloading ${endpoint}: ${response.status} - ${response.statusText}`,
+            );
+          }
+          const body = response.body;
+          if (!body) {
+            throw new Error(
+              `Empty body while downloading ${endpoint}: ${response.status} - ${response.statusText}`,
+            );
+          }
+
+          const destination = path.resolve(
+            githubWorkflowsDir,
+            path.basename(workflow),
+          );
+
+          const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(destination, {
+            mode: 0o644, // -rw-r--r--, user(rw), group(r), other(r)
+            flags: 'w', // write and overwrite
+            flush: true,
+          });
+
+          await body.pipeTo(Writable.toWeb(fileStream));
+        })(),
       );
-      commands.push(curlCommand);
     }
 
-    const readmeUrl = `https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/blob/${releaseTag}/README.md#quick-start`;
+    // Wait for all downloads to complete
+    await Promise.all(downloads).finally(() => {
+      // Stop existing downloads
+      abortController.abort();
+    });
 
+    // Print out a message
+    const commands = [];
+    commands.push('set -eEuo pipefail');
     commands.push(
       `echo "Successfully downloaded ${workflows.length} workflows. Follow the steps in ${readmeUrl} (skipping the /setup-github step) to complete setup."`,
     );
-
     commands.push(...getOpenUrlsCommands(readmeUrl));
 
     const command = `(${commands.join(' && ')})`;
@@ -113,20 +166,3 @@ export const setupGithubCommand: SlashCommand = {
     };
   },
 };
-
-// buildCurlCommand is a helper for constructing a consistent curl command.
-function buildCurlCommand(u: string, additionalArgs?: string[]): string {
-  const args = [];
-  args.push('--fail');
-  args.push('--location');
-  args.push('--show-error');
-  args.push('--silent');
-
-  for (const val of additionalArgs || []) {
-    args.push(val);
-  }
-
-  args.sort();
-
-  return `curl ${args.join(' ')} "${u}"`;
-}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/gitUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/gitUtils.ts
index f5f9cb92..7b271ac4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/gitUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/gitUtils.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
-import { ProxyAgent, setGlobalDispatcher } from 'undici';
+import { ProxyAgent } from 'undici';
 
 /**
  * Checks if a directory is within a git repository hosted on GitHub.
@@ -57,9 +57,6 @@ export const getLatestGitHubRelease = async (
 ): Promise<string> => {
   try {
     const controller = new AbortController();
-    if (proxy) {
-      setGlobalDispatcher(new ProxyAgent(proxy));
-    }
 
     const endpoint = `https://api.github.com/repos/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/releases/latest`;
 
@@ -70,8 +67,9 @@ export const getLatestGitHubRelease = async (
         'Content-Type': 'application/json',
         'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
       },
-      signal: controller.signal,
-    });
+      dispatcher: proxy ? new ProxyAgent(proxy) : undefined,
+      signal: AbortSignal.any([AbortSignal.timeout(30_000), controller.signal]),
+    } as RequestInit);
 
     if (!response.ok) {
       throw new Error(