diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index d2d60a3d..bed1c87d 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.24.0"
+  ".": "0.24.1"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f267485b..3b8594fb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## 0.24.1 (2026-04-23)
+
+Full Changelog: [v0.24.0...v0.24.1](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/compare/v0.24.0...v0.24.1)
+
+### Performance Improvements
+
+* **client:** optimize file structure copying in multipart requests ([f1bd1b6](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/f1bd1b67ef14d4dd38f16287f16583af8ecb095c))
+
+
+### Chores
+
+* **internal:** more robust bootstrap script ([7db0bc0](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/7db0bc04d2dc7244c73d80ecd42215d269f78f6a))
+* **tests:** bump steady to v0.22.1 ([1a1013d](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/commit/1a1013d6e5d82b18deca30f215195904f0e3d4f1))
+
 ## 0.24.0 (2026-04-14)
 
 Full Changelog: [v0.23.3...v0.24.0](https://github.com/openlayer-ai/openlayer-python/compare/v0.23.3...v0.24.0)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7c2d98bf..30c1ddfe 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "openlayer"
-version = "0.24.0"
+version = "0.24.1"
 description = "The official Python library for the openlayer API"
 dynamic = ["readme"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap b/scripts/bootstrap
index b430fee3..fe8451e4 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -e
 
 cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
 
-if [ -f "Brewfile" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$SKIP_BREW" != "1" ] && [ -t 0 ]; then
+if [ -f "Brewfile" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "${SKIP_BREW:-}" != "1" ] && [ -t 0 ]; then
   brew bundle check >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
     echo -n "==> Install Homebrew dependencies? (y/N): "
     read -r response
diff --git a/scripts/mock b/scripts/mock
index 5cd7c157..feebe5ed 100755
--- a/scripts/mock
+++ b/scripts/mock
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ echo "==> Starting mock server with URL ${URL}"
 # Run steady mock on the given spec
 if [ "$1" == "--daemon" ]; then
   # Pre-install the package so the download doesn't eat into the startup timeout
-  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.20.2 -- steady --version
+  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.22.1 -- steady --version
 
-  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.20.2 -- steady --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets "$URL" &> .stdy.log &
+  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.22.1 -- steady --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets "$URL" &> .stdy.log &
 
   # Wait for server to come online via health endpoint (max 30s)
   echo -n "Waiting for server"
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@ if [ "$1" == "--daemon" ]; then
 
   echo
 else
-  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.20.2 -- steady --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets "$URL"
+  npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.22.1 -- steady --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets "$URL"
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/test b/scripts/test
index b8143aa3..19acc916 100755
--- a/scripts/test
+++ b/scripts/test
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ elif ! steady_is_running ; then
   echo -e "To run the server, pass in the path or url of your OpenAPI"
   echo -e "spec to the steady command:"
   echo
-  echo -e "  \$ ${YELLOW}npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.20.2 -- steady path/to/your.openapi.yml --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets${NC}"
+  echo -e "  \$ ${YELLOW}npm exec --package=@stdy/cli@0.22.1 -- steady path/to/your.openapi.yml --host 127.0.0.1 -p 4010 --validator-query-array-format=comma --validator-form-array-format=comma --validator-query-object-format=brackets --validator-form-object-format=brackets${NC}"
   echo
 
   exit 1
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_files.py b/src/openlayer/_files.py
index cc14c14f..0fdce17b 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_files.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_files.py
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 import io
 import os
 import pathlib
-from typing import overload
-from typing_extensions import TypeGuard
+from typing import Sequence, cast, overload
+from typing_extensions import TypeVar, TypeGuard
 
 import anyio
 
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
     HttpxFileContent,
     HttpxRequestFiles,
 )
-from ._utils import is_tuple_t, is_mapping_t, is_sequence_t
+from ._utils import is_list, is_mapping, is_tuple_t, is_mapping_t, is_sequence_t
+
+_T = TypeVar("_T")
 
 
 def is_base64_file_input(obj: object) -> TypeGuard[Base64FileInput]:
@@ -121,3 +123,51 @@ async def async_read_file_content(file: FileContent) -> HttpxFileContent:
         return await anyio.Path(file).read_bytes()
 
     return file
+
+
+def deepcopy_with_paths(item: _T, paths: Sequence[Sequence[str]]) -> _T:
+    """Copy only the containers along the given paths.
+
+    Used to guard against mutation by extract_files without copying the entire structure.
+    Only dicts and lists that lie on a path are copied; everything else
+    is returned by reference.
+
+    For example, given paths=[["foo", "files", "file"]] and the structure:
+        {
+            "foo": {
+                "bar": {"baz": {}},
+                "files": {"file": <content>}
+            }
+        }
+    The root dict, "foo", and "files" are copied (they lie on the path).
+    "bar" and "baz" are returned by reference (off the path).
+    """
+    return _deepcopy_with_paths(item, paths, 0)
+
+
+def _deepcopy_with_paths(item: _T, paths: Sequence[Sequence[str]], index: int) -> _T:
+    if not paths:
+        return item
+    if is_mapping(item):
+        key_to_paths: dict[str, list[Sequence[str]]] = {}
+        for path in paths:
+            if index < len(path):
+                key_to_paths.setdefault(path[index], []).append(path)
+
+        # if no path continues through this mapping, it won't be mutated and copying it is redundant
+        if not key_to_paths:
+            return item
+
+        result = dict(item)
+        for key, subpaths in key_to_paths.items():
+            if key in result:
+                result[key] = _deepcopy_with_paths(result[key], subpaths, index + 1)
+        return cast(_T, result)
+    if is_list(item):
+        array_paths = [path for path in paths if index < len(path) and path[index] == "<array>"]
+
+        # if no path expects a list here, nothing will be mutated inside it - return by reference
+        if not array_paths:
+            return cast(_T, item)
+        return cast(_T, [_deepcopy_with_paths(entry, array_paths, index + 1) for entry in item])
+    return item
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_utils/__init__.py b/src/openlayer/_utils/__init__.py
index 10cb66d2..1c090e51 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_utils/__init__.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
     coerce_integer as coerce_integer,
     file_from_path as file_from_path,
     strip_not_given as strip_not_given,
-    deepcopy_minimal as deepcopy_minimal,
     get_async_library as get_async_library,
     maybe_coerce_float as maybe_coerce_float,
     get_required_header as get_required_header,
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_utils/_utils.py b/src/openlayer/_utils/_utils.py
index 63b8cd60..771859f5 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_utils/_utils.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_utils/_utils.py
@@ -177,21 +177,6 @@ def is_iterable(obj: object) -> TypeGuard[Iterable[object]]:
     return isinstance(obj, Iterable)
 
 
-def deepcopy_minimal(item: _T) -> _T:
-    """Minimal reimplementation of copy.deepcopy() that will only copy certain object types:
-
-    - mappings, e.g. `dict`
-    - list
-
-    This is done for performance reasons.
-    """
-    if is_mapping(item):
-        return cast(_T, {k: deepcopy_minimal(v) for k, v in item.items()})
-    if is_list(item):
-        return cast(_T, [deepcopy_minimal(entry) for entry in item])
-    return item
-
-
 # copied from https://github.com/Rapptz/RoboDanny
 def human_join(seq: Sequence[str], *, delim: str = ", ", final: str = "or") -> str:
     size = len(seq)
diff --git a/src/openlayer/_version.py b/src/openlayer/_version.py
index bf193107..79072a6f 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/_version.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # File generated from our OpenAPI spec by Stainless. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
 
 __title__ = "openlayer"
-__version__ = "0.24.0"  # x-release-please-version
+__version__ = "0.24.1"  # x-release-please-version
diff --git a/tests/test_deepcopy.py b/tests/test_deepcopy.py
deleted file mode 100644
index ecd85ee3..00000000
--- a/tests/test_deepcopy.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-from openlayer._utils import deepcopy_minimal
-
-
-def assert_different_identities(obj1: object, obj2: object) -> None:
-    assert obj1 == obj2
-    assert id(obj1) != id(obj2)
-
-
-def test_simple_dict() -> None:
-    obj1 = {"foo": "bar"}
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-
-
-def test_nested_dict() -> None:
-    obj1 = {"foo": {"bar": True}}
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1["foo"], obj2["foo"])
-
-
-def test_complex_nested_dict() -> None:
-    obj1 = {"foo": {"bar": [{"hello": "world"}]}}
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1["foo"], obj2["foo"])
-    assert_different_identities(obj1["foo"]["bar"], obj2["foo"]["bar"])
-    assert_different_identities(obj1["foo"]["bar"][0], obj2["foo"]["bar"][0])
-
-
-def test_simple_list() -> None:
-    obj1 = ["a", "b", "c"]
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-
-
-def test_nested_list() -> None:
-    obj1 = ["a", [1, 2, 3]]
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1[1], obj2[1])
-
-
-class MyObject: ...
-
-
-def test_ignores_other_types() -> None:
-    # custom classes
-    my_obj = MyObject()
-    obj1 = {"foo": my_obj}
-    obj2 = deepcopy_minimal(obj1)
-    assert_different_identities(obj1, obj2)
-    assert obj1["foo"] is my_obj
-
-    # tuples
-    obj3 = ("a", "b")
-    obj4 = deepcopy_minimal(obj3)
-    assert obj3 is obj4
diff --git a/tests/test_files.py b/tests/test_files.py
index 8c6275bf..232ca90d 100644
--- a/tests/test_files.py
+++ b/tests/test_files.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 import pytest
 from dirty_equals import IsDict, IsList, IsBytes, IsTuple
 
-from openlayer._files import to_httpx_files, async_to_httpx_files
+from openlayer._files import to_httpx_files, deepcopy_with_paths, async_to_httpx_files
+from openlayer._utils import extract_files
 
 readme_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.joinpath("README.md")
 
@@ -49,3 +50,99 @@ def test_string_not_allowed() -> None:
                 "file": "foo",  # type: ignore
             }
         )
+
+
+def assert_different_identities(obj1: object, obj2: object) -> None:
+    assert obj1 == obj2
+    assert obj1 is not obj2
+
+
+class TestDeepcopyWithPaths:
+    def test_copies_top_level_dict(self) -> None:
+        original = {"file": b"data", "other": "value"}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["file"]])
+        assert_different_identities(result, original)
+
+    def test_file_value_is_same_reference(self) -> None:
+        file_bytes = b"contents"
+        original = {"file": file_bytes}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["file"]])
+        assert_different_identities(result, original)
+        assert result["file"] is file_bytes
+
+    def test_list_popped_wholesale(self) -> None:
+        files = [b"f1", b"f2"]
+        original = {"files": files, "title": "t"}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["files", "<array>"]])
+        assert_different_identities(result, original)
+        result_files = result["files"]
+        assert isinstance(result_files, list)
+        assert_different_identities(result_files, files)
+
+    def test_nested_array_path_copies_list_and_elements(self) -> None:
+        elem1 = {"file": b"f1", "extra": 1}
+        elem2 = {"file": b"f2", "extra": 2}
+        original = {"items": [elem1, elem2]}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["items", "<array>", "file"]])
+        assert_different_identities(result, original)
+        result_items = result["items"]
+        assert isinstance(result_items, list)
+        assert_different_identities(result_items, original["items"])
+        assert_different_identities(result_items[0], elem1)
+        assert_different_identities(result_items[1], elem2)
+
+    def test_empty_paths_returns_same_object(self) -> None:
+        original = {"foo": "bar"}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [])
+        assert result is original
+
+    def test_multiple_paths(self) -> None:
+        f1 = b"file1"
+        f2 = b"file2"
+        original = {"a": f1, "b": f2, "c": "unchanged"}
+        result = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["a"], ["b"]])
+        assert_different_identities(result, original)
+        assert result["a"] is f1
+        assert result["b"] is f2
+        assert result["c"] is original["c"]
+
+    def test_extract_files_does_not_mutate_original_top_level(self) -> None:
+        file_bytes = b"contents"
+        original = {"file": file_bytes, "other": "value"}
+
+        copied = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["file"]])
+        extracted = extract_files(copied, paths=[["file"]])
+
+        assert extracted == [("file", file_bytes)]
+        assert original == {"file": file_bytes, "other": "value"}
+        assert copied == {"other": "value"}
+
+    def test_extract_files_does_not_mutate_original_nested_array_path(self) -> None:
+        file1 = b"f1"
+        file2 = b"f2"
+        original = {
+            "items": [
+                {"file": file1, "extra": 1},
+                {"file": file2, "extra": 2},
+            ],
+            "title": "example",
+        }
+
+        copied = deepcopy_with_paths(original, [["items", "<array>", "file"]])
+        extracted = extract_files(copied, paths=[["items", "<array>", "file"]])
+
+        assert extracted == [("items[][file]", file1), ("items[][file]", file2)]
+        assert original == {
+            "items": [
+                {"file": file1, "extra": 1},
+                {"file": file2, "extra": 2},
+            ],
+            "title": "example",
+        }
+        assert copied == {
+            "items": [
+                {"extra": 1},
+                {"extra": 2},
+            ],
+            "title": "example",
+        }