diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e719a44..1d5e836 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 /.DS_Store
 /__pycache__/
 
+# Python bytecode and interpreter caches
+**/__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+
 # CNSA 2.0 PQC key material (generate with scripts/qihse_keygen.sh)
 /qihse_kem_key.pem
 /qihse_kem_pub.pem
diff --git a/python/qihse/__pycache__/__init__.cpython-313.pyc b/python/qihse/__pycache__/__init__.cpython-313.pyc
deleted file mode 100644
index 390d76c..0000000
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index 8b639a4..0000000
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index 5e39bae..0000000
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diff --git a/python/tests/__pycache__/__init__.cpython-313.pyc b/python/tests/__pycache__/__init__.cpython-313.pyc
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