diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-and-release.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-and-release.yml
index a5a1e87..814a680 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-and-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-and-release.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: CI and Release
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: 
+    branches:
       - '**'
     tags:
       - 'v*'
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ jobs:
     - name: Set up Go
       uses: actions/setup-go@v5
       with:
-        go-version: '1.21'
+        go-version: '1.24'
+
+    - name: Tidy modules
+      run: go mod tidy
 
     - name: Run tests
       run: go test -v ./...
@@ -46,7 +49,10 @@ jobs:
     - name: Set up Go
       uses: actions/setup-go@v5
       with:
-        go-version: '1.21'
+        go-version: '1.24'
+
+    - name: Tidy modules
+      run: go mod tidy
 
     - name: Run tests
       run: go test -v ./...
@@ -82,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
         sha256sum * > checksums.txt
 
     - name: Create GitHub Release
-      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
       with:
         files: |
           dist/*
@@ -90,5 +96,4 @@ jobs:
         draft: false
         prerelease: false
       env:
-        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cli.go b/cli.go
index b7b0601..eb09a1d 100644
--- a/cli.go
+++ b/cli.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"runtime/pprof"
 	"slices"
 )
 
@@ -16,6 +17,18 @@ func RunCLI(ctx context.Context, args []string, stdin io.Reader, stdout io.Write
 		return fmt.Errorf("bad parameters: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	if params.CPUProfile != "" {
+		f, err := os.Create(params.CPUProfile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not create CPU profile: %w", err)
+		}
+		defer f.Close()
+		if err := pprof.StartCPUProfile(f); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not start CPU profile: %w", err)
+		}
+		defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
+	}
+
 	replacer, err := replacer(params)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot parse template: %w", err)
diff --git a/cmd/patt/main.go b/cmd/patt/main.go
index 7655e07..6d14a82 100644
--- a/cmd/patt/main.go
+++ b/cmd/patt/main.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"patt"
 )
 
+var version = "dev"
+
 func main() {
 	ctx, stop := signal.NotifyContext(context.Background(), os.Interrupt, os.Kill)
 	defer stop()
@@ -18,4 +20,4 @@ func exitIfErr(err error) {
 		_, _ = os.Stderr.WriteString(err.Error() + "\n")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/profiling/main.go b/cmd/profiling/main.go
deleted file mode 100644
index f824836..0000000
--- a/cmd/profiling/main.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-package main
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"log"
-	"os"
-	"patt"
-	"runtime"
-	"runtime/pprof"
-)
-
-func main() {
-
-	// CPU profiling
-	f, err := os.Create("cpu.prof")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer f.Close()
-
-	if err := pprof.StartCPUProfile(f); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
-
-	args := []string{"patt", "[<_> <_>] [error] <_>", "", "./testdata/Apache_500MB.log"}
-	err = patt.RunCLI(context.Background(), args, os.Stdin, os.Stdout)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	f, err = os.Create("mem.prof")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer f.Close()
-
-	runtime.GC() // get up-to-date statistics
-	if err := pprof.WriteHeapProfile(f); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/params.go b/params.go
index 28dbe04..12d9d73 100644
--- a/params.go
+++ b/params.go
@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ type CLIParams struct {
 	ReplaceTemplate string
 	InputFiles      []string
 	Keep            bool
+	CPUProfile      string
 }
 
 // ParseCLIParams parses flags + positional args
 //
+//
 //	patt [flags] search_pattern [[more_search ...] replace_pattern]
 //	     [-- file1 [file2 ...]]
 //
@@ -49,6 +51,10 @@ func ParseCLIParams(argsWithFlags []string) (CLIParams, error) {
 	}
 
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&out.Keep, "keep", "k", false, "print non‑matching lines")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&out.CPUProfile, "cpu-profile", "", "write cpu profile to file")
+	if err := cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("cpu-profile"); err != nil {
+		return out, err
+	}
 
 	if err := cmd.ParseFlags(argsWithFlags); err != nil {
 		return out, err
diff --git a/params_test.go b/params_test.go
index a7d7270..51c9f16 100644
--- a/params_test.go
+++ b/params_test.go
@@ -79,6 +79,16 @@ func TestParseCLIParams_NoErrors(t *testing.T) {
 				ReplaceTemplate: "template",
 			},
 		},
+	{
+			name: "cpu profile flag",
+			args: []string{"--cpu-profile=cpu.pprof", "pattern", "replacement", "--", "input.txt"},
+			want: CLIParams{
+				SearchPatterns:  []string{"pattern"},
+				ReplaceTemplate: "replacement",
+				InputFiles:      []string{"input.txt"},
+				CPUProfile:      "cpu.pprof",
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/pattern.go b/pattern.go
index 46f2ed2..ceb7f1f 100644
--- a/pattern.go
+++ b/pattern.go
@@ -147,4 +147,4 @@ func (m *MultiReplacer) Match(line []byte) bool {
 
 func (m *MultiReplacer) Replace(line []byte) []byte {
 	return m.replacers[m.lastMatchedIx].Replace(line)
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pattern/pattern.go b/pattern/pattern.go
index 5e5aad9..01c7e92 100644
--- a/pattern/pattern.go
+++ b/pattern/pattern.go
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ var (
 )
 
 type Matcher struct {
-	e     expr
-	names []string
+	e           expr
+	names       []string
+	longestLiteral []byte
 }
 
 func New(in string) (*Matcher, error) {
@@ -24,9 +25,18 @@ func New(in string) (*Matcher, error) {
 	if err := e.validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	var longestLiteral []byte
+	for _, n := range e {
+		if l, ok := n.(literals); ok {
+			if len(l) > len(longestLiteral) {
+				longestLiteral = l
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	return &Matcher{
-		e:     e,
-		names: e.captures(),
+		e:           e,
+		names:       e.captures(),
+		longestLiteral: longestLiteral,
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -41,7 +51,15 @@ func ParseLineFilter(in []byte) (*Matcher, error) {
 	if err = e.validateNoConsecutiveCaptures(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return &Matcher{e: e}, nil
+	var longestLiteral []byte
+	for _, n := range e {
+		if l, ok := n.(literals); ok {
+			if len(l) > len(longestLiteral) {
+				longestLiteral = l
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return &Matcher{e: e, longestLiteral: longestLiteral}, nil
 }
 
 func ParseLiterals(in string) ([][]byte, error) {
@@ -137,9 +155,10 @@ func (m *Matcher) Names() []string {
 }
 
 func (m *Matcher) Test(in []byte) bool {
-	if len(in) == 0 || len(m.e) == 0 {
-		// An empty line can only match an empty pattern.
-		return len(in) == 0 && len(m.e) == 0
+	if len(m.longestLiteral) > 0 {
+		if !bytes.Contains(in, m.longestLiteral) {
+			return false
+		}
 	}
 	var off int
 	for i := range m.e {
@@ -158,6 +177,10 @@ func (m *Matcher) Test(in []byte) bool {
 		}
 		off += j + len(lit)
 	}
+	if len(in) == 0 || len(m.e) == 0 {
+		// An empty line can only match an empty pattern.
+		return len(in) == 0 && len(m.e) == 0
+	}
 	// If we end up on a literal, we only consider the test successful if
 	// the remaining input is empty. Otherwise, if we end up on a capture,
 	// the remainder (the captured text) must not be empty.
@@ -170,4 +193,4 @@ func (m *Matcher) Test(in []byte) bool {
 	_, reqRem := m.e[len(m.e)-1].(capture)
 	hasRem := off != len(in)
 	return reqRem == hasRem
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file