diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d0ef8f27..b3f86bdf 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ hosts_*.json
 # TODO figure out how to properly solve the issue with these target directories showing up
 networking/target/
 networking/topology/target/
+
+build/
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 209cb5e5..a327859d 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -32,4 +32,15 @@ protobufs:
     just regenerate-protobufs
 
 build: regenerate-protobufs
-    uv build --all-packages
\ No newline at end of file
+    uv build --all-packages
+
+# Build the Go forwarder binary
+build-forwarder:
+    cd networking/forwarder && go build -buildvcs=false -o ../../build/forwarder .
+
+# Run forwarder tests
+test-forwarder:
+    cd networking/forwarder && go test ./src/...
+
+# Build all components (Python packages and Go forwarder)
+build-all: build build-forwarder
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/master/env.py b/master/env.py
index 284bf585..a63914c2 100644
--- a/master/env.py
+++ b/master/env.py
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ from shared.env import BaseEnv
 
 class MasterEnvironmentSchema(BaseEnv):
     # Master-specific: forwarder configuration
-    FORWARDER_BINARY_PATH: Path | None = None
+    # Default to build/forwarder if not explicitly set
+    FORWARDER_BINARY_PATH: Path = Path("build/forwarder")
diff --git a/test_shard_serialization.py b/test_shard_serialization.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 0519ecba..00000000
--- a/test_shard_serialization.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
- 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/throwaway_tests/segfault_multiprocess.py b/throwaway_tests/segfault_multiprocess.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 28c835f6..00000000
--- a/throwaway_tests/segfault_multiprocess.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-import ctypes;
-from multiprocessing import Process
-
-def trigger_segfault():
-  ctypes.string_at(0)
-
-def subprocess_main(id: int):
-    print(f"SUBPROCESS {id}: PROCESS START")
-    trigger_segfault()
-    print(f"SUBPROCESS {id}: PROCESS END")
-
-def main():
-    """This code tests that a master process is not brought down by 
-    segfaults that occur in the child processes
-    """
-
-    print("MASTER: PROCESS START")
-    procs: list[Process] = []
-    for i in range(0, 10):
-        p = Process(target=subprocess_main, args=(i,))
-        procs.append(p)
-        p.start()
-
-    print("MASTER: JOINING SUBPROCESSES")
-    for p in procs:
-        p.join()
-
-    print("MASTER: PROCESS END")
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    main()
\ No newline at end of file