diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8747977ff9..14d2ee88e4 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1520,6 +1520,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "num_cpus"
+version = "1.16.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4161fcb6d602d4d2081af7c3a45852d875a03dd337a6bfdd6e06407b61342a43"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "number_prefix"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -2031,6 +2041,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "log",
  "mimalloc",
  "notify",
+ "num_cpus",
  "path-absolutize",
  "rayon",
  "regex",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d91fe8fc8f..31b4337d24 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ memchr = { version = "2.7.1" }
 mimalloc = { version = "0.1.39" }
 natord = { version = "1.0.9" }
 notify = { version = "6.1.1" }
+num_cpus = { version = "1.16.0" }
 once_cell = { version = "1.19.0" }
 path-absolutize = { version = "3.1.1" }
 pathdiff = { version = "0.2.1" }
diff --git a/crates/ruff/Cargo.toml b/crates/ruff/Cargo.toml
index 4e9880808d..3a75eabaf3 100644
--- a/crates/ruff/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/ruff/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ is-macro = { workspace = true }
 itertools = { workspace = true }
 log = { workspace = true }
 notify = { workspace = true }
+num_cpus = { workspace = true }
 path-absolutize = { workspace = true, features = ["once_cell_cache"] }
 rayon = { workspace = true }
 regex = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/ruff/src/args.rs b/crates/ruff/src/args.rs
index c4f9f7a247..ed98a999af 100644
--- a/crates/ruff/src/args.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff/src/args.rs
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ pub struct FormatCommand {
     pub range: Option<FormatRange>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, clap::Parser)]
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, clap::Parser)]
 pub struct ServerCommand {
     /// Enable preview mode; required for regular operation
     #[arg(long)]
diff --git a/crates/ruff/src/commands/server.rs b/crates/ruff/src/commands/server.rs
index e6b9c5e4db..bb7b3efe90 100644
--- a/crates/ruff/src/commands/server.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff/src/commands/server.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
+
 use crate::ExitStatus;
 use anyhow::Result;
 use ruff_linter::logging::LogLevel;
@@ -9,7 +11,11 @@ use tracing_subscriber::{
 };
 use tracing_tree::time::Uptime;
 
-pub(crate) fn run_server(preview: bool, log_level: LogLevel) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+pub(crate) fn run_server(
+    preview: bool,
+    worker_threads: NonZeroUsize,
+    log_level: LogLevel,
+) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
     if !preview {
         tracing::error!("--preview needs to be provided as a command line argument while the server is still unstable.\nFor example: `ruff server --preview`");
         return Ok(ExitStatus::Error);
@@ -33,7 +39,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run_server(preview: bool, log_level: LogLevel) -> Result<ExitStatu
 
     tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber)?;
 
-    let server = Server::new()?;
+    let server = Server::new(worker_threads)?;
 
     server.run().map(|()| ExitStatus::Success)
 }
diff --git a/crates/ruff/src/lib.rs b/crates/ruff/src/lib.rs
index 1e74a42aac..1a9a333d23 100644
--- a/crates/ruff/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{self, stdout, BufWriter, Write};
+use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::ExitCode;
 use std::sync::mpsc::channel;
@@ -204,10 +205,15 @@ fn format(args: FormatCommand, global_options: GlobalConfigArgs) -> Result<ExitS
     }
 }
 
-#[allow(clippy::needless_pass_by_value)] // TODO: remove once we start taking arguments from here
 fn server(args: ServerCommand, log_level: LogLevel) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
     let ServerCommand { preview } = args;
-    commands::server::run_server(preview, log_level)
+    // by default, we set the number of worker threads to `num_cpus`, with a maximum of 4.
+    let worker_threads = num_cpus::get().max(4);
+    commands::server::run_server(
+        preview,
+        NonZeroUsize::try_from(worker_threads).expect("a non-zero worker thread count"),
+        log_level,
+    )
 }
 
 pub fn check(args: CheckCommand, global_options: GlobalConfigArgs) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
diff --git a/crates/ruff_server/src/server.rs b/crates/ruff_server/src/server.rs
index a934471701..ae1f9a20ed 100644
--- a/crates/ruff_server/src/server.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff_server/src/server.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 //! Scheduling, I/O, and API endpoints.
 
+use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
+
 use lsp::Connection;
 use lsp_server as lsp;
 use lsp_types as types;
@@ -27,11 +29,12 @@ pub(crate) type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, api::Error>;
 pub struct Server {
     conn: lsp::Connection,
     threads: lsp::IoThreads,
+    worker_threads: NonZeroUsize,
     session: Session,
 }
 
 impl Server {
-    pub fn new() -> crate::Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(worker_threads: NonZeroUsize) -> crate::Result<Self> {
         let (conn, threads) = lsp::Connection::stdio();
 
         let (id, params) = conn.initialize_start()?;
@@ -66,19 +69,27 @@ impl Server {
         Ok(Self {
             conn,
             threads,
+            worker_threads,
             session: Session::new(&server_capabilities, &workspaces)?,
         })
     }
 
     pub fn run(self) -> crate::Result<()> {
-        let result = event_loop_thread(move || Self::event_loop(&self.conn, self.session))?.join();
+        let result = event_loop_thread(move || {
+            Self::event_loop(&self.conn, self.session, self.worker_threads)
+        })?
+        .join();
         self.threads.join()?;
         result
     }
 
-    fn event_loop(connection: &Connection, session: Session) -> crate::Result<()> {
+    fn event_loop(
+        connection: &Connection,
+        session: Session,
+        worker_threads: NonZeroUsize,
+    ) -> crate::Result<()> {
         // TODO(jane): Make thread count configurable
-        let mut scheduler = schedule::Scheduler::new(session, 4, &connection.sender);
+        let mut scheduler = schedule::Scheduler::new(session, worker_threads, &connection.sender);
         for msg in &connection.receiver {
             let task = match msg {
                 lsp::Message::Request(req) => {
diff --git a/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule.rs b/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule.rs
index fd2e59582b..00368a411f 100644
--- a/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::num::NonZeroUsize;
+
 use crossbeam::channel::Sender;
 
 use crate::session::Session;
@@ -42,13 +44,14 @@ pub(crate) struct Scheduler {
 impl Scheduler {
     pub(super) fn new(
         session: Session,
-        thread_count: usize,
+        worker_threads: NonZeroUsize,
         sender: &Sender<lsp_server::Message>,
     ) -> Self {
+        const FMT_THREADS: usize = 1;
         Self {
             session,
-            fmt_pool: thread::Pool::new(1),
-            background_pool: thread::Pool::new(thread_count),
+            fmt_pool: thread::Pool::new(NonZeroUsize::try_from(FMT_THREADS).unwrap()),
+            background_pool: thread::Pool::new(worker_threads),
             client: Client::new(sender),
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule/thread/pool.rs b/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule/thread/pool.rs
index 9a69ce367e..7d1f9a418f 100644
--- a/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule/thread/pool.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff_server/src/server/schedule/thread/pool.rs
@@ -13,9 +13,12 @@
 //! The thread pool is implemented entirely using
 //! the threading utilities in [`crate::server::schedule::thread`].
 
-use std::sync::{
-    atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering},
-    Arc,
+use std::{
+    num::NonZeroUsize,
+    sync::{
+        atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering},
+        Arc,
+    },
 };
 
 use crossbeam::channel::{Receiver, Sender};
@@ -41,12 +44,15 @@ struct Job {
 }
 
 impl Pool {
-    pub(crate) fn new(threads: usize) -> Pool {
+    pub(crate) fn new(threads: NonZeroUsize) -> Pool {
         // Override OS defaults to avoid stack overflows on platforms with low stack size defaults.
         const STACK_SIZE: usize = 2 * 1024 * 1024;
         const INITIAL_PRIORITY: ThreadPriority = ThreadPriority::Worker;
 
-        let (job_sender, job_receiver) = crossbeam::channel::bounded(threads);
+        let threads = usize::from(threads);
+
+        // Channel buffer capacity is between 2 and 4, depending on the pool size.
+        let (job_sender, job_receiver) = crossbeam::channel::bounded(std::cmp::min(threads * 2, 4));
         let extant_tasks = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0));
 
         let mut handles = Vec::with_capacity(threads);