diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/compute/app/deploy.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/compute/app/deploy.ts
index 202b17b..0fb1530 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/compute/app/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/compute/app/deploy.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import { Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
-import { getEnvironmentConfig, UserApiClient, isMainnet } from "@layr-labs/ecloud-sdk";
+import {
+  getEnvironmentConfig,
+  UserApiClient,
+  isMainnet,
+  WatchTimeoutError,
+} from "@layr-labs/ecloud-sdk";
 import { withTelemetry } from "../../../telemetry";
 import { commonFlags, applyTxOverrides } from "../../../flags";
 import { createComputeClient } from "../../../client";
@@ -147,6 +152,11 @@ export default class AppDeploy extends Command {
       description: "Skip all confirmation prompts",
       default: false,
     }),
+    "watch-timeout": Flags.integer({
+      description:
+        "Maximum seconds to wait for the app to start before returning a recovery hint (default: 600)",
+      env: "ECLOUD_WATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS",
+    }),
   };
 
   async run() {
@@ -533,7 +543,41 @@ export default class AppDeploy extends Command {
       }
 
       // 12. Watch until app is running
-      const ipAddress = await compute.app.watchDeployment(res.appId);
+      let ipAddress: string | undefined;
+      try {
+        ipAddress = await compute.app.watchDeployment(res.appId, {
+          timeoutSeconds: flags["watch-timeout"],
+        });
+      } catch (watchErr: any) {
+        if (watchErr instanceof WatchTimeoutError) {
+          this.log(
+            `\n${chalk.yellow("⚠")} ${chalk.yellow(
+              `Deployment did not reach Running within ${watchErr.elapsedSeconds}s (last status: ${watchErr.lastStatus ?? "unknown"}).`,
+            )}`,
+          );
+          this.log(
+            chalk.gray(
+              `The deploy transaction succeeded, but the orchestrator hasn't reported the app as Running yet.`,
+            ),
+          );
+          this.log(chalk.gray(`  appId:  ${res.appId}`));
+          if (res.txHash) {
+            this.log(chalk.gray(`  txHash: ${res.txHash}`));
+          }
+          this.log(
+            chalk.gray(
+              `Check progress later with: ${chalk.cyan(`ecloud compute app info ${res.appId}`)}`,
+            ),
+          );
+          this.log(
+            chalk.gray(
+              `Override the watch timeout with the ${chalk.cyan("ECLOUD_WATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS")} environment variable.`,
+            ),
+          );
+          this.exit(1);
+        }
+        throw watchErr;
+      }
 
       try {
         const cwd = process.env.INIT_CWD || process.cwd();
diff --git a/packages/sdk/src/client/common/contract/watcher.ts b/packages/sdk/src/client/common/contract/watcher.ts
index 3482ff0..c6c7fea 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/src/client/common/contract/watcher.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/src/client/common/contract/watcher.ts
@@ -17,13 +17,70 @@ export interface WatchUntilRunningOptions {
   publicClient: PublicClient;
   environmentConfig: EnvironmentConfig;
   appId: Address;
+  /**
+   * Maximum seconds to wait before throwing {@link WatchTimeoutError}.
+   * Precedence: explicit value > `ECLOUD_WATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` env var > 600s default.
+   */
+  timeoutSeconds?: number;
 }
 
 const WATCH_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 5;
+const WATCH_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 30;
+export const WATCH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 10 * 60;
 const APP_STATUS_RUNNING = "Running";
 const APP_STATUS_FAILED = "Failed";
 // const APP_STATUS_DEPLOYING = 'Deploying';
 
+/**
+ * Typed error thrown when watch loops exceed their timeout budget.
+ *
+ * Callers (e.g. the CLI) can catch this specifically to surface a
+ * troubleshooting hint without treating it as a generic failure.
+ */
+export class WatchTimeoutError extends Error {
+  public readonly appId: string;
+  public readonly elapsedSeconds: number;
+  public readonly lastStatus: string | undefined;
+  public readonly timeoutSeconds: number;
+
+  constructor(args: {
+    appId: string;
+    elapsedSeconds: number;
+    lastStatus: string | undefined;
+    timeoutSeconds: number;
+    message?: string;
+  }) {
+    super(
+      args.message ??
+        `Timed out after ${args.elapsedSeconds}s waiting for app ${args.appId} (last status: ${args.lastStatus ?? "unknown"})`,
+    );
+    this.name = "WatchTimeoutError";
+    this.appId = args.appId;
+    this.elapsedSeconds = args.elapsedSeconds;
+    this.lastStatus = args.lastStatus;
+    this.timeoutSeconds = args.timeoutSeconds;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the watch timeout in seconds, honoring the
+ * ECLOUD_WATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS environment override.
+ */
+function resolveWatchTimeoutSeconds(explicit?: number): number {
+  if (typeof explicit === "number" && Number.isFinite(explicit) && explicit > 0) {
+    return Math.floor(explicit);
+  }
+  const raw = process.env.ECLOUD_WATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS;
+  if (raw === undefined || raw === "") {
+    return WATCH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS;
+  }
+  const parsed = Number(raw);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(parsed) || parsed <= 0) {
+    return WATCH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS;
+  }
+  return Math.floor(parsed);
+}
+
 /**
  * Watch app until it reaches Running status with IP address
  */
@@ -79,8 +136,23 @@ export async function watchUntilRunning(
 
   // Main watch loop
   const startTime = Date.now();
+  const timeoutSeconds = resolveWatchTimeoutSeconds(options.timeoutSeconds);
   let lastLoggedStatus: string | undefined;
+  let lastHeartbeatAt = startTime;
   while (true) {
+    const elapsedMs = Date.now() - startTime;
+    const elapsed = Math.round(elapsedMs / 1000);
+
+    // Bound the loop: surface a typed timeout so callers can hint the user.
+    if (elapsed >= timeoutSeconds) {
+      throw new WatchTimeoutError({
+        appId,
+        elapsedSeconds: elapsed,
+        lastStatus: lastLoggedStatus,
+        timeoutSeconds,
+      });
+    }
+
     try {
       // Fetch app info
       const info = await userApiClient.getInfos([appId], 1);
@@ -93,11 +165,16 @@ export async function watchUntilRunning(
       const currentStatus = appInfo.status;
       const currentIP = appInfo.ip || "";
 
-      // Log status changes and elapsed time
-      const elapsed = Math.round((Date.now() - startTime) / 1000);
+      // Log status transitions, plus a periodic heartbeat so non-TTY
+      // stdout (where carriage-return updates are invisible) still shows
+      // progress when the status string is unchanged for a long time.
       if (currentStatus !== lastLoggedStatus) {
         logger.info(`Status: ${currentStatus} (${elapsed}s)`);
         lastLoggedStatus = currentStatus;
+        lastHeartbeatAt = Date.now();
+      } else if (Date.now() - lastHeartbeatAt >= WATCH_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_SECONDS * 1000) {
+        logger.info(`Status: ${currentStatus} (${elapsed}s)`);
+        lastHeartbeatAt = Date.now();
       }
 
       // Check stop condition
@@ -108,6 +185,10 @@ export async function watchUntilRunning(
       // Wait before next poll
       await sleep(WATCH_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS * 1000);
     } catch (error: any) {
+      // Re-throw typed terminal errors so the caller can react to them.
+      if (error instanceof WatchTimeoutError) {
+        throw error;
+      }
       logger.warn(`Failed to fetch app info: ${error.message}`);
       await sleep(WATCH_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS * 1000);
     }
diff --git a/packages/sdk/src/client/index.ts b/packages/sdk/src/client/index.ts
index 5f2e987..0e5dd8d 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/src/client/index.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/src/client/index.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ export {
   executeDeploy,
   watchDeployment,
   type PrepareDeployResult,
+  type WatchDeploymentOptions,
 } from "./modules/compute/app/deploy";
 export {
   SDKUpgradeOptions,
@@ -112,6 +113,9 @@ export {
   type EstimateGasOptions,
 } from "./common/contract/caller";
 
+// Export watcher errors so callers can react to typed terminal failures.
+export { WatchTimeoutError } from "./common/contract/watcher";
+
 // Export batch gas estimation and delegation check
 export {
   estimateBatchGas,
diff --git a/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/deploy.ts b/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/deploy.ts
index 2b5ea5d..27ebcf0 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/deploy.ts
@@ -711,6 +711,10 @@ export async function executeDeploy(options: ExecuteDeployOptions): Promise<Depl
  * Call this after executeDeploy to wait for the app to be provisioned.
  * Can be called separately to allow for intermediate operations (e.g., profile upload).
  */
+export interface WatchDeploymentOptions {
+  timeoutSeconds?: number;
+}
+
 export async function watchDeployment(
   appId: string,
   walletClient: WalletClient,
@@ -718,6 +722,7 @@ export async function watchDeployment(
   environmentConfig: EnvironmentConfig,
   logger: Logger = defaultLogger,
   skipTelemetry?: boolean,
+  opts?: WatchDeploymentOptions,
 ): Promise<string | undefined> {
   return withSDKTelemetry(
     {
@@ -735,6 +740,7 @@ export async function watchDeployment(
           publicClient,
           environmentConfig,
           appId: appId as Address,
+          timeoutSeconds: opts?.timeoutSeconds,
         },
         logger,
       );
diff --git a/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/index.ts b/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/index.ts
index ccf6921..59014ca 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/index.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/src/client/modules/compute/app/index.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   prepareDeployFromVerifiableBuild as prepareDeployFromVerifiableBuildFn,
   executeDeploy as executeDeployFn,
   watchDeployment as watchDeploymentFn,
+  type WatchDeploymentOptions,
 } from "./deploy";
 import {
   upgrade as upgradeApp,
@@ -125,7 +126,10 @@ export interface AppModule {
     gasEstimate: GasEstimate;
   }>;
   executeDeploy: (prepared: PreparedDeploy, gas?: GasEstimate) => Promise<ExecuteDeployResult>;
-  watchDeployment: (appId: AppId) => Promise<string | undefined>;
+  watchDeployment: (
+    appId: AppId,
+    opts?: WatchDeploymentOptions,
+  ) => Promise<string | undefined>;
 
   // Granular upgrade control
   prepareUpgrade: (
@@ -314,7 +318,7 @@ export function createAppModule(ctx: AppModuleConfig): AppModule {
       };
     },
 
-    async watchDeployment(appId) {
+    async watchDeployment(appId, opts) {
       return watchDeploymentFn(
         appId,
         walletClient,
@@ -322,6 +326,7 @@ export function createAppModule(ctx: AppModuleConfig): AppModule {
         environment,
         logger,
         skipTelemetry,
+        opts,
       );
     },