diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index c5c936e49..92c667b90 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ enum {
      * that never finishes, so a command cannot hang indefinitely. */
     MAIN_STARTUP_CONTENTION_CEILING_MS = 120000,
     MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS = 30000,
+    MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MIN_MS = 1000,
+    MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MAX_MS = 600000,
     MAIN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
     MAIN_HOOK_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS = 250,
     MAIN_HOOK_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 1500,
@@ -60,6 +62,25 @@ enum {
     MAIN_COORDINATION_CLEANUP_MS = 500,
     PARENT_WATCHDOG_STACK_SIZE = 64 * CBM_SZ_1K, /* watchdog only polls — tiny stack suffices */
 };
+
+/* Daemon startup budget, overridable for loaded hosts: a fixed 30 s races
+ * whatever else the machine is doing (parallel test waves, CI legs), and a
+ * cold daemon on a starved host loses through no fault of its own.
+ * CBM_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS, clamped to [1s, 10min]; malformed -> default. */
+static uint32_t main_startup_timeout_ms(void) {
+    const char *raw = getenv("CBM_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS");
+    if (!raw || !raw[0])
+        return MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS;
+    char *end = NULL;
+    long value = strtol(raw, &end, 10);
+    if (!end || *end != '\0' || value <= 0)
+        return MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS;
+    if (value < MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MIN_MS)
+        return MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MIN_MS;
+    if (value > MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MAX_MS)
+        return MAIN_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MAX_MS;
+    return (uint32_t)value;
+}
 #define SLEN(s) (sizeof(s) - 1)
 #include "foundation/log.h"
 #include "foundation/diagnostics.h"
@@ -1564,7 +1585,7 @@ static cbm_daemon_bootstrap_status_t main_client_bootstrap_with_upgrade(
     cbm_daemon_runtime_activation_result_t drain;
     if (!cbm_daemon_runtime_request_activation_shutdown(config->endpoint, config->identity,
                                                         CBM_DAEMON_RUNTIME_ACTIVATION_UPDATE,
-                                                        MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS, &drain) ||
+                                                        main_startup_timeout_ms(), &drain) ||
         !drain.accepted) {
         (void)fprintf(stderr, "codebase-memory-mcp: the active daemon did not accept the "
                               "upgrade drain; run `codebase-memory-mcp daemon stop`\n");
@@ -1596,7 +1617,7 @@ static char *main_local_cli_daemon_execute(const char *tool_name, const char *ar
         .identity = &identity,
         .executable_path = executable_path,
         .connect_timeout_ms = MAIN_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS,
-        .startup_timeout_ms = MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS,
+        .startup_timeout_ms = main_startup_timeout_ms(),
     };
     cbm_daemon_bootstrap_result_t bootstrap;
     cbm_daemon_bootstrap_status_t status = main_client_bootstrap_with_upgrade(&config, &bootstrap);
@@ -2873,7 +2894,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             ? cbm_version_cohort_acquire(client_cohort_manager, &identity,
                                          main_deadline_after(role == CBM_DAEMON_PROCESS_HOOK_CLIENT
                                                                  ? MAIN_HOOK_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS
-                                                                 : MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS),
+                                                                 : main_startup_timeout_ms()),
                                          &client_cohort_lease, &client_cohort_conflict)
             : CBM_VERSION_COHORT_IO;
     if (client_cohort_status != CBM_VERSION_COHORT_OK) {
@@ -2935,7 +2956,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         .identity = &identity,
         .executable_path = executable_path,
         .connect_timeout_ms = MAIN_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS,
-        .startup_timeout_ms = MAIN_MCP_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS,
+        .startup_timeout_ms = main_startup_timeout_ms(),
     };
     cbm_daemon_bootstrap_result_t bootstrap_result;
     cbm_daemon_bootstrap_status_t bootstrap_status =