diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.test.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.test.ts
index 9ecd933a99..9c25aa505a 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.test.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ const spawnStreamingEncoder = mock(async () => ({
 }));
 let failCaptureFrameToBuffer = false;
 let failInitializeSession = false;
+let hangParallelUntilAbort = false;
 let initializeSessionErrorMessage = "initialize failed";
 const browserConsoleBuffer = ["[FrameCapture:ERROR] page.goto failed"];
 const closeCaptureSession = mock(async () => {});
@@ -44,11 +45,30 @@ mock.module("@hyperframes/engine", () => ({
   createFrameReorderBuffer: () => ({
     waitForFrame: async () => {},
     advanceTo: () => {},
+    abort: () => {},
   }),
   distributeFrames: () => [],
   distributeFramesInterleaved: () => [],
   DrawElementVerificationError,
-  executeParallelCapture: async () => {},
+  executeParallelCapture: async (
+    _url: string,
+    _workDir: string,
+    _tasks: unknown,
+    _opts: unknown,
+    _hook: unknown,
+    signal?: AbortSignal,
+  ) => {
+    if (hangParallelUntilAbort) {
+      // Simulate a wedged worker: make no frame progress, then reject with the
+      // pool's generic string once aborted (by the parent or the watchdog).
+      await new Promise<void>((_resolve, reject) => {
+        const fail = () => reject(new Error("[Parallel] Capture failed: aborted"));
+        if (signal?.aborted) return fail();
+        signal?.addEventListener("abort", fail, { once: true });
+      });
+    }
+    return [];
+  },
   getCapturePerfSummary: () => ({}),
   getFfmpegBinary: () => "ffmpeg",
   initializeSession: async (session: { isInitialized: boolean }) => {
@@ -190,6 +210,69 @@ describe("runCaptureStreamingStage", () => {
     expect(getCaptureStageBrowserConsole(caught)).toEqual(browserConsoleBuffer);
     expect(closeCaptureSession).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
+
+  it("trips the stall watchdog and rethrows a non-cancellation error when the parallel path makes no frame progress", async () => {
+    hangParallelUntilAbort = true;
+    const prev = process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+    process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS = "50";
+    const { runCaptureStreamingStage } = await import("./captureStreamingStage.js");
+    const cfg = { forceScreenshot: false, ffmpegStreamingTimeout: 3_600_000 };
+    const input = {
+      ...createInput(cfg),
+      totalFrames: 100,
+      workerCount: 2,
+      forceParallelStream: true,
+    };
+
+    let caught: unknown;
+    try {
+      await runCaptureStreamingStage(input);
+    } catch (error) {
+      caught = error;
+    } finally {
+      hangParallelUntilAbort = false;
+      if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+      else process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS = prev;
+    }
+
+    expect(caught).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    // A stalled render must surface as a stall (→ pinned fallback), never as
+    // the raw "[Parallel] Capture failed" or a cancellation.
+    expect((caught as Error).message).toContain("stalled");
+    // Parent signal never fired, so the orchestrator won't read this as a cancel.
+    expect(input.abortSignal).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("does not relabel a genuine parent-abort as a stall", async () => {
+    hangParallelUntilAbort = true;
+    const prev = process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+    // Huge window so the watchdog never trips; the parent abort is what ends it.
+    process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS = "600000";
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const { runCaptureStreamingStage } = await import("./captureStreamingStage.js");
+    const cfg = { forceScreenshot: false, ffmpegStreamingTimeout: 3_600_000 };
+    const input = {
+      ...createInput(cfg),
+      totalFrames: 100,
+      workerCount: 2,
+      forceParallelStream: true,
+      abortSignal: controller.signal,
+    };
+
+    let caught: unknown;
+    const run = runCaptureStreamingStage(input).catch((error: unknown) => {
+      caught = error;
+    });
+    controller.abort();
+    await run;
+
+    hangParallelUntilAbort = false;
+    if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+    else process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS = prev;
+
+    expect(caught).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    expect((caught as Error).message).not.toContain("stalled");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("runCaptureStage", () => {
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
index 17ffd26c98..fe81ff1f48 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,26 @@ import { pushWorkerDedupPerfs } from "../perfSummary.js";
 import { ensureFrameWritten } from "./captureHdrFrameShared.js";
 import { updateJobStatus } from "../shared.js";
 
+/**
+ * No-frame-progress watchdog for the parallel DE streaming path. The router
+ * auto-enables this path for the ≥24GB macOS trial cohort, so a worker that
+ * wedges mid-capture (a hung seek/screenshot at an early frame) would
+ * otherwise sit until the per-frame CDP `protocolTimeout` (~5 min) fires —
+ * a silent multi-minute hang that only THEN reaches the pinned fallback.
+ * Trip well before that: if no NEW frame lands within this window, abort the
+ * pool so the orchestrator re-renders via screenshot. Default 60s ≫ any real
+ * per-frame budget (15–32 ms), so a legit slow frame won't false-trip; a
+ * false trip only costs the (slower, never-wrong) screenshot fallback.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS = 60_000;
+const DE_PARALLEL_STALL_POLL_MS = 5_000;
+
+function resolveParallelStallTimeoutMs(): number {
+  const raw = process.env.HF_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+  const parsed = raw ? Number(raw) : Number.NaN;
+  return Number.isFinite(parsed) && parsed > 0 ? parsed : DEFAULT_DE_PARALLEL_STALL_MS;
+}
+
 /**
  * Pre-built ffmpeg streaming-encoder options, exactly matching the
  * second argument to `spawnStreamingEncoder`. The sequencer constructs
@@ -589,6 +609,38 @@ export async function runCaptureStreamingStage(
         }
       };
 
+      // Progress-stall watchdog. Wired through a SEPARATE controller (linked
+      // to the parent abort) rather than the job's `abortSignal` so a
+      // watchdog trip stays distinguishable from a real cancellation: the
+      // orchestrator gates its pinned fallback on `abortSignal.aborted`, which
+      // stays false here, so a stall re-renders via screenshot instead of
+      // being swallowed as a cancel. On trip we also abort the reorder buffer
+      // so peer workers parked in `waitForFrame` reject instead of deadlocking
+      // the pool (executeParallelCapture awaits ALL workers).
+      const stallController = new AbortController();
+      const forwardParentAbort = () => stallController.abort();
+      if (abortSignal) {
+        if (abortSignal.aborted) stallController.abort();
+        else abortSignal.addEventListener("abort", forwardParentAbort, { once: true });
+      }
+      const stallTimeoutMs = resolveParallelStallTimeoutMs();
+      let lastCapturedFrames = 0;
+      let lastProgressAt = Date.now();
+      let stalled = false;
+      const stallTimer = setInterval(
+        () => {
+          if (Date.now() - lastProgressAt <= stallTimeoutMs) return;
+          stalled = true;
+          const stallErr = new Error(
+            `[Render] Parallel drawElement capture stalled: no frame progress for ${stallTimeoutMs}ms ` +
+              `(stuck at ${lastCapturedFrames}/${totalFrames}).`,
+          );
+          reorderBuffer.abort(stallErr);
+          stallController.abort();
+        },
+        Math.min(stallTimeoutMs, DE_PARALLEL_STALL_POLL_MS),
+      );
+
       let workerResults;
       try {
         workerResults = await executeParallelCapture(
@@ -597,8 +649,12 @@ export async function runCaptureStreamingStage(
           tasks,
           buildCaptureOptions(),
           createRenderVideoFrameInjector,
-          abortSignal,
+          stallController.signal,
           (progress) => {
+            if (progress.capturedFrames > lastCapturedFrames) {
+              lastCapturedFrames = progress.capturedFrames;
+              lastProgressAt = Date.now();
+            }
             job.framesRendered = progress.capturedFrames;
             const frameProgress = progress.capturedFrames / progress.totalFrames;
             const progressPct = 25 + frameProgress * 55;
@@ -631,7 +687,22 @@ export async function runCaptureStreamingStage(
         // orchestrator's verify-retry handler recognizes it — the worker pool
         // flattens worker errors into a plain message string.
         if (parallelDrainError) throw parallelDrainError;
+        // A watchdog trip aborts the pool via stallController, so the pool
+        // rejects with a generic "[Parallel] Capture failed" string. Replace
+        // it with a clear, non-cancellation stall error (the parent abort did
+        // NOT fire) so the orchestrator's pinned fallback re-renders via
+        // screenshot instead of masking a 5-min hang.
+        if (stalled && abortSignal?.aborted !== true) {
+          throw new Error(
+            `[Render] Parallel drawElement capture stalled after ${stallTimeoutMs}ms with no ` +
+              `frame progress (last frame ${lastCapturedFrames}/${totalFrames}); ` +
+              `falling back to screenshot.`,
+          );
+        }
         throw err;
+      } finally {
+        clearInterval(stallTimer);
+        abortSignal?.removeEventListener("abort", forwardParentAbort);
       }
       if (parallelDrainError) throw parallelDrainError;
       pushWorkerDedupPerfs(workerResults, dedupPerfs);