diff --git a/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke.go b/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke.go
index d127e11c..14750fac 100644
--- a/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke.go
+++ b/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package python
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -16,6 +17,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/knostic/open-ant-cli/internal/types"
 )
 
+// defaultInvokeTimeout bounds how long Invoke will wait on the Python
+// subprocess before the process is killed and Invoke returns. It guards
+// against a hung parser (infinite loop, I/O deadlock, pathological repo)
+// wedging the CLI forever, which matters most for headless/automated
+// callers that cannot deliver a manual Ctrl+C. It is a package var so
+// tests can shrink it.
+var defaultInvokeTimeout = 30 * time.Minute
+
 // InvokeResult holds the result of a Python CLI invocation.
 type InvokeResult struct {
 	Envelope types.Envelope
@@ -30,7 +39,23 @@ type InvokeResult struct {
 // - If apiKey is non-empty, it is injected as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in the subprocess
 func Invoke(pythonPath string, args []string, workDir string, quiet bool, apiKey string) (*InvokeResult, error) {
 	cmdArgs := append([]string{"-m", "openant"}, args...)
-	cmd := exec.Command(pythonPath, cmdArgs...)
+
+	// Bound the subprocess with an automatic deadline so a hung parser
+	// cannot wedge the CLI forever on cmd.Wait(). When the context expires
+	// CommandContext kills the process. This is the only recovery path for
+	// headless/automated callers, which never deliver the manual SIGINT the
+	// signal goroutine below relies on. Mirrors the pattern at cmd/docker.go.
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), defaultInvokeTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, pythonPath, cmdArgs...)
+
+	// Killing the process is not sufficient on its own: a descendant the
+	// parser spawned can keep the stdout/stderr pipe write-ends open, leaving
+	// the io.Copy below blocked forever even after the parent is dead.
+	// WaitDelay tells os/exec to force-close those inherited pipe FDs shortly
+	// after the context is done, and the explicit read-end close in the
+	// watchdog goroutine (below) unblocks the in-flight reads.
+	cmd.WaitDelay = 5 * time.Second
 
 	if workDir != "" {
 		cmd.Dir = workDir
@@ -60,6 +85,23 @@ func Invoke(pythonPath string, args []string, workDir string, quiet bool, apiKey
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to start Python process: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Watchdog: when the timeout (or any context cancellation) fires, close
+	// the pipe read-ends so io.Copy(stdout) and streamStderr(stderr) return
+	// promptly instead of blocking on a descendant that still holds the
+	// write-ends open. Without this, the deadline would kill the parser but
+	// the CLI would still hang in io.Copy. watchdogDone stops the goroutine
+	// on the normal (non-timeout) exit path.
+	watchdogDone := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(watchdogDone)
+	go func() {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			_ = stdout.Close()
+			_ = stderr.Close()
+		case <-watchdogDone:
+		}
+	}()
+
 	// Forward SIGINT/SIGTERM to the Python subprocess so Ctrl+C kills it.
 	sigChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	interrupted := false
diff --git a/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke_test.go b/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25433939
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/openant-cli/internal/python/invoke_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package python
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// writeHangScript creates an executable script that ignores its arguments,
+// prints nothing on stdout, and sleeps far longer than any test deadline.
+// It stands in for a hung Python parser (infinite loop / I/O deadlock).
+func writeHangScript(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("hang-subprocess test uses a POSIX shell script")
+	}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "hang.sh")
+	// Sleep well past the test's deadline; never produces stdout.
+	script := "#!/bin/sh\nsleep 600\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(script), 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write hang script: %v", err)
+	}
+	return path
+}
+
+// TestInvoke_HangingSubprocessIsBoundedByTimeout asserts that a hung Python
+// subprocess must be bounded by an automatic timeout so Invoke returns
+// instead of blocking forever on cmd.Wait().
+//
+// Pre-fix invoke.go:33 uses exec.Command (no context, no deadline), so
+// Invoke blocks on io.Copy/cmd.Wait for the full 600s sleep and this test
+// hangs until `go test` kills it — i.e. it does NOT return within the
+// bounded window. Post-fix (exec.CommandContext + a default timeout) the
+// command is killed at the deadline and Invoke returns promptly.
+func TestInvoke_HangingSubprocessIsBoundedByTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	hang := writeHangScript(t)
+
+	// Shrink the automatic deadline so the test is fast. The default is
+	// far larger; this knob is the wiring the fix must expose.
+	prev := defaultInvokeTimeout
+	defaultInvokeTimeout = 500 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { defaultInvokeTimeout = prev })
+
+	// Generous wall-clock budget: comfortably larger than the deadline but
+	// far smaller than the 600s the subprocess would otherwise sleep.
+	const budget = 10 * time.Second
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		defer close(done)
+		_, _ = Invoke(hang, []string{"parse", "."}, "", true, "")
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		// Invoke returned within budget — the timeout bounded the hang.
+	case <-time.After(budget):
+		t.Fatalf("Invoke did not return within %v on a hung subprocess; "+
+			"expected the automatic timeout (%v) to bound it", budget, defaultInvokeTimeout)
+	}
+}