diff --git a/cli/src/native/actions.rs b/cli/src/native/actions.rs
index d8b49ba..60014ba 100644
--- a/cli/src/native/actions.rs
+++ b/cli/src/native/actions.rs
@@ -1607,8 +1607,9 @@ async fn auto_launch(state: &mut DaemonState) -> Result<(), String> {
                      To let agent-browser work with your existing Chrome (recommended):\n\
                      {}\n\n\
                      Or start a standalone browser with: agent-browser --launch open <url>\n\n\
-                     Tip: On Chrome 144+, you can enable CDP without restarting:\n\
-                     Open chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging and toggle it on.",
+                     Note: chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging only enables remote *target discovery* — \
+                     it does NOT expose the standard CDP HTTP API on /json/version. \
+                     A full restart with --remote-debugging-port=<port> is required.",
                     chrome_relaunch_hint(),
                 ));
             }
@@ -2135,8 +2136,9 @@ async fn handle_launch(cmd: &Value, state: &mut DaemonState) -> Result<Value, St
                      To let agent-browser work with your existing Chrome (recommended):\n\
                      {}\n\n\
                      Or start a standalone browser with: agent-browser --launch open <url>\n\n\
-                     Tip: On Chrome 144+, you can enable CDP without restarting:\n\
-                     Open chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging and toggle it on.",
+                     Note: chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging only enables remote *target discovery* — \
+                     it does NOT expose the standard CDP HTTP API on /json/version. \
+                     A full restart with --remote-debugging-port=<port> is required.",
                     chrome_relaunch_hint(),
                 ));
             }
diff --git a/cli/src/native/element.rs b/cli/src/native/element.rs
index 3c997d2..bbb5316 100644
--- a/cli/src/native/element.rs
+++ b/cli/src/native/element.rs
@@ -396,9 +396,23 @@ async fn verify_ref_identity(
         "backendNodeId": backend_node_id,
         "fetchRelatives": false,
     });
-    let resp: Result<GetFullAXTreeResult, String> = client
-        .send_command_typed("Accessibility.getPartialAXTree", &params, Some(session_id))
-        .await;
+    // Tight 1s timeout: this is a defensive guard, not a critical path.
+    // The default 30s CDP timeout was the dominant factor in the
+    // "click hangs 5+ minutes" report — three CDP calls (verify +
+    // resolveNode + paint-settle) at 30s each, multiplied by parallel
+    // click invocations queueing on the daemon, totalled multi-minute
+    // user-visible hangs. Cap our own helper so a stuck AX query
+    // doesn't make `click` worse than the no-guard version was.
+    let resp: Result<GetFullAXTreeResult, String> = match tokio::time::timeout(
+        std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
+        client.send_command_typed("Accessibility.getPartialAXTree", &params, Some(session_id)),
+    )
+    .await
+    {
+        Ok(r) => r,
+        // Timeout: skip identity verification rather than block the click.
+        Err(_) => return Ok(()),
+    };
     let Ok(tree) = resp else {
         // Node likely gone; let the box-model call fail and trigger fallback.
         return Ok(());
diff --git a/cli/src/native/interaction.rs b/cli/src/native/interaction.rs
index 3375ace..26758e6 100644
--- a/cli/src/native/interaction.rs
+++ b/cli/src/native/interaction.rs
@@ -903,8 +903,15 @@ async fn wait_for_paint_settled(client: &CdpClient, session_id: &str) {
         requestAnimationFrame(() => \
             requestAnimationFrame(() => \
                 queueMicrotask(() => resolve(true)))))";
-    let _ = client
-        .send_command_typed::<_, Value>(
+    // Tight 500ms timeout. RAF normally fires at 16ms, two RAFs total ~33ms.
+    // If the tab is hidden / throttled / page is doing something pathological
+    // and RAF doesn't fire in 500ms, we'd rather return now than stall the
+    // user's click. Without this cap, a stuck RAF inherited the default 30s
+    // CDP timeout and was the main contributor to the "click hangs 5+ min"
+    // user report.
+    let _ = tokio::time::timeout(
+        std::time::Duration::from_millis(500),
+        client.send_command_typed::<_, Value>(
             "Runtime.evaluate",
             &EvaluateParams {
                 expression: script.to_string(),
@@ -912,8 +919,9 @@ async fn wait_for_paint_settled(client: &CdpClient, session_id: &str) {
                 await_promise: Some(true),
             },
             Some(session_id),
-        )
-        .await;
+        ),
+    )
+    .await;
 }
 
 async fn dispatch_click(