diff --git a/cli/src/commands.rs b/cli/src/commands.rs
index 6e75b11..4535f7a 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands.rs
@@ -320,7 +320,27 @@ fn parse_command_inner(args: &[String], flags: &Flags) -> Result<Value, ParseErr
             // scripts before the first real navigation (see `batch`).
             // `goto` and `navigate` still require a URL since those verbs
             // imply the navigation itself.
-            let first_url = rest.iter().find(|a| !a.starts_with("--"));
+            // The URL is the first positional arg, skipping flags AND any value
+            // consumed by `--wait-until` (so it isn't mistaken for the URL).
+            let first_url = {
+                let mut url = None;
+                let mut skip_next = false;
+                for a in &rest {
+                    if skip_next {
+                        skip_next = false;
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    if *a == "--wait-until" {
+                        skip_next = true;
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    if !a.starts_with("--") {
+                        url = Some(a);
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                url
+            };
             let url = match first_url {
                 Some(u) => *u,
                 None if cmd == "open" => {
@@ -350,6 +370,23 @@ fn parse_command_inner(args: &[String], flags: &Flags) -> Result<Value, ParseErr
             if flags.provider.is_some() {
                 nav_cmd["waitUntil"] = json!("none");
             }
+            // Explicit readiness override (issue #10): SPAs whose `load` event
+            // never fires (a long-lived XHR/websocket holds it open) hang out the
+            // load-event wait. `--wait-until domcontentloaded` returns as soon as
+            // the DOM is parsed.
+            if let Some(i) = rest.iter().position(|a| *a == "--wait-until") {
+                let val = rest.get(i + 1).ok_or(ParseError::MissingArguments {
+                    context: "open --wait-until".to_string(),
+                    usage: "open <url> --wait-until <load|domcontentloaded|networkidle|none>",
+                })?;
+                if !["load", "domcontentloaded", "networkidle", "none"].contains(val) {
+                    return Err(ParseError::InvalidValue {
+                        message: format!("Unknown --wait-until value: {}", val),
+                        usage: "open <url> --wait-until <load|domcontentloaded|networkidle|none>",
+                    });
+                }
+                nav_cmd["waitUntil"] = json!(val);
+            }
             if let Some(ref headers_json) = flags.headers {
                 let headers =
                     serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(headers_json).map_err(|_| {
@@ -3643,6 +3680,44 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_open_wait_until_after_url() {
+        let cmd = parse_command(
+            &args("open https://x.com --wait-until domcontentloaded"),
+            &default_flags(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(cmd["action"], "navigate");
+        assert_eq!(cmd["url"], "https://x.com");
+        assert_eq!(cmd["waitUntil"], "domcontentloaded");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_open_wait_until_before_url_not_mistaken_for_url() {
+        // The --wait-until value must not be picked up as the URL.
+        let cmd = parse_command(
+            &args("open --wait-until domcontentloaded https://x.com"),
+            &default_flags(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(cmd["url"], "https://x.com");
+        assert_eq!(cmd["waitUntil"], "domcontentloaded");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_open_wait_until_rejects_bogus_value() {
+        let err = parse_command(
+            &args("open https://x.com --wait-until wat"),
+            &default_flags(),
+        )
+        .unwrap_err();
+        assert!(
+            err.format().contains("--wait-until"),
+            "got: {}",
+            err.format()
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_find_bare_value_suggests_text_locator() {
         // `find "I'm not a robot" click` — value where a locator keyword was
diff --git a/cli/src/native/browser.rs b/cli/src/native/browser.rs
index b6be9e0..2540a68 100644
--- a/cli/src/native/browser.rs
+++ b/cli/src/native/browser.rs
@@ -265,6 +265,15 @@ impl WaitUntil {
             _ => Self::Load,
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn as_str(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Load => "load",
+            Self::DomContentLoaded => "domcontentloaded",
+            Self::NetworkIdle => "networkidle",
+            Self::None => "none",
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 pub enum BrowserProcess {
@@ -800,9 +809,38 @@ impl BrowserManager {
         // Only wait for lifecycle events if Chrome created a new loader (full navigation).
         // If loader_id is None, it was a same-document navigation (e.g., hash routing)
         // which does not fire Page.loadEventFired or Page.domContentEventFired.
+        let mut nav_warning: Option<String> = None;
         if nav_result.loader_id.is_some() && wait_until != WaitUntil::None {
-            self.wait_for_lifecycle(wait_until, &session_id, &mut lifecycle_rx)
-                .await?;
+            if let Err(e) = self
+                .wait_for_lifecycle(wait_until, &session_id, &mut lifecycle_rx)
+                .await
+            {
+                // The lifecycle event (e.g. `load`) didn't fire within the
+                // timeout. On SPAs this is common — a long-pending XHR or a stuck
+                // sub-resource holds `load` open long after the DOM is interactive
+                // and the page is usable, so `open` would hard-fail even though
+                // eval/screenshot work immediately (issue #10). If the DOM is
+                // already ready, treat navigation as done (with a warning, carried
+                // in the response so the CLI can surface it) instead of failing.
+                // Only a still-loading document is a real failure.
+                let ready = self
+                    .evaluate_simple("document.readyState")
+                    .await
+                    .ok()
+                    .and_then(|v| v.as_str().map(str::to_string))
+                    .unwrap_or_default();
+                if ready == "interactive" || ready == "complete" {
+                    nav_warning = Some(format!(
+                        "`{}` didn't complete within the timeout, but the DOM is ready ({}) — \
+                         continuing. Pass `--wait-until domcontentloaded` to skip this wait on \
+                         SPAs with long-lived requests.",
+                        wait_until.as_str(),
+                        ready
+                    ));
+                } else {
+                    return Err(e);
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         let page_url = self.get_url().await.unwrap_or_else(|_| url.to_string());
@@ -821,7 +859,11 @@ impl BrowserManager {
             page.title = title.clone();
         }
 
-        Ok(json!({ "url": page_url, "title": title }))
+        let mut out = json!({ "url": page_url, "title": title });
+        if let Some(w) = nav_warning {
+            out["warning"] = json!(w);
+        }
+        Ok(out)
     }
 
     async fn wait_for_lifecycle(
diff --git a/cli/src/output.rs b/cli/src/output.rs
index db073b6..badccc3 100644
--- a/cli/src/output.rs
+++ b/cli/src/output.rs
@@ -256,6 +256,12 @@ pub fn print_response_with_opts(resp: &Response, action: Option<&str>, opts: &Ou
                 // empty title line.
                 None => println!("{} {}", color::success_indicator(), color::dim(url)),
             }
+            // Soft warning carried in the response (e.g. the load event timed out
+            // but the DOM was ready — issue #10). Goes to stderr so it doesn't
+            // pollute the stdout url/title that scripts parse.
+            if let Some(w) = data.get("warning").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
+                eprintln!("⚠ navigation: {w}");
+            }
             return;
         }
         if let Some(cdp_url) = data.get("cdpUrl").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {