diff --git a/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.test.ts b/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.test.ts
index 04f8e1e630d08..2bc5c03da9ff7 100644
--- a/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.test.ts
+++ b/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.test.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@ import * as NodeServices from "@effect/platform-node/NodeServices";
 import { expect, it } from "@effect/vitest";
 import { MuseSettings } from "../settings.ts";
 import * as Effect from "effect/Effect";
+import * as Fiber from "effect/Fiber";
 import * as FileSystem from "effect/FileSystem";
 import * as Schema from "effect/Schema";
+import * as Sink from "effect/Sink";
+import * as Stream from "effect/Stream";
+import * as ChildProcessSpawner from "effect/process/ChildProcessSpawner";
+import * as TestClock from "effect/testing/TestClock";
 import { vi } from "vite-plus/test";
 
 import { writeFakeCli } from "@t3tools/provider-testing/fakeCli";
@@ -54,6 +59,25 @@ const fakeCli = (source = 'process.stdout.write("muse 1.0.3-R2198.1\\n");') =>
     return writeFakeCli({ directory, name: "muse", source });
   });
 
+const slowVersionSpawner = (delayMs: number) =>
+  ChildProcessSpawner.make(() =>
+    Effect.succeed(
+      ChildProcessSpawner.makeHandle({
+        pid: ChildProcessSpawner.ProcessId(900_000_001),
+        exitCode: Effect.succeed(ChildProcessSpawner.ExitCode(0)).pipe(Effect.delay(delayMs)),
+        isRunning: Effect.succeed(false),
+        kill: () => Effect.void,
+        unref: Effect.succeed(Effect.void),
+        stdin: Sink.drain,
+        stdout: Stream.succeed(new TextEncoder().encode("muse 1.4.12-R6909.1\n")),
+        stderr: Stream.empty,
+        all: Stream.empty,
+        getInputFd: () => Sink.drain,
+        getOutputFd: () => Stream.empty,
+      }),
+    ),
+  );
+
 it.layer(NodeServices.layer)("Muse status", (it) => {
   it.effect("does not expose CLI stderr or start an SDK host after a failed version check", () =>
     Effect.scoped(
@@ -128,4 +152,44 @@ it.layer(NodeServices.layer)("Muse status", (it) => {
       }),
     ),
   );
+
+  it.effect("waits for a version check that takes several seconds to answer", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const host = makeHost(metaCatalog);
+      const probing = yield* checkMuseProviderStatus(
+        settings({ enabled: true, binaryPath: "muse" }),
+        undefined,
+        undefined,
+        async () => host,
+      ).pipe(
+        Effect.provideService(ChildProcessSpawner.ChildProcessSpawner, slowVersionSpawner(6_000)),
+        Effect.forkChild({ startImmediately: true }),
+      );
+      yield* TestClock.adjust("6 seconds");
+      const snapshot = yield* Fiber.join(probing);
+      expect(snapshot.status).toBe("ready");
+      expect(snapshot.version).toBe("1.4.12-R6909.1");
+    }),
+  );
+
+  it.effect("stops a version check after fifteen seconds without starting the SDK", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const createHost = vi.fn(async () => makeHost(metaCatalog));
+      const probing = yield* checkMuseProviderStatus(
+        settings({ enabled: true, binaryPath: "muse" }),
+        undefined,
+        undefined,
+        createHost,
+      ).pipe(
+        Effect.provideService(ChildProcessSpawner.ChildProcessSpawner, slowVersionSpawner(16_000)),
+        Effect.forkChild({ startImmediately: true }),
+      );
+      yield* TestClock.adjust("15 seconds");
+      const snapshot = yield* Fiber.join(probing);
+      expect(snapshot.status).toBe("error");
+      expect(snapshot.message).toBe("Muse Code CLI version check timed out.");
+      expect(snapshot.version).toBeNull();
+      expect(createHost).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    }),
+  );
 });
diff --git a/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.ts b/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.ts
index bcd910b3573b7..9fd25c7b7874c 100644
--- a/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.ts
+++ b/packages/provider-muse/src/server/status.ts
@@ -13,13 +13,15 @@ import { discoverMuseModels, museModelCapabilities } from "./modelCatalog.ts";
 import {
   buildServerProvider,
   COMPACT_SLASH_COMMAND,
-  DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS,
   isCommandMissingCause,
   providerModelsFromSettings,
   spawnAndCollect,
   type ProviderProbeResult,
 } from "@t3tools/provider-core/server/snapshotProbe";
 
+// Muse can take 4-9 seconds to start inside a Windows job object.
+const MUSE_VERSION_PROBE_TIMEOUT = "15 seconds";
+
 const MUSE_PRESENTATION = {
   displayName: "Muse Code",
   showInteractionModeToggle: false,
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ export const checkMuseProviderStatus = Effect.fn("checkMuseProviderStatus")(func
         ...(cwd ? { cwd } : {}),
       }),
     );
-  }).pipe(Effect.timeoutOption(DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS), Effect.result);
+  }).pipe(Effect.timeoutOption(MUSE_VERSION_PROBE_TIMEOUT), Effect.result);
 
   if (Result.isFailure(versionResult)) {
     const missing = isCommandMissingCause(versionResult.failure);