diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
index ee73864..a58a9cc 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ on: [push]
 jobs:
     check:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        # Bounds script/cibuild, a cold-cache build included, so a hang frees
+        # the shared runner. README.md "In CI" has the measured times.
+        timeout-minutes: 10
         steps:
             # actions/checkout v4.2.2, 2026-02-22
             - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/e2e.yml b/.gitea/workflows/e2e.yml
index 53313e5..d15adeb 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/e2e.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/e2e.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ on: [push]
 jobs:
     e2e-chrome:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        # Bounds the image build, a cold cache included, and both Chrome
+        # programs, so a hung browser frees the shared runner. README.md
+        # "In CI" has the measured times.
+        timeout-minutes: 20
         steps:
             # actions/checkout v4.2.2, 2026-02-22
             - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
@@ -42,6 +46,10 @@ jobs:
 
     e2e-firefox:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        # Bounds the image build, a cold cache included, and both Firefox
+        # programs, so a hung browser frees the shared runner. README.md
+        # "In CI" has the measured times.
+        timeout-minutes: 15
         steps:
             # actions/checkout v4.2.2, 2026-02-22
             - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6f3ae9..ab3472f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -643,12 +643,20 @@ Nothing in either job can pass vacuously. There is no `continue-on-error` and no
 build fails, and when the browser fails to start; the Chrome harness aborts the
 suite outright if its network interception is not in effect.
 
-Measured on this repo's runner: `e2e-chrome` about 1m55s cold, almost all of it
-the one-time pull of the pinned ~800MB Playwright layer, and well under a minute
-once that layer is cached. `e2e-firefox` about 1m05s cold, and it caches its
-Firefox and geckodriver downloads the same way. The `e2e-chrome` figures predate
-the two cases that wait for a receipt to end in error, which add about two
-minutes of real waiting.
+Measured on this repo's runner in the green runs of early October 2026, from a
+warm docker cache to a cold one: `check` 49s to 3m37s, `e2e-chrome` 1m44s to
+4m48s, and `e2e-firefox` 31s to 4m07s. A cold cache adds three to four minutes
+to each job, spent rebuilding its image: reinstalling dependencies and, for
+`e2e-firefox`, installing Firefox, geckodriver and their system libraries. Those
+`e2e-chrome` runs predate the cases that wait in real time for a receipt to end
+in error. `make test-e2e` now takes 3m51s locally with its image cached, so a
+cold `e2e-chrome` run comes to about seven minutes.
+
+Every job has a `timeout-minutes` cap, so a hung build or browser ends the job
+instead of holding the shared runner: `check` 10 minutes, `e2e-firefox` 15 and
+`e2e-chrome` 20, each over two and a half times the job's slowest cold run. A
+job that reaches its cap has hung; read it as a hang, not as a slow run to
+retry.
 
 ### Element id guard (part of `make check`)
 
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 6feb978..acb7e14 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ but the review is broader than any of them.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-05: Every CI job has a `timeout-minutes` cap
+  ([#294](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/294)): `check` 10 minutes,
+  `e2e-firefox` 15 and `e2e-chrome` 20, each over two and a half times the job's
+  slowest cold-cache run. A hung build or browser now ends its job instead of
+  holding the shared runner for hours.
+
 - 2026-10-05: The popup's Content Security Policy no longer allows inline style
   ([#328](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/328)): `style-src` is
   `'self'` in both manifests, pinned in `tests/manifest.test.js`. The 42