diff --git a/.Jules/palette.md b/.Jules/palette.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d11198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.Jules/palette.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+## 2025-01-26 - [Silent Waits in CI]
+**Learning:** Long silent waits in CLI tools (especially in CI/non-interactive mode) cause user anxiety about hung processes.
+**Action:** Always provide periodic heartbeat logs (e.g. every 10s) for long operations in non-interactive environments.
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 4b786ac..65080e7 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -307,8 +307,23 @@ def _get_progress_bar_width() -> int:
 
 
 def countdown_timer(seconds: int, message: str = "Waiting") -> None:
-    """Shows a countdown timer if strictly in a TTY, otherwise just sleeps."""
+    """Show a countdown in interactive/color mode; in no-color/non-interactive
+    mode, sleep silently for short waits and log periodic heartbeat messages
+    for longer waits."""
     if not USE_COLORS:
+        # UX Improvement: For long waits in non-interactive/no-color mode (e.g. CI),
+        # log periodic updates instead of sleeping silently.
+        if seconds > 10:
+            step = 10
+            for remaining in range(seconds, 0, -step):
+                # Don't log the first one if we already logged "Waiting..." before calling this
+                if remaining < seconds:
+                    log.info(f"{sanitize_for_log(message)}: {remaining}s remaining...")
+
+                sleep_time = min(step, remaining)
+                time.sleep(sleep_time)
+            return
+
         time.sleep(seconds)
         return
 
diff --git a/tests/test_push_rules_perf.py b/tests/test_push_rules_perf.py
index 3ae10fb..be8b909 100644
--- a/tests/test_push_rules_perf.py
+++ b/tests/test_push_rules_perf.py
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 # Add root to path to import main
 sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
 
-import main
-
 class TestPushRulesPerf(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         # Ensure we are using the current main module instance (in case of reloads)
@@ -55,7 +53,7 @@ def test_push_rules_single_batch_optimization(self, mock_executor, mock_as_compl
         # For this test, we mock _api_post_form?
         # No, _api_post_form calls client.post.
 
-        main.push_rules(
+        self.main.push_rules(
             self.profile_id,
             self.folder_name,
             self.folder_id,
@@ -89,7 +87,7 @@ def test_push_rules_multi_batch(self, mock_executor, mock_as_completed):
 
         mock_as_completed.return_value = [mock_future, mock_future] # 2 batches
 
-        main.push_rules(
+        self.main.push_rules(
             self.profile_id,
             self.folder_name,
             self.folder_id,
diff --git a/tests/test_ux.py b/tests/test_ux.py
index 311b7e9..ad593ee 100644
--- a/tests/test_ux.py
+++ b/tests/test_ux.py
@@ -30,17 +30,54 @@ def test_countdown_timer_visuals(monkeypatch):
     # Check for ANSI clear line code
     assert "\033[K" in combined_output
 
-def test_countdown_timer_no_colors(monkeypatch):
-    """Verify that countdown_timer sleeps without writing to stderr if NO_COLOR."""
+def test_countdown_timer_no_colors_short(monkeypatch):
+    """Verify that short countdowns sleep silently without writing to stderr if NO_COLOR."""
     monkeypatch.setattr(main, "USE_COLORS", False)
     mock_stderr = MagicMock()
     monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "stderr", mock_stderr)
     mock_sleep = MagicMock()
     monkeypatch.setattr(main.time, "sleep", mock_sleep)
 
-    main.countdown_timer(3, "Test")
+    # Mock log to ensure it's not called
+    mock_log = MagicMock()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "log", mock_log)
 
-    # Should not write to stderr
-    mock_stderr.write.assert_not_called()
+    main.countdown_timer(10, "Test")
+
+    # Should not log
+    mock_log.info.assert_not_called()
     # Should call sleep exactly once with full seconds
-    mock_sleep.assert_called_once_with(3)
+    mock_sleep.assert_called_once_with(10)
+    # Should not write anything to stderr for short, no-color countdowns
+    mock_stderr.write.assert_not_called()
+    mock_stderr.flush.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_countdown_timer_no_colors_long(monkeypatch):
+    """Verify that long countdowns log periodic updates if NO_COLOR."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "USE_COLORS", False)
+    mock_sleep = MagicMock()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main.time, "sleep", mock_sleep)
+
+    mock_log = MagicMock()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "log", mock_log)
+
+    # Test with 25 seconds
+    main.countdown_timer(25, "LongWait")
+
+    # Expected sleep calls:
+    # 1. min(10, 25) -> 10 (remaining 25)
+    # 2. min(10, 15) -> 10 (remaining 15)
+    # 3. min(10, 5) -> 5 (remaining 5)
+
+    # Expected log calls:
+    # 1. "LongWait: 15s remaining..." (after first sleep/loop iteration)
+    # 2. "LongWait: 5s remaining..." (after second sleep/loop iteration)
+
+    assert mock_sleep.call_count == 3
+    mock_sleep.assert_any_call(10)
+    mock_sleep.assert_any_call(5)
+
+    assert mock_log.info.call_count == 2
+    mock_log.info.assert_any_call("LongWait: 15s remaining...")
+    mock_log.info.assert_any_call("LongWait: 5s remaining...")