diff --git a/design/src/evolve.ts b/design/src/evolve.ts
index c88ae6c660..f23b759445 100644
--- a/design/src/evolve.ts
+++ b/design/src/evolve.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ export async function evolve(options: EvolveOptions): Promise<void> {
   ].join("\n");
 
   const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120_000);
+  // 240s — matches generate.ts; see comment there for rationale.
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 240_000);
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {
diff --git a/design/src/generate.ts b/design/src/generate.ts
index 383c51aeeb..fa18cc5220 100644
--- a/design/src/generate.ts
+++ b/design/src/generate.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ async function callImageGeneration(
   quality: string,
 ): Promise<{ responseId: string; imageData: string }> {
   const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120_000);
+  // 240s: gpt-image-1 at quality:"high" size:"1536x1024" routinely takes
+  // 60-180s and can spike past 120s under provider load (observed in
+  // production). 240s gives ~2x headroom while staying under user patience.
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 240_000);
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {
diff --git a/design/src/iterate.ts b/design/src/iterate.ts
index c85eacee9b..bca3f7c752 100644
--- a/design/src/iterate.ts
+++ b/design/src/iterate.ts
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ async function callWithThreading(
   feedback: string,
 ): Promise<{ responseId: string; imageData: string }> {
   const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120_000);
+  // 240s — matches generate.ts; see comment there for rationale.
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 240_000);
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {
@@ -130,7 +131,8 @@ async function callFresh(
   prompt: string,
 ): Promise<{ responseId: string; imageData: string }> {
   const controller = new AbortController();
-  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120_000);
+  // 240s — matches generate.ts; see comment there for rationale.
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 240_000);
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {
diff --git a/design/src/variants.ts b/design/src/variants.ts
index d52eb22829..c5c7df27e4 100644
--- a/design/src/variants.ts
+++ b/design/src/variants.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@ export async function generateVariant(
     skipLeadingDelay = false;
 
     const controller = new AbortController();
-    const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 120_000);
+    // 240s — matches generate.ts; see comment there for rationale.
+    const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 240_000);
 
     try {
       const response = await fetchFn("https://api.openai.com/v1/responses", {