diff --git a/scripts/kill-vitest.sh b/scripts/kill-vitest.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..295f2c9f1dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kill-vitest.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Kill all running vitest processes.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   scripts/kill-vitest.sh        # kill all
+#   scripts/kill-vitest.sh --dry   # preview what would be killed
+#
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+DRY_RUN=false
+if [[ "${1:-}" == "--dry" || "${1:-}" == "--dry-run" || "${1:-}" == "-n" ]]; then
+  DRY_RUN=true
+fi
+
+pids=()
+lines=()
+
+while IFS= read -r line; do
+  [[ -z "$line" ]] && continue
+  pid=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $2}')
+  pids+=("$pid")
+  lines+=("$line")
+done < <(ps aux | grep -E '(^|/)(vitest|node .*/vitest)( |$)|/\.bin/vitest|vitest/dist|vitest\.mjs' | grep -v grep || true)
+
+if [[ ${#pids[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  echo "No vitest processes found."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Found ${#pids[@]} vitest process(es):"
+echo ""
+
+for i in "${!pids[@]}"; do
+  line="${lines[$i]}"
+  pid=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $2}')
+  start=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $9}')
+  cmd=$(echo "$line" | awk '{for(i=11;i<=NF;i++) printf "%s ", $i; print ""}')
+  cmd=$(echo "$cmd" | sed "s|$HOME/||g")
+  printf "  PID %-7s  started %-10s  %s\n" "$pid" "$start" "$cmd"
+done
+
+echo ""
+
+if [[ "$DRY_RUN" == true ]]; then
+  echo "Dry run — re-run without --dry to kill these processes."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Sending SIGTERM..."
+for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do
+  kill -TERM "$pid" 2>/dev/null && echo "  signaled $pid" || echo "  $pid already gone"
+done
+
+sleep 2
+
+for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do
+  if kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "  $pid still alive, sending SIGKILL..."
+    kill -KILL "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+done
+
+echo "Done."
diff --git a/scripts/paperclip-issue-update.sh b/scripts/paperclip-issue-update.sh
index 2645d77ff85..36ee5617cd6 100755
--- a/scripts/paperclip-issue-update.sh
+++ b/scripts/paperclip-issue-update.sh
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ fi
 
 curl -sS -X PATCH \
   "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/issues/$issue_id" \
+  --connect-timeout "${PAPERCLIP_API_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS:-10}" \
+  --max-time "${PAPERCLIP_API_MAX_TIME_SECONDS:-60}" \
   -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY" \
   -H "X-Paperclip-Run-Id: $PAPERCLIP_RUN_ID" \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
diff --git a/skills/paperclip/SKILL.md b/skills/paperclip/SKILL.md
index 0e817fc3a84..b7b4895ead0 100644
--- a/skills/paperclip/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/paperclip/SKILL.md
@@ -128,7 +128,9 @@ Headers: X-Paperclip-Run-Id: $PAPERCLIP_RUN_ID
 { "status": "blocked", "comment": "What is blocked, why, and who needs to unblock it." }
 ```
 
-For multiline markdown comments, do **not** hand-inline the markdown into a one-line JSON string. That is how comments get "smooshed" together. Use the helper below or an equivalent `jq --arg` pattern so literal newlines survive JSON encoding:
+For multiline markdown comments, do **not** hand-inline the markdown into a one-line JSON string. That is how comments get "smooshed" together. Use the helper below or an equivalent `jq --arg` pattern so literal newlines survive JSON encoding.
+
+Do **not** pipe a heredoc into `jq` while also using command substitution to read that same stream, for example `cat <<'MD' | jq -n --arg comment "$(cat)" ... | curl -d @-`. That pattern can leave `curl` blocked forever waiting for stdin and keep the whole heartbeat process group alive after the agent has already produced a final result. If you cannot use the helper, read the heredoc into a shell variable first, then pass that variable to `jq -n --arg`.
 
 ```bash
 scripts/paperclip-issue-update.sh --issue-id "$PAPERCLIP_TASK_ID" --status done <<'MD'
@@ -356,6 +358,24 @@ MD
 
 If you cannot use the helper, use `jq -n --arg comment "$comment"` with `comment` read from a heredoc or file. Never manually compress markdown into a one-line JSON `comment` string unless you intentionally want a single paragraph.
 
+Avoid this hanging anti-pattern:
+
+```bash
+cat <<'MD' | jq -n --arg comment "$(cat)" '{"comment": $comment}' | curl -d @- ...
+MD
+```
+
+That command has multiple readers and writers on the same pipeline and can leave `curl` waiting on stdin with no network request in flight. Safer direct fallback:
+
+```bash
+comment="$(cat <<'MD'
+Investigating comment formatting
+MD
+)"
+jq -n --arg comment "$comment" '{"comment": $comment}' |
+  curl --fail --show-error --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 60 -d @- ...
+```
+
 Example:
 
 ```md