diff --git a/hermes_cli/plugins.py b/hermes_cli/plugins.py
index 3fff37bb08..e921034699 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/plugins.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/plugins.py
@@ -1229,13 +1229,18 @@ def get_plugin_command_handler(name: str) -> Optional[Callable]:
     return entry["handler"] if entry else None
 
 
+_PLUGIN_COMMAND_AWAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS = 30.0
+
+
 def resolve_plugin_command_result(result: Any) -> Any:
     """Resolve a plugin command return value, awaiting async handlers when needed.
 
     Sync CLI/TUI dispatch sites call plugin handlers from plain functions.
     If a handler is async, await it directly when no loop is running; if
     we're already inside an active loop, run it in a helper thread with its
-    own loop so the caller still gets a concrete result synchronously.
+    own loop so the caller still gets a concrete result synchronously. The
+    threaded path is bounded by a 30s timeout so a hung async handler cannot
+    wedge the terminal indefinitely.
     """
     if not inspect.isawaitable(result):
         return result
@@ -1263,7 +1268,11 @@ def resolve_plugin_command_result(result: Any) -> Any:
         daemon=True,
     )
     thread.start()
-    done.wait()
+    if not done.wait(timeout=_PLUGIN_COMMAND_AWAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS):
+        raise TimeoutError(
+            "Plugin command async handler did not complete within "
+            f"{_PLUGIN_COMMAND_AWAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS:.0f}s"
+        )
     if "exc" in failure:
         raise failure["exc"]
     return outcome.get("value")
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugins.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugins.py
index 9a46cf5951..0c2a4a8842 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_plugins.py
@@ -1082,6 +1082,24 @@ class TestPluginCommandResultResolution:
         monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_cli.plugins.asyncio.get_running_loop", lambda: _Loop())
         assert resolve_plugin_command_result(_handler()) == "threaded-ok"
 
+    def test_running_loop_timeout_does_not_hang_forever(self, monkeypatch):
+        """Threaded path must abort a hung async handler instead of blocking the caller."""
+        import asyncio as _asyncio
+
+        class _Loop:
+            pass
+
+        async def _slow_handler():
+            await _asyncio.sleep(10)
+            return "should-not-reach"
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_cli.plugins.asyncio.get_running_loop", lambda: _Loop())
+        monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_cli.plugins._PLUGIN_COMMAND_AWAIT_TIMEOUT_SECS", 0.1)
+
+        import pytest
+        with pytest.raises(TimeoutError):
+            resolve_plugin_command_result(_slow_handler())
+
 
 # ── TestPluginDispatchTool ────────────────────────────────────────────────