diff --git a/internal/app/app.go b/internal/app/app.go
index 8a76186..e84c369 100644
--- a/internal/app/app.go
+++ b/internal/app/app.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func routes(logger *slog.Logger, cfg *config.Config, db *store.DB, provider ai.P
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 
 	toolSet := mcpserver.ToolSet{
-		Capture:   tools.NewCaptureTool(db, provider, cfg.Capture, activeProjects, logger),
+		Capture:   tools.NewCaptureTool(db, provider, cfg.Capture, cfg.AI.Metadata.Timeout, activeProjects, logger),
 		Search:    tools.NewSearchTool(db, provider, cfg.Search, activeProjects),
 		List:      tools.NewListTool(db, cfg.Search, activeProjects),
 		Stats:     tools.NewStatsTool(db),
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index da39545..84c0daa 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -84,11 +84,12 @@ type AIEmbeddingConfig struct {
 }
 
 type AIMetadataConfig struct {
-	Model            string   `yaml:"model"`
-	FallbackModels   []string `yaml:"fallback_models"`
-	FallbackModel    string   `yaml:"fallback_model"` // legacy single fallback
-	Temperature      float64  `yaml:"temperature"`
-	LogConversations bool     `yaml:"log_conversations"`
+	Model            string        `yaml:"model"`
+	FallbackModels   []string      `yaml:"fallback_models"`
+	FallbackModel    string        `yaml:"fallback_model"` // legacy single fallback
+	Temperature      float64       `yaml:"temperature"`
+	LogConversations bool          `yaml:"log_conversations"`
+	Timeout          time.Duration `yaml:"timeout"`
 }
 
 type LiteLLMConfig struct {
diff --git a/internal/config/loader.go b/internal/config/loader.go
index 0a27f04..2448248 100644
--- a/internal/config/loader.go
+++ b/internal/config/loader.go
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ func defaultConfig() Config {
 			Metadata: AIMetadataConfig{
 				Model:       "gpt-4o-mini",
 				Temperature: 0.1,
+				Timeout:     10 * time.Second,
 			},
 			Ollama: OllamaConfig{
 				BaseURL: "http://localhost:11434/v1",
diff --git a/internal/tools/capture.go b/internal/tools/capture.go
index 91d3e9a..3a9f879 100644
--- a/internal/tools/capture.go
+++ b/internal/tools/capture.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"log/slog"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk/mcp"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
@@ -17,11 +18,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 type CaptureTool struct {
-	store    *store.DB
-	provider ai.Provider
-	capture  config.CaptureConfig
-	sessions *session.ActiveProjects
-	log      *slog.Logger
+	store           *store.DB
+	provider        ai.Provider
+	capture         config.CaptureConfig
+	sessions        *session.ActiveProjects
+	metadataTimeout time.Duration
+	log             *slog.Logger
 }
 
 type CaptureInput struct {
@@ -33,8 +35,8 @@ type CaptureOutput struct {
 	Thought thoughttypes.Thought `json:"thought"`
 }
 
-func NewCaptureTool(db *store.DB, provider ai.Provider, capture config.CaptureConfig, sessions *session.ActiveProjects, log *slog.Logger) *CaptureTool {
-	return &CaptureTool{store: db, provider: provider, capture: capture, sessions: sessions, log: log}
+func NewCaptureTool(db *store.DB, provider ai.Provider, capture config.CaptureConfig, metadataTimeout time.Duration, sessions *session.ActiveProjects, log *slog.Logger) *CaptureTool {
+	return &CaptureTool{store: db, provider: provider, capture: capture, sessions: sessions, metadataTimeout: metadataTimeout, log: log}
 }
 
 func (t *CaptureTool) Handle(ctx context.Context, req *mcp.CallToolRequest, in CaptureInput) (*mcp.CallToolResult, CaptureOutput, error) {
@@ -61,7 +63,13 @@ func (t *CaptureTool) Handle(ctx context.Context, req *mcp.CallToolRequest, in C
 		return nil
 	})
 	group.Go(func() error {
-		extracted, err := t.provider.ExtractMetadata(groupCtx, content)
+		metaCtx := groupCtx
+		if t.metadataTimeout > 0 {
+			var cancel context.CancelFunc
+			metaCtx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(groupCtx, t.metadataTimeout)
+			defer cancel()
+		}
+		extracted, err := t.provider.ExtractMetadata(metaCtx, content)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.log.Warn("metadata extraction failed, using fallback", slog.String("provider", t.provider.Name()), slog.String("error", err.Error()))
 			return nil