diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot-contactSheet.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot-contactSheet.test.ts
index 296d19cfe2..693278df58 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot-contactSheet.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot-contactSheet.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
+const errorsBesideProgress = () =>
+  vi
+    .mocked(console.error)
+    .mock.calls.filter(([line]) => !String(line).startsWith("[hyperframes] snapshot:"));
+
 const capture = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   evaluate: vi.fn(),
   screenshot: vi.fn(async () => Buffer.from("captured PNG")),
@@ -123,7 +128,7 @@ describe("snapshot contact sheet failures", () => {
         }),
       ).resolves.toBeDefined();
 
-      expect(console.error).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(errorsBesideProgress()).toEqual([]);
       for (const [index, time] of ["0.5", "1"].entries()) {
         const frame = join(project, "snapshots", `frame-0${index}-at-${time}s.png`);
         expect(readFileSync(frame)).toEqual(Buffer.from("captured PNG"));
@@ -161,7 +166,7 @@ describe("snapshot contact sheet failures", () => {
     );
     expect(console.log).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("contact-sheet.jpg"));
     expect(console.warn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(console.error).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(errorsBesideProgress()).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   it("builds the sheet from this run's frames, not another frame-*.png in the folder", async () => {
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@ describe("snapshot contact sheet failures", () => {
         }
         expect(readdirSync(out).filter((name) => name.startsWith("pair-"))).toEqual([]);
         expect(pairSheet).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
-        expect(console.error).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+        expect(errorsBesideProgress()).toHaveLength(1);
         expect(console.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
           expect.stringContaining("Reference pair sheets skipped: Windows App Control"),
         );
@@ -325,7 +330,7 @@ describe("snapshot contact sheet failures", () => {
           join(project, "snapshots", `frame-0${index}-at-${time}s.png`),
         ),
       );
-      expect(console.error).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(errorsBesideProgress()).toEqual([]);
       expect(console.warn).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("not recorded"));
     } finally {
       historyDeps.ownerWaitMs = previousWait;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.progress.browser.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.progress.browser.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c26468ee8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.progress.browser.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterAll, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import snapshotCommand from "./snapshot.js";
+
+const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-snapshot-progress-"));
+
+afterAll(() => rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+it("prints a progress line on stderr as each frame starts, and keeps stdout one --json envelope", async () => {
+  writeFileSync(
+    join(root, "index.html"),
+    `<!doctype html><html><body style="margin:0;background:#000">
+<div id="root" data-composition-id="main" data-start="0" data-duration="5" data-width="320" data-height="180" style="width:320px;height:180px"></div>
+<script>
+  window.__timelines = { main: { pause() {}, time() { return 0; }, duration() { return 5; }, seek() {} } };
+</script></body></html>`,
+  );
+  const log = vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+  const error = vi.spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+  vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+  try {
+    await snapshotCommand.run?.({
+      args: {
+        dir: root,
+        at: "1,2.5",
+        end: false,
+        json: true,
+        output: join(root, "out"),
+        describe: "false",
+        "browser-gpu": false,
+      },
+    } as never);
+    const progress = error.mock.calls
+      .map(([line]) => String(line))
+      .filter((line) => line.startsWith("[hyperframes] snapshot:"));
+
+    expect(progress).toEqual([
+      "[hyperframes] snapshot: frame 1/2 at 1s",
+      "[hyperframes] snapshot: frame 2/2 at 2.5s",
+    ]);
+    expect(log).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(JSON.parse(String(log.mock.calls[0]?.[0])).frames).toHaveLength(2);
+  } finally {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  }
+}, 120_000);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
index 80789c4bc0..e282223152 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
@@ -930,6 +930,7 @@ async function captureSnapshots(
 
       for (let i = 0; i < positions.length; i++) {
         const time = positions[i]!;
+        console.error(`[hyperframes] snapshot: frame ${i + 1}/${positions.length} at ${time}s`);
 
         const seekOptions = { exactTime: true, waitForImagesMs: SCREENSHOT_IMAGE_WAIT_MS };
         await atStep(`seeking to ${time}s, frame ${i + 1} of ${positions.length}`, () =>