diff --git a/agent/internal/httpapi/server.go b/agent/internal/httpapi/server.go
index 0cc1943..f66ccf3 100644
--- a/agent/internal/httpapi/server.go
+++ b/agent/internal/httpapi/server.go
@@ -417,24 +417,54 @@ func (s *Server) writeConfigAndReload(ctx context.Context, body []byte, restoreB
 		return fmt.Errorf("write config failed: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
-	defer cancel()
-	if err := s.ms.Reload(ctx); err != nil {
-		rerr := err
-		if len(restoreBody) == 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("reload failed: %v", rerr)
+	// Signal media-server to reload (short timeout — just the HTTP call).
+	reloadCtx, reloadCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
+	defer reloadCancel()
+	_ = s.ms.Reload(reloadCtx) // ignore immediate result; poll status instead
+
+	// Wait for media-server to recover with the new config.
+	// The media-server may restart its pipeline, which can take 10-30 seconds.
+	deadline := time.After(60 * time.Second)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(2 * time.Second)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-deadline:
+			// Timed out — roll back.
+			if len(restoreBody) == 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("media-server did not recover within 60s")
+			}
+			if werr := files.WriteFileAtomic(s.agentCfg.ConfigPath, append(restoreBody, '\n'), 0o644); werr != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("media-server recovery timeout; restore write failed: %v", werr)
+			}
+			_ = s.ms.Reload(context.Background())
+			return fmt.Errorf("media-server did not recover within 60s; restored previous config")
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			if s.mediaServerHealthy() {
+				return nil
+			}
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return ctx.Err()
 		}
-		if werr := files.WriteFileAtomic(s.agentCfg.ConfigPath, append(restoreBody, '\n'), 0o644); werr != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("reload failed: %v; restore write failed: %v", rerr, werr)
-		}
-		restoreCtx, restoreCancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
-		defer restoreCancel()
-		if restoreErr := s.ms.Reload(restoreCtx); restoreErr != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("reload failed: %v; restore reload failed: %v", rerr, restoreErr)
-		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("reload failed: %v; restored previous config", rerr)
 	}
-	return nil
+}
+
+// mediaServerHealthy checks whether the media-server process is running
+// and responding to API requests.
+func (s *Server) mediaServerHealthy() bool {
+	if s.proc == nil || !s.proc.Enabled() {
+		return true // no process management — assume OK
+	}
+	st, err := s.proc.Status()
+	if err != nil || !st.Running {
+		return false
+	}
+	// Quick API health check (1s timeout).
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 1*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	_, _, err = s.ms.GetGraphs(ctx)
+	return err == nil
 }
 
 func (s *Server) applyCandidateConfigBytes(ctx context.Context, body []byte) error {