diff --git a/pkg/agent/loop_media.go b/pkg/agent/loop_media.go
index 9ab243bcc..766dc5815 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/loop_media.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/loop_media.go
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) processingIndicator(ctx context.Context, channel, chatID, l
 	}
 
 	go func() {
-		ticker := time.NewTicker(150 * time.Millisecond)
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(3 * time.Second)
 		defer ticker.Stop()
 
 		frame := 0
@@ -596,8 +596,10 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) ocrPDF(
 		return fmt.Sprintf("[file:%s]", pdfPath)
 	}
 
-	// Track progress via stderr
+	// Track progress via stderr, keep last lines for error diagnosis
 	page := 0
+	var stderrTail []string
+	const maxTailLines = 20
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(stderrPipe)
 	for scanner.Scan() {
 		line := scanner.Text()
@@ -605,12 +607,17 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) ocrPDF(
 			page++
 			indicator.UpdateLabel(fmt.Sprintf("%s (%d/%s)...", modeLabel, page, totalStr))
 		}
+		stderrTail = append(stderrTail, line)
+		if len(stderrTail) > maxTailLines {
+			stderrTail = stderrTail[1:]
+		}
 	}
 
 	if waitErr := cmd.Wait(); waitErr != nil {
 		logger.WarnCF("agent", "OCR command failed", map[string]any{
-			"path":  pdfPath,
-			"error": waitErr.Error(),
+			"path":   pdfPath,
+			"error":  waitErr.Error(),
+			"stderr": strings.Join(stderrTail, "\n"),
 		})
 		return fmt.Sprintf("[file:%s]", pdfPath)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/channels/manager_ext.go b/pkg/channels/manager_ext.go
index 0c84cd07f..0c8cb5d16 100644
--- a/pkg/channels/manager_ext.go
+++ b/pkg/channels/manager_ext.go
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ const (
 	// for the same status/task bubble. EditMessage APIs are more rate-sensitive
 	// than SendMessageDraft, so we throttle edits to avoid "(edited)" flicker
 	// and API rate limit errors. Draft-based channels bypass this throttle.
-	statusEditInterval = 500 * time.Millisecond
+	// Telegram enforces ~20 messages/min per group chat, so 3s is safe.
+	statusEditInterval = 3 * time.Second
 )
 
 // statusMsgEntry tracks a status or task message ID for later editing.
@@ -85,8 +86,9 @@ func (m *Manager) handleStatusSend(ctx context.Context, name string, w *channelW
 	if v, loaded := m.placeholders.Load(key); loaded {
 		if entry, ok := v.(placeholderEntry); ok && entry.id != "" {
 			if editor, ok := w.ch.(MessageEditor); ok {
+				// Always record edit time to prevent retry storms on 429 errors.
+				m.statusEditTimes.Store(key, time.Now())
 				if err := editor.EditMessage(ctx, msg.ChatID, entry.id, msg.Content); err == nil {
-					m.statusEditTimes.Store(key, time.Now())
 					return
 				}
 			}
@@ -97,8 +99,8 @@ func (m *Manager) handleStatusSend(ctx context.Context, name string, w *channelW
 	if v, loaded := m.statusMsgIDs.Load(key); loaded {
 		if entry, ok := v.(statusMsgEntry); ok && entry.messageID != "" {
 			if editor, ok := w.ch.(MessageEditor); ok {
+				m.statusEditTimes.Store(key, time.Now())
 				if err := editor.EditMessage(ctx, msg.ChatID, entry.messageID, msg.Content); err == nil {
-					m.statusEditTimes.Store(key, time.Now())
 					return
 				}
 			}
@@ -223,8 +225,8 @@ func (m *Manager) handleTaskStatusSend(ctx context.Context, name string, w *chan
 		if v, loaded := m.taskMsgIDs.Load(taskKey); loaded {
 			if entry, ok := v.(statusMsgEntry); ok && entry.messageID != "" {
 				if editor, ok := w.ch.(MessageEditor); ok {
+					m.statusEditTimes.Store(taskKey, time.Now())
 					if err := editor.EditMessage(ctx, msg.ChatID, entry.messageID, msg.Content); err == nil {
-						m.statusEditTimes.Store(taskKey, time.Now())
 						return
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/pkg/channels/telegram/telegram.go b/pkg/channels/telegram/telegram.go
index d666b4b03..2e8fe2a75 100644
--- a/pkg/channels/telegram/telegram.go
+++ b/pkg/channels/telegram/telegram.go
@@ -305,6 +305,10 @@ func (c *TelegramChannel) sendChunk(
 	}
 
 	if _, err := c.bot.SendMessage(ctx, tgMsg); err != nil {
+		// Don't retry on rate limit errors — they aren't parse failures.
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "429") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Too Many Requests") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("telegram send: %w", channels.ErrTemporary)
+		}
 		logParseFailed(err, params.useMarkdownV2)
 
 		tgMsg.Text = params.mdFallback
@@ -372,6 +376,10 @@ func (c *TelegramChannel) EditMessage(ctx context.Context, chatID string, messag
 	}
 	_, err = c.bot.EditMessageText(ctx, editMsg)
 	if err != nil {
+		// Don't retry on rate limit errors — they aren't parse failures.
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "429") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Too Many Requests") {
+			return err
+		}
 		logParseFailed(err, useMarkdownV2)
 		_, err = c.bot.EditMessageText(ctx, tu.EditMessageText(tu.ID(cid), mid, content))
 	}