diff --git a/apps/solidcraft-cli/tests/action_matrix.rs b/apps/solidcraft-cli/tests/action_matrix.rs
index ab3bcb4d..dbb1d94c 100644
--- a/apps/solidcraft-cli/tests/action_matrix.rs
+++ b/apps/solidcraft-cli/tests/action_matrix.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ const SLOW: [&str; 7] = [
 const EDIT_SAMPLE: u64 = 6;
 /// An action that takes longer than this is recorded as a timeout.
 const ACTION_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(90);
+/// Building a design and listing its actions, before the first one runs: the biggest designs
+/// (oracle 41's tube with radial holes, about 25 s here) take several times that on a loaded CI
+/// runner, and a design that never loads loses all its actions, not one.
+const LOAD_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(300);
 /// Caps per body, so one large imported or patterned body cannot dominate the run.
 const MAX_FACES: usize = 120;
 const MAX_EDGES: usize = 240;
@@ -725,7 +729,9 @@ fn run_design(design: &str, out: &Path, sample: u64) -> Vec<Value> {
             .stderr(Stdio::null())
             .spawn()
             .unwrap();
-        let mut seen = 0usize;
+        // Until the child writes, it is loading the design (again, after a restart).
+        let loaded_at = std::fs::metadata(out).map(|m| m.len() as usize).unwrap_or(0);
+        let mut seen = loaded_at;
         let mut last_change = Instant::now();
         let (status, timed_out) = loop {
             if let Some(status) = child.try_wait().unwrap() {
@@ -735,7 +741,7 @@ fn run_design(design: &str, out: &Path, sample: u64) -> Vec<Value> {
             if n != seen {
                 seen = n;
                 last_change = Instant::now();
-            } else if last_change.elapsed() > ACTION_TIMEOUT {
+            } else if last_change.elapsed() > if seen == loaded_at { LOAD_TIMEOUT } else { ACTION_TIMEOUT } {
                 let _ = child.kill();
                 let _ = child.wait();
                 break (None, true);
diff --git a/docs/action-matrix.md b/docs/action-matrix.md
index 1559e42e..39d7fdb0 100644
--- a/docs/action-matrix.md
+++ b/docs/action-matrix.md
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ The test is [`apps/solidcraft-cli/tests/action_matrix.rs`](../apps/solidcraft-cl
   `ACTION_MATRIX_JOBS` sets how many designs run at once.
 
 Each design runs in its own process, so an action that hangs (90 s without a result) or aborts is
-recorded as `timeout` or `crash` and the rest of the design still runs. None did in this run.
+recorded as `timeout` or `crash` and the rest of the design still runs. Loading a design, before
+its first action, may take up to 300 s (the largest take several times longer on a loaded CI
+runner than here). None did in this run.
 
 Pieces that share a name (`#2`, `~3`) are numbered by where they lie, and the numbers of pieces
 lying almost level can swap between runs (#569). The ratchet therefore counts passes per family of