diff --git a/src/lib/agent-onboard.ts b/src/lib/agent-onboard.ts
index 8d9f2701d8..8d4b67025c 100644
--- a/src/lib/agent-onboard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agent-onboard.ts
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@
 import fs from "fs";
 import os from "os";
 import path from "path";
-import { spawnSync } from "child_process";
 
 import { ROOT, run } from "./runner";
 import { loadAgent, resolveAgentName, type AgentDefinition } from "./agent-defs";
 import { getProviderSelectionConfig } from "./inference-config";
 import * as onboardSession from "./onboard-session";
+import { sleepSeconds } from "./wait";
 
 export interface OnboardContext {
   step: (current: number, total: number, message: string) => void;
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ export function getAgentPermissivePolicyPath(agent: AgentDefinition): string | n
 }
 
 function sleep(seconds: number): void {
-  spawnSync("sleep", [String(seconds)]);
+  sleepSeconds(seconds);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/lib/deploy.ts b/src/lib/deploy.ts
index 1640f2b50e..9efe227176 100644
--- a/src/lib/deploy.ts
+++ b/src/lib/deploy.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import fs from "node:fs";
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 
+import { sleepSeconds } from "./wait";
+
 export interface DeployCredentials {
   NVIDIA_API_KEY?: string | null;
   OPENAI_API_KEY?: string | null;
@@ -333,7 +335,7 @@ export async function executeDeploy(opts: DeployExecutionOptions): Promise<void>
       return fail([`  Timed out waiting for Brev instance readiness for ${name}`], error, exit);
     }
     stdoutWrite(".");
-    spawnSync("sleep", ["3"]);
+    sleepSeconds(3);
   }
 
   // ── SSH trust-on-first-use (TOFU) ──────────────────────────────
@@ -371,7 +373,7 @@ export async function executeDeploy(opts: DeployExecutionOptions): Promise<void>
       );
     }
     stdoutWrite(".");
-    spawnSync("sleep", ["3"]);
+    sleepSeconds(3);
   }
 
   const sshOpts = buildSshOpts(knownHostsFile, shellQuote);
diff --git a/src/lib/nim.ts b/src/lib/nim.ts
index d83e6399d2..421e0ae7da 100644
--- a/src/lib/nim.ts
+++ b/src/lib/nim.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
 const { run, runCapture } = require("./runner");
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
+const { sleepSeconds } = require("./wait");
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
 const nimImages = require("../../bin/lib/nim-images.json");
 
 import { VLLM_PORT } from "./ports";
@@ -271,8 +273,7 @@ export function waitForNimHealth(port = VLLM_PORT, timeout = 300): boolean {
     } catch {
       /* ignored */
     }
-    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
-    require("child_process").spawnSync("sleep", [String(intervalSec)]);
+    sleepSeconds(intervalSec);
   }
   console.error(`  NIM did not become healthy within ${timeout}s.`);
   return false;
diff --git a/src/lib/onboard.ts b/src/lib/onboard.ts
index 133d6aab09..899b94bba5 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ const {
 // Shared constant so getSuggestedPolicyPresets() and setupPoliciesWithSelection()
 // stay in sync.
 const LOCAL_INFERENCE_PROVIDERS = ["ollama-local", "vllm-local"];
+const {
+  sleepSeconds,
+} = require("./wait");
 const { inferContainerRuntime, isWsl, shouldPatchCoredns } = require("./platform");
 const { resolveOpenshell } = require("./resolve-openshell");
 const {
@@ -2201,7 +2204,7 @@ function installOpenshell() {
 }
 
 function sleep(seconds) {
-  require("child_process").spawnSync("sleep", [String(seconds)]);
+  sleepSeconds(seconds);
 }
 
 function destroyGateway() {
diff --git a/src/lib/wait.ts b/src/lib/wait.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e942893e83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/wait.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+/**
+ * Synchronous waiting primitives for CLI commands.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Synchronously sleep for the given number of milliseconds.
+ * Uses Atomics.wait to block without pegging the CPU.
+ */
+export function sleepMs(ms: number): void {
+  if (ms <= 0 || !Number.isFinite(ms)) return;
+  const buffer = new Int32Array(new SharedArrayBuffer(4));
+  Atomics.wait(buffer, 0, 0, ms);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Synchronously sleep for the given number of seconds.
+ */
+export function sleepSeconds(seconds: number): void {
+  sleepMs(seconds * 1000);
+}
diff --git a/src/nemoclaw.ts b/src/nemoclaw.ts
index 9b3cd89a71..38ce548133 100644
--- a/src/nemoclaw.ts
+++ b/src/nemoclaw.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ const sandboxVersion = require("./lib/sandbox-version");
 const sandboxState = require("./lib/sandbox-state");
 const { ensureOllamaAuthProxy } = require("./lib/onboard");
 const skillInstall = require("./lib/skill-install");
+const { sleepSeconds } = require("./lib/wait");
 const { parseSandboxPhase } = require("./lib/gateway-state");
 
 // ── Global commands ──────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -317,7 +318,7 @@ function checkAndRecoverSandboxProcesses(sandboxName, { quiet = false } = {}) {
   const recovered = recoverSandboxProcesses(sandboxName);
   if (recovered) {
     // Wait for gateway to bind its HTTP port before declaring success
-    spawnSync("sleep", ["3"]);
+    sleepSeconds(3);
     if (isSandboxGatewayRunning(sandboxName) !== true) {
       // Gateway process started but HTTP endpoint never came up
       if (!quiet) {
diff --git a/test/wait.test.ts b/test/wait.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b630874682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/wait.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import assert from "node:assert";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { sleepMs, sleepSeconds } from "../src/lib/wait.js";
+
+describe("wait utility", () => {
+  it("sleepMs blocks for approximately the requested time", () => {
+    const start = performance.now();
+    sleepMs(100);
+    const end = performance.now();
+    const duration = end - start;
+
+    // Allow for some jitter, but should be at least 100ms.
+    // Increased upper bound to 500ms to avoid CI flakes on loaded runners.
+    assert.ok(duration >= 100, `duration ${duration}ms < 100ms`);
+    assert.ok(duration < 500, `duration ${duration}ms > 500ms`);
+  });
+
+  it("sleepSeconds blocks for approximately the requested time", () => {
+    const start = performance.now();
+    sleepSeconds(0.1);
+    const end = performance.now();
+    const duration = end - start;
+
+    assert.ok(duration >= 100, `duration ${duration}ms < 100ms`);
+    assert.ok(duration < 500, `duration ${duration}ms > 500ms`);
+  });
+
+  it("returns immediately for zero, negative, or non-finite time", () => {
+    const start = performance.now();
+    sleepMs(0);
+    sleepMs(-50);
+    sleepMs(NaN);
+    sleepMs(Infinity);
+    const end = performance.now();
+    const duration = end - start;
+    assert.ok(duration < 50, `duration ${duration}ms > 50ms`);
+  });
+});