diff --git a/cmd/fetch/main.go b/cmd/fetch/main.go
index d24bd7f..fd9f398 100644
--- a/cmd/fetch/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fetch/main.go
@@ -6,17 +6,22 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"time"
 )
 
 func main() {
 	url := flag.String("url", "", "URL to fetch")
+	timeout := flag.Duration("timeout", 10*time.Second, "overall request timeout (e.g. 500ms, 30s)")
+	// Reserved for upcoming retry support; accepted now so scripts can start passing it.
+	_ = flag.Int("retries", 0, "number of retries on failure (not yet implemented)")
 	flag.Parse()
 	if *url == "" {
-		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: fetch -url URL")
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: fetch -url URL [-timeout 10s]")
 		os.Exit(2)
 	}
 
-	resp, err := http.Get(*url)
+	client := &http.Client{Timeout: *timeout}
+	resp, err := client.Get(*url)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "fetch:", err)
 		os.Exit(1)