diff --git a/sdk/src/query-execution-policy.test.ts b/sdk/src/query-execution-policy.test.ts
index 0b267a2e9..146801a5a 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-execution-policy.test.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-execution-policy.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { QueryExecutionPolicy } from './query-execution-policy.js';
 import { setTransportPolicy, clearTransportPolicy } from './gsd-transport-policy.js';
 
 describe('QueryExecutionPolicy', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    clearTransportPolicy();
+  });
+
   it('applies transport policy to transport.run', async () => {
     const run = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true });
     const policy = new QueryExecutionPolicy({ run } as never);
@@ -23,6 +27,5 @@ describe('QueryExecutionPolicy', () => {
     const [, policyArg] = run.mock.calls[0];
     expect(policyArg).toEqual({ preferNative: true, allowFallbackToSubprocess: false });
 
-    clearTransportPolicy();
   });
 });
diff --git a/sdk/src/query-raw-output-projection.ts b/sdk/src/query-raw-output-projection.ts
index 720f36f7a..51f564435 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-raw-output-projection.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-raw-output-projection.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ export function formatQueryRawOutput(registryCommand: string, data: unknown): st
   }
 
   if (registryCommand === 'commit') {
+    if (data == null || typeof data !== 'object' || Array.isArray(data)) {
+      return JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
+    }
     const d = data as Record<string, unknown>;
     if (d.committed === true) {
       return d.hash != null ? String(d.hash) : 'committed';
@@ -33,6 +36,9 @@ export function formatQueryRawOutput(registryCommand: string, data: unknown): st
   }
 
   if (registryCommand === 'config-set') {
+    if (data == null || typeof data !== 'object' || Array.isArray(data)) {
+      return JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
+    }
     const d = data as Record<string, unknown>;
     if ((d.updated === true || d.set === true) && d.key !== undefined) {
       const v = d.value;
@@ -48,6 +54,9 @@ export function formatQueryRawOutput(registryCommand: string, data: unknown): st
   }
 
   if (registryCommand === 'state.begin-phase' || registryCommand === 'state begin-phase') {
+    if (data == null || typeof data !== 'object' || Array.isArray(data)) {
+      return JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
+    }
     const d = data as Record<string, unknown>;
     const u = d.updated as string[] | undefined;
     return Array.isArray(u) && u.length > 0 ? 'true' : 'false';
diff --git a/sdk/src/query-subprocess-adapter.ts b/sdk/src/query-subprocess-adapter.ts
index fbea8f7e6..029dbf0f3 100644
--- a/sdk/src/query-subprocess-adapter.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/query-subprocess-adapter.ts
@@ -103,6 +103,18 @@ export class QuerySubprocessAdapter {
         (error, stdout, stderr) => {
           const stderrStr = stderr?.toString() ?? '';
           if (error) {
+            if (error.killed || (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'ETIMEDOUT') {
+              reject(
+                this.deps.createToolsError(
+                  `gsd-tools timed out after ${this.deps.timeoutMs}ms: ${command} ${args.join(' ')}`,
+                  command,
+                  args,
+                  null,
+                  stderrStr,
+                ),
+              );
+              return;
+            }
             reject(
               this.deps.createToolsError(
                 `gsd-tools exited with code ${error.code ?? 'unknown'}: ${command} ${args.join(' ')}${stderrStr ? `\n${stderrStr}` : ''}`,