diff --git a/main.ts b/main.ts
index e82c18c..7fd5e38 100644
--- a/main.ts
+++ b/main.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
   setupGitHubInstallationToken,
 } from "./utils/github.ts";
 import { setupGitAuth, setupGitBranch, setupGitConfig } from "./utils/setup.ts";
+import { Timer } from "./utils/timer.ts";
 
 // runtime validation using agents (needed for ArkType)
 // Note: The AgentName type is defined in external.ts, this is the runtime validator
@@ -53,23 +54,34 @@ export async function main(inputs: Inputs): Promise<MainResult> {
   let mcpServerClose: (() => Promise<void>) | undefined;
 
   try {
+    const timer = new Timer();
+
     // parse payload early to extract agent
     const payload = parsePayload(inputs);
 
     const partialCtx = await initializeContext(inputs, payload);
     const ctx = partialCtx as MainContext;
+    timer.checkpoint("initializeContext");
 
     setupGitAuth({
       githubInstallationToken: ctx.githubInstallationToken,
       repoContext: ctx.repoContext,
     });
+
     await setupTempDirectory(ctx);
+    timer.checkpoint("setupTempDirectory");
 
     setupGitBranch(ctx.payload);
+
     await startMcpServer(ctx);
     mcpServerClose = ctx.mcpServerClose;
+    timer.checkpoint("startMcpServer");
+
     setupMcpServers(ctx);
+
     await installAgentCli(ctx);
+    timer.checkpoint("installAgentCli");
+
     await validateApiKey(ctx);
 
     const result = await runAgent(ctx);
diff --git a/mcp/comment.ts b/mcp/comment.ts
index 4f16951..0aec463 100644
--- a/mcp/comment.ts
+++ b/mcp/comment.ts
@@ -245,9 +245,15 @@ export async function ensureProgressCommentUpdated(): Promise<void> {
   // check if MCP context is initialized (MCP server started)
   try {
     const ctx = getMcpContext();
-    const errorMessage = `🐸 this run croaked
+    const repoContext = parseRepoContext();
+    const runId = process.env.GITHUB_RUN_ID;
+    const workflowRunLink = runId
+      ? `[workflow](https://github.com/${repoContext.owner}/${repoContext.name}/actions/runs/${runId})`
+      : "workflow";
 
-The workflow encountered an error before any progress could be reported. Please check the workflow run logs for details.`;
+    const errorMessage = `❌ this run croaked
+
+The workflow encountered an error before any progress could be reported. Please check the ${workflowRunLink} for details.`;
 
     const bodyWithFooter = addFooter(errorMessage, ctx.payload);
 
diff --git a/utils/timer.ts b/utils/timer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6f023a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/timer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { log } from "./cli.ts";
+
+export class Timer {
+  private initialTimestamp: number;
+  private lastCheckpointTimestamp: number | null = null;
+
+  constructor() {
+    this.initialTimestamp = Date.now();
+  }
+
+  checkpoint(name: string): void {
+    const now = Date.now();
+    const duration = this.lastCheckpointTimestamp
+      ? now - this.lastCheckpointTimestamp
+      : now - this.initialTimestamp;
+
+    log.info(`${name}: ${duration}ms`);
+    this.lastCheckpointTimestamp = now;
+  }
+}
+