diff --git a/apps/api/src/index.ts b/apps/api/src/index.ts
index 36ed3935..02da9c17 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/index.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/index.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ const app = Fastify({
   routerOptions: { maxParamLength: 500 },
 });
 
+// Image processing (especially AI batch) can run for tens of minutes.
+// Node.js defaults to a 5-minute requestTimeout which kills long-running
+// connections. Set a generous default; per-route overrides disable it entirely.
+app.server.requestTimeout = 30 * 60 * 1000;
+app.server.headersTimeout = 60 * 1000;
+
 app.removeContentTypeParser("application/json");
 app.addContentTypeParser("application/json", { parseAs: "string" }, (_request, body, done) => {
   try {
diff --git a/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts b/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
index dd2ea6f5..608ac57a 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/lib/format-decoders.ts
@@ -235,16 +235,29 @@ async function decodeTga(buffer: Buffer): Promise<Buffer> {
  * because EXR files are typically stored in linear light.
  */
 async function decodeExr(buffer: Buffer): Promise<Buffer> {
-  const cmd = await findMagickCmd();
   const id = randomUUID();
   const inputPath = join(tmpdir(), `exr-in-${id}.exr`);
   const outputPath = join(tmpdir(), `exr-out-${id}.png`);
 
   try {
     await writeFile(inputPath, buffer);
+
+    // ImageMagick needs the OpenEXR delegate which is often missing on macOS
+    try {
+      const cmd = await findMagickCmd();
+      await execFileAsync(
+        cmd,
+        magickArgs(cmd, [inputPath, "-colorspace", "sRGB", "-depth", "8", `png:${outputPath}`]),
+        { timeout: 120_000 },
+      );
+      return await readFile(outputPath);
+    } catch {
+      // ImageMagick failed, try ffmpeg
+    }
+
     await execFileAsync(
-      cmd,
-      magickArgs(cmd, [inputPath, "-colorspace", "sRGB", `png:${outputPath}`]),
+      "ffmpeg",
+      ["-y", "-i", inputPath, "-pix_fmt", "rgba", "-update", "1", outputPath],
       { timeout: 120_000 },
     );
     return await readFile(outputPath);
@@ -267,7 +280,7 @@ async function decodeHdr(buffer: Buffer): Promise<Buffer> {
     await writeFile(inputPath, buffer);
     await execFileAsync(
       cmd,
-      magickArgs(cmd, [inputPath, "-colorspace", "sRGB", `png:${outputPath}`]),
+      magickArgs(cmd, [inputPath, "-colorspace", "sRGB", "-depth", "8", `png:${outputPath}`]),
       { timeout: 120_000 },
     );
     return await readFile(outputPath);
diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/batch.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/batch.ts
index 72f6102c..622ea747 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/routes/batch.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/batch.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ export async function registerBatchRoutes(app: FastifyInstance): Promise<void> {
     async (request: FastifyRequest<{ Params: { toolId: string } }>, reply: FastifyReply) => {
       const { toolId } = request.params;
 
+      // Batch processing (especially with AI) can take tens of minutes.
+      // Disable the Node.js HTTP socket timeout so the connection is not
+      // dropped while images are still being processed.
+      request.raw.socket?.setTimeout?.(0);
+
       // Look up the tool config from the registry
       const toolConfig = getToolConfig(toolId);
       if (!toolConfig) {