diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 842c02545..9ab88baba 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Memory: add hybrid BM25 + vector search (FTS5) with weighted merging and fallback.
 - Memory: add SQLite embedding cache to speed up reindexing and frequent updates.
 - CLI: surface FTS + embedding cache state in `clawdbot memory status`.
+- Memory: render progress immediately, color batch statuses in verbose logs, and poll OpenAI batch status every 2s by default.
 - Plugins: allow optional agent tools with explicit allowlists and add plugin tool authoring guide. https://docs.clawd.bot/plugins/agent-tools
 - Tools: centralize plugin tool policy helpers.
 - Docs: clarify plugin agent tool configuration. https://docs.clawd.bot/plugins/agent-tools
diff --git a/src/agents/memory-search.test.ts b/src/agents/memory-search.test.ts
index 31e7f5c04..ef58a9116 100644
--- a/src/agents/memory-search.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/memory-search.test.ts
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ describe("memory search config", () => {
       enabled: true,
       wait: true,
       concurrency: 2,
-      pollIntervalMs: 500,
+      pollIntervalMs: 2000,
       timeoutMinutes: 60,
     });
   });
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ describe("memory search config", () => {
         enabled: true,
         wait: true,
         concurrency: 2,
-        pollIntervalMs: 500,
+        pollIntervalMs: 2000,
         timeoutMinutes: 60,
       },
     });
diff --git a/src/agents/memory-search.ts b/src/agents/memory-search.ts
index dfd7ac5d5..2f4a5db60 100644
--- a/src/agents/memory-search.ts
+++ b/src/agents/memory-search.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ function mergeConfig(
       overrides?.remote?.batch?.concurrency ?? defaults?.remote?.batch?.concurrency ?? 2,
     ),
     pollIntervalMs:
-      overrides?.remote?.batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? defaults?.remote?.batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? 500,
+      overrides?.remote?.batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? defaults?.remote?.batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? 2000,
     timeoutMinutes:
       overrides?.remote?.batch?.timeoutMinutes ?? defaults?.remote?.batch?.timeoutMinutes ?? 60,
   };
diff --git a/src/config/schema.ts b/src/config/schema.ts
index 0c860d086..721b3ab39 100644
--- a/src/config/schema.ts
+++ b/src/config/schema.ts
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ const FIELD_HELP: Record<string, string> = {
   "agents.defaults.memorySearch.remote.batch.concurrency":
     "Max concurrent OpenAI batch jobs for memory indexing (default: 2).",
   "agents.defaults.memorySearch.remote.batch.pollIntervalMs":
-    "Polling interval in ms for OpenAI batch status (default: 500).",
+    "Polling interval in ms for OpenAI batch status (default: 2000).",
   "agents.defaults.memorySearch.remote.batch.timeoutMinutes":
     "Timeout in minutes for OpenAI batch indexing (default: 60).",
   "agents.defaults.memorySearch.local.modelPath":
diff --git a/src/memory/manager.ts b/src/memory/manager.ts
index 1ee58cfa5..0df8b8805 100644
--- a/src/memory/manager.ts
+++ b/src/memory/manager.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { resolveSessionTranscriptsDirForAgent } from "../config/sessions/paths.j
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging.js";
 import { onSessionTranscriptUpdate } from "../sessions/transcript-events.js";
 import { resolveUserPath, truncateUtf16Safe } from "../utils.js";
+import { colorize, isRich, theme } from "../terminal/theme.js";
 import {
   createEmbeddingProvider,
   type EmbeddingProvider,
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager {
       enabled: Boolean(batch?.enabled && this.openAi && this.provider.id === "openai"),
       wait: batch?.wait ?? true,
       concurrency: Math.max(1, batch?.concurrency ?? 2),
-      pollIntervalMs: batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? 500,
+      pollIntervalMs: batch?.pollIntervalMs ?? 2000,
       timeoutMs: (batch?.timeoutMinutes ?? 60) * 60 * 1000,
     };
   }
@@ -1647,6 +1648,9 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager {
       const status = current ?? (await this.fetchOpenAiBatchStatus(batchId));
       const state = status.status ?? "unknown";
       if (state === "completed") {
+        log.debug(`openai batch ${batchId} ${state}`, {
+          consoleMessage: this.formatOpenAiBatchConsoleMessage({ batchId, state }),
+        });
         if (!status.output_file_id) {
           throw new Error(`openai batch ${batchId} completed without output file`);
         }
@@ -1668,12 +1672,37 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager {
       if (Date.now() - start > this.batch.timeoutMs) {
         throw new Error(`openai batch ${batchId} timed out after ${this.batch.timeoutMs}ms`);
       }
-      log.debug(`openai batch ${batchId} ${state}; waiting ${this.batch.pollIntervalMs}ms`);
+      log.debug(`openai batch ${batchId} ${state}; waiting ${this.batch.pollIntervalMs}ms`, {
+        consoleMessage: this.formatOpenAiBatchConsoleMessage({
+          batchId,
+          state,
+          waitMs: this.batch.pollIntervalMs,
+        }),
+      });
       await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, this.batch.pollIntervalMs));
       current = undefined;
     }
   }
 
+  private formatOpenAiBatchConsoleMessage(params: {
+    batchId: string;
+    state: string;
+    waitMs?: number;
+  }): string {
+    const rich = isRich();
+    const normalized = params.state.toLowerCase();
+    const successStates = new Set(["completed", "succeeded"]);
+    const errorStates = new Set(["failed", "expired", "cancelled", "canceled"]);
+    const warnStates = new Set(["finalizing", "validating"]);
+    let color = theme.info;
+    if (successStates.has(normalized)) color = theme.success;
+    else if (errorStates.has(normalized)) color = theme.error;
+    else if (warnStates.has(normalized)) color = theme.warn;
+    const status = colorize(rich, color, params.state);
+    const suffix = typeof params.waitMs === "number" ? `; waiting ${params.waitMs}ms` : "";
+    return `openai batch ${params.batchId} ${status}${suffix}`;
+  }
+
   private async embedChunksWithBatch(
     chunks: MemoryChunk[],
     entry: MemoryFileEntry | SessionFileEntry,