diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 28d3009325dde..624d0f10109f7 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -1013,16 +1013,9 @@ def _has_any_provider_configured() -> bool:
         except Exception:
             pass
 
-    # Check provider-specific auth fallbacks (for example, Copilot via gh auth).
-    try:
-        for provider_id, pconfig in PROVIDER_REGISTRY.items():
-            if pconfig.auth_type != "api_key":
-                continue
-            status = get_auth_status(provider_id)
-            if status.get("logged_in"):
-                return True
-    except Exception:
-        pass
+    # Cheap local checks first: auth.json and config.yaml are on-disk lookups,
+    # while the PROVIDER_REGISTRY sweep below spawns subprocesses (gh) and can
+    # take 15-20s — long enough that desktop setup.status calls time out.
 
     # Check for Nous Portal OAuth credentials
     auth_file = get_hermes_home() / "auth.json"
@@ -1050,6 +1043,17 @@ def _has_any_provider_configured() -> bool:
         if cfg_provider or cfg_base_url or cfg_api_key:
             return True
 
+    # Check provider-specific auth fallbacks (for example, Copilot via gh auth).
+    try:
+        for provider_id, pconfig in PROVIDER_REGISTRY.items():
+            if pconfig.auth_type != "api_key":
+                continue
+            status = get_auth_status(provider_id)
+            if status.get("logged_in"):
+                return True
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     # Check for Claude Code OAuth credentials (~/.claude/.credentials.json)
     # Only count these if Hermes has been explicitly configured — Claude Code
     # being installed doesn't mean the user wants Hermes to use their tokens.