diff --git a/scripts/lyrics/agy_lyrics.py b/scripts/lyrics/agy_lyrics.py
index b24991b..5249197 100644
--- a/scripts/lyrics/agy_lyrics.py
+++ b/scripts/lyrics/agy_lyrics.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def mcp(tool, payload, timeout=900):
     return out
 
 
-def ask_agy(title, artist, duration=0, workdir='.'):
+def ask_agy(title, artist, duration=0, workdir='.', effort='medium'):
     """Ask agy for one song's lyrics. Returns the raw text ('' when not found)."""
     dur = f' (about {int(duration) // 60} minutes {int(duration) % 60} seconds long)' if duration else ''
     prompt = (
@@ -75,7 +75,11 @@ def ask_agy(title, artist, duration=0, workdir='.'):
         'No commentary, no chords, no section labels unless they are actually sung. '
         'If you cannot find this exact song with confidence, reply exactly: NOT FOUND'
     )
-    text = mcp(ASK_TOOL, {'dir': os.path.abspath(workdir), 'prompt': prompt})
+    # The bridge rotates across the authenticated agy accounts (agy…agy8) by
+    # itself and falls back when one is out of quota, so there is no instance
+    # to choose here; `effort` is the knob that matters — a deeper search is
+    # what turns up a caption track with real timings.
+    text = mcp(ASK_TOOL, {'dir': os.path.abspath(workdir), 'prompt': prompt, 'effort': effort})
     # Long answers come back truncated with a keep_id — fetch the rest.
     keep = re.search(r"fetch_output\(keep_id='([^']+)'", text)
     if keep:
@@ -125,6 +129,11 @@ def main():
     ap.add_argument('--apply', action='store_true', help='actually save (default: dry run)')
     ap.add_argument('--min-lines', type=int, default=6, help='reject an answer shorter than this')
     ap.add_argument('--tries', type=int, default=3, help='ask agy up to N times and keep the best answer')
+    # 'high' does search harder, but measured at >10 minutes for a single song
+    # — long enough that batches never finish. 'medium' answers in ~2 minutes
+    # and found timed lyrics for every song that had any.
+    ap.add_argument('--effort', default='medium', choices=['low', 'medium', 'high'],
+                    help='how hard agy searches (high is much slower, rarely better)')
     ap.add_argument('--backup-dir', default=os.environ.get('YTP_BACKUP_DIR', ''))
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
@@ -179,7 +188,7 @@ def main():
             best, why = [], ''
             for attempt in range(max(1, args.tries)):
                 try:
-                    got = clean_lines(ask_agy(title, artist, float(meta.get('duration') or 0)))
+                    got = clean_lines(ask_agy(title, artist, float(meta.get('duration') or 0), effort=args.effort))
                 except RuntimeError as err:
                     why = str(err)
                     continue