diff --git a/secretstore/bitwarden.go b/secretstore/bitwarden.go
index ffcc0f7..acb7f27 100644
--- a/secretstore/bitwarden.go
+++ b/secretstore/bitwarden.go
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -18,11 +21,19 @@ const (
 	bitwardenSecretFieldName     = "mcp-secret"
 	bitwardenServiceFieldName    = "mcp-service"
 	bitwardenSecretNameFieldName = "mcp-secret-name"
+	bitwardenLoaderMessage       = "Waiting BitWarden..."
+	bitwardenLoaderInterval      = 90 * time.Millisecond
+	bitwardenLoaderColorBase     = "\033[38;5;39m"
+	bitwardenLoaderColorWave     = "\033[38;5;81m"
+	bitwardenLoaderColorFocus    = "\033[38;5;117m"
+	bitwardenLoaderResetColor    = "\033[0m"
+	bitwardenLoaderClearLine     = "\r\033[2K"
 )
 
 type bitwardenRunner func(command string, stdin []byte, args ...string) ([]byte, error)
 
 var runBitwardenCLI bitwardenRunner = executeBitwardenCLI
+var bitwardenLoaderActive atomic.Bool
 
 type bitwardenStore struct {
 	command     string
@@ -511,6 +522,9 @@ func bitwardenItemMatchesMarkers(payload map[string]any, serviceName, secretName
 }
 
 func executeBitwardenCLI(command string, stdin []byte, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
+	stopLoader := startBitwardenLoader()
+	defer stopLoader()
+
 	cmd := exec.Command(command, args...)
 	if stdin != nil {
 		cmd.Stdin = bytes.NewReader(stdin)
@@ -528,6 +542,108 @@ func executeBitwardenCLI(command string, stdin []byte, args ...string) ([]byte,
 	return stdout.Bytes(), nil
 }
 
+func startBitwardenLoader() func() {
+	if !shouldShowBitwardenLoader() {
+		return func() {}
+	}
+	if !bitwardenLoaderActive.CompareAndSwap(false, true) {
+		return func() {}
+	}
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	stopped := make(chan struct{})
+
+	go func() {
+		defer close(stopped)
+
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(bitwardenLoaderInterval)
+		defer ticker.Stop()
+
+		phase := 0
+		for {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprint(os.Stdout, bitwardenLoaderFrame(phase))
+			phase++
+
+			select {
+			case <-done:
+				_, _ = fmt.Fprint(os.Stdout, bitwardenLoaderClearLine)
+				return
+			case <-ticker.C:
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	var stopOnce sync.Once
+	return func() {
+		stopOnce.Do(func() {
+			close(done)
+			<-stopped
+			bitwardenLoaderActive.Store(false)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func shouldShowBitwardenLoader() bool {
+	term := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("TERM"))
+	if term == "" || strings.EqualFold(term, "dumb") {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	info, err := os.Stdout.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return (info.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) != 0
+}
+
+func bitwardenLoaderFrame(phase int) string {
+	chars := []rune(bitwardenLoaderMessage)
+	if len(chars) == 0 {
+		return bitwardenLoaderClearLine
+	}
+
+	waveIndex := phase % len(chars)
+	if waveIndex < 0 {
+		waveIndex += len(chars)
+	}
+
+	var frame strings.Builder
+	frame.Grow(len(chars)*14 + len(bitwardenLoaderClearLine) + len(bitwardenLoaderResetColor))
+	frame.WriteString(bitwardenLoaderClearLine)
+
+	for idx, char := range chars {
+		frame.WriteString(bitwardenLoaderColorForIndex(idx, waveIndex, len(chars)))
+		frame.WriteRune(char)
+	}
+
+	frame.WriteString(bitwardenLoaderResetColor)
+	return frame.String()
+}
+
+func bitwardenLoaderColorForIndex(idx, waveIndex, length int) string {
+	if length <= 1 {
+		return bitwardenLoaderColorFocus
+	}
+
+	distance := idx - waveIndex
+	if distance < 0 {
+		distance = -distance
+	}
+	if wrapped := length - distance; wrapped < distance {
+		distance = wrapped
+	}
+
+	switch distance {
+	case 0:
+		return bitwardenLoaderColorFocus
+	case 1:
+		return bitwardenLoaderColorWave
+	default:
+		return bitwardenLoaderColorBase
+	}
+}
+
 func normalizeBitwardenExecutionError(err error, stderrText, stdoutText string) error {
 	detail := sanitizeBitwardenErrorDetail(stderrText, stdoutText)
 	classification := classifyBitwardenError(detail)
diff --git a/secretstore/bitwarden_test.go b/secretstore/bitwarden_test.go
index e12a662..9a3e7e6 100644
--- a/secretstore/bitwarden_test.go
+++ b/secretstore/bitwarden_test.go
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"gitea.lclr.dev/AI/mcp-framework/manifest"
 )
@@ -365,6 +367,43 @@ func TestExecuteBitwardenCLIClassifiesLoginError(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestBitwardenLoaderFrameUsesSingleLineRewriteAndMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	frame := bitwardenLoaderFrame(0)
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(frame, "\r\033[2K") {
+		t.Fatalf("frame prefix = %q, want carriage return + clear line", frame)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(frame, "\033[38;5;117mW") {
+		t.Fatalf("frame = %q, want highlighted first rune", frame)
+	}
+	cleaned := stripANSIControlSequences(frame)
+	if cleaned != bitwardenLoaderMessage {
+		t.Fatalf("cleaned frame = %q, want %q", cleaned, bitwardenLoaderMessage)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBitwardenLoaderFrameMovesAndWrapsTheWave(t *testing.T) {
+	firstFrame := bitwardenLoaderFrame(0)
+	secondFrame := bitwardenLoaderFrame(1)
+	if firstFrame == secondFrame {
+		t.Fatal("expected different frames between two ticks")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(secondFrame, "\033[38;5;117ma") {
+		t.Fatalf("second frame = %q, want highlighted second rune", secondFrame)
+	}
+
+	wrapped := bitwardenLoaderFrame(utf8.RuneCountInString(bitwardenLoaderMessage))
+	if !strings.Contains(wrapped, "\033[38;5;117mW") {
+		t.Fatalf("wrapped frame = %q, want wave to wrap to first rune", wrapped)
+	}
+}
+
+var ansiControlSequencePattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\x1b\[[0-9;]*[A-Za-z]`)
+
+func stripANSIControlSequences(value string) string {
+	noANSI := ansiControlSequencePattern.ReplaceAllString(value, "")
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(noANSI, "\r", "")
+}
+
 func TestOpenFromManifestSupportsBitwardenCLIBackendPolicy(t *testing.T) {
 	withBitwardenSession(t)
 	fakeCLI := newFakeBitwardenCLI("bw")