diff --git a/deploy/systemd/bin/metinctl.in b/deploy/systemd/bin/metinctl.in
index 119f663..e64e466 100644
--- a/deploy/systemd/bin/metinctl.in
+++ b/deploy/systemd/bin/metinctl.in
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
+import time
 from pathlib import Path
 
 REPO_ROOT = Path("{{REPO_ROOT}}")
@@ -55,6 +56,10 @@ def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
     incident_collect.add_argument("--since", default="-30 minutes", help="journalctl --since value")
     incident_collect.add_argument("--include-cores", action="store_true", help="Copy matching core files into the bundle")
 
+    wait_ready = subparsers.add_parser("wait-ready", help="Wait until the headless login healthcheck passes")
+    wait_ready.add_argument("--timeout", type=int, default=120, help="Maximum seconds to wait")
+    wait_ready.add_argument("--interval", type=float, default=5.0, help="Seconds between healthcheck attempts")
+
     subparsers.add_parser("healthcheck", help="Run the root-only headless healthcheck")
     return parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -318,6 +323,33 @@ def run_healthcheck() -> int:
     return 0
 
 
+def run_wait_ready(timeout_seconds: int, interval_seconds: float) -> int:
+    if not HEALTHCHECK_PATH.exists():
+        raise SystemExit(f"Missing healthcheck wrapper: {HEALTHCHECK_PATH}")
+
+    deadline = time.time() + timeout_seconds
+    attempt = 0
+    last_returncode = 1
+
+    while time.time() < deadline:
+        attempt += 1
+        print(f"Healthcheck attempt {attempt}...")
+        completed = subprocess.run(
+            build_command([str(HEALTHCHECK_PATH)], require_root=True),
+            check=False,
+            text=True,
+        )
+        if completed.returncode == 0:
+            return 0
+        last_returncode = completed.returncode
+        remaining = deadline - time.time()
+        if remaining <= 0:
+            break
+        time.sleep(min(interval_seconds, remaining))
+
+    raise SystemExit(f"Timed out waiting for login-ready state. Last healthcheck exit code: {last_returncode}")
+
+
 def run_incident_collect(tag: str, since: str, include_cores: bool) -> int:
     if not INCIDENT_COLLECTOR_PATH.exists():
         raise SystemExit(f"Missing incident collector: {INCIDENT_COLLECTOR_PATH}")
@@ -352,6 +384,8 @@ def main() -> int:
         return run_incident_collect(args.tag, args.since, args.include_cores)
     if args.command == "healthcheck":
         return run_healthcheck()
+    if args.command == "wait-ready":
+        return run_wait_ready(args.timeout, args.interval)
     raise SystemExit(f"Unsupported command: {args.command}")