diff --git a/agent.py b/agent.py
index 5394c47..39a1b37 100644
--- a/agent.py
+++ b/agent.py
@@ -353,13 +353,21 @@ class SeleniumbaseWebsiteScraper(A2AAgent[SeleniumbaseWebsiteScraperConfig, NoAu
         current_url = start_url
         current_selectors = selectors or {"title": "title"}
 
-        for iteration in range(1, int(max_iterations) + 1):
+        hard_cap_steps = max(1, min(int(max_steps), 3))
+        hard_cap_runtime = max(30, min(int(max_runtime_seconds), 840))
+        started_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+
+        for step in range(1, hard_cap_steps + 1):
+            # Runtime budget check
+            if (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - started_at).total_seconds() > hard_cap_runtime:
+                warnings.append("max_runtime_seconds reached; stopping")
+                break
             # Execute one browser pass
             run = await self.scrape_website(
                 ctx=ctx,
                 url=current_url,
                 selectors=current_selectors,
-                max_pages=per_pass_max_pages,
+                max_pages=max_pages,
                 wait_seconds=wait_seconds,
                 output_format=output_format,
                 headless=headless,