diff --git a/utils/time.ts b/utils/time.ts
index d1b823d..9fbbd4f 100644
--- a/utils/time.ts
+++ b/utils/time.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,56 @@
 import { agentContext } from "./agentContext.ts";
 import { Temporal } from "@js-temporal/polyfill";
 
+/**
+ * Parse a time string with unit suffix or raw milliseconds
+ * @param value - Time string like "10s", "90m", "3h" or raw milliseconds
+ * @returns Time in milliseconds
+ * @example
+ * parseTimeValue("10s")      // → 10000
+ * parseTimeValue("90m")      // → 5400000
+ * parseTimeValue("3h")       // → 10800000
+ * parseTimeValue("5400000")  // → 5400000 (backward compat)
+ * parseTimeValue(10000)      // → 10000 (already a number)
+ */
+function parseTimeValue(value: string | number | undefined): number {
+  if (value === undefined || value === "") {
+    throw new Error("Time value is required");
+  }
+
+  if (typeof value === "number") {
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  const match = value.trim().match(/^(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*(s|m|h|ms)?$/i);
+
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Invalid time format: "${value}". Expected: "10s", "90m", "3h", or raw milliseconds`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const [, numStr, unit] = match;
+  const num = parseFloat(numStr);
+
+  if (isNaN(num) || num < 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Time value must be a positive number: "${value}"`);
+  }
+
+  switch (unit?.toLowerCase()) {
+    case "s":
+      return msFrom.seconds(num);
+    case "m":
+      return msFrom.minutes(num);
+    case "h":
+      return msFrom.hours(num);
+    case "ms":
+    case undefined:
+      return num;
+    default:
+      throw new Error(`Invalid unit: "${unit}". Use s/m/h/ms`);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Convert time units to milliseconds
  */
@@ -20,6 +70,12 @@ export const msFrom = {
    * @param h - number of hours
    */
   hours: (hours: number): number => hours * 60 * 60 * 1000,
+  /**
+   * Parse a time string with unit suffix (e.g., "10s", "90m", "3h") or raw milliseconds
+   * @param value - Time string or number
+   * @returns Time in milliseconds
+   */
+  parse: parseTimeValue,
 };
 
 /**