diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/ProgressReporter.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/ProgressReporter.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..45962e49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/ProgressReporter.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+using ModelContextProtocol;
+
+namespace ClaudeDo.Worker.Lifecycle;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Reports MCP/hub progress for a long-running operation so a waiting caller doesn't hit an
+/// idle-silence abort (Claude Code's MCP client aborts an MCP call after ~300s of silence).
+/// </summary>
+internal static class ProgressReporter
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Awaits <paramref name="work"/> while reporting progress every <paramref name="interval"/>.
+    /// <paramref name="onTick"/> rides the same cadence for non-MCP callers (e.g. the Hub, which
+    /// turns it into an OperationProgress broadcast). No-op passthrough when both are null.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static async Task<T> RunAsync<T>(
+        Task<T> work, TimeSpan interval, IProgress<ProgressNotificationValue>? progress, string message,
+        Action<TimeSpan>? onTick = null)
+    {
+        if (progress is null && onTick is null) return await work;
+
+        var sw = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();
+        while (true)
+        {
+            var finished = await Task.WhenAny(work, Task.Delay(interval));
+            if (finished == work) return await work;
+            progress?.Report(new ProgressNotificationValue { Progress = 0, Message = $"{message} ({sw.Elapsed:mm\\:ss})" });
+            onTick?.Invoke(sw.Elapsed);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Reports progress for one processed item out of a known total, e.g. "cleaning worktrees
+    /// (3/12)". For callers iterating a batch (cleanup_task_worktree, get_task_diff,
+    /// preview_merge_set) instead of awaiting one long-running task.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static void ReportItem(
+        IProgress<ProgressNotificationValue>? progress, string action, int current, int total)
+    {
+        progress?.Report(new ProgressNotificationValue
+        {
+            Progress = current,
+            Total = total,
+            Message = $"{action} ({current}/{total})",
+        });
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
index b29ca7cc..1c273d5b 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public sealed class TaskMergeService
 
     // Mirrors TaskWaitMcpTools.ProgressReportInterval (External/TaskWaitMcpTools.cs): a verify
     // run can take up to VerifyTimeout, well past Claude Code's ~300s MCP idle-silence abort, so
-    // RunReportingProgressAsync below reports on this cadence to keep the calling review_task/
+    // ProgressReporter.RunAsync reports on this cadence to keep the calling review_task/
     // merge_task/preview_merge* call alive. Not readonly -- tests shrink it to observe a report
     // without waiting 30s. A separate field from TaskWaitMcpTools' own (rather than sharing it)
     // so shrinking one for a test can't race the other's tests.
@@ -146,8 +146,8 @@ public sealed class TaskMergeService
         VerifyCommandResult result;
         try
         {
-            result = await RunReportingProgressAsync(
-                _verify.RunAsync(workingDir, verifyCommand, VerifyTimeout, ct), progress, "verify gate running", onTick);
+            result = await ProgressReporter.RunAsync(
+                _verify.RunAsync(workingDir, verifyCommand, VerifyTimeout, ct), ProgressReportInterval, progress, "verify gate running", onTick);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
@@ -164,29 +164,6 @@ public sealed class TaskMergeService
         return new MergeResult(StatusVerifyFailed, Array.Empty<string>(), $"{reason}\n{TailOutput(result.Output)}");
     }
 
-    /// <summary>
-    /// Awaits <paramref name="work"/> while reporting MCP progress every
-    /// <see cref="ProgressReportInterval"/> so a caller waiting on a long verify run doesn't hit
-    /// the MCP client's own idle-silence abort. <paramref name="onTick"/> rides the same cadence
-    /// for non-MCP callers (the Hub, which turns it into an OperationProgress broadcast). No-op
-    /// passthrough when both are null.
-    /// </summary>
-    private static async Task<T> RunReportingProgressAsync<T>(
-        Task<T> work, IProgress<ProgressNotificationValue>? progress, string message,
-        Action<TimeSpan>? onTick = null)
-    {
-        if (progress is null && onTick is null) return await work;
-
-        var sw = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();
-        while (true)
-        {
-            var finished = await Task.WhenAny(work, Task.Delay(ProgressReportInterval));
-            if (finished == work) return await work;
-            progress?.Report(new ProgressNotificationValue { Progress = 0, Message = $"{message} ({sw.Elapsed:mm\\:ss})" });
-            onTick?.Invoke(sw.Elapsed);
-        }
-    }
-
     private static string TailOutput(string output, int maxChars = 4000)
     {
         var trimmed = output.Trim();
@@ -848,8 +825,8 @@ public sealed class TaskMergeService
             VerifyCommandResult result;
             try
             {
-                result = await RunReportingProgressAsync(
-                    _verify.RunAsync(scratchPath, verifyCommand, VerifyTimeout, ct), progress, "merge preview verify running");
+                result = await ProgressReporter.RunAsync(
+                    _verify.RunAsync(scratchPath, verifyCommand, VerifyTimeout, ct), ProgressReportInterval, progress, "merge preview verify running");
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
diff --git a/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/ProgressReporterTests.cs b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/ProgressReporterTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..130bf132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Lifecycle/ProgressReporterTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+using ClaudeDo.Worker.Lifecycle;
+using ModelContextProtocol;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests.Lifecycle;
+
+// A synchronously-collecting IProgress<T>: Progress<T> marshals through the SynchronizationContext
+// captured at construction, which is unreliable to assert on immediately in a test.
+file sealed class SyncProgress<T> : IProgress<T>
+{
+    public readonly List<T> Reports = new();
+    public void Report(T value) => Reports.Add(value);
+}
+
+public sealed class ProgressReporterTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task RunAsync_NoProgressOrOnTick_ReturnsWorkResultWithoutTicking()
+    {
+        var result = await ProgressReporter.RunAsync(Task.FromResult(42), TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10), null, "message");
+
+        Assert.Equal(42, result);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task RunAsync_SlowWork_ReportsProgressOnEachTick()
+    {
+        var progress = new SyncProgress<ProgressNotificationValue>();
+        var work = Task.Delay(250).ContinueWith(_ => "done");
+
+        var result = await ProgressReporter.RunAsync(work, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50), progress, "waiting");
+
+        Assert.Equal("done", result);
+        Assert.NotEmpty(progress.Reports);
+        Assert.All(progress.Reports, r => Assert.Contains("waiting", r.Message));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void ReportItem_ReportsMessageAndProgressTotalForEachItem()
+    {
+        var progress = new SyncProgress<ProgressNotificationValue>();
+
+        for (var i = 1; i <= 3; i++)
+            ProgressReporter.ReportItem(progress, "cleaning worktrees", i, 3);
+
+        Assert.Equal(3, progress.Reports.Count);
+        Assert.Equal("cleaning worktrees (1/3)", progress.Reports[0].Message);
+        Assert.Equal("cleaning worktrees (2/3)", progress.Reports[1].Message);
+        Assert.Equal("cleaning worktrees (3/3)", progress.Reports[2].Message);
+        Assert.Equal(3, progress.Reports[2].Total);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void ReportItem_NoProgress_DoesNotThrow()
+    {
+        ProgressReporter.ReportItem(null, "cleaning worktrees", 1, 3);
+    }
+}