diff --git a/steps/02-peers.sh b/steps/02-peers.sh
index a79f3d3..a7ba694 100644
--- a/steps/02-peers.sh
+++ b/steps/02-peers.sh
@@ -195,10 +195,15 @@ ok "Existing users will reconnect automatically."
 # ─── VERIFY API ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 sep
 info "Verifying API..."
-HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 15 \
-    -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN" \
-    "$API_URL/wireguard/peers" 2>/dev/null || echo "000")
-[ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ] || fail "API not responding (HTTP $HTTP_CODE)."
+for i in $(seq 1 10); do
+    HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 10 \
+        -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN" \
+        "$API_URL/wireguard/peers" 2>/dev/null || echo "000")
+    [ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ] && break
+    warn "API not ready (HTTP $HTTP_CODE) — retry $i/10..."
+    sleep 5
+done
+[ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ] || fail "API not responding after retries (HTTP $HTTP_CODE)."
 ok "API responding."
 
 # ─── MIGRATE PEERS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────