diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 4a545dc..b6c551a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.20.7
 	github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3
 	github.com/itchyny/json2yaml v0.1.4
-	github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.17.0
+	github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.18.0
 	github.com/knadh/koanf/parsers/yaml v1.1.0
 	github.com/knadh/koanf/providers/env v1.1.0
 	github.com/knadh/koanf/providers/file v1.2.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c910977..0460edd 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway/v2 v2.27.2 h1:8Tjv8EJ+pM1xP8mK6egEbD1OgnV
 github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway/v2 v2.27.2/go.mod h1:pkJQ2tZHJ0aFOVEEot6oZmaVEZcRme73eIFmhiVuRWs=
 github.com/itchyny/json2yaml v0.1.4 h1:/pErVOXGG5iTyXHi/QKR4y3uzhLjGTEmmJIy97YT+k8=
 github.com/itchyny/json2yaml v0.1.4/go.mod h1:6iudhBZdarpjLFRNj+clWLAkGft+9uCcjAZYXUH9eGI=
-github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.17.0 h1:OaGS0pFUwXYaFtlXaIQleokgNM7Z+KO0mGhL953yiMQ=
-github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.17.0/go.mod h1:guRrhyP9QW/ebUS1UcZ0uZLLJeGAAhDNzSi68U4M9hI=
+github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.18.0 h1:lznsO93fxpBfOLzr0mdMEMM0SsJHbeQhZ1Z7uyxLmOI=
+github.com/kernel/hypeman-go v0.18.0/go.mod h1:guRrhyP9QW/ebUS1UcZ0uZLLJeGAAhDNzSi68U4M9hI=
 github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.1 h1:bcSGx7UbpBqMChDtsF28Lw6v/G94LPrrbMbdC3JH2co=
 github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.1/go.mod h1:ZQFFVG+MdnR0P+l6wpXgIL4NTtwiKIdBnrBd8Nrxr+0=
 github.com/knadh/koanf/maps v0.1.2 h1:RBfmAW5CnZT+PJ1CVc1QSJKf4Xu9kxfQgYVQSu8hpbo=
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/lifecycle.go b/pkg/cmd/lifecycle.go
index 91b229b..5ac8a5f 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/lifecycle.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/lifecycle.go
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ var standbyCmd = cli.Command{
 			Name:  "compression-enabled",
 			Usage: "Enable memory compression for this standby operation",
 		},
+		&cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "compression-delay",
+			Usage: `Delay before standby snapshot compression begins (e.g., "30s", "5m")`,
+		},
 		&cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "compression-algorithm",
 			Usage: `Compression algorithm: "zstd" or "lz4"`,
@@ -153,7 +157,12 @@ func handleStandby(ctx context.Context, cmd *cli.Command) error {
 	}
 
 	params := hypeman.InstanceStandbyParams{}
-	if cmd.IsSet("compression-enabled") || cmd.IsSet("compression-algorithm") || cmd.IsSet("compression-level") {
+	if cmd.IsSet("compression-enabled") || cmd.IsSet("compression-delay") || cmd.IsSet("compression-algorithm") || cmd.IsSet("compression-level") {
+		request := hypeman.StandbyInstanceRequestParam{}
+		if delay := cmd.String("compression-delay"); delay != "" {
+			request.CompressionDelay = hypeman.Opt(delay)
+		}
+
 		compression := shared.SnapshotCompressionConfigParam{
 			Enabled: cmd.Bool("compression-enabled"),
 		}
@@ -170,7 +179,8 @@ func handleStandby(ctx context.Context, cmd *cli.Command) error {
 			}
 			compression.Algorithm = parsedAlgorithm
 		}
-		params.Compression = compression
+		request.Compression = compression
+		params.StandbyInstanceRequest = request
 	}
 
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Putting %s into standby...\n", args[0])
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/run.go b/pkg/cmd/run.go
index f13a09e..b5d9642 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/run.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/run.go
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ Examples:
 			Name:  "snapshot-compression-enabled",
 			Usage: "Enable snapshot memory compression for this instance policy",
 		},
+		&cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "snapshot-compression-delay",
+			Usage: `Delay before standby snapshot compression begins (e.g., "30s", "5m")`,
+		},
 		&cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "snapshot-compression-algorithm",
 			Usage: `Snapshot compression algorithm: "zstd" or "lz4"`,
@@ -347,26 +351,31 @@ func handleRun(ctx context.Context, cmd *cli.Command) error {
 	}
 
 	// Snapshot policy compression
-	if cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-enabled") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-algorithm") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-level") {
-		compression := shared.SnapshotCompressionConfigParam{
-			Enabled: cmd.Bool("snapshot-compression-enabled"),
-		}
-		if !cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-enabled") {
-			compression.Enabled = true
+	if cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-enabled") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-delay") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-algorithm") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-level") {
+		policy := hypeman.SnapshotPolicyParam{}
+		if delay := cmd.String("snapshot-compression-delay"); delay != "" {
+			policy.StandbyCompressionDelay = hypeman.Opt(delay)
 		}
-		if cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-level") {
-			compression.Level = hypeman.Opt(int64(cmd.Int("snapshot-compression-level")))
-		}
-		if algorithm := cmd.String("snapshot-compression-algorithm"); algorithm != "" {
-			parsedAlgorithm, err := parseSnapshotCompressionAlgorithm(algorithm)
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("invalid snapshot compression algorithm: %w", err)
+		if cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-enabled") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-algorithm") || cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-level") {
+			compression := shared.SnapshotCompressionConfigParam{
+				Enabled: cmd.Bool("snapshot-compression-enabled"),
 			}
-			compression.Algorithm = parsedAlgorithm
-		}
-		params.SnapshotPolicy = hypeman.SnapshotPolicyParam{
-			Compression: compression,
+			if !cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-enabled") {
+				compression.Enabled = true
+			}
+			if cmd.IsSet("snapshot-compression-level") {
+				compression.Level = hypeman.Opt(int64(cmd.Int("snapshot-compression-level")))
+			}
+			if algorithm := cmd.String("snapshot-compression-algorithm"); algorithm != "" {
+				parsedAlgorithm, err := parseSnapshotCompressionAlgorithm(algorithm)
+				if err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("invalid snapshot compression algorithm: %w", err)
+				}
+				compression.Algorithm = parsedAlgorithm
+			}
+			policy.Compression = compression
 		}
+		params.SnapshotPolicy = policy
 	}
 
 	// Volume mounts