diff --git a/l4d2host/instances.py b/l4d2host/instances.py
index 4b2285e..68aceb3 100644
--- a/l4d2host/instances.py
+++ b/l4d2host/instances.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ def initialize_instance(
     root = get_left4me_root() if root is None else Path(root)
     spec = load_spec(spec_path)
 
+    _emit_step("creating instance directories...", on_stdout, passthrough)
     instance_dir = root / "instances" / name
     runtime_dir = root / "runtime" / name
     (runtime_dir / "upper").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ def initialize_instance(
     lowerdirs = [str(overlay_path(overlay, root=root)) for overlay in spec.overlays]
     lowerdirs.append(str(root / "installation"))
 
+    _emit_step("writing instance.env...", on_stdout, passthrough)
     instance_env = "\n".join(
         [
             f"L4D2_PORT={spec.port}",
@@ -51,8 +53,10 @@ def initialize_instance(
     ) + "\n"
     (instance_dir / "instance.env").write_text(instance_env)
 
+    _emit_step("writing server.cfg...", on_stdout, passthrough)
     server_cfg = "\n".join(spec.config) if spec.config else ""
     (instance_dir / "server.cfg").write_text(server_cfg)
+    _emit_step("initialization complete.", on_stdout, passthrough)
 
 
 def _load_instance_env(path: Path) -> dict[str, str]:
diff --git a/l4d2host/tests/test_initialize.py b/l4d2host/tests/test_initialize.py
index 3252b98..303859f 100644
--- a/l4d2host/tests/test_initialize.py
+++ b/l4d2host/tests/test_initialize.py
@@ -51,3 +51,17 @@ def test_emit_step_uses_passthrough_stdout(monkeypatch) -> None:
 def test_emit_step_does_nothing_if_no_target() -> None:
     _emit_step("silent step", on_stdout=None, passthrough=False)
 
+
+def test_initialize_instance_emits_steps(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    spec = tmp_path / "spec.yaml"
+    spec.write_text("port: 27015\noverlays: [standard]\n")
+
+    steps: list[str] = []
+    initialize_instance("alpha", spec, root=tmp_path, on_stdout=steps.append)
+
+    assert steps == [
+        "Step: creating instance directories...",
+        "Step: writing instance.env...",
+        "Step: writing server.cfg...",
+        "Step: initialization complete.",
+    ]