diff --git a/apps/scout-bot/src/index.ts b/apps/scout-bot/src/index.ts
index 2d7566c..bf05da6 100644
--- a/apps/scout-bot/src/index.ts
+++ b/apps/scout-bot/src/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const SCOUT_TARGET_REPOS_RAW =
   "open-webui/open-webui,microsoft/vscode,vercel/next.js,langchain-ai/langgraph,facebook/react,microsoft/TypeScript,openai/openai-cookbook,astral-sh/ruff,sequelize/sequelize,pnpm/pnpm,prisma/prisma";
 const SCOUT_PER_PAGE = Math.min(Math.max(parseInt(process.env.SCOUT_PER_PAGE || "50", 10), 1), 100);
 const SCOUT_MAX_ISSUES_PER_SCAN = Math.max(parseInt(process.env.SCOUT_MAX_ISSUES_PER_SCAN || "60", 10), 1);
+const SCOUT_COMMENT_DELAY_SECONDS = Math.max(parseInt(process.env.SCOUT_COMMENT_DELAY_SECONDS || "2", 10), 0);
 
 const SCOUT_ISSUE_LABELS = SCOUT_ISSUE_LABELS_RAW
   .split(",")
@@ -77,6 +78,72 @@ async function wait(seconds: number) {
   return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, seconds * 1000));
 }
 
+function getGitHubBackoffSeconds(error: unknown): number {
+  const status =
+    typeof error === "object" &&
+    error !== null &&
+    "status" in error &&
+    typeof (error as { status?: unknown }).status === "number"
+      ? (error as { status: number }).status
+      : undefined;
+
+  const message =
+    typeof error === "object" &&
+    error !== null &&
+    "message" in error &&
+    typeof (error as { message?: unknown }).message === "string"
+      ? (error as { message: string }).message.toLowerCase()
+      : "";
+
+  const responseHeaders =
+    typeof error === "object" &&
+    error !== null &&
+    "response" in error &&
+    error.response &&
+    typeof error.response === "object" &&
+    "headers" in error.response
+      ? (error.response as { headers?: Record<string, string> }).headers
+      : undefined;
+
+  const lowerCaseHeaders = responseHeaders
+    ? Object.fromEntries(
+        Object.entries(responseHeaders).map(([key, value]) => [key.toLowerCase(), value])
+      )
+    : undefined;
+
+  if (
+    typeof status === "number" &&
+    status === 403 &&
+    message.includes("secondary rate limit")
+  ) {
+    const resetAtRaw = lowerCaseHeaders?.["x-ratelimit-reset"];
+    if (resetAtRaw) {
+      const resetAt = parseInt(resetAtRaw, 10);
+      const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+      const resetWait = resetAt - now + 5;
+      if (resetWait > 0) {
+        return resetWait;
+      }
+    }
+    return 60;
+  }
+
+  if (typeof status === "number" && status === 403 && message.includes("rate limit exceeded")) {
+    const resetAtRaw = lowerCaseHeaders?.["x-ratelimit-reset"];
+    if (resetAtRaw) {
+      const resetAt = parseInt(resetAtRaw, 10);
+      const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+      const resetWait = resetAt - now + 5;
+      if (resetWait > 0) {
+        return resetWait;
+      }
+    }
+    return 60;
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
 async function postDraftWithRetry(payload: {
   scout_id: string;
   title: string;
@@ -215,7 +282,13 @@ npx -y @agent-bounty/mcp-server --endpoint https://agent.wooo.work
         body: commentBody,
       });
       console.log(`Successfully commented on #${issue.number}`);
+      await wait(SCOUT_COMMENT_DELAY_SECONDS);
     } catch (error) {
+      const backoffSeconds = getGitHubBackoffSeconds(error);
+      if (backoffSeconds > 0) {
+        console.warn(`GitHub API rate limited; sleeping ${backoffSeconds}s before continuing.`);
+        await wait(backoffSeconds);
+      }
       console.error(`Failed to comment on #${issue.number}:`, error);
     }
   } else {
@@ -229,7 +302,7 @@ async function scanRepositories() {
 
   for (const target of TARGET_REPOS) {
     try {
-  const issues = await octokit.issues.listForRepo({
+      const issues = await octokit.issues.listForRepo({
         owner: target.owner,
         repo: target.repo,
         state: "open",
@@ -250,6 +323,12 @@ async function scanRepositories() {
         console.log(`Limited scan to first ${issueCandidates.length} issues in ${target.owner}/${target.repo}`);
       }
     } catch (error) {
+      const backoffSeconds = getGitHubBackoffSeconds(error);
+      if (backoffSeconds > 0) {
+        console.warn(`GitHub API rate limited on ${target.owner}/${target.repo}; sleeping ${backoffSeconds}s and skip remaining repos.`);
+        await wait(backoffSeconds);
+        return;
+      }
       console.error(`Error scanning ${target.owner}/${target.repo}:`, error);
     }
   }