diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-database.yml b/.github/workflows/build-database.yml
index 2b9f191..dbfc42d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-database.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-database.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   build-database:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 330  # 5.5 hours max (allows 5-6 rate limit cycles)
+    timeout-minutes: 180  # 3 hours max
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ jobs:
           INDEX_MODE="${{ github.event.inputs.index_mode || 'full' }}"
           echo "Index mode: $INDEX_MODE"
 
-          # Build the index in non-interactive mode (320m timeout, job timeout is 330m)
-          timeout 320m node -e "
+          # Build the index in non-interactive mode (170m timeout, job timeout is 180m)
+          timeout 170m node -e "
             const db = require('./lib/database');
             const dbOps = require('./lib/db-operations');
             const indexer = require('./lib/indexer');
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ jobs:
           " || {
             EXIT_CODE=$?
             if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 124 ]; then
-              echo "❌ Index building timed out after 320 minutes"
+              echo "❌ Index building timed out after 170 minutes"
               echo "This may indicate rate limiting issues or too many lists to index"
             fi
             exit $EXIT_CODE
diff --git a/lib/github-api.js b/lib/github-api.js
index 148fd9e..13a1ccd 100644
--- a/lib/github-api.js
+++ b/lib/github-api.js
@@ -112,6 +112,25 @@ async function waitForRateLimitReset(targetResetTime) {
   }
 }
 
+// Direct fetch for raw.githubusercontent.com (does NOT count against API rate limit)
+async function fetchRawContent(url) {
+  try {
+    const response = await axios.get(url, {
+      timeout: 10000,
+      headers: {
+        'User-Agent': 'awesome-cli'
+      }
+    });
+    return response;
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Return null for 404s (file not found), throw for other errors
+    if (error.response?.status === 404) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
+
 // Rate-limited request with better handling
 async function rateLimitedRequest(url, options = {}) {
   const now = Date.now();
@@ -300,8 +319,8 @@ async function getReadme(repoUrl) {
 
   for (const url of urls) {
     try {
-      const response = await rateLimitedRequest(url);
-      if (response.data) {
+      const response = await fetchRawContent(url);
+      if (response && response.data) {
         return {
           content: response.data,
           url: url
@@ -344,7 +363,7 @@ async function getLatestCommit(repoUrl) {
 // Get list of awesome lists from main awesome repo
 async function getAwesomeListsIndex() {
   try {
-    const response = await rateLimitedRequest(
+    const response = await fetchRawContent(
       'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sindresorhus/awesome/main/readme.md'
     );
     return response.data;
@@ -360,5 +379,6 @@ module.exports = {
   getAwesomeListsIndex,
   parseGitHubUrl,
   rateLimitedRequest,
+  fetchRawContent,
   getRateLimitStatus: checkRateLimit
 };