diff --git a/server/src/chat/timer.rs b/server/src/chat/timer.rs
index dbca8d28..fbd1241e 100644
--- a/server/src/chat/timer.rs
+++ b/server/src/chat/timer.rs
@@ -255,6 +255,18 @@ pub fn spawn_rate_limit_auto_scheduler(
                     agent_name,
                     reset_at,
                 }) => {
+                    // Skip short rate limits (≤10 min) — the CLI handles
+                    // these internally.  Only schedule timers for long
+                    // session-level blocks where the CLI will exit.
+                    let until_reset = reset_at.signed_duration_since(chrono::Utc::now());
+                    if until_reset.num_minutes() <= 10 {
+                        crate::slog!(
+                            "[timer] Skipping short rate limit for {story_id} \
+                             ({} min); CLI will handle internally",
+                            until_reset.num_minutes()
+                        );
+                        continue;
+                    }
                     crate::slog!(
                         "[timer] Auto-scheduling timer for story {story_id} \
                          (agent {agent_name}) to resume at {reset_at}"