diff --git a/.devcontainer/codespaces/README.md b/.devcontainer/codespaces/README.md
index 50127ecf80a..41f595b8a25 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/codespaces/README.md
+++ b/.devcontainer/codespaces/README.md
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ If the Slack API fails, the turn still completes through the n8n resume URL.
 The worker does not export its dequeue or Slack credentials to OpenCode.
 Interactive sessions remove all worker-only credentials before they start.
 
+An idle worker starts with a 3-second poll interval. After each empty dequeue,
+it doubles the interval and limits it to 30 seconds. Work resets the interval
+to 3 seconds. Queued turns run without a delay between them.
+
 The log is at `/tmp/agent-worker.log`. The tmux session is `agent-worker`. To
 watch it, run `tmux attach -t agent-worker`. The worker does not start if a
 required secret or `$GITHUB_USER` is missing.
diff --git a/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.mjs b/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.mjs
index 995d83e0c37..adb4e652359 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.mjs
+++ b/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.mjs
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ const GITHUB_USER = codespaceEnv('GITHUB_USER');
 const BOX_ID = codespaceEnv('CODESPACE_NAME');
 const ROOT = '/workspaces';
 
-const POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 3000;
+const INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 3000;
+const MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 30_000;
 const SLACK_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS = 1500;
 const SLACK_TEXT_LIMIT = 3900;
 const OPENCODE_CONFIG_CONTENT = JSON.stringify({
@@ -31,6 +32,36 @@ function posNum(name, fallback) {
 	return fallback;
 }
 
+function nextIdlePollInterval(interval) {
+	return Math.min(interval * 2, MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS);
+}
+
+export async function pollOnce(
+	interval,
+	{ dequeueTurn = dequeue, handleTurn = handle, wait = sleep, logError = console.error } = {},
+) {
+	let turn;
+	try {
+		turn = await dequeueTurn();
+	} catch (error) {
+		logError(`poll error: ${error.message}`);
+		await wait(interval);
+		return nextIdlePollInterval(interval);
+	}
+	if (!turn) {
+		await wait(interval);
+		return nextIdlePollInterval(interval);
+	}
+	try {
+		await handleTurn(turn);
+		return INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS;
+	} catch (error) {
+		logError(`poll error: ${error.message}`);
+		await wait(INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS);
+		return nextIdlePollInterval(INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS);
+	}
+}
+
 // This limit expires before n8n's Wait node so that the user receives a specific error.
 const TURN_TIMEOUT_MS = posNum('TURN_TIMEOUT_MS', 25 * 60_000);
 function turnTimeoutMessage(timeout) {
@@ -328,6 +359,9 @@ export async function startSlackProgress(
 }
 
 async function handle(turn) {
+	console.log(
+		`${new Date().toISOString()} turn ${turn.turnId} by ${turn.author ?? 'unknown'}: ${turn.sessionId ? 'resume' : 'new'}`,
+	);
 	let result;
 	let activeSessionId = turn.sessionId ?? '';
 	const progress = await startSlackProgress(turn);
@@ -388,22 +422,11 @@ async function main() {
 			'SLACK_BOT_TOKEN is not set. Turns will complete without Slack progress updates.',
 		);
 
-	console.log(`agent-worker polling as ${GITHUB_USER} every ${POLL_INTERVAL_MS}ms`);
-	for (;;) {
-		try {
-			const turn = await dequeue();
-			if (turn) {
-				console.log(
-					`${new Date().toISOString()} turn ${turn.turnId} by ${turn.author ?? 'unknown'}: ${turn.sessionId ? 'resume' : 'new'}`,
-				);
-				await handle(turn);
-				continue;
-			}
-		} catch (error) {
-			console.error(`poll error: ${error.message}`);
-		}
-		await sleep(POLL_INTERVAL_MS);
-	}
+	console.log(
+		`agent-worker polling as ${GITHUB_USER} every ${INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS}-${MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS}ms`,
+	);
+	let pollInterval = INITIAL_POLL_INTERVAL_MS;
+	for (;;) pollInterval = await pollOnce(pollInterval);
 }
 
 if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href) await main();
diff --git a/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.test.mjs b/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.test.mjs
index b0c8d3d5d51..c7a7e6a1f73 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.test.mjs
+++ b/.devcontainer/codespaces/agent-worker.test.mjs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { PassThrough } from 'node:stream';
 import { test } from 'node:test';
 import { setTimeout as sleep } from 'node:timers/promises';
 
-import { openCodeEnvironment, runOpenCode, startSlackProgress } from './agent-worker.mjs';
+import { openCodeEnvironment, pollOnce, runOpenCode, startSlackProgress } from './agent-worker.mjs';
 
 const turn = {
 	turnId: 'turn-1',
@@ -60,6 +60,67 @@ function completedChild(lines) {
 	return child;
 }
 
+test('backs off idle polls and resets when work arrives', async () => {
+	let interval = 3000;
+	const waits = [];
+	const turns = [null, null, null, null, null, { turnId: '1' }, { turnId: '2' }];
+	const handled = [];
+	for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 5; attempt++) {
+		interval = await pollOnce(interval, {
+			dequeueTurn: async () => turns.shift(),
+			handleTurn: async (turn) => handled.push(turn.turnId),
+			wait: async (delay) => waits.push(delay),
+		});
+	}
+	assert.deepEqual(waits, [3000, 6000, 12_000, 24_000, 30_000]);
+	assert.equal(interval, 30_000);
+
+	interval = await pollOnce(interval, {
+		dequeueTurn: async () => turns.shift(),
+		handleTurn: async (turn) => handled.push(turn.turnId),
+		wait: async (delay) => waits.push(delay),
+	});
+	interval = await pollOnce(interval, {
+		dequeueTurn: async () => turns.shift(),
+		handleTurn: async (turn) => handled.push(turn.turnId),
+		wait: async (delay) => waits.push(delay),
+	});
+	assert.equal(interval, 3000);
+	assert.deepEqual(handled, ['1', '2']);
+	assert.equal(waits.length, 5);
+});
+
+test('backs off after a dequeue error', async () => {
+	const waits = [];
+	const errors = [];
+	const interval = await pollOnce(3000, {
+		dequeueTurn: async () => {
+			throw new Error('unavailable');
+		},
+		wait: async (delay) => waits.push(delay),
+		logError: (error) => errors.push(error),
+	});
+	assert.equal(interval, 6000);
+	assert.deepEqual(waits, [3000]);
+	assert.deepEqual(errors, ['poll error: unavailable']);
+});
+
+test('resets the interval before handling work', async () => {
+	const waits = [];
+	const errors = [];
+	const interval = await pollOnce(30_000, {
+		dequeueTurn: async () => ({ turnId: '1' }),
+		handleTurn: async () => {
+			throw new Error('failed');
+		},
+		wait: async (delay) => waits.push(delay),
+		logError: (error) => errors.push(error),
+	});
+	assert.equal(interval, 6000);
+	assert.deepEqual(waits, [3000]);
+	assert.deepEqual(errors, ['poll error: failed']);
+});
+
 test('streams tool progress but excludes reasoning', async () => {
 	const slack = slackRecorder();
 	const progress = await startSlackProgress(turn, {