diff --git a/.github/workflows/vulnetix.yml b/.github/workflows/vulnetix.yml
index eee5bb69e6..5f649483d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/vulnetix.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/vulnetix.yml
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ jobs:
           artifact-name: analyze
           fail-on-findings: false
           github-token: ${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' && github.token || '' }}
-          extra-args: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || '' }}
+          extra-args: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' && '--forge-window-days=7' || '' }}
 
   sbom:
     name: SBOM
diff --git a/cmd/analyze.go b/cmd/analyze.go
index 2cbd40a3b2..9248e8b938 100644
--- a/cmd/analyze.go
+++ b/cmd/analyze.go
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ GitHub authentication
   than zero, because "we found no unreviewed commits" and "we did not look" are different
   claims and this report will not conflate them.
 
+  The token's hourly quota is usually shared (in Actions, with every other job in the
+  repository), so the GitHub pass stops while half the quota is still left and reports
+  what it did not fetch. --forge-window-days reads a shorter window from GitHub than
+  --window-days reads from git, which costs fewer requests.
+
   A repository whose remote is not GitHub skips the check automatically.`,
 	Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 	RunE: runAnalyze,
@@ -74,6 +79,7 @@ GitHub authentication
 func init() {
 	analyzeCmd.Flags().String("path", ".", "Directory to analyze")
 	analyzeCmd.Flags().Int("window-days", 365, "How far back to walk history")
+	analyzeCmd.Flags().Int("forge-window-days", 0, "How far back to read pull requests, issues and commit reviews from GitHub (0: --window-days). Each pull request costs several API calls")
 	analyzeCmd.Flags().Int("max-commits", 20000, "Cap on commits walked; when hit, the report declares it")
 	analyzeCmd.Flags().Int("complexity-threshold", 15, "Cyclomatic complexity at which a file counts as highly complex")
 	analyzeCmd.Flags().StringP("output", "o", "pretty", "Terminal output format: pretty, json")
@@ -98,6 +104,7 @@ func runAnalyze(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		opts.Path = args[0]
 	}
 	opts.WindowDays, _ = cmd.Flags().GetInt("window-days")
+	opts.ForgeWindowDays, _ = cmd.Flags().GetInt("forge-window-days")
 	opts.MaxCommits, _ = cmd.Flags().GetInt("max-commits")
 	opts.ComplexityThreshold, _ = cmd.Flags().GetInt("complexity-threshold")
 	opts.NoGit, _ = cmd.Flags().GetBool("no-git")
diff --git a/docs/command-manifest.json b/docs/command-manifest.json
index 01157a9faa..c61bf224a7 100644
--- a/docs/command-manifest.json
+++ b/docs/command-manifest.json
@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@
         "complexity-threshold",
         "disable-memory",
         "fail-on-upload-error",
+        "forge-window-days",
         "max-commits",
         "no-analytics",
         "no-banner",
diff --git a/docs/github-actions.md b/docs/github-actions.md
index 1891f556a2..255b6c2ee6 100644
--- a/docs/github-actions.md
+++ b/docs/github-actions.md
@@ -66,6 +66,15 @@ Each CLI command also has its own composite action in a subdirectory of this rep
 `config-plan`, `config-apply`, `attest`, `jail`, `vex` and `github-publish`. Their inputs,
 outputs, permissions and examples are in [`github-actions/`](github-actions/README.md).
 
+`analyze` reads pull requests, issues and commit reviews from GitHub with the job token, several
+requests per pull request. That token's hourly quota (1,000 requests) belongs to the whole
+repository, and every other job shares it, including CodeQL's SARIF upload and a workflow
+dispatch. So the GitHub pass stops while half the token's hourly limit is still left, and the
+report declares what it did not fetch. The workflow `vulnetix gha init` writes passes
+`--no-forge` on a pull request and `--forge-window-days=7` on a push or a release. Only a manual
+run (`workflow_dispatch`) reads the full `--window-days` window from GitHub. The git history
+window stays at 365 days in every case.
+
 They are generated, not hand-written: `tools/actiongen/spec.go` is the table, and
 `go generate ./tools/actiongen` writes every `<name>/action.yml`, every
 `docs/github-actions/<name>.md` and `action-lib/commands.sh`. `TestGeneratedFilesAreCurrent`
diff --git a/internal/analyze/collect_forge.go b/internal/analyze/collect_forge.go
index 9ff312ba96..f902a4d40a 100644
--- a/internal/analyze/collect_forge.go
+++ b/internal/analyze/collect_forge.go
@@ -38,11 +38,12 @@ const maxCommitReviewChecks = 300
 
 func collectForge(b *Builder, client *forge.Client, repo forge.Repo, git *gitStats, opts Options, now time.Time, pr reporter) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	since := now.AddDate(0, 0, -opts.WindowDays)
+	days := opts.forgeWindowDays()
+	since := now.AddDate(0, 0, -days)
 	window := &MetricWindow{
 		Since: since.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339),
 		Until: now.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339),
-		Label: fmt.Sprintf("last_%d_days", opts.WindowDays),
+		Label: fmt.Sprintf("last_%d_days", days),
 	}
 
 	// This is the slowest collector by a distance: every pull request costs several API calls
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ func collectForge(b *Builder, client *forge.Client, repo forge.Repo, git *gitSta
 	emitIssues(b, issues, window)
 
 	pr.Stage("Resolving which commits were reviewed")
-	emitCommitReview(b, client, repo, git, prRefs, window)
+	emitCommitReview(b, client, repo, git, prRefs, since, window)
 
 	// If the budget ran out, every count above is short by an unknown amount — and an unknown
 	// amount is exactly what must not be silently absorbed. Say it.
@@ -396,9 +397,28 @@ func emitIssues(b *Builder, issues []forge.Issue, window *MetricWindow) {
 		window, respSecs, respRefs)
 }
 
+// commitsToReview picks the commits the compliance pass asks the forge about: non-merge
+// commits inside the forge window, newest first. A merge commit's review status is the review
+// status of the PR it merged, which we already have. The forge window can be shorter than the
+// history walk, and every commit asked about costs an API call, so a commit older than the
+// window is not asked about.
+func commitsToReview(commits []*CommitRecord, since time.Time) []string {
+	shas := make([]string, 0, len(commits))
+	for _, c := range commits {
+		if c.ParentCount > 1 {
+			continue
+		}
+		if at, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, c.CommittedAt); err == nil && at.Before(since) {
+			continue
+		}
+		shas = append(shas, c.SHA)
+	}
+	return shas
+}
+
 // emitCommitReview is github-metrics-aggregator's compliance metric.
 func emitCommitReview(b *Builder, client *forge.Client, repo forge.Repo, git *gitStats,
-	prRefs map[string]EvidenceRef, window *MetricWindow) {
+	prRefs map[string]EvidenceRef, since time.Time, window *MetricWindow) {
 
 	if git == nil || len(git.commits) == 0 {
 		b.Unmeasured(Metric{
@@ -410,16 +430,8 @@ func emitCommitReview(b *Builder, client *forge.Client, repo forge.Repo, git *gi
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Only non-merge commits, newest first, capped. A merge commit's review status is the
-	// review status of the PR it merged, which we already have.
-	shas := make([]string, 0, len(git.commits))
+	shas := commitsToReview(git.commits, since)
 	byShaRef := map[string]EvidenceRef{}
-	for _, c := range git.commits {
-		if c.ParentCount > 1 {
-			continue
-		}
-		shas = append(shas, c.SHA)
-	}
 
 	omitted := 0
 	if len(shas) > maxCommitReviewChecks {
diff --git a/internal/analyze/collect_forge_window_test.go b/internal/analyze/collect_forge_window_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93e9215696
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/analyze/collect_forge_window_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package analyze
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// The forge window can be shorter than the history walk. The compliance pass costs an API
+// call a commit, so it asks only about the commits inside the forge window, and never about
+// a merge commit, whose review status is its pull request's.
+func TestCommitsToReview_StaysInsideTheForgeWindow(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Date(2026, 11, 14, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	at := func(days int) string { return now.AddDate(0, 0, -days).Format(time.RFC3339) }
+	commits := []*CommitRecord{
+		{SHA: "new", CommittedAt: at(1)},
+		{SHA: "merge", CommittedAt: at(2), ParentCount: 2},
+		{SHA: "edge", CommittedAt: at(7)},
+		{SHA: "old", CommittedAt: at(30)},
+		{SHA: "undated"},
+	}
+
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"new", "edge", "undated"}, commitsToReview(commits, now.AddDate(0, 0, -7)),
+		"a commit with no parseable date is kept rather than dropped unseen")
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"new", "edge", "old", "undated"}, commitsToReview(commits, now.AddDate(0, 0, -365)))
+}
+
+func TestForgeWindowDays_FollowsTheHistoryWindowUnlessSet(t *testing.T) {
+	o := DefaultOptions()
+	require.Equal(t, 365, o.forgeWindowDays())
+	o.ForgeWindowDays = 7
+	require.Equal(t, 7, o.forgeWindowDays())
+}
diff --git a/internal/analyze/forge/budget.go b/internal/analyze/forge/budget.go
index 518edceca5..2b070525aa 100644
--- a/internal/analyze/forge/budget.go
+++ b/internal/analyze/forge/budget.go
@@ -18,16 +18,31 @@ package forge
 // reason. It is not a failure, and it is not a silence.
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v66/github"
 )
 
-// reserve is the number of requests we refuse to spend. Leaving headroom matters because
-// this token is usually shared — with other steps in the same CI job, and in vdb-manager's
-// case with other processors — and draining it to zero breaks them, not us.
+// reserve is the least number of requests we refuse to spend. Leaving headroom matters
+// because this token is usually shared — with other steps in the same CI job, and in
+// vdb-manager's case with other processors — and draining it to zero breaks them, not us.
 const reserve = 100
 
+// reserveShare is the fraction of the hourly limit we refuse to spend, when it is more than
+// reserve. A fixed 100 was not enough headroom: inside GitHub Actions the job token's quota
+// (1,000 an hour) belongs to the whole repository, and a forge pass on every push to the
+// default branch spent it down to 100. CodeQL's SARIF upload and the release dispatch then
+// failed with "API rate limit exceeded for installation". Keeping half the limit bounds
+// what one run can take, whatever else runs beside it.
+const reserveShare = 0.5
+
+// floor is the remaining quota at which the collector stops, for a token with this hourly
+// limit.
+func floor(limit int) int {
+	return max(reserve, int(float64(limit)*reserveShare))
+}
+
 type budget struct {
 	mu sync.Mutex
 
@@ -60,7 +75,7 @@ func (b *budget) Observe(resp *github.Response) {
 		b.remaining = resp.Rate.Remaining
 		b.limit = resp.Rate.Limit
 		b.known = true
-		if b.remaining <= reserve {
+		if b.remaining <= floor(b.limit) {
 			b.exhausted = true
 		}
 	}
@@ -102,8 +117,9 @@ func (b *budget) Reason() string {
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	return "GitHub API rate limit reached; the remaining items were not fetched. " +
-		"Re-run when the quota resets, or narrow --window-days."
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Stopped at this run's share of the GitHub API rate limit (%d of %d requests left, "+
+		"kept for other jobs that share the token); the remaining items were not fetched. "+
+		"Re-run when the quota resets, or narrow --forge-window-days.", b.remaining, b.limit)
 }
 
 // IsRateLimit reports whether an error is GitHub telling us to stop. Distinguishing it from
diff --git a/internal/analyze/forge/forge_test.go b/internal/analyze/forge/forge_test.go
index b69f24942c..92c7cf858e 100644
--- a/internal/analyze/forge/forge_test.go
+++ b/internal/analyze/forge/forge_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package forge
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -128,6 +129,43 @@ func TestBudget(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, 2, b.Spent())
 }
 
+// Inside GitHub Actions the job token's 1,000 requests an hour belong to the whole repository.
+// A forge pass that spent them down to a fixed 100 starved CodeQL's SARIF upload and the
+// release dispatch on the same push, so the collector keeps half the limit for them.
+func TestBudget_KeepsHalfTheLimitForOtherJobs(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		limit, remaining int
+		exhausted        bool
+	}{
+		{1000, 501, false},
+		{1000, 500, true},
+		{1000, 300, true}, // already below the floor when we start: spend nothing more
+		{5000, 2501, false},
+		{5000, 2500, true},
+		{150, 101, false}, // a small limit still keeps at least the fixed reserve
+		{150, 100, true},
+	}
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		b := newBudget()
+		b.Observe(&github.Response{Rate: github.Rate{Limit: c.limit, Remaining: c.remaining}})
+		require.Equal(t, c.exhausted, b.Exhausted(), "limit %d, remaining %d", c.limit, c.remaining)
+		if c.exhausted {
+			require.Contains(t, b.Reason(), fmt.Sprintf("%d of %d requests left", c.remaining, c.limit))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A response that carries no rate headers (some enterprise instances) cannot exhaust the
+// budget on its own; it is still counted.
+func TestBudget_UnknownLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	b := newBudget()
+	b.Observe(&github.Response{})
+	require.False(t, b.Exhausted())
+	_, known := b.Remaining()
+	require.False(t, known)
+	require.Equal(t, 1, b.Spent())
+}
+
 func TestIsRateLimit(t *testing.T) {
 	require.True(t, IsRateLimit(&github.RateLimitError{}))
 	require.True(t, IsRateLimit(&github.AbuseRateLimitError{}))
diff --git a/internal/analyze/run.go b/internal/analyze/run.go
index 17a4fcdc68..0e3da9a103 100644
--- a/internal/analyze/run.go
+++ b/internal/analyze/run.go
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ type Options struct {
 	WindowDays int
 	MaxCommits int
 
+	// ForgeWindowDays bounds the forge pass (pull requests, issues, commit reviews) on its
+	// own. Every pull request in the window costs several GitHub API calls, so a CI run on
+	// every push can read a short recent window and leave the full one to a release or a
+	// manual run. Zero follows WindowDays.
+	ForgeWindowDays int
+
 	ComplexityThreshold int
 
 	NoGit   bool
@@ -64,6 +70,15 @@ type Options struct {
 	Context context.Context
 }
 
+// forgeWindowDays is the window the forge pass reads: ForgeWindowDays when set, else the
+// history window.
+func (o Options) forgeWindowDays() int {
+	if o.ForgeWindowDays > 0 {
+		return o.ForgeWindowDays
+	}
+	return o.WindowDays
+}
+
 func (o Options) ctx() context.Context {
 	if o.Context != nil {
 		return o.Context
diff --git a/internal/ghainit/render.go b/internal/ghainit/render.go
index 517a9ac5aa..76ff023406 100644
--- a/internal/ghainit/render.go
+++ b/internal/ghainit/render.go
@@ -116,12 +116,7 @@ func Render(p *Policy, sig *Signals, opt Options) string {
 			case "analyze": // it reads history and the repository's pull requests and issues
 				j.fullHistory = true
 				j.perms = map[string]string{"pull-requests": "read", "issues": "read"}
-				// The forge pass reads every pull request and issue in the window and
-				// spends the job token down to its reserve. That token shares the
-				// repository's hourly quota with every other job, CodeQL's SARIF
-				// upload among them, so on a pull request it would fail the run's
-				// required checks. The push to the default branch measures the forge.
-				j.steps[0].with = append(j.steps[0].with, [2]string{"extra-args", "${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || '' }}"})
+				j.steps[0].with = append(j.steps[0].with, [2]string{"extra-args", analyzeForgeArgs})
 			case "aibom": // a commit scan is slow and this runs on every push
 				j.steps[0].with = append(j.steps[0].with, [2]string{"extra-args", "--commit-scan-max\n1"})
 			}
@@ -214,6 +209,19 @@ func (r *renderer) scanStep(action, gate string, with [][2]string, artifact stri
 // GitHub from these jobs; the push to the default branch keeps the token.
 const scanToken = "${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' && github.token || '' }}"
 
+// analyzeForgeArgs bounds the analyze job's forge pass, which reads pull requests,
+// issues and commit reviews from GitHub with the job token, several requests a pull
+// request. That token's hourly quota belongs to the whole repository and is shared with
+// every other job, CodeQL's SARIF upload and the release dispatch among them. A pull
+// request skips the pass. A push to the default branch, which happens on every merge, and
+// a release, which an auto-versioned repository publishes on every merge too, read only
+// the last recentForgeWindowDays days. A manual run (workflow_dispatch) reads the full
+// window. The CLI also stops the pass while half the quota is left.
+var analyzeForgeArgs = fmt.Sprintf("${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' && '--forge-window-days=%d' || '' }}", recentForgeWindowDays)
+
+// recentForgeWindowDays is the forge window on a push or a release.
+const recentForgeWindowDays = 7
+
 func (r *renderer) scanJob(id, name, action, gate string, with [][2]string, _ string) job {
 	j := job{id: id, name: name, steps: []step{r.scanStep(action, gate, with, id)}}
 	if r.p.Publish {
diff --git a/internal/ghainit/render_test.go b/internal/ghainit/render_test.go
index 7c0fa8a023..4d95b92fa3 100644
--- a/internal/ghainit/render_test.go
+++ b/internal/ghainit/render_test.go
@@ -99,8 +99,9 @@ func TestPublishAndTEAFollowTheLegs(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // The forge pass spends the repository's shared hourly token quota, so a pull
-// request runs analyze without it and the push to the default branch keeps it.
-func TestAnalyzeSkipsTheForgeOnPullRequests(t *testing.T) {
+// request runs analyze without it, a push or a release reads a short recent
+// window, and only a manual run reads the full one.
+func TestAnalyzeBoundsTheForgePass(t *testing.T) {
 	p := DefaultPolicy()
 	p.Analyze = true
 	out := Render(p, &Signals{}, Options{})
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ func TestAnalyzeSkipsTheForgeOnPullRequests(t *testing.T) {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(s.Uses, "Vulnetix/cli/analyze@") {
 			continue
 		}
-		want := "${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || '' }}"
+		want := "${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '--no-forge' || github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' && '--forge-window-days=7' || '' }}"
 		if got := s.With["extra-args"]; got != want {
 			t.Errorf("analyze extra-args = %q, want %q", got, want)
 		}