diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 277d05d..8997bf0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,18 @@
 All notable changes to Braid are recorded here. The project follows Semantic
 Versioning once release artifacts are published.
 
+## [0.3.1] - unreleased
+
+### Fixed
+
+- The GitHub installation client no longer pins the initial installation
+  token: it is built via octocrab's installation auth state, which caches and
+  auto-refreshes the token. Previously every API call began failing with 401
+  "Bad credentials" one hour after `serve` started (token expiry), silently
+  wedging mention resolution, reactions, and the write outbox until restart.
+- Mention-authority resolution now backs off exponentially (2s to 60s) on
+  persistent GitHub errors instead of retrying every 250ms scheduler tick.
+
 ## [0.3.0] - 2026-08-31
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/github.rs b/src/github.rs
index b5346b1..f6b873d 100644
--- a/src/github.rs
+++ b/src/github.rs
@@ -168,13 +168,16 @@ impl GitHubClient {
         }
         let installation =
             app.apps().get_repository_installation(&repository.owner, &repository.name).await?;
-        let installation_id = installation.id.into_inner();
+        // Keep the raw id for the auto-refreshing installation client; a
+        // fixed personal_token client would die permanently when the token
+        // expires after one hour.
+        let installation_raw_id = installation.id;
+        let installation_id = installation_raw_id.into_inner();
         let access: AccessTokenResponse = app
             .post(&format!("/app/installations/{installation_id}/access_tokens"), None::<&()>)
             .await?;
-        let installation_client = Octocrab::builder()
-            .personal_token(access.token.clone())
-            .build()
+        let installation_client = app
+            .installation(installation_raw_id)
             .map_err(|error| GitHubError::Client(error.to_string()))?;
         let repository_info = repository_identity(&installation_client, repository).await?;
         let actor = viewer_identity(&installation_client).await?;
@@ -600,7 +603,6 @@ struct GraphQlError {
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 struct AccessTokenResponse {
-    token: String,
     expires_at: String,
     #[serde(default)]
     permissions: BTreeMap<String, String>,
diff --git a/src/producer/ingress.rs b/src/producer/ingress.rs
index 65e2f7c..8b9a30e 100644
--- a/src/producer/ingress.rs
+++ b/src/producer/ingress.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ pub(crate) async fn event_worker(
 ) {
     let mut tick = tokio::time::interval(Duration::from_millis(250));
     tick.set_missed_tick_behavior(MissedTickBehavior::Delay);
+    // Mention-authority resolution talks to GitHub; on persistent failure
+    // (e.g. token expiry before the client refreshes) back off exponentially
+    // instead of hammering the API every tick.
+    let mut mention_failures: u32 = 0;
+    let mut mention_cooldown_until = tokio::time::Instant::now();
     loop {
         tokio::select! {
             _ = shutdown.changed() => break,
@@ -112,21 +117,36 @@ pub(crate) async fn event_worker(
                 if let Err(error) = store.advance_scheduler() {
                     tracing::error!(%error, "cannot advance scheduler");
                 }
-                match store.mention_candidates(16) {
-                    Ok(candidates) => {
-                        for candidate in candidates {
-                            match github.repository_permission(&candidate.actor_login).await {
-                                Ok(role) => {
-                                    let trusted = matches!(role.to_ascii_lowercase().as_str(), "maintain" | "admin");
-                                    if let Err(error) = store.resolve_mention(candidate.event_id, trusted, policy) {
-                                        tracing::error!(%error, "cannot resolve mention authority");
+                if tokio::time::Instant::now() >= mention_cooldown_until {
+                    match store.mention_candidates(16) {
+                        Ok(candidates) => {
+                            let mut failed = false;
+                            for candidate in candidates {
+                                match github.repository_permission(&candidate.actor_login).await {
+                                    Ok(role) => {
+                                        let trusted = matches!(role.to_ascii_lowercase().as_str(), "maintain" | "admin");
+                                        if let Err(error) = store.resolve_mention(candidate.event_id, trusted, policy) {
+                                            tracing::error!(%error, "cannot resolve mention authority");
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                    Err(error) => {
+                                        tracing::warn!(%error, actor = %candidate.actor_login, "mention authority remains unresolved");
+                                        failed = true;
+                                        break;
                                     }
                                 }
-                                Err(error) => tracing::warn!(%error, actor = %candidate.actor_login, "mention authority remains unresolved"),
+                            }
+                            if failed {
+                                mention_failures = (mention_failures + 1).min(6);
+                                let backoff = Duration::from_secs(2u64.pow(mention_failures).min(60));
+                                mention_cooldown_until = tokio::time::Instant::now() + backoff;
+                                tracing::debug!(?backoff, "mention authority resolution backing off");
+                            } else {
+                                mention_failures = 0;
                             }
                         }
+                        Err(error) => tracing::error!(%error, "cannot load mention candidates"),
                     }
-                    Err(error) => tracing::error!(%error, "cannot load mention candidates"),
                 }
                 drain_one_write(&store, &github).await;
             }