diff --git a/ariadne/services/hermes_autotriage.py b/ariadne/services/hermes_autotriage.py
index c477f67..7270af8 100644
--- a/ariadne/services/hermes_autotriage.py
+++ b/ariadne/services/hermes_autotriage.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from ..settings import settings
 from ..utils.logging import get_logger
 from . import hermes_agent_client, hermes_autotriage_repair, hermes_code_flow, hermes_incident_issue
 from . import hermes_triage_prompt
+from . import hermes_hung_builds
 from . import hermes_infra_signals
 from . import hermes_autotriage_decision as hermes_decision
 from . import hermes_autotriage_events as hermes_events
@@ -70,8 +71,10 @@ def _process_job(
     """Inspect one allowlisted job's last build and advance its incidents."""
 
     last_build = _fetch_last_build(job)
-    if last_build is None or last_build.get("building") or last_build.get("number") is None:
+    if last_build is None or last_build.get("number") is None:
         return {"status": "skipped"}
+    if last_build.get("building"):
+        return _handle_running_build(storage, job, last_build, incidents, tick_state)
     refresh_incident_gauges(job, last_build, incidents)
     result = str(last_build.get("result") or "").upper()
     if result == "SUCCESS":
@@ -81,6 +84,30 @@ def _process_job(
     return {"status": "ignored", "result": result}
 
 
+def _handle_running_build(
+    storage: Any, job: str, last_build: dict[str, Any], incidents: dict[str, dict], tick_state: dict[str, Any]
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Escalate a build that has run past the cap; otherwise leave it alone.
+
+    A build that never terminates produces no incident anywhere while holding
+    an agent slot. No model is consulted: its console is still being written,
+    so any root cause would be invented.
+    """
+
+    cap = float(settings.hermes_hung_build_minutes)
+    if not hermes_hung_builds.is_hung(last_build, cap):
+        return {"status": "skipped"}
+    incident_id = f"{job}/{_int_value(last_build.get('number'))}"
+    if incidents.get(incident_id) is not None:
+        return {"status": "deduped", "incident_id": incident_id}
+    reason = hermes_hung_builds.HUNG_REASON
+    base = {"incident_id": incident_id, "job": job, "build_number": _int_value(last_build.get("number"))}
+    hermes_events.record_incident(storage, base, "human_required", {"reason": reason})
+    bundle = hermes_hung_builds.hung_bundle(job, last_build, cap)
+    _file_incident_issue(storage, base, _diagnosis(bundle, None, reason, None), tick_state)
+    return {"status": "human_required", "incident_id": incident_id, "reason": reason}
+
+
 def _fetch_last_build(job: str) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
     """Fetch the job's lastBuild summary from Jenkins, or None on failure."""
 
diff --git a/ariadne/services/hermes_hung_builds.py b/ariadne/services/hermes_hung_builds.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e50758b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ariadne/services/hermes_hung_builds.py
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+"""Escalate Jenkins builds that never reach a terminal result.
+
+Detection elsewhere in auto-triage only considers builds that finished, so a
+build wedged on a network call is invisible: it produces no incident, no
+issue, and no alert, while holding one of the finite Jenkins agent slots.
+Observed on metis build 272, which sat on `apt-get update` for 75 minutes and
+starved the demo of an agent without anything anywhere saying so.
+
+No model call is made here. "This build has been running far longer than the
+cap" is a fact Ariadne can establish on its own, and inventing a root cause
+for a build whose console is still being written would be guesswork.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import time
+from typing import Any
+
+
+HUNG_CLASSIFICATION = "build_exceeded_time_cap"
+HUNG_REASON = "hung_build"
+_MS_PER_SECOND = 1000.0
+_SECONDS_PER_MINUTE = 60.0
+
+
+def elapsed_minutes(last_build: dict[str, Any], now: float | None = None) -> float:
+    """Return how long a build has been running, in minutes.
+
+    Inputs: a Jenkins lastBuild summary carrying `timestamp` in epoch
+    milliseconds, and an optional current epoch time in seconds for testing.
+    Outputs: elapsed minutes, or 0.0 when the timestamp is missing or unusable
+    so an unreadable build is never mistaken for a hung one.
+    """
+
+    try:
+        started = float(last_build.get("timestamp") or 0.0) / _MS_PER_SECOND
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return 0.0
+    if started <= 0.0:
+        return 0.0
+    current = time.time() if now is None else now
+    return max(0.0, (current - started) / _SECONDS_PER_MINUTE)
+
+
+def is_hung(last_build: dict[str, Any], cap_minutes: float, now: float | None = None) -> bool:
+    """Report whether a running build has exceeded the configured cap.
+
+    Inputs: the lastBuild summary, the cap in minutes, and an optional clock.
+    Outputs: True only when the build is still running and has been running
+    longer than the cap. A cap of zero or less disables the check entirely.
+    """
+
+    if cap_minutes <= 0 or not last_build.get("building"):
+        return False
+    return elapsed_minutes(last_build, now) > cap_minutes
+
+
+def hung_bundle(job: str, last_build: dict[str, Any], cap_minutes: float) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Build the evidence bundle describing a hung build.
+
+    Inputs: the job name, its lastBuild summary, and the configured cap.
+    Outputs: a bundle shaped like the console-evidence bundles the issue
+    renderer already accepts, carrying only facts Ariadne observed directly.
+    """
+
+    minutes = elapsed_minutes(last_build)
+    number = last_build.get("number")
+    return {
+        "jenkins": {
+            "job": job,
+            "build_number": number,
+            "url": str(last_build.get("url") or ""),
+            "building": True,
+            "elapsed_minutes": round(minutes, 1),
+            "cap_minutes": cap_minutes,
+            "console_failures": [],
+            "console_tail": (
+                f"Build {job} #{number} has been running for {minutes:.1f} minutes, "
+                f"past the {cap_minutes:.0f} minute cap, and has not reported a result. "
+                "Ariadne did not diagnose a cause: the build is still running and its "
+                "console is incomplete. It is also still holding a Jenkins agent slot."
+            ),
+        },
+        "log_evidence": {"records": []},
+    }
diff --git a/ariadne/settings.py b/ariadne/settings.py
index 5117f06..cdd6b3d 100644
--- a/ariadne/settings.py
+++ b/ariadne/settings.py
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ class Settings:
     hermes_action_classifications: dict[str, str]
     hermes_parameterized_jobs: list[str]
     hermes_min_confidence: float
+    hermes_hung_build_minutes: float
     hermes_max_actions_per_incident: int
     hermes_api_url: str
     hermes_api_key: str
diff --git a/ariadne/settings_sections.py b/ariadne/settings_sections.py
index 769c0e3..ab30ac7 100644
--- a/ariadne/settings_sections.py
+++ b/ariadne/settings_sections.py
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ def _hermes_autotriage_config() -> dict[str, Any]:
             if item.strip()
         ],
         "hermes_min_confidence": _env_float("ARIADNE_HERMES_MIN_CONFIDENCE", 0.85),
+        "hermes_hung_build_minutes": _env_float("ARIADNE_HERMES_HUNG_BUILD_MINUTES", 45.0),
         "hermes_max_actions_per_incident": _env_int("ARIADNE_HERMES_MAX_ACTIONS_PER_INCIDENT", 1),
         "hermes_api_url": _env(
             "ARIADNE_HERMES_API_URL",
diff --git a/tests/hermes_autotriage_harness.py b/tests/hermes_autotriage_harness.py
index bb14834..6f4e667 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_autotriage_harness.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_autotriage_harness.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ def _settings(**overrides) -> SimpleNamespace:  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
         },
         "hermes_parameterized_jobs": [JOB],
         "hermes_min_confidence": 0.85,
+        "hermes_hung_build_minutes": 45.0,
         "hermes_max_actions_per_incident": 1,
         "hermes_api_url": "http://hermes:8642",
         "hermes_api_key": "key",
diff --git a/tests/test_hermes_autotriage.py b/tests/test_hermes_autotriage.py
index 8d2dfed..f4e2e16 100644
--- a/tests/test_hermes_autotriage.py
+++ b/tests/test_hermes_autotriage.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import time
+
 import pytest
 
 from ariadne.services import hermes_autotriage as module
@@ -273,12 +275,43 @@ def test_jenkins_fetch_failure_skips_job(monkeypatch) -> None:
     assert env.storage.events == []
 
 
-def test_building_build_is_skipped(monkeypatch) -> None:
-    env = _prepare(monkeypatch, last_build=_build(12, None, building=True))
+def test_building_build_within_the_cap_is_skipped(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """A build that is merely still running is not triage's business."""
+
+    fresh = int(time.time() * 1000)
+    env = _prepare(monkeypatch, last_build=_build(12, None, building=True, timestamp=fresh))
     assert module.run_hermes_autotriage(env.storage)["jobs"][JOB] == {"status": "skipped"}
     assert env.storage.events == []
 
 
+def test_building_build_past_the_cap_escalates(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """A build that never terminates must not stay invisible.
+
+    It files no incident, raises no alert, and holds a Jenkins agent slot the
+    whole time, so the only signal is that it has run too long.
+    """
+
+    env = _prepare(monkeypatch, last_build=_build(12, None, building=True))
+    summary = module.run_hermes_autotriage(env.storage)["jobs"][JOB]
+    assert summary == {
+        "status": "human_required",
+        "incident_id": INCIDENT_ID,
+        "reason": module.hermes_hung_builds.HUNG_REASON,
+    }
+    assert env.storage.events != []
+
+
+def test_hung_build_is_not_escalated_twice(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """Every tick sees the same running build; only the first may escalate."""
+
+    env = _prepare(monkeypatch, last_build=_build(12, None, building=True))
+    module.run_hermes_autotriage(env.storage)
+    before = len(env.storage.events)
+    second = module.run_hermes_autotriage(env.storage)["jobs"][JOB]
+    assert second == {"status": "deduped", "incident_id": INCIDENT_ID}
+    assert len(env.storage.events) == before
+
+
 def test_empty_jenkins_base_url_skips(monkeypatch) -> None:
     env = _prepare(monkeypatch, cfg=_settings(jenkins_base_url=""))
     assert module.run_hermes_autotriage(env.storage)["jobs"][JOB] == {"status": "skipped"}