diff --git a/private_dot_local/bin/executable_project_git_fetch b/private_dot_local/bin/executable_project_git_fetch
index 804ad3a..ac231d9 100644
--- a/private_dot_local/bin/executable_project_git_fetch
+++ b/private_dot_local/bin/executable_project_git_fetch
@@ -1,9 +1,20 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env zsh
+# Max seconds to wait for the remote before giving up
+FETCH_TIMEOUT=${PROJECT_GIT_FETCH_TIMEOUT:-3}
+
 # Is this directory inside a git repo?
 if git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   # Are we at the repo root? (prefix empty = root)
   if [ -z "$(git rev-parse --show-prefix)" ]; then
     echo "Fetching latest changes from remote..."
-    git fetch 
+    # Never prompt for credentials, fail fast on unreachable SSH hosts
+    GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 \
+    GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -o ConnectTimeout=$FETCH_TIMEOUT -o BatchMode=yes" \
+      timeout -k 1 "$FETCH_TIMEOUT" git fetch --quiet 2>/dev/null
+    case $? in
+      0) ;;
+      124|137) echo "⚠ git fetch abandoned: remote unreachable after ${FETCH_TIMEOUT}s" ;;
+      *) echo "⚠ git fetch failed (remote unreachable or auth error)" ;;
+    esac
   fi
-fi
\ No newline at end of file
+fi