diff --git a/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/conditional.go b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/conditional.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e3f7f24ba02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/conditional.go
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+package gitprovider
+
+import (
+	"container/list"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"sync"
+)
+
+// Defaults for the conditional-request response cache. These bound
+// the memory used by cached GitHub responses while still covering a
+// realistic working set of actively-polled pull requests.
+const (
+	// defaultResponseCacheEntries is the maximum number of cached
+	// responses retained. Once exceeded, the least-recently-used
+	// entry is evicted.
+	defaultResponseCacheEntries = 2048
+
+	// maxCachedBodyBytes is the largest response body that will be
+	// cached. Larger bodies are still returned to the caller but are
+	// not stored, so a single oversized response cannot blow up the
+	// cache's memory footprint.
+	maxCachedBodyBytes = 1 << 20 // 1 MiB
+)
+
+// cachedResponse holds the data needed to satisfy a future
+// conditional request: the validator (ETag) to echo back via
+// If-None-Match and the body to reuse on a 304 Not Modified.
+type cachedResponse struct {
+	key  string
+	etag string
+	body []byte
+}
+
+// responseCache is a small, concurrency-safe LRU cache of GitHub
+// responses keyed by request URL and auth scope. It enables
+// conditional requests (ETag / If-None-Match): when GitHub replies
+// 304 Not Modified the cached body is reused, avoiding a full
+// re-download. Conditional requests that return 304 also do not
+// count against the primary REST rate limit, which matters for the
+// diff-status worker that polls open PRs on a short interval.
+type responseCache struct {
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	maxSize int
+	ll      *list.List
+	entries map[string]*list.Element
+}
+
+// newResponseCache constructs an empty cache retaining at most
+// maxSize entries. A non-positive maxSize falls back to the default.
+func newResponseCache(maxSize int) *responseCache {
+	if maxSize <= 0 {
+		maxSize = defaultResponseCacheEntries
+	}
+	return &responseCache{
+		maxSize: maxSize,
+		ll:      list.New(),
+		entries: make(map[string]*list.Element),
+	}
+}
+
+// load returns the cached ETag and body for key, if present, and
+// marks the entry as most-recently-used.
+func (c *responseCache) load(key string) (etag string, body []byte, ok bool) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	elem, found := c.entries[key]
+	if !found {
+		return "", nil, false
+	}
+	c.ll.MoveToFront(elem)
+	cr := elem.Value.(*cachedResponse)
+	return cr.etag, cr.body, true
+}
+
+// store records the ETag and body for key, evicting the
+// least-recently-used entry when the cache is full. Empty ETags and
+// bodies larger than maxCachedBodyBytes are not stored.
+func (c *responseCache) store(key, etag string, body []byte) {
+	if etag == "" || len(body) > maxCachedBodyBytes {
+		return
+	}
+
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if elem, found := c.entries[key]; found {
+		c.ll.MoveToFront(elem)
+		cr := elem.Value.(*cachedResponse)
+		cr.etag = etag
+		cr.body = body
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Copy the body so we never retain a slice that the caller may
+	// later reuse or mutate.
+	stored := make([]byte, len(body))
+	copy(stored, body)
+
+	elem := c.ll.PushFront(&cachedResponse{key: key, etag: etag, body: stored})
+	c.entries[key] = elem
+
+	if c.ll.Len() > c.maxSize {
+		c.evictOldest()
+	}
+}
+
+// evictOldest removes the least-recently-used entry. The caller must
+// hold c.mu.
+func (c *responseCache) evictOldest() {
+	elem := c.ll.Back()
+	if elem == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	c.ll.Remove(elem)
+	delete(c.entries, elem.Value.(*cachedResponse).key)
+}
+
+// responseCacheKey derives a cache key that isolates responses by
+// request URL and auth scope. The token is hashed rather than stored
+// so that a cached entry for one user's token is never served to
+// another, without keeping raw credentials in memory.
+func responseCacheKey(requestURL, token string) string {
+	sum := sha256.Sum256([]byte(token))
+	return requestURL + "\x00" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:8])
+}
diff --git a/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github.go b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github.go
index 0204bb2bb50..dc8b22142af 100644
--- a/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github.go
+++ b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github.go
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ type githubProvider struct {
 	httpClient *http.Client
 	clock      quartz.Clock
 
+	// cache stores ETags and response bodies so JSON reads can be
+	// issued as conditional requests, letting unchanged pull
+	// requests return 304 Not Modified instead of a full body.
+	cache *responseCache
+
 	// Compiled per-instance to support GitHub Enterprise hosts.
 	pullRequestPathPattern   *regexp.Regexp
 	repositoryHTTPSPattern   *regexp.Regexp
@@ -57,6 +62,7 @@ func newGitHub(apiBaseURL string, httpClient *http.Client, clock quartz.Clock) *
 		webBaseURL: webBaseURL,
 		httpClient: httpClient,
 		clock:      clock,
+		cache:      newResponseCache(defaultResponseCacheEntries),
 		pullRequestPathPattern: regexp.MustCompile(
 			`^https://` + escapedHost + `/([A-Za-z0-9_.-]+)/([A-Za-z0-9_.-]+)/pull/([0-9]+)(?:[/?#].*)?$`,
 		),
@@ -401,12 +407,33 @@ func (g *githubProvider) decodeJSON(
 		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
 	}
 
+	// Issue a conditional request when we have a cached ETag for this
+	// URL + auth scope. GitHub replies 304 Not Modified when nothing
+	// changed, which is cheaper than a full body and does not count
+	// against the primary REST rate limit.
+	cacheKey := responseCacheKey(requestURL, token)
+	var cachedBody []byte
+	if g.cache != nil {
+		if etag, body, ok := g.cache.load(cacheKey); ok {
+			req.Header.Set("If-None-Match", etag)
+			cachedBody = body
+		}
+	}
+
 	resp, err := g.httpClient.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return xerrors.Errorf("execute github request: %w", err)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
+	// Nothing changed since the cached response: reuse the stored body.
+	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusNotModified && cachedBody != nil {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(cachedBody, dest); err != nil {
+			return xerrors.Errorf("decode cached github response: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
 		if rlErr := checkRateLimitError(resp, g.clock, "X-Ratelimit-Reset"); rlErr != nil {
 			return rlErr
@@ -425,7 +452,17 @@ func (g *githubProvider) decodeJSON(
 		)
 	}
 
-	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(dest); err != nil {
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("read github response: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// Cache the validator so the next poll can be made conditional.
+	if g.cache != nil {
+		g.cache.store(cacheKey, resp.Header.Get("ETag"), body)
+	}
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, dest); err != nil {
 		return xerrors.Errorf("decode github response: %w", err)
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github_test.go b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github_test.go
index f3ddc572b2f..b2483c53884 100644
--- a/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github_test.go
+++ b/coderd/externalauth/gitprovider/github_test.go
@@ -973,3 +973,92 @@ func TestEscapePathPreserveSlashes(t *testing.T) {
 	got := gp.BuildBranchURL("owner", "repo", "feat/my thing")
 	assert.Equal(t, "https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/feat/my%20thing", got)
 }
+
+func TestConditionalRequestReuse(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	t.Run("NotModifiedReusesCachedBody", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		const etag = `"abc123etag"`
+		var srvURL string
+		var requests int
+
+		srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			requests++
+			// After the first response, the provider must revalidate
+			// with the ETag we handed out.
+			if inm := r.Header.Get("If-None-Match"); inm != "" {
+				assert.Equal(t, etag, inm)
+				w.Header().Set("ETag", etag)
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotModified)
+				return
+			}
+			htmlURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://%s/owner/repo/pull/42",
+				strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(srvURL, "http://"), "https://"))
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			w.Header().Set("ETag", etag)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`[{"html_url":%q,"number":42}]`, htmlURL)))
+		}))
+		defer srv.Close()
+		srvURL = srv.URL
+
+		gp, err := gitprovider.New("github", srv.URL+"/api/v3", srv.Client())
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, gp)
+
+		branch := gitprovider.BranchRef{Owner: "owner", Repo: "repo", Branch: "feat"}
+
+		// Cold fetch: 200 + full body, populates the cache.
+		first, err := gp.ResolveBranchPullRequest(context.Background(), "test-token", branch)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, first)
+		assert.Equal(t, 42, first.Number)
+
+		// Warm fetch: server returns 304, provider reuses the cached
+		// body and yields the same result.
+		second, err := gp.ResolveBranchPullRequest(context.Background(), "test-token", branch)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, second)
+		assert.Equal(t, 42, second.Number)
+		assert.Equal(t, first.Owner, second.Owner)
+		assert.Equal(t, first.Repo, second.Repo)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 2, requests, "expected exactly two upstream requests")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("DifferentTokenDoesNotShareCache", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		var srvURL string
+		var conditionalRequests int
+
+		srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			if r.Header.Get("If-None-Match") != "" {
+				conditionalRequests++
+			}
+			htmlURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://%s/owner/repo/pull/7",
+				strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(srvURL, "http://"), "https://"))
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			w.Header().Set("ETag", `"tok-etag"`)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`[{"html_url":%q,"number":7}]`, htmlURL)))
+		}))
+		defer srv.Close()
+		srvURL = srv.URL
+
+		gp, err := gitprovider.New("github", srv.URL+"/api/v3", srv.Client())
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, gp)
+
+		branch := gitprovider.BranchRef{Owner: "owner", Repo: "repo", Branch: "feat"}
+
+		_, err = gp.ResolveBranchPullRequest(context.Background(), "token-a", branch)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		// A different token must not reuse token-a's cached ETag.
+		_, err = gp.ResolveBranchPullRequest(context.Background(), "token-b", branch)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 0, conditionalRequests,
+			"a different token must not send If-None-Match from another token's cache")
+	})
+}