diff --git a/src/server/api/issues.ts b/src/server/api/issues.ts
index 41592dc..e25ebbf 100644
--- a/src/server/api/issues.ts
+++ b/src/server/api/issues.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ export async function getExtractedIssues(req: Request, res: Response) {
       issueData.map(async ({ data: issue }) => {
         const issueBody = issue.body ? `\n${issue.body}` : "";
         const issueText = `${issue.title}${issueBody}`;
+        const skipBuild = issueText.includes("--skip-build");
 
         const extractedIssueTemplateParams = {
           sourceMap,
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ export async function getExtractedIssues(req: Request, res: Response) {
         return {
           issueNumber: issue.number,
           ...extractedIssue,
+          skipBuild,
         };
       }),
     );
diff --git a/src/server/build/node/check.ts b/src/server/build/node/check.ts
index 8701d34..aed22dd 100644
--- a/src/server/build/node/check.ts
+++ b/src/server/build/node/check.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ export function getEnv(repoSettings?: RepoSettings) {
 export interface RunBuildCheckParams extends BaseEventData {
   path: string;
   afterModifications: boolean;
+  skipBuild?: boolean;
   repoSettings?: RepoSettings;
 }
 
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ export async function runBuildCheck({
   path,
   afterModifications,
   repoSettings,
+  skipBuild = false,
   ...baseEventData
 }: RunBuildCheckParams): ExecPromise {
   const env = getEnv(repoSettings);
@@ -107,6 +109,9 @@ export async function runBuildCheck({
         );
       }
     }
+    if (skipBuild) {
+      return { stdout: "Build skipped", stderr: "" };
+    }
     const buildResult = await executeWithLogRequiringSuccess({
       ...baseEventData,
       directory: path,
diff --git a/src/server/code/extractedIssue.ts b/src/server/code/extractedIssue.ts
index 1b1a583..6586373 100644
--- a/src/server/code/extractedIssue.ts
+++ b/src/server/code/extractedIssue.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { z } from "zod";
 export const ExtractedIssueInfoSchema = z.object({
   stepsToAddressIssue: z.string().nullable().optional(), // a step-by-step plan of how a developer would address the given issue
   issueQualityScore: z.number().nullable().optional(), // a score from 0 to 5 indicating the quality of the GitHub issue and the confidence that a large language model can generate the correct code to address this issue on its first attempt. Use the evaluation criteria to determine the score.
+  skipBuild: z.boolean().optional(), // a flag indicating whether to skip the build process
   commitTitle: z.string().nullable().optional(), // a brief git commit title no longer than 50 characters explaining the changes that need to be made
   filesToCreate: z.array(z.string()).nullable().optional(), // an array of file paths that will be created by the developer. The paths CANNOT be in the source map's list of valid file names.
   filesToUpdate: z.array(z.string()).nullable().optional(), // an array of file paths that will be updated by the developer. The paths MUST be in the source map's list of valid file names.
diff --git a/src/server/messaging/queue.ts b/src/server/messaging/queue.ts
index e32241c..5e3548e 100644
--- a/src/server/messaging/queue.ts
+++ b/src/server/messaging/queue.ts
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ async function onReposAdded(
       isNodeRepo = await isNodeProject(repository, installationAuthentication);
       const project = await addProjectToDB(repo, event.id, event.name);
       const baseEventData = {
+        skipBuild: false,
         projectId: project.id,
         repoFullName: repo.full_name,
         userId: distinctId,
@@ -345,6 +346,7 @@ export async function onGitHubEvent(event: WebhookQueuedEvent) {
             : "";
 
   const baseEventData = {
+    skipBuild: body?.includes("--skip-build") ?? false,
     projectId: project.id,
     repoFullName: repository.full_name,
     userId: distinctId,
diff --git a/src/server/utils/todos.ts b/src/server/utils/todos.ts
index 80794ea..f46cc6a 100644
--- a/src/server/utils/todos.ts
+++ b/src/server/utils/todos.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ export const createTodo = async (
 
   const issueBody = issue.body ? `\n${issue.body}` : "";
   const issueText = `${issue.title}${issueBody}`;
+  const skipBuild = issueText.includes("--skip-build");
 
   let cleanupClone: (() => Promise<void>) | undefined;
   try {
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ export const createTodo = async (
         newTodo?.id,
         issueNumber,
         rootPath,
+        skipBuild,
       );
     }