diff --git a/codex/blockexchange/engine/engine.nim b/codex/blockexchange/engine/engine.nim
index dc06da5b..bb54128a 100644
--- a/codex/blockexchange/engine/engine.nim
+++ b/codex/blockexchange/engine/engine.nim
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ const
   # Don't do more than one discovery request per `DiscoveryRateLimit` seconds.
   DiscoveryRateLimit = 1.seconds
   DefaultPeerActivityTimeout = 1.minutes
+  PresenceBatchSize = 1024
 
 type
   TaskHandler* = proc(task: BlockExcPeerCtx): Future[void] {.gcsafe.}
@@ -196,6 +197,9 @@ proc refreshBlockKnowledge(
       await self.network.request.sendWantList(peer.id, toAsk, full = true)
 
 proc refreshBlockKnowledge(self: BlockExcEngine) {.async: (raises: [CancelledError]).} =
+  let runtimeQuota = 10.milliseconds
+  var lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   for peer in self.peers.peers.values.toSeq:
     # We refresh block knowledge if:
     # 1. the peer hasn't been refreshed in a while;
@@ -217,6 +221,13 @@ proc refreshBlockKnowledge(self: BlockExcEngine) {.async: (raises: [CancelledErr
     else:
       trace "Not refreshing: peer is up to date", peer = peer.id
 
+    if (Moment.now() - lastIdle) >= runtimeQuota:
+      try:
+        await idleAsync()
+      except CancelledError:
+        discard
+      lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
 proc searchForNewPeers(self: BlockExcEngine, cid: Cid) =
   if self.lastDiscRequest + DiscoveryRateLimit < Moment.now():
     trace "Searching for new peers for", cid = cid
@@ -595,6 +606,9 @@ proc blocksDeliveryHandler*(
   var validatedBlocksDelivery: seq[BlockDelivery]
   let peerCtx = self.peers.get(peer)
 
+  let runtimeQuota = 10.milliseconds
+  var lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   for bd in blocksDelivery:
     logScope:
       peer = peer
@@ -632,6 +646,15 @@ proc blocksDeliveryHandler*(
 
     validatedBlocksDelivery.add(bd)
 
+    if (Moment.now() - lastIdle) >= runtimeQuota:
+      try:
+        await idleAsync()
+      except CancelledError:
+        discard
+      except CatchableError:
+        discard
+      lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   codex_block_exchange_blocks_received.inc(validatedBlocksDelivery.len.int64)
 
   if peerCtx != nil:
@@ -657,6 +680,9 @@ proc wantListHandler*(
     presence: seq[BlockPresence]
     schedulePeer = false
 
+  let runtimeQuota = 10.milliseconds
+  var lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   try:
     for e in wantList.entries:
       logScope:
@@ -717,8 +743,20 @@ proc wantListHandler*(
           if e.wantType == WantType.WantBlock:
             schedulePeer = true
 
+      if presence.len >= PresenceBatchSize or (Moment.now() - lastIdle) >= runtimeQuota:
+        if presence.len > 0:
+          trace "Sending presence batch to remote", items = presence.len
+          await self.network.request.sendPresence(peer, presence)
+          presence = @[]
+        try:
+          await idleAsync()
+        except CancelledError:
+          discard
+        lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
+    # Send any remaining presence messages
     if presence.len > 0:
-      trace "Sending presence to remote", items = presence.mapIt($it).join(",")
+      trace "Sending final presence to remote", items = presence.len
       await self.network.request.sendPresence(peer, presence)
 
     if schedulePeer:
diff --git a/codex/stores/networkstore.nim b/codex/stores/networkstore.nim
index 7eda9186..d047dc51 100644
--- a/codex/stores/networkstore.nim
+++ b/codex/stores/networkstore.nim
@@ -38,12 +38,19 @@ method getBlocks*(
     localAddresses: seq[BlockAddress]
     remoteAddresses: seq[BlockAddress]
 
+  let runtimeQuota = 10.milliseconds
+  var lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   for address in addresses:
     if not (await address in self.localStore):
       remoteAddresses.add(address)
     else:
       localAddresses.add(address)
 
+    if (Moment.now() - lastIdle) >= runtimeQuota:
+      await idleAsync()
+      lastIdle = Moment.now()
+
   return chain(
     await self.localStore.getBlocks(localAddresses),
     self.engine.requestBlocks(remoteAddresses),