diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a94f971..4ea0d6e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ BRIEFS_TO_TEST/
 ARCHIVE/
 
 venv/
+*.csv
 
 # Upload files
 uploads/
diff --git a/process_brief_enhanced.py b/process_brief_enhanced.py
index 4d3e064..7666cc7 100644
--- a/process_brief_enhanced.py
+++ b/process_brief_enhanced.py
@@ -207,8 +207,12 @@ class DocumentAnalyzer:
             logging.error("OPENAI_API_KEY not set.")
             sys.exit(1)
         try:
-            logging.info(f"Using OpenAI GPT-5 model with high reasoning effort")
-            return OpenAI(api_key=OPENAI_API_KEY)
+            logging.info(f"Using OpenAI GPT-5 model with medium reasoning effort")
+            # Configure OpenAI client with reduced retries for GPT-5 reasoning
+            return OpenAI(
+                api_key=OPENAI_API_KEY,
+                max_retries=2  # Reduce retries to avoid excessive waiting
+            )
         except Exception as e:
             logging.error(f"Error configuring OpenAI model: {e}")
             sys.exit(1)
@@ -294,7 +298,7 @@ class DocumentAnalyzer:
                 messages=[
                     {"role": "user", "content": combined_prompt}
                 ],
-                reasoning_effort="high",
+                reasoning_effort="medium",
                 response_format={"type": "json_object"}
             )
             
@@ -459,7 +463,7 @@ class DocumentAnalyzer:
                 messages=[
                     {"role": "user", "content": combined_prompt}
                 ],
-                reasoning_effort="high",
+                reasoning_effort="medium",
                 response_format={
                     "type": "json_schema",
                     "json_schema": OPENAI_ASSET_SCHEMA
@@ -534,7 +538,7 @@ class DocumentAnalyzer:
                 messages=[
                     {"role": "user", "content": combined_prompt}
                 ],
-                reasoning_effort="high",
+                reasoning_effort="medium",
                 response_format={
                     "type": "json_schema",
                     "json_schema": OPENAI_ASSET_SCHEMA