diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7ace852..357e9e6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ node_modules/
 *.db
 *.db-shm
 *.db-wal
-client/build/
 .DS_Store
 npm-debug.log*
 yarn-debug.log*
@@ -13,3 +12,4 @@ yarn-error.log*
 .idea/
 deploy-package/
 data/*.db
+# Note: client/build/ is included for low-memory deployments
diff --git a/install-ubuntu.sh b/install-ubuntu.sh
index dccf763..ee7a91d 100644
--- a/install-ubuntu.sh
+++ b/install-ubuntu.sh
@@ -77,13 +77,18 @@ echo ""
 echo "Step 5: Installing dependencies..."
 npm install --production
 
-# Build client
+# Build client (skip if build folder exists - for low-memory servers)
 echo ""
-echo "Step 6: Building frontend..."
-cd client
-npm install
-npm run build
-cd ..
+echo "Step 6: Setting up frontend..."
+if [ ! -d "client/build" ]; then
+    echo "Building frontend (this may take 10-15 minutes on low-memory servers)..."
+    cd client
+    npm install
+    npm run build
+    cd ..
+else
+    echo "Using pre-built frontend"
+fi
 
 # Setup configuration
 echo ""