diff --git a/servers/cu/src/domain/client/pouchdb.js b/servers/cu/src/domain/client/pouchdb.js
index a67ee0705..c09ef7c6b 100644
--- a/servers/cu/src/domain/client/pouchdb.js
+++ b/servers/cu/src/domain/client/pouchdb.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const inflateP = promisify(inflate)
  * @type {PouchDB.Database}
  */
 let internalPouchDb
-export function createPouchDbClient ({ logger, maxListeners, mode, url }) {
+export async function createPouchDbClient ({ logger, maxListeners, mode, url }) {
   if (internalPouchDb) return internalPouchDb
 
   let adapter
@@ -40,7 +40,23 @@ export function createPouchDbClient ({ logger, maxListeners, mode, url }) {
   PouchDb.plugin(PouchDbFind)
   PouchDb.setMaxListeners(maxListeners)
   internalPouchDb = new PouchDb(url, { adapter })
-  return internalPouchDb
+
+  /**
+   * Transparently create any indexes we need.
+   *
+   * Will noop if the index already exists
+   */
+  return internalPouchDb.createIndex({
+    index: {
+      name: 'cron-evaluations',
+      fields: ['cron'],
+      partial_filter_selector: {
+        cron: {
+          $exists: true
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }).then(() => internalPouchDb)
 }
 
 const processDocSchema = z.object({
@@ -369,7 +385,7 @@ export function saveEvaluationWith ({ pouchDb, logger: _logger }) {
   }
 }
 
-export function findEvaluationsWith ({ pouchDb }) {
+export function findEvaluationsWith ({ pouchDb = internalPouchDb }) {
   function createSelector ({ processId, from, to, cron }) {
     /**
      * grab all evaluations for the processId, by default
@@ -398,7 +414,8 @@ export function findEvaluationsWith ({ pouchDb }) {
         return pouchDb.find({
           selector,
           sort: [{ _id: 'asc' }],
-          limit: Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
+          limit: Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER,
+          ...(cron ? { use_index: 'cron-evaluations' } : {})
         }).then((res) => {
           if (res.warning) console.warn(res.warning)
           return res.docs
diff --git a/servers/cu/src/domain/index.js b/servers/cu/src/domain/index.js
index d8ef23bc3..1972e3080 100644
--- a/servers/cu/src/domain/index.js
+++ b/servers/cu/src/domain/index.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export { createLogger } from './logger.js'
 export { domainConfigSchema } from './model.js'
 export { errFrom } from './utils.js'
 
-export const createApis = (ctx) => {
+export const createApis = async (ctx) => {
   ctx.logger('Creating business logic apis')
 
   const { locate } = schedulerUtilsConnect({ cacheSize: 100, GATEWAY_URL: ctx.GATEWAY_URL })
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export const createApis = (ctx) => {
       (processId) => locate(processId).catch(err => err)
     ))
   })
-  const pouchDb = PouchDbClient.createPouchDbClient({
+  const pouchDb = await PouchDbClient.createPouchDbClient({
     logger: ctx.logger,
     mode: ctx.DB_MODE,
     maxListeners: ctx.DB_MAX_LISTENERS,
diff --git a/servers/cu/src/routes/middleware/withDomain.js b/servers/cu/src/routes/middleware/withDomain.js
index 262fb88aa..fd43bc608 100644
--- a/servers/cu/src/routes/middleware/withDomain.js
+++ b/servers/cu/src/routes/middleware/withDomain.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const domain = {
   fetch,
   logger
 }
-domain.apis = createApis(domain)
+domain.apis = await createApis(domain)
 
 /**
  * A middleware that exposes the domain business logic to a request