retry
Re-attempting a failed operation, usually with exponential backoff and a maximum attempt count.
Definition
A retry re-runs a failed operation in the hope it will succeed the next time — typical for transient failures like network blips, rate limits, or upstream downtime. Production retry logic uses exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 4s, 8s...), jitter to avoid thundering herds, a max attempt count, and a dead-letter queue for permanent failures. Retries only make sense when the target is idempotent.
When to use
Wrap any call to an external API, a queue consumer, or a webhook receiver in retry logic. Skip retries when the operation has irreversible side effects and isn't idempotent.
See also
- idempotency — A property of an operation where calling it twice has the same effect as calling it once.
- webhook — An HTTP POST sent by one system to a URL on another system when an event occurs — push, not poll.
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