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Use retries to decide whether and when to try again; use an idempotency key to make repeated attempts at the same logical action safe. For an agent tool call that can change external state, give the intended action a stable identity before execution. If a timeout or lost response leaves the outcome uncertain, check what happened, then—if another attempt is warranted—send the same request with the same key. A retry policy cannot make an unsafe write safe, and a key cannot make a permanent error recoverable.
What retries and idempotency keys each do
Retries decide whether to attempt again
A retry policy governs when to repeat a request after an error. It should distinguish plausibly temporary failures from errors that require a change, such as invalid input or denied access. It also sets limits: which errors qualify, how long to wait, how many attempts to make, and when to stop.
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Idempotency protects one logical action from duplicate effects
An idempotent operation can be repeated without causing an additional, unintended effect, or it returns an equivalent outcome for the same logical request. An idempotency key is a token that lets a supporting service recognize repeated attempts as the same operation. Stripe, for example, documents its keys as a way to safely retry object creation or updates after a connection error (Stripe idempotent requests).
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These mechanisms complement each other. A retry may be useful for a temporary failure, but repeating a write without deduplication can create a second payment, message, or resource. Conversely, deduplication does not fix a rejected request or restore access that the caller lacks.
Choose based on the operation and the failure
| Situation | Retry approach | Idempotency approach |
|---|---|---|
| A read-only lookup fails with a plausibly temporary network problem | Retry within a deadline and attempt budget. | A write-deduplication key is usually unnecessary; a request ID may still help with tracing. |
| A write may have reached the service, but its response was lost | First check whether the effect occurred. Retry only if appropriate and within limits. | Reuse the same key for the same logical operation. |
| An agent resubmits the same intended message after a timeout | Recover the session and inspect completed actions before repeating work. | Reuse the submission’s key, session ID, and message. Give a distinct submission a new key. |
| The downstream API supports idempotency tokens | Use a bounded policy for eligible transient errors. | Forward the stable key and check that endpoint’s key scope, retention, and parameter rules. |
| The downstream API has no idempotency support | Avoid blindly retrying a write whose outcome is uncertain. | Record intent and status durably; reconcile remote state before another write. A local key cannot make a third party deduplicate. |
| The error requires action, such as validation, authorization, or quota correction | Fix the underlying problem rather than repeat an unchanged request. | A key does not turn a permanent failure into a transient one. |
Build stable action identity into agent workflows
Define the logical operation before the tool call
Decide whether a call is a new approved action or another attempt to complete an existing one. Persist that identity before crossing the side-effect boundary. A durable execution record can track at least three states: pending, completed, and outcome unknown. This is an implementation pattern, not a vendor-mandated schema.
Create the key once, then preserve it
Either derive the key deterministically from stable workflow, task, and request inputs, or generate it once and persist it. Never generate a fresh UUID or timestamp at retry time: AWS warns that a changed key defeats deduplication. Propagate the same operation identity through delegated agent steps and to external services that support idempotency (AWS agentic task execution guidance).
For retries, send the same key with the same logical request. A changed message or materially different parameters may represent a new operation and should not be disguised as a retry. Stripe compares parameters with the original request and errors on mismatches.
Resolve uncertain outcomes before resubmitting
A timeout means the caller did not receive a timely response; it does not establish that the server did not act. Inspect the agent session, completed actions, provider receipt, or remote state. OpenAI’s recovery guidance advises checking outcomes and completed actions before repeating work (OpenAI Agents API errors and recovery).
If the destination has no idempotency facility, a local record helps prevent your own orchestrator from issuing duplicate work, but it cannot guarantee that a remote service did not already perform the action. Reconcile the actual remote state; route unresolved high-impact cases to manual review rather than claiming exactly-once execution.
Bound retries and avoid retry storms
- Retry only errors plausibly temporary. Stop and surface errors that require input, permissions, quota changes, or other corrective action.
- Use exponential backoff with jitter where appropriate, cap both attempt count and total elapsed time, and treat a valid server
Retry-Aftervalue as a minimum wait. If the requested delay is beyond your retry horizon, defer or fail rather than retrying early. - Check whether the SDK already retries. If both the SDK and application have retry loops, calculate their combined attempt and time budgets or disable one layer; otherwise nested retries can multiply requests.
- Honor changes in the error response. OpenAI’s Agents API guidance says to limit retries, respect
Retry-After, and stop automatic retries if the error changes or the retry limit is reached (OpenAI recovery guidance).
OpenAI’s rate-limit guidance notes that temporary rate limits can return 429 and may include Retry-After; eligible 429 and 503 responses may be retried automatically by official SDKs, subject to SDK settings and version. Check the installed SDK’s behavior before adding an application-level loop (OpenAI rate limits). This guidance is about documented OpenAI API handling, not every tool or downstream integration.
Vendor-specific behavior is not universal
OpenAI Agents API sessions
For session message submission, OpenAI says to create one idempotency key for each logical message submission. After a timeout or lost response, reuse that key, session ID, and message; a distinct submission gets a different key (OpenAI Run and continue sessions). This protects the documented session submission flow; it does not automatically make arbitrary tools called by an agent idempotent.
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Stripe documents that it saves the first result for a key after endpoint execution begins, including the status and body—even a 500 response—and returns that saved result for later requests with the same key. It compares request parameters and rejects mismatches. Validation failures and concurrent conflicts that do not begin endpoint execution are not saved. Stripe keys can be removed after they are at least 24 hours old, so reusing a pruned key can start a new request; Stripe permits keys up to 255 characters and recommends high-entropy random keys such as v4 UUIDs (Stripe idempotent requests). These are Stripe-specific rules, not a general retention guarantee for APIs.
AWS patterns
AWS recommends deriving keys from stable workflow, task, and request inputs, checking before execution, and propagating identity to delegated tasks and external systems with native support. Its Builders’ Library describes an EC2 client-token pattern in which repeated requests with the same identifier receive semantically equivalent responses; that example does not promise byte-for-byte identical responses or define how every API behaves (AWS Builders’ Library: Making retries safe with idempotent APIs).
Quick Recap
A practical decision sequence
- Classify the call. Determine whether it only reads state or can create, update, send, charge, or otherwise change external state.
- Identify the logical action. Decide whether this is a new action or another attempt at the same intended operation; assign and persist a stable operation identity before execution.
- Check destination support. If the endpoint supports idempotency, confirm its key scope, retention, and parameter-matching rules, then pass the same key and request on retries.
- Classify the failure. For a timeout or lost response, inspect session and remote state before resubmitting. For action-required errors, correct the cause instead of repeating the unchanged request.
- Apply the retry budget. Account for SDK retries, respect valid server wait hints, use bounded backoff, and stop when the deadline, attempt budget, or error condition says to stop.
- Reconcile unsupported writes. If the destination cannot deduplicate, check actual remote state against the durable execution record before another write; escalate unresolved high-impact outcomes.
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