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API reliability

Idempotent Video Requests: Preventing Duplicate Generation When Retries Collide

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To stop a retry from generating or charging for the same video twice, give each logical create request one durable, high-entropy idempotency key. Send that unchanged on every retry, bind it to a canonical fingerprint of the method, route and generation parameters, and have the server atomically map it to one job record and one stored outcome. A timeout can then be recovered by returning the existing job instead of starting another generation.

Why a timeout can create two videos

Video creation is a mutating operation. The client may send a request, the API may enqueue work, and the connection may fail before the response arrives. From the client’s perspective, the result is unknown: the job might not exist, or it might already be rendering. Retrying without a deduplication contract can create a second job, a second bill, and two artifacts.

An HTTP retry policy alone cannot provide exactly-once effects. The request store, queue, worker and downstream video provider must cooperate on identity and recovery.

Define one idempotency key per user intent

Generate and persist the key once

Create a UUIDv4 or equivalent high-entropy value when the user confirms the video action. Persist it with the client-side intent before making the request. Reuse the same value for every retry, process replay and reconciliation attempt. Do not derive it from the current timestamp, randomize it on each attempt, or create a new key after a timeout.

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AWS Durable Execution recommends generating the key inside a durable step so replay keeps the value stable. For a browser or mobile client, the equivalent is saving the pending intent and key in durable local or server-side state.

Bind the key to the complete operation

The key identifies an intent, not an arbitrary request. Compute a fingerprint from a canonical representation of:

  • HTTP method and route
  • Model and model version
  • Prompt, source-media references and their normalized ordering
  • Output dimensions, duration, frame rate, format and other generation settings
  • Seed and randomization policy
  • Billing-affecting options, quality tiers and moderation settings

Normalize equivalent values, serialize fields deterministically, and hash the result. Include a fingerprint-version number so a future canonicalization change cannot silently reinterpret old keys.

Server-side request lifecycle

  1. Atomically claim the key. Insert an idempotency record with a uniqueness constraint on the key. Store the fingerprint, fingerprint version, state and job ID. A read-then-write check is unsafe because two concurrent requests can both observe an unused key.
  2. Create or attach one job. In the same transaction, create the durable video-job record or attach the existing record to the idempotency entry. The idempotency record should own the job ID.
  3. Publish work safely. Use a transactional outbox or an equivalent uniqueness-protected queue operation. A database commit followed by a crash before queue publication must be recoverable, while a replay must not publish a second work item.
  4. Return a stable envelope. The first accepted request can return 202 Accepted with the job ID and status URL. Retries return the same job ID and the same response shape, whether the record is still running or has completed.
  5. Persist the terminal outcome. Save success or failure, artifact URI or download reference, error class and response body. Later requests replay that stored outcome rather than executing generation again.

Suggested idempotency-record states

State Meaning Retry behavior
received The key and fingerprint were claimed, but work has not yet been submitted. Resume submission using the same job ID; do not create another record.
running The job was queued or accepted by a worker/provider. Return the existing job and allow polling, waiting or another 202.
succeeded The artifact and response envelope are durable. Replay the stored success and artifact reference.
failed A terminal error was recorded. Replay the same classified error unless your documented policy permits a new intent with a new key.

Reject accidental key reuse

If a request reuses a key with a different fingerprint, return a conflict or parameter-mismatch error. AWS EC2 uses the name IdempotentParameterMismatch; Layer binds a key to the original method, path and body. Never silently treat the second payload as an update to the first video.

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Validation that fails before endpoint execution may be corrected and retried, but the client should still send a key appropriate to the corrected logical request. Stripe documents that it does not save an idempotent result when validation fails or when a conflicting request never begins endpoint execution; your API should document its own boundary explicitly.

Recovering from ambiguous failures

Timeouts and dropped responses

Retry with the original key. The server should find the record, return its job ID and expose the current status. If the first attempt reached a provider before the response failed, the retry must not submit a second provider call.

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Concurrent duplicates

When two requests with the same key arrive together, one transaction wins the unique claim. The other must wait for the record, read it after commit, or receive a response that points to the same job. Do not hold a database lock for the entire video render; coordinate only the claim and submission transitions.

Server errors

A 5xx response is not proof that generation did not start. A worker or provider may have accepted the job before the response path failed. Keep the record visible and reconcile it before allowing any new submission.

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Protect the downstream video provider

If the provider accepts its own idempotency token, pass a deterministic child key derived from the parent key and the provider operation, for example a namespaced hash of parent-key and provider:create-video. Store the provider request ID and submission state.

If the provider has no such facility, persist a durable submitted transition and run reconciliation using provider status, request IDs or a provider-side lookup. A parent HTTP header cannot make a non-idempotent provider call safe by itself.

Retention, expiration and privacy

Retain the key and outcome for at least the longest of the client’s retry horizon, maximum video-job duration, reconciliation window and business dispute period. Expiring a key too early can turn a late retry into a second billable generation; retaining it longer increases storage cost.

Stripe documents one vendor-specific policy in which keys may be removed automatically after they are at least 24 hours old. That is an example, not a universal retention rule for video APIs.

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For scale and privacy, store a compact fingerprint, version, job ID and outcome metadata rather than the full prompt and source payload when those inputs are not required for replay. Apply your data-retention policy to prompts, source-media URLs, credentials and generated-media metadata.

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Observability that proves deduplication is working

Write structured events for the idempotency key, fingerprint version, job ID, attempt number and every state transition. Redact prompts, credentials and media URLs. Monitor:

  • Duplicate-hit rate and the proportion of retries that attach to an existing job
  • Concurrent-wait duration
  • Parameter-mismatch errors
  • Stale received or running records
  • Provider reconciliation outcomes
  • Cost per logical request rather than cost per HTTP attempt

A unique request identifier also makes retry intent auditable in operational logs such as CloudTrail, as AWS notes.

Example client contract

The client creates one key and keeps it unchanged. The exact header name is an API design choice; Idempotency-Key is widely recognizable.

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const intent = loadPendingIntent() ?? {
  id: crypto.randomUUID(),
  payload: canonicalVideoPayload()
};
savePendingIntent(intent);

const response = await fetch('/v1/videos', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Idempotency-Key': intent.id
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(intent.payload)
});

On a timeout, load the same pending intent and send the request again. On success, retain the key until the server’s documented retention horizon or until your reconciliation workflow confirms that the intent is complete.

What to check when choosing an API or designing one

Question Why it matters
Does the create endpoint accept a caller-supplied key? Without a stable caller identity, the server cannot distinguish a retry from a new video.
Is the key bound to method, route and body? Binding prevents accidental reuse with different parameters.
Do concurrent duplicates share one job? Serial retries are not enough; race conditions must also converge.
How long are records retained? The window must cover late retries, long renders and reconciliation.
Is provider submission deduplicated? Application-level protection ends at the provider boundary unless a child key or reconciliation protocol exists.
How are ambiguous failures reported? Clients need a way to distinguish “poll the existing job” from “start a new intent.”
Can status and artifacts be retrieved after the original response is lost? Durable polling is the recovery path after timeouts.

Layer’s REST documentation is an example of explicitly documenting idempotency for unsafe requests and separating generation and generation-video rate-limit categories. Those details should be visible in any video API contract, along with its mismatch error, retention window and status behavior.

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