> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flexinference.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Upstream Retries

Retries cover the case where the provider will not start your request at all.

```json theme={null}
{ "retry": { "count": 2 } }
```

* `count` is required, from 1 to 5. It is the number of extra attempts after the first one fails.
* `backoff` is `exponential` by default, or `linear`.
* `jitter` is on by default. It spreads the waits apart, and only ever shortens them.

We retry a `429`, a `5xx`, or a connection that never opened, and only before anything commits. We do not retry your own `4xx`, a bad provider key, a timeout, or a request you cancelled, because those fail the same way twice.

A retry goes back to whichever tier your request ended on, so a lost race retries the default tier. The race itself never counts against `count`. When the provider sends `Retry-After` we honor it, up to 60 seconds.

Your client probably retries too, and the two multiply. A stock OpenAI or Anthropic client retries twice, which is three sends. Each send spends its own budget, so `count: 3` makes each one up to four attempts, and the request can reach twelve. We set `x-flexinference-retries` to the number we ran, so you can turn your client down.

An agent key can carry a retry policy the same way it carries a duration. See [setting the duration for Agent Keys](/deadline-routing#setting-the-duration-for-agent-keys).