Distributed Systems

Distributed Systems: Retries, Backoff, and Idempotency

Retry logic only works safely when APIs are designed for idempotent behavior.

2026-05-20

Retries can improve resilience, but they also amplify load when done incorrectly.

A practical baseline:

1. Add bounded retries with exponential backoff.
2. Use jitter to avoid synchronized retry storms.
3. Design endpoints to be idempotent where possible.

This turns retry logic from a risk into a reliability tool.