Handle AI workflow errors without blind retries
Retrying is useful when a failure is temporary. It is wasteful or dangerous when the request is invalid, access has been revoked, or an earlier attempt may already have performed a side effect.
Classify the failure before retrying
A rate limit may justify backoff. An unsupported document needs a different input. A missing scope needs an access correction. A timeout after submitting work needs a run lookup or idempotent retry. Keep the original error code and run ID so your application can make that distinction instead of turning every failure into try again.
- 1Map known errors to retry, repair, review,…Map known errors to retry, repair, review, or stop.
- 2Bound retries and retain attempt historyBound retries and retain attempt history.
- 3Reconcile uncertain outcomes before repeating external writesReconcile uncertain outcomes before repeating external writes.
Try it on a small example
- Map known errors to retry, repair, review, or stop.
- Bound retries and retain attempt history.
- Reconcile uncertain outcomes before repeating external writes.
What to verify
Baleybots' API documents error codes for invalid inputs, missing scopes, insufficient credits, queue failures, and database errors. Some legacy paths return opaque error text without a code, so clients must handle that case without inventing a category. Test both a transient failure and a permanent validation failure. A retry policy should preserve evidence of the first failure rather than hiding it behind eventual success.
Product details checked against the Public API reference on October 4, 2026. These guides describe documented behavior; availability depends on your account and the deployed service. Baleybots is in invite-only beta.