Retriable

Retriable is a simple DSL to retry failed code blocks with randomized exponential backoff time intervals. This is especially useful when interacting external APIs, remote services, or file system calls.

Requirements
Migration from 3.x to 4.0
Installation
Usage
Contexts
Kernel Extension
Testing
Credits
Development
- Running Specs

Requirements

Ruby 3.2+

If you need Ruby 2.3.0-3.1.x support, use the 3.8.x branch by specifying ~> 3.8 in your Gemfile.

If you need Ruby 2.0.0-2.2.x support, use the 3.1 branch by specifying ~3.1 in your Gemfile.

If you need Ruby 1.9.3 support, use the 2.x branch by specifying ~2.1 in your Gemfile.

If you need Ruby 1.8.x to 1.9.2 support, use the 1.x branch by specifying ~1.4 in your Gemfile.

Migration from 3.x to 4.0

Ruby version

Retriable 4.0 requires Ruby 3.2 or later. If you run Ruby 2.3.0-3.1.x, or want to stay on the 3.x gem line, use Retriable 3.8.x by specifying ~> 3.8 in your Gemfile.

`timeout:` option removed

The timeout: option was deprecated in Retriable 3.8.0 and has been removed in Retriable 4.0. It was a thin wrapper around Timeout.timeout, which has well-documented safety issues: it interrupts execution at arbitrary lines and can corrupt internal state in libraries that are not interrupt-safe. See issue #96 for the original report of this problem.

If you previously used Retriable.retriable(timeout: 5) { ... }, you have two recommended alternatives:

Use your library's native timeout (preferred). For example, configure Net::HTTP#read_timeout, Faraday's request.timeout, or your database client's statement timeout. Library-native timeouts do not have the safety issues of Timeout.timeout.
Manage the timeout yourself inside the block if no native option exists:

   require "timeout"

   Retriable.retriable do
     Timeout.timeout(5) do
       # code here...
     end
   end

Note: This still uses Timeout.timeout, which has the same safety issues that motivated removing the option — interruption can happen at any line, including inside non-interrupt-safe library code (mutexes, file handles, network sockets, allocator state). Prefer option 1 wherever possible. For background, see why Ruby's Timeout is dangerous, Headius on Thread#raise and Timeout, In Ruby, don't use Timeout, and Timeout: Ruby's most dangerous API.

Like the removed timeout: option, Timeout.timeout(5) inside the block is per-try — each retry gets a fresh 5-second budget. For an overall cap across all retries, use max_elapsed_time: instead.

Passing timeout: to Retriable.retriable or Retriable.with_override now raises ArgumentError. The timeout configuration attribute has also been removed, so Retriable.configure { |c| c.timeout = 5 } now raises NoMethodError.

Installation

Via command line:

gem install retriable

In your ruby script:

require 'retriable'

In your Gemfile:

gem 'retriable', '~> 4.0'

Usage

Code in a Retriable.retriable block will be retried if an exception is raised.

require 'retriable'

class Api
  # Use it in methods that interact with unreliable services
  def get
    Retriable.retriable do
      # code here...
    end
  end
end

Defaults

By default, Retriable will:

rescue any exception inherited from StandardError
make 3 tries (including the initial attempt) before raising the last exception
use randomized exponential backoff to calculate each succeeding try interval.

The default interval table with 10 tries looks like this (in seconds, rounded to the nearest millisecond):

Retry #	Min	Average	Max
1	`0.25`	`0.5`	`0.75`
2	`0.375`	`0.75`	`1.125`
3	`0.563`	`1.125`	`1.688`
4	`0.844`	`1.688`	`2.531`
5	`1.266`	`2.531`	`3.797`
6	`1.898`	`3.797`	`5.695`
7	`2.848`	`5.695`	`8.543`
8	`4.271`	`8.543`	`12.814`
9	`6.407`	`12.814`	`19.222`
10	stop	stop	stop

Options

Here are the available options, in some vague order of relevance to most common use patterns:

Option	Default	Definition
`tries`	`3`	Number of attempts to make at running your code block (includes initial attempt). Pass `Float::INFINITY` to keep retrying until success or until `max_elapsed_time` is reached.
`on`	`[StandardError]`	Type of exceptions to retry. Read more.
`retry_if`	`nil`	Callable (for example a `Proc` or lambda) that receives the rescued exception and returns true/false to decide whether to retry. Read more.
`on_retry`	`nil`	`Proc` to call after each try is rescued. Pass `false` to disable a callback set in `#configure` for a single call. Read more.
`on_give_up`	`nil`	`Proc` to call when Retriable stops retrying after a rescued retriable exception. Read more.
`sleep_disabled`	`false`	When true, disable exponential backoff and attempt retries immediately.
`base_interval`	`0.5`	The initial interval in seconds between tries.
`max_elapsed_time`	`900` (15 min)	The maximum amount of total time in seconds that code is allowed to keep being retried. Set to `nil` to disable the time limit and retry based solely on `tries`.
`max_interval`	`60`	The maximum interval in seconds that any individual retry can reach.
`multiplier`	`1.5`	Each successive interval grows by this factor. A multipler of 1.5 means the next interval will be 1.5x the current interval.
`rand_factor`	`0.5`	The percentage to randomize the next retry interval time. The next interval calculation is `randomized_interval = retry_interval * (random value in range [1 - randomization_factor, 1 + randomization_factor])`
`intervals`	`nil`	Skip generated intervals and provide your own array of intervals in seconds. Read more.

Timing options are validated before retrying. tries must be a positive integer when Retriable generates intervals, or Float::INFINITY for unbounded retries. base_interval, max_interval, multiplier, and max_elapsed_time must be non-negative numbers, with max_elapsed_time also accepting nil. rand_factor must be a number from 0 through 1. If provided, intervals must be an array of non-negative numbers; because it replaces generated intervals, it also overrides tries, base_interval, max_interval, rand_factor, and multiplier validation. intervals cannot be combined with tries: Float::INFINITY.

Configuring Which Options to Retry With :on

:on Can take the form:

An Exception class (retry every exception of this type, including subclasses)
An Array or Set of Exception classes (retry any exception of one of these types, including subclasses)
A Hash where the keys are Exception classes and the values are one of:
- nil (retry every exception of the key's type, including subclasses)
- A single Regexp pattern (retries exceptions ONLY if their message matches the pattern)
- An array of patterns (retries exceptions ONLY if their message matches at least one of the patterns)

Advanced Retry Matching With :retry_if

Use :retry_if when retry logic depends on details that :on does not cover. The Proc receives the rescued exception and should return true to retry or false to re-raise immediately.

def caused_by?(error, klass)
  current = error
  while current
    return true if current.is_a?(klass)

    current = current.cause
  end

  false
end

Retriable.retriable(
  on: [Faraday::ConnectionFailed],
  retry_if: ->(exception) { caused_by?(exception, Errno::ECONNRESET) }
) do
  # code here...
end

:retry_if runs after the exception type has matched :on.

Configuration

You can change the global defaults with a #configure block:

Retriable.configure do |c|
  c.tries = 5
  c.max_elapsed_time = 3600 # 1 hour
end

#configure sets defaults only. Per-call options passed to Retriable.retriable and Retriable.with_context still take precedence.

Override

#with_override is a block-scoped API for forcing retry options that should take precedence over both #configure defaults and per-call options. It is primarily intended for tests — it lets a test force values like tries: 1 or base_interval: 0 so the suite runs quickly and predictably, regardless of the application's #configure defaults. In application code, prefer #configure for app-level defaults and per-call options for caller-specific values.

Retriable.with_override(tries: 1, base_interval: 0) do
  Retriable.retriable do
    # code here...
  end
end

Precedence inside the block:

with_override > local options > configure defaults

#with_override requires a block and raises ArgumentError if called without one. The override is active only while the block is executing, and is automatically restored to its previous value when the block returns or raises. Nested #with_override calls work as expected: the inner block temporarily replaces the active override and the outer override is restored when the inner block exits.

#with_override is scoped to the current thread. The active override does not affect any other thread, and child threads spawned inside the block do not inherit it. This makes #with_override safe to use in parallel test runners. Fibers running inside the same thread share the thread's active override.

#with_override stores the provided options directly. Do not mutate the options hash or nested values for the duration of the block.

For test-integration patterns (RSpec around, helper methods, Minitest, etc.), see docs/testing.md.

Example Usage

This example will only retry on a Timeout::Error, retry 3 times and sleep for a full second before each try.

require "timeout"

Retriable.retriable(on: Timeout::Error, tries: 3, base_interval: 1) do
  # code here...
end

You can also specify multiple errors to retry on by passing an array of exceptions.

require "timeout"

Retriable.retriable(on: [Timeout::Error, Errno::ECONNRESET]) do
  # code here...
end

You can also use a hash to specify that you only want to retry exceptions with certain messages (see the documentation above). This example will retry all ActiveRecord::RecordNotUnique exceptions, ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid exceptions where the message matches either /Parent must exist/ or /Username has already been taken/, or Mysql2::Error exceptions where the message matches /Duplicate entry/.

Retriable.retriable(on: {
  ActiveRecord::RecordNotUnique => nil,
  ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => [/Parent must exist/, /Username has already been taken/],
  Mysql2::Error => /Duplicate entry/
}) do
  # code here...
end

If you need millisecond units of time for the sleep interval:

Retriable.retriable(base_interval: (200 / 1000.0)) do
  # code here...
end

Custom Interval Array

You can also bypass the built-in interval generation and provide your own array of intervals. Supplying your own intervals overrides the tries, base_interval, max_interval, rand_factor, and multiplier parameters.

Retriable.retriable(intervals: [0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 2.5]) do
  # code here...
end

This example makes 5 total attempts. If the first attempt fails, the 2nd attempt occurs 0.5 seconds later.

Unbounded Retries (Opt-in)

You can opt in to unbounded retries with tries: Float::INFINITY. This is useful for long-running worker processes where retrying should continue indefinitely, but it must be used with care.

Retriable.retriable(tries: Float::INFINITY, max_elapsed_time: 300) do
  # code here...
end

When tries: Float::INFINITY is set:

max_elapsed_time must be a finite number. Retriable raises ArgumentError if it is nil or Float::INFINITY. This is a safety bound that prevents accidentally unbounded loops.
Custom intervals: cannot be combined with Float::INFINITY and raises ArgumentError. Use the exponential backoff settings (base_interval, multiplier, max_interval, rand_factor) instead.

Turn off Exponential Backoff

Exponential backoff is enabled by default. If you want to simply retry code every second, 5 times maximum, you can do this:

Retriable.retriable(tries: 5, base_interval: 1.0, multiplier: 1.0, rand_factor: 0.0) do
  # code here...
end

This works by starting at a 1 second base_interval. Setting the multipler to 1.0 means each subsequent try will increase 1x, which is still 1.0 seconds, and then a rand_factor of 0.0 means that there's no randomization of that interval. (By default, it would randomize 0.5 seconds, which would mean normally the intervals would randomize between 0.5 and 1.5 seconds, but in this case rand_factor is basically being disabled.)

Another way to accomplish this would be to create an array with a fixed interval. In this example, Array.new(5, 1) creates an array with 5 elements, all with the value 1. The code block will retry up to 5 times, and wait 1 second between each attempt.

# Array.new(5, 1) # => [1, 1, 1, 1, 1]

Retriable.retriable(intervals: Array.new(5, 1)) do
  # code here...
end

If you don't want exponential backoff but you still want some randomization between intervals, this code will run every 1 seconds with a randomization factor of 0.2, which means each interval will be a random value between 0.8 and 1.2 (1 second +/- 0.2):

Retriable.retriable(base_interval: 1.0, multiplier: 1.0, rand_factor: 0.2) do
  # code here...
end

Callbacks

#retriable also provides a callback called :on_retry that will run after an exception is rescued. This callback provides the exception that was raised in the current try, the try_number, the elapsed_time for all tries so far, and the time in seconds of the next_interval. As these are specified in a Proc, unnecessary variables can be left out of the parameter list.

do_this_on_each_retry = Proc.new do |exception, try, elapsed_time, next_interval|
  log "#{exception.class}: '#{exception.message}' - #{try} tries in #{elapsed_time} seconds and #{next_interval} seconds until the next try."
end

Retriable.retriable(on_retry: do_this_on_each_retry) do
  # code here...
end

Disabling a Configured Callback Per Call

If on_retry is set in Retriable.configure, every call uses it by default. To opt a specific call out — for example, a critical call site that should not log on retry — pass on_retry: false or on_retry: nil.

Retriable.configure do |c|
  c.on_retry = ->(exception, try, elapsed_time, next_interval) { log(...) }
end

# Most calls use the configured callback.
Retriable.retriable do
  # ...
end

# This specific call opts out of the configured callback.
Retriable.retriable(on_retry: false) do
  # ...
end

You can also use :on_give_up to run a callback when Retriable stops retrying after a rescued retriable exception. This callback receives the exception, the try_number, the elapsed_time for all tries so far, the next_interval, and the reason Retriable is giving up. The reason is either :tries_exhausted or :max_elapsed_time.

do_this_when_retries_stop = Proc.new do |exception, try, elapsed_time, next_interval, reason|
  log "#{exception.class}: '#{exception.message}' - gave up after #{try} tries because #{reason}."
end

Retriable.retriable(on_give_up: do_this_when_retries_stop) do
  # code here...
end

When the reason is :tries_exhausted, next_interval is nil because there is no next retry. When the reason is :max_elapsed_time, next_interval is the interval that would have been slept before the next try. This reason means the next retry would exceed max_elapsed_time, not necessarily that the elapsed time has already exceeded it.

If both :on_retry and :on_give_up are configured, :on_retry still runs first for the final rescued retriable exception. This preserves the existing behavior that :on_retry runs whenever Retriable rescues an exception that matches its retry rules.

If you configure a default :on_give_up callback but want to suppress it for a specific call, pass on_give_up: false (or nil). Both are treated as "no callback".

:on_give_up is invoked only when Retriable rescued an exception that matched the retry rules and then decided to stop. It does not fire when the block raises an exception that is not in :on, nor when :retry_if returns false. Both of those cases are immediate re-raises, not retry exhaustion, and should be handled with normal Ruby rescue blocks around the Retriable.retriable call.

If :on_give_up itself raises, that exception propagates to the caller and replaces the original retried exception. Keep the handler defensive (rescue inside it) if you need the original exception to surface.

Ensure/Else

What if I want to execute a code block at the end, whether or not an exception was rescued (ensure)? Or what if I want to execute a code block if no exception is raised (else)? Instead of providing more callbacks, I recommend you just wrap retriable in a begin/retry/else/ensure block:

begin
  Retriable.retriable do
    # some code
  end
rescue => e
  # run this if retriable ends up re-raising the exception
else
  # run this if retriable doesn't raise any exceptions
ensure
  # run this no matter what, exception or no exception
end

Contexts

Contexts allow you to coordinate sets of Retriable options across an application. Each context is basically an argument hash for Retriable.retriable that is stored in the Retriable.config as a simple Hash and is accessible by name. For example:

Retriable.configure do |c|
  c.contexts[:aws] = {
    tries: 3,
    base_interval: 5,
    on_retry: Proc.new { puts 'Curse you, AWS!' },
    on_give_up: Proc.new { |_e, _try, _elapsed, _interval, reason| puts "Gave up on AWS: #{reason}" }
  }
  c.contexts[:mysql] = {
    tries: 10,
    multiplier: 2.5,
    on: Mysql::DeadlockException
  }
end

This will create two contexts, aws and mysql, which allow you to reuse different backoff strategies across your application without continually passing those strategy options to the retriable method.

These are used simply by calling Retriable.with_context:

# Will retry all exceptions
Retriable.with_context(:aws) do
  # aws_call
end

# Will retry Mysql::DeadlockException
Retriable.with_context(:mysql) do
  # write_to_table
end

You can even temporarily override individual options for a configured context:

Retriable.with_context(:mysql, tries: 30) do
  # write_to_table with :mysql context, except with 30 tries instead of 10
end

Kernel Extension

If you want to call Retriable.retriable without the Retriable module prefix and you don't mind extending Kernel, there is a kernel extension available for this.

In your ruby script:

require 'retriable/core_ext/kernel'

or in your Gemfile:

gem 'retriable', require: 'retriable/core_ext/kernel'

and then you can call #retriable in any context like this:

retriable do
  # code here...
end

retriable_with_context(:api) do
  # code here...
end

Testing

Retriable.with_override is designed to short-circuit retries in your test suite so failing blocks do not slow tests down. The simplest pattern is an RSpec around(:each) hook (or your test framework's equivalent) that wraps every example in with_override(tries: 1, base_interval: 0).

For Rails integration, opting out of the override for specific tests, and overriding configured contexts in tests, see docs/testing.md.

Credits

The randomized exponential backoff implementation was inspired by the one used in Google's google-http-java-client project.

Development

Running Specs

bundle exec rspec

Retriable

Table of Contents

Requirements

Migration from 3.x to 4.0

Ruby version

timeout: option removed

Installation

Usage

Defaults

Options

Configuring Which Options to Retry With :on

Advanced Retry Matching With :retry_if

Configuration

Override

Example Usage

Custom Interval Array

Unbounded Retries (Opt-in)

Turn off Exponential Backoff

Callbacks

Disabling a Configured Callback Per Call

Ensure/Else

Contexts

Kernel Extension

Testing

Credits

Development

Running Specs

`timeout:` option removed