---
id: "0001"
date: 2026-02-10
status: Superseded
supersedes:
superseded-by: "0003"
affected-paths: [lib/relay/delivery.rb]
affected-components: [delivery, retries]
---

# 0001 — Retry failed deliveries a fixed three times

## Context

Early receivers dropped webhooks intermittently; a delivery that fails once usually succeeds on a quick follow-up. We needed some retry behavior before launch and had no data on receiver load patterns yet.

## Decision

Failed deliveries are retried exactly three times, one second apart, then reported as failed. The retry count and spacing are constants in lib/relay/delivery.rb.

## Consequences

Simple and predictable; transient blips are absorbed. Receivers that are down for more than a few seconds still lose the delivery, and rapid-fire retries add load to a receiver that is already struggling.

## Alternatives rejected

No retries rejected: transient network errors were the dominant failure mode in testing. Unbounded retries rejected: a permanently dead endpoint would wedge the queue.
